Wednesday September 16th 2009

Why Invest in the "Real Economy"?
09-16-09
mpg

Post-Bubble Malaise. No Economic Recovery...
Must Read - A quote...."We keep hearing that "The worst is behind us", but the spin doesn't square with the facts. Sure the stock market has done well, but scratch the surface and you'll find that things are not as what they seem. Zero hedge--which is quickly becoming the "go-to" market-update spot on the Internet--recently posted an eye-popping chart which traces the Fed's monetization programs (Quantitative Easing) with the 6-month surge in the S&P 500. The $917 billion increase in securities held outright equals the Fed's $1 trillion increase to its balance sheet. In other words, the liquidity from the Fed is following the exact same trajectory as stocks, a sure sign that the market is being manipulated." - also posted at OnlineJournal -- For more on this sort of issue see....What Ben Bernanke Said - 03-18-08 - mpg

It appears that good'ol Ben is doing something else besides guaranteeing...."....each and every person in this country who tries to save their money, be it by buying a CD, putting it into a savings account, a money market fund, or a US treasury...that you will lose your capital through inflation and dollar depreciation.  Always.....absolutely guaranteed..."

He's also making sure that NO ONE, anywhere, ever, would actually want to invest in the US-NRE's "real economy", sectors such as manufacturing, construction or infrastructure for instance. After all, you'd have to be a complete and total moron to invest in something yielding a paltry rate of return of just five or ten percent a year (assumng a functioning economy) when you could invest in financial instruments like commodities, stocks** or best of all, derivatives, and get seventy, eighty, or in the case of derivatives, a thousand percent per year rate of return -- In other words, you'd have to be an idiot not to put all your money, (or better yet, the taxpayer's money) into what is now known as the Virtual Economy™, especially when it's all being guaranteed by Bernanke & Co.

This of course may very well be just a scheme by Bernanke to get his rich Bankster friends out of their positions in derivatives and other markets.  It seems they may have been caught a little short (or in their case, a little long) by the "premature" collapse of what was supposed to be a ten year cycle but instead turned out  to be an eight year cycle.

There is however a very strong possibility he will fail in his efforts to do so, there appears to be increasing evidence that the very same people who nearly destroyed this economy are again currently leveraging the markets at very high ratios (thirty or fifty to one) to recoup some of their losses, whether these losses are currently guaranteed by Bernanke or not, and this is leading to another highly unstable situation in the markets very similar to where they were in 2007. - mpg

**(not including "newly issued" shares from firms involved with the "real economy", since such purchases would indeed represent an actual "investment" in that sector of the economy)
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The 23rd Psalm, According to Goldman Sachs
Full -- Quote of the Day...."


Ground Hog Ben: Fed Declares Depression Over
Special Note - Satire - A quote...."That's it folks. Wrap it up. This here recession…er...correction…ER depress…oh, whatever...is over."

Congressman Grayson: Fed Secretly "Stuffed" $500 Billion into "Foreign Private Pockets" and Gave $230 Billion to Citi "As a Secret Bailout" -- Congressman Alan Grayson gave an interview to Wall Street Cheat Sheet's Damien Hoffman, which includes the following bombshells:"

The Big Banks Have Gotten Bigger
Animated Chart - A quote...."In a post called "Break Up the Big Banks", Rolfe Winkler provides a nice graphic showing that the too big to fails have gotten bigger: --  The big have gotten even bigger since the start of the financial crisis. At the end of 2007, the Big Four banks — Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo — held 32 percent of all deposits in FDIC-insured institutions. As of June 30th, it was 39 percent."

Qatar's Largest Investment Bank Discusses American Monetary Diarrhea
Chart - 1929 vs. Present Day -- A quote...."When a major investment bank's offical Private Client presentation has such words as "Monetary Diarrhea" you know someone is in on the joke and hasn't been acquired by General Electric just yet. Nothing earth shattering here, just a good, simplified summation of how the US economy is suffering from a terminal case of Montezuma's revenge (also known as Traveller's Diarrhea, or TD - no relation to this particular author), and will be for a long long time. Also, yet another great Great Depression-Now overlay:"

How Short Sellers Brought the Speculator Party to an End - The Unsung Heroes of the Financial Crisis
A quote...."Last year, as the collapse of the housing bubble was threatening to turn Wall Street into a pre-industrial economy, many leading financial commentators were blaming short-sellers for the meltdown. They argued that the fundamentals of the financial industry were essentially sound. The only problem was that evil short-sellers had teamed up to push the price of the stock of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG and the rest into the toilet. In response this outcry, the Securities and Exchange Commission actually took steps to limit the shorting of financial stocks."

UK jobless rate hits 13-year high - link posted at ICH
A quote...."Unemployment in Britain has climbed to its highest rate in nearly 13 years, with 2.47 million people out of work in the recession-hit country, official data has shown."

U.S. credit card defaults up, signal consumer stress - link posted at ICH
A quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc customers defaulted on their credit card debts in August at the highest rates since the onset of the recession, a sign that the banks' consumer lending woes are far from over."

New Chrysler Boss Says September Auto Sales A "Disaster"
A quote...."It was a mere two weeks ago that we were predicting a collapse in the September auto SAAR, not only with the push-forward effect of Cash for Clunkers expiring, but after Chrysler and GM reported even August sales that were below forecast. Yet based on a speech by Chrysler boss Sergio Marcchione at the Frankfurt Auto Show, even the "conservative" 9.5 million SAAR that we estimated for September, after the 14.1 million number in August, is going to be an optimistic number. The Fiat/Chrysler boss warned that "we are going to see harsh reality in September." According to Bloomberg:"

U.S. CPI up 0.4% in August on higher gasoline prices
A quote...."Core consumer prices -- which exclude food and energy prices to get a better look at underlying inflation -- rose 0.1% in August. The core CPI is up 1.4% in the past year, the smallest year-over-year gain since February 2004. Read the full government report." - bold by website editor

How 'Buy American' Can Hurt U.S. Firms
Special Note - A quote...."....the bill's Buy American provisions -- meant to give U.S. companies a leg up on foreign competition -- are causing Aquarius and other U.S. companies a lot of grief with both suppliers and clients in Canada. -- Now that grief has boiled over into a major diplomatic row with the largest U.S. trading partner. Canadian communities angered by perceived American chauvinism have started a Buy Canadian campaign to exclude U.S. bidders from municipal contracts." -- Oh, oh.  First China, now Canada.  There's suddenly a strange smell in the air, it smells like Smoot-Hawley. - mpg
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Sneak Peak: Revised Demolition Theory Hypothesis
Must Read - A quote...."I know you guys think I have been slacking, but there are things in the works over here.  Really.  I mean it.  You don’t believe me?  I know you don’t… so here’s a sneak peak at my Revised WTC Demolition Theory Hypothesis.  More careful study of the NCSTAR1 report (a troll suggested I do it) has turned up some interesting facts like:"

A/H1N1 was reassorted in a lab - posted at OnlineJournal
Special Note - A quote...."(WMR) -- A virologist who has been researching the A/H1N1 virus has concluded after months of research that the ”novel” influenza was re-assorted in a laboratory from eight genes consisting of avian, swine and human type influenza A virus." - also posted at DProgram

US Spec Ops operates psywar websites targeted at UK
Special Note - A quote...."The secretive US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has awarded arms globocorp General Dynamics a $10m contract to set up a network of psychological-warfare "influence websites" supporting the Global War On Terror. France and Britain are specifically included as "targeted regions". -- also posted at BLN & DProgram

White House Mapping Internet Users' Data For Mass Archives
A quote...."If you're a user of twitter, facebook, myspace, youtube or flickr, and you visit the White House page at any of the sites, you are at risk of having your personal data archived without your consent or knowledge. -- The Obama White House has sought a private contractor to "crawl and archive" data such as comments, tag lines, e-mail, audio and video from any place where the White House "maintains a presence" – for a period of up to eight years. -- Defenders of the White House actions said the 1978 Presidential Records Act requires that the administration gather the information and that it was justified in taking the additional step, The Washington Times reports."

Police to get access to classified military intelligence
They're merging into one all encompassing Leviathan police/military state, the people of this country have brought this down upon themselves.  They MUST STOP voting for DemoRepubs because time is running out, the lives and futures they save if they take action now, might very well be those of their own and of their families. - mpg -- A quote...."In a move raising eyebrows among civil liberties advocates, the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that it would give so-called local and state “fusion centers” access to classified military intelligence in Pentagon databases."

The Century of the Self - How politicians and business learned to create and manipulate mass-consumer society. - posted at ICH - Must View - From the history file - A quote...."Adam Curtis, The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests? -- Freud provided useful tools for understanding the secret desires of the masses. Unwittingly, his work served as the precursor to a world full of political spin doctors, marketing moguls, and society's belief that the pursuit of satisfaction and happiness is man's ultimate goal."

“The Most Dangerous Man in America”: New Documentary Chronicles Story of Daniel Ellsberg, Whose Leak of the Pentagon Papers Helped End Vietnam War -- A quote...."Daniel Ellsberg once faced espionage charges and possibly life in prison after leaking what became known as the Pentagon Papers, a 7,000-page classified history outlining the true extent of US involvement in Vietnam. Daniel Ellsberg’s actions directly contributed to the end of Nixon presidency and the Vietnam War. His story is chronicled in the new documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. We speak to Ellsberg, his wife Patricia, and the film’s co-director, Judith Ehrlich. [includes rush transcript]" --  ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More…  || 

Another lawsuit targets founder of Blackwater
A quote...."Yet another civil lawsuit accuses Blackwater guards of driving through the streets of Baghdad randomly shooting innocent Iraqis. -- The latest case accuses Blackwater founder Erik Prince of personally directing murders from a 24-hour remote monitoring "war room" at the private military company's Moyock, N.C., headquarters."
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US hegemony slips into history
Book Review - A quote...."The Future of Global Relations: Crumbling Walls, Rising Regions" [GoglBkSrch] by Terrence Edward Paupp. -- "The end of the Cold War ushered in a new period of unipolar American power. In this country, liberals and conservatives alike celebrated the triumph of market democracies under the leadership of the United States. The Bill Clinton administration attempted to consolidate America's geoeconomic power. The George W Bush administration attempted to consolidate America's military and geopolitical power. -- And today, the Barack Obama administration surveys the wreckage of these efforts to preserve a unipolar world. The global economy is in deep recession and the United States is drowning under the costs of maintaining its post-Cold War empire."

Green Zone Takes More Fire During Biden Visit
A quote...."BAGHDAD — Baghdad’s heavily fortified international zone was attacked by rocket fire for a second night on Wednesday, this time just after Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki had made brief public remarks and sat down for a traditional dinner to break the Ramadan fast."

Jamie Rubin, Cruise Missile Liberal, Calls for Hypnotizing Americans About Afghan War
A quote...."Jamie Rubin, one of the leading Democratic Party hawks, was on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Wednesday to discuss Afghanistan policy. Rubin, who served as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s top deputy in the 1990s, was a major figure in shaping and refining Clinton’s “military humanism” doctrine. He was a passionate advocate for war against Iraq, which Clinton waged militarily and economically throughout the 1990s; he was a central player in the US-led NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and, significantly, US support for the Kosovo Liberation Army, which a senior US official, Richard Gelbard, had labeled “without any questions, a terrorist group.” - also posted at OhBummer

Afghan journalists blame NATO for death of colleague during rescue
A quote...."A group of Afghan journalists has blamed the international coalition for the death of an abducted colleague during the British commando rescue of a New York Times reporter. They have accused the troops of having a "double standard" for Western and Afghan lives, the Associated Press (AP) has reported."

Japan ready to withdraw support for Afghanistan war
A quote...."Japan’s new Defence Minister is a strong opponent of the country’s military support for the US, making it more likely than ever that the Government of Yukio Hatoyama will withdraw its naval ships from the war in Afghanistan early next year."

Report: Gen. McChrystal Seeking Another 40,000 Troops for Afghanistan
A quote...."Despite claims earlier in the day from President Barack Obama that no ‘immediate decision’ was pending on Afghanistan, Fox News is quoting sources in the government as saying General Stanley McChrystal has already made his long-awaited troop request, and it’s a doozy."

Karzai unlikely to claim Afghan election victory soon
A quote...."In case there was any doubt before, the accusations of fraud piling up around Afghanistan's presidential election mean that Hamid Karzai won't be declared victorious in his reelection bid any time soon. -- At the very least, a national electoral complaints commission investigating fraudulent voting will take weeks to determine how much of Mr. Karzai's officially declared 54.6 percent of the vote will be tossed out."

EU: 1.5m suspicious votes in Afghan elections - link posted at ICH
A quote...."The 200 EU election observers in Afghanistan say around 1.5 million votes cast in Afghanistan's recent presidential elections could be fraudulent."
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Intelligence Agencies Say No New Nukes in Iran
Special Note - A quote...."The U.S. intelligence community is reporting to the White House that Iran has not restarted its nuclear-weapons development program, two counterproliferation officials tell NEWSWEEK. U.S. agencies had previously said that Tehran halted the program in 2003."
    
Crucial Iran nuclear evidence 'covered up'
War Alert - A quote...."WASHINGTON - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says its present objective regarding Iran is to try to determine whether the intelligence documents purportedly showing a covert Iranian nuclear weapons program from 2001 to 2003 are authentic or not. The problem, according to its reports, is that Iran refuses to help clarify the issue."

Israel And The US Try To Manipulate The IAEA´s Work
War Alert - A quote...."In last months, Israel and its agents in the United States have increased their pressure on the International Atomic Energy Agency in order to force the agency to change its conclusions about the Iranian nuclear programme. The IAEA has repeatedly claimed that there is no evidence of military nuclear activities in Iran. However, some countries in the West, spearheaded by the United States and Israel, accuse Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons programme under the guise of peaceful enrichment activities although the have failed to provide any evidence supporting their accusations." -- also posted at AtheoNews & WarInIraq

ANALYSIS / Clock ticking for Iran as Israel appears ready for strike
War Alert - A quote...."In the rare moments when it's not preoccupied with the decline of U.S. President Barack Obama in the polls and with the debate over its government's proposed health-care reforms, the American press continues to deal almost obsessively with another pressing issue: the deadlock in efforts to stop Iran's nuclear program and the growing likelihood that the endgame will be an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities."

Black Sea Crisis Deepens As US-NATO Threat To Iran Grows
A quote...."Tensions are mounting in the Black Sea with the threat of another conflict between U.S. and NATO client state Georgia and Russia as Washington is manifesting plans for possible military strikes against Iran in both word and deed. -- Referring to Georgia having recently impounded several vessels off the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia, reportedly 23 in total this year, the New York Times wrote on September 9 that "Rising tensions between Russia and Georgia over shipping rights to a breakaway Georgian region have opened a potential new theater for conflict between the countries, a little more than a year after they went to war." [1]"

Reports: Medvedev wants to meet US 'dissidents'
A quote...."Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he would like to meet with "dissidents" when he visits the U.S. next week. -- Russian news agencies quote him as telling a group of visiting foreign experts that "I believe there are dissidents in the United States." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Russia to develop S-500 air defense system soon: air force commander
A quote...."The S-500 system, which has an extended range of up to 600 km and can simultaneously engage up to 10 targets, was expected to outperform Russia's S-400 system and the U.S. Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system."

U.S. To Shelve Bush's Nuclear-Missile Shield
Special Note - A quote...."WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is expected to announce Thursday that it will shelve many of the components of a European missile defense plan that has been a major irritant in relations with Russia."

Obama cancels plans for anti-missile radar in Czech Republic
Breaking News -- Related Article - A quote...."MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - The U.S. president has told the Czech premier that Washington is abandoning the Bush administration's plans for an anti-missile radar in the country, Russia's Vesti TV channel reported on Thursday, citing Czech media. -- Czech officials confirmed the telephone conversation between Barack Obama and Jan Fischer late last night, the reports said. Prague is expected to issue a statement on the matter after receiving a formal document from Washington later on Thursday." - bold by website editor

Russia, Venezuela to invest $20 billion in Junin 6 oil field
A quote...."MOSCOW, September 14 (RIA Novosti) - Venezuela and a consortium of Russian oil companies intend to invest $20 billion into the development of the Junin 6 oil deposit in the Orinoco River Basin, the Venezuelan oil and energy minister said."

Announcing 24 Scholarships in Authentic Journalism for February of 2010
A quote...."Today we announce that Narco News will grant 24 scholarships for up-and-coming journalists and communicators to attend a ten-day session of the School of Authentic Journalism on February 3 to 13 of 2010 on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula." - See also....Meet the 2010 School of Authentic Journalism Faculty
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

ISRAEL+NUKES+OBAMA=TROUBLE
Must Read - A quote...."Only one nation had the means, motive, opportunity and, importantly, the stable nation state intelligence to mount such a deception inside the U.S.” -- That is a tiny excerpt of a long excellent report written by Jeff Gates at the Foreign Policy Journal. Jeff gets it 100% correct in his assessment regarding the cost to America with regards to Israel. This applies to the current Middle East situation. He takes a look at what Israel has done to America and at what cost to America. Travel through the Zionist web of control and deceit, from where it began with Kennedy right up to Obama. Americans should read this, everyone should read this:"

UN Inquiry Finds Israel “Punished and Terrorized” Palestinian Civilians, Committed War Crimes During Gaza Assault -- link posted at ICH -- A quote...."A United Nations fact-finding mission has found Israel “punished and terrorized” civilians in its three-week assault on Gaza earlier this year and cited strong evidence that Israeli forces committed “grave breaches” of the Geneva Conventions. More than 1,400 Palestinians—about a third of them women and children—were killed in the assault. We get analysis from author and Israel-Palestine scholar Norman Finkelstein. [includes rush transcript]" --  ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More…  ||

Israel rejects independent inquiry into Gaza war
A quote...."Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel would launch a diplomatic offensive to block any referral of the case to the International Criminal Court, or ICC. -- Israeli officials refused to cooperate with the investigation and vehemently rejected its findings, saying it was ordered by a U.N. body with a clear anti-Israeli bias. Israel's military has conducted its own inquiry and others remain pending, but so far has cleared itself of any systematic wrongdoing. -- Government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel would not heed the call for an independent investigation, noting that army probes can be appealed in court."

Israel says it has investigated Israel's war crimes and found Israel innocent. No need for UN inquiry!
Satire - A quote...."In other news, the FBI has decided in a cost cutting measure, to let mass murderers and serial killers to investigate their own crimes. This should free up the FBI for more important issues, like harassing Muslims and free up more court time to prosecute marijuana smokers, said the DOJ news release."

Hamas slams Mitchell failure to get Israeli concessions on settlements
A quote...."Gaza – Ma’an – The United States “can’t stop the Israeli attacks and can’t bring back Palestinian rights” Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said Wednesday following the failed efforts of US Envoy George Mitchell to persuade Israeli leadership to halt settlement activity."

Israeli forces raid Bil’in, beat Popular Committee member
A quote...."16 September 2009: Israeli forces raid Bil’in, beat Popular Committee member. -- Around 1:30am, the Israeli army invaded Bil’in. Soldiers came to the home of Abdullah Mahmoud Abu Rahme , coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, to arrest him."

A turning point for the US [Palestinian] solidarity movement
A quote...."This weekend at the eighth annual US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation national organizers' conference held in Chicago, delegates from the approximately 300 member groups that make up the US Campaign voted in favor of an academic and cultural boycott of Israel. The vote came on the heels of a presentation by Omar Barghouti and myself on behalf of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and the US Campaign for an Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel."

Omar Barghouti Explains the BDS Movement (2 parts) - Alt/Part1 - Alt/Part2 - (YuTb aprx 10m each - 09/16/09)
Action Alert - A quote....""Omar Barghouti, Palestinian researcher, commentator, and human rights activist. He is a founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and a leader of the BDS campaign against Israel." -- For more on how to boycott Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg
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Tuesday September 15th 2009

The idea that countries don't go bust is a joke... The debt trap may be about to spring ... for countries that have created large stimulus packages in order to stimulate their economies."

US trade deficit widens
Special Note - A quote...."The US trade deficit has widened due to an increase of imported items, including thousands of foreign-made cars sold under the Obama administration’s "cash for clunkers" scheme. -- The trade gap grew 16.3 per cent in July to $32bn, the largest month-to-month increase since February 1999, the US commerce department said on Thursday." - bold by website editor - Haaaa haaa haaaa, you're killing me folks, I'm rolling on the ground here, it's just too funny..... mpg -- posted 09-10-09

Monday September 14th 2009

Stop Begging Obama to Be Obama and Get Mad - Article also posted at ICH
Must Read - A quote...."The right-wing accusations against Barack Obama are true. He is a socialist, although he practices socialism for corporations. He is squandering the country’s future with deficits that can never be repaid. He has retained and even bolstered our surveillance state to spy on Americans. He is forcing us to buy into a health care system that will enrich corporations and expand the abuse of our for-profit medical care. He will not stanch unemployment. He will not end our wars. He will not rebuild the nation. He is a tool of the corporate state." -- also posted at AmericanEveryman & DProgram & CommonDreams

The Destruction of the US Empire
Must Read - A quote...." Edward Gibbon described the happiest age of mankind as the period of the “five good emperors” between AD98 and AD180, when Marcus Aurelius died. -- What was America’s Golden Age? -- It is much too soon to write the history of America’s decline and fall. Still, that doesn’t stop us from guessing. -- We would name the period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the fall of Lehman Bros – a period of only 19 years – as the peak of US power and wealth. Of course, Americans were dreaming during those years. The dreams were the usual imperial sort – that the US Empire was such a benefit to the rest of the world that the foreigners would support it indefinitely."

Quietly Building the Totalitarian State in America, With the Full Complicity of the Big Media
Must Read - A quote...."All intelligent political analysts have known since Ancient Greece that the Tyrannical State always arrives on gentle cat's paws, as Plato and others put it a few centuries after the basic strategies and tactics of Building The Secret Tyrannical State had been used so effectively by Peisistratus to build the first full-blown tyranny in Athens [though some objected that Solon's "new deal for all" was a tyranny]. The Tyrant always arrives as the Great Friend of the People promising them new freedoms and a vast cornucopia of free goodies. Peisistratus was lucky enough to have new loads of silver to mint real coins to buy the submission of the masses for a while, expand trade and prosperity. Most states in the modern world use the Miracle Cures of Paper Money and the Central Planning of Finance, as has been done in the U.S. to a stunning extreme by the Fed and the Big Banks working under that vast government umbrella of guaranteed free money for them."

Health Care Deceit - posted at ICH
Must Read - On the health care issue. - A quote...."September 14, 2009 "Information Clearing House" --- The current health care “debate” shows how far gone representative government is in the United States. Members of Congress represent the powerful interest groups that fill their campaign coffers, not the people who vote for them. -- The health care bill is not about health care. It is about protecting and increasing the profits of the insurance companies. The main feature of the health care bill is the “individual mandate,” which requires everyone in America to buy health insurance. Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont), a recipient of millions in contributions over his career from the insurance industry, proposes to impose up to a $3,800 fine on Americans who fail to purchase health insurance." -- also posted at AmericanEveryman & CounterPunch & OhBummer & DProgram

Sick and Wrong - Article also posted at ICH
Must Read - On the health care issue. - A quote...."Let's start with the obvious: America has not only the worst but the dumbest health care system in the developed world. It's become a black leprosy eating away at the American experiment — a bureaucracy so insipid and mean and illogical that even our darkest criminal minds wouldn't be equal to dreaming it up on purpose."

Real ‘Norma Rae’ Dead Of Cancer After BattleWith Health Insurer
On the health care issue - A quote...."The woman whose life inspired the 1979 film Norma Rae has died of cancer after struggling with her health insurance company, which had delayed her treatment."
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More Financial Bubbles Ahead?
Must Read - A quote...."After more then two years of government and Fed intervention in the economy, only banks, Wall Street and insurance companies have been bailed out. The first part of the Stimulus package was unsuccessful, because the funds were not spent, they were used to eliminate debt. We do not think the next stimulus wave will be any more successful. The economy should now move sideways for a year with slight GDP gains and a slowing in job losses. There will be no dramatic changes unless banks start lending in a bigger way or there is another $2 trillion stimulus package."

Reich Joins Those Calling for an End of "Too Big to Fail"
Video - It's a funny video - mpg -  A quote...."Economics professor and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich today joined the growing ranks of top economists calling for an end to the too big to fail concept:"

Stiglitz Says Banking Problems Are Now Bigger Than Pre-Lehman - link posted at ICH
Special Note - Financial Alert - Related Article - A quote...."Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize- winning economist, said the U.S. has failed to fix the underlying problems of its banking system after the credit crunch and the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. -- “In the U.S. and many other countries, the too-big-to-fail banks have become even bigger,” Stiglitz said in an interview today in Paris. “The problems are worse than they were in 2007 before the crisis.” -- also posted at BLN

Treasury Admits Economy is Still in Trouble
Special Note - Financial Alert - Related Article - A quote...."The perma-bulls say that the economic crisis is over. -- But a new report from Treasury entitled “The Next Phase of Government Financial Stabilization and Rehabilitation Policies” indicates that the banks and the financial system will need to remain on life support for the indefinite future:"

Are Foreign Purchases of U.S. Treasury Bonds Being Faked?
Special Note - Financial Alert - Related Article - A quote...."Everyone knows that the American government is gaming the market for treasury bonds to some extent. For example, the government has itself bought some U.S. Treasuries. Some writers, such as Rob Kirby and Ellen Brown, go much further, alleging that Bernanke and the boys have also used hedge funds in the Cayman Islands to secretly buy huge sums of U.S. treasuries using dollars printed by the Federal Reserve, while pretending that independent "Caribbean banks" are doing the buying. See this, this and this. I have no idea whether or not they are right. - also posted at BLN

Wall Street Under Obama: Bigger and Riskier
Special Note - A quote...."After the financial levees broke and the crumbling banks ushered in the economic crisis, angry people clamored for drastic change in the financial system. Obama reflected these feelings well, at times using radical rhetoric to denounce the banking titans. What he promised was deep regulatory change so that such a crisis “would never happen again.” -- Like every other promise of substance, Obama’s pledge to “rein in” the banks has fallen by the wayside; the well-timed rhetoric smoothed over public tensions and now business is back to usual.  The New York Times remarks:" -- also posted at CounterPunch & OhBummer

Happy Anniversary Financial Crisis: It’s Not Over Yet
Special Note - A quote...."The market meltdown that began in September 2007 was a 'slow-motion catastrophe', says finance journalist and author Danny Schechter. - New York, New York: Get out your party hats and strike up the band. We are about to celebrate the second anniversary of the GFC - the Global Financial Crisis. - No doubt the event will be marked by event-driven television programming and on the world's op-ed pages, even though this is a crisis that began long before most of the world found out about it."

US Census Bureau Confirms Rising Poverty, Falling Incomes, and Growing Numbers of Uninsured
Special Note - A quote...."In early September, The US Census Bureau released its new report titled, "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008" (pdf) showing disturbing data that portends much worse ahead under a president and Congress doing nothing to address it."

Shareholders Urged NOT To Protest Genocide
Special Note - Now THIS just sort'a says it ALL, don't it?? - mpg - A quote...."Here's a story I doubt you will hear all about anywhere else...  American Funds is one of the largest families of investment funds ($700 billion), owned by Capital Group Companies, a huge group of investment management companies. There was a shareholder proposal made recently requesting the board to "institute procedures to prevent holding investments in companies that, in the judgment of the board, substantially contribute to genocide or crimes against humanity, the most egrigious violations of human rights."

Revealed: The ghost fleet of the recession
A quote...."The biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history lies at anchor east of Singapore. Never before photographed, it is bigger than the U.S. and British navies combined but has no crew, no cargo and no destination  -  and is why your Christmas stocking may be on the light side this year."

Manpower Employment Outlook Survey: No Respite In Sight
A quote...."When seasonal variations are removed from the data, the results suggest that employers expect a slight decrease in the rate of hiring when compared to Quarter 3 2009. The fourth quarter Net Employment Outlook for the U.S. is considerably weaker than one year ago at this time. "
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Sabah al-Baghdadi – Iraq: Disastrous and Shocking Official Statistics
Must Read - Database - (missed this one - mpg) -- A quote...."The following official governmental statistics, up to December 2008, show the disastrous conditions prevalent in Iraq since the American invasion and occupation of that country. " - also posted at AtheoNews & WarInIraq

Today's Iraq: The Police State That America Built
Related Article - A quote...."The Economist -- the veritable Bible of the Anglo-American Establishment -- paints a grim portrait of the Iraqi regime installed at the point of American guns: a sinkhole of torture, execution, increasing repression and brazen power-grabs."

Afghanistan: 'Necessary' War for Empire
Must Read - A quote...."We've been down this road before. Gen. Stanley McChrystal's recent upbeat assessment that the war in Afghanistan "can still be won" is eerily reminiscent of Gen. William Westmoreland's "light at the end of the tunnel" comments from Vietnam and the early rosy reports from Iraq."

Victims' families tell their stories following Nato airstrike in Afghanistan - Article also posted at ICH
Special Note - A quote...."At first light last Friday, in the Chardarah district of Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan, the villagers gathered around the twisted wreckage of two fuel tankers that had been hit by a Nato airstrike. They picked their way through a heap of almost a hundred charred bodies and mangled limbs which were mixed with ash, mud and the melted plastic of jerry cans, looking for their brothers, sons and cousins. They called out their names but received no answers. By this time, everyone was dead."

Who Was The Afghan Election For: America Or The People Of Afghanistan?
Special Note - A quote...."Immediately following the presidential election in Afghanistan last month U.S. media attention faded, chasing more sellable stories. Despite the fact that we still do not yet know the winner and have sufficient knowledge about the extent of electoral fraud, the concerns of the American public, and most of the world, are drawn elsewhere. The lack of follow-up and interest in what is happening in Afghanistan reflects the reality of the election and what it was ultimately about. Indeed, it reflects the reality of Afghanistan – a place that so many countries claim a strategic interest in, but with little commitment beyond political manipulations and arming and training different groups to further their narrow agendas."

Election commission delays announcement of Afghan election results
More ol'dat US-NRE "freedom and democracy"....anybody else want some?  We got pleanty to spare, come and get it. - mpg -- A quote...."Kabul - Afghan officials on Monday again postponed the announcement of the official results of the August 20 presidential polls, which had been marred by credible accusations of election fraud. The Independent Election Commission canceled a press conference scheduled for Monday evening, where it was to announce final results. No new date was given."

Afghanistan -- like Iraq -- another magnet for corporate malfeasance
A quote...."(WMR) -- WMR has discovered from a private security company source who worked in Afghanistan additional details about RA International, the Dubai-based contractor for whom Terry Pearson, the British contractor who blew the whistle on lewd and homosexual-oriented drunken orgies engaged in by security guards at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, worked until he was forced to resign or face being fired."

Cholera outbreaks in 10 Afghan provinces
Wherever the US-NRE goes....just think of the Native Americans, and the blankets the white people gave to "help" "them poor injuns". - mpg -- A quote...."KABUL : Afghanistan has reported outbreaks of potentially lethal cholera in 10 provinces across the impoverished country, the health ministry said on Sunday. - The ministry "has so far recorded 673 cases countrywide" of the highly-contagious disease in almost a third of the country's 34 provinces, including in the capital Kabul. No deaths have been reported."

Pakistanis Want US Declared ‘Hostile State
Must Read - A quote...."Wherever the Americans go, their policies spread poison. Under the pretext of ‘freedom and democracy’ US policy-makers trample over weaker nations, placing and replacing puppet rulers on a whim and propagandising against all aspirations for true independence. (Stephen Kinzer’s Overthrow [GoglBkSrch]* is a must book to read in this context)." - *links added by website editor

Ex-Intel officer discloses US plans for Pakistan
A quote...."The US seeks to establish new military bases in Pakistan to keep the country destabilized and control its nuclear weapons, says a former head of Pakistan's intelligence service." -- also posted at WarInIraq

ALERT: Blackwater Recruiting Agents Fluent In Urdu & Punjabi For Pakistan
Special Alert - A quote...."Report Suggests Pakistani Envoy In Washington Has Issued 360 Visas To Americans In One Month Without Consulting Islamabad -- Blackwater USA is looking for mercenaries fluent in Urdu, Pakistan's national language, and Punjabi, the language spoken by natives of Pakistan's largest populated province. The US military already deploys officers and commando units manned by people fluent in Pashto, spoken in most of western Pakistan and southern Afghanistan. Keeping in view the denials of the US embassy in Islamabad and the expanding American presence on Pakistani soil, these recruitments are obviously not meant for running call centers. Since Washington has unilaterally decided that Pakistan is now a 'war theater' after Iraq and Afghanistan, it is only natural that American terrorism will also be unleashed in Pakistan. Blackwater is in Pakistan." - bold by website editor

IAEA Conceals Evidence Iran Documents Were Forged
Must Read - A quote...."The International Atomic Energy Agency says its present objective regarding Iran is to try to determine whether the intelligence documents purportedly showing a covert Iranian nuclear weapons program from 2001 to 2003 are authentic or not. The problem, according to its reports, is that Iran refuses to help clarify the issue. -- But the IAEA has refused to acknowledge publicly significant evidence brought to its attention by Iran that the documents were fabricated, and it has made little, if any, effort to test the authenticity of the intelligence documents or to question officials of the governments holding them, IPS has learned."

Ahmadinejad casts doubt on 'nuclear' talks with US
A quote...."Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expresses readiness to negotiate on a wide range of global issues but reiterates that Tehran will not hold talks on its "inalienable [nuclear] rights." - also posted at WarInIraq  -- He means the NPT treaty, you know, one of those “quaint” "Goddamn pieces of paper" the US-NRE likes to rip up in front of everyone’s faces. – mpg
    
IAEA 'bans' attacks on nuclear installations
A quote...."An Iranian proposal prohibiting military attacks against nuclear installations worldwide has been approved by the UN nuclear watchdog's general conference, an Iranian official says." -- also posted at AtheoNews

Lebanon back to political limbo
A quote...."DAMASCUS - Lebanon's prime minister-designate Saad Hariri finally admitted defeat last week after failing to get his proposed cabinet approved following the victory of his March 14 coalition in June's elections."

Venezuela to Develop Phase 12 of Iran's South Pars Gas Field
A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday announced that the country's state-run oil company will explore and exploit phase 12 of Iran's giant South Pars gas field."

Incoming Tokyo government threatens split with US
A quote...."A split is emerging between the United States and Japan over the new Tokyo government's anti-globalisation rhetoric and its threats to end a refueling agreement for US ships in support of the war in Afghanistan."

Russians plan global car empire after GM coup - link posted at ICH
A quote...."Sberbank, the Russian state-owned lender that took a quarter share in GM Europe last week, is to become the financing arm of a new Russian and Eastern European car manufacturing empire. It will be controlled by Oleg Deripaska, the Russian tycoon, and Magna International, the Canadian car parts company."

Medvedev says global dominance is illusion, welcomes criticism
A quote...."YAROSLAVL, September 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that the idea of global dominance must be abandoned in world politics, and more intelligent policies adopted." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Militarizing Latin America
A quote...."The United States was founded as an "infant empire," in George Washington's words. The conquest of the national territory was a grand imperial venture, much like the vast expansion of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. From the earliest days, control over the hemisphere was a critical goal. Ambitions expanded during World War II, as the US displaced Britain and lesser imperial powers. High-level planners concluded that the US should "hold unquestioned power" in a world system including not only the Western hemisphere, but also the former British Empire and the Far East, and later, as much of Eurasia as possible. A primary goal of NATO was to block moves towards European independence, along Gaullist lines."

Venezuela to Develop Nuclear Energy With Russian Help
A quote...."Venezuela President Hugo Chavez said the South American country plans to develop a nuclear energy program with Russia and doesn’t want to build an atomic bomb. - Chavez said that the country’s oil and gas reserves won’t last forever and the government will seek alternative energy sources. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed to help Venezuela’s nuclear energy program during a meeting in Moscow last week, Chavez said."

Chavez: Large gas field found in Venezuela
A quote...."MARACAIBO, Venezuela, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his country could become a major gas producer thanks to the discovery of a large gas field off his country's coast. -- The BBC reported Saturday Chavez confirmed his country made the discovery of an estimated 7 trillion to 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas with the Spanish energy company Repsol."

Obama extends Cuba embargo 1 year
A quote...."President Barack Obama has extended the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba for one year, the White House said in a statement released on Monday."
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The Mysterious Collapse of WTC Seven - Why NIST’s Final 9/11 Report is Unscientific and False
Special Note - A quote...."At 5:21 in the afternoon of 9/11, almost seven hours after the Twin Towers had come down, Building 7 of the World Trade Center also came down. The collapse of this building was from the beginning considered a mystery. [1] --  The same should have been true, to be sure, of the collapse of the Twin Towers. But they had been hit by planes, which had ignited big fires in them, and many people assumed this combination of causes to be sufficient to explain why they came down." -- also posted at AtheoNews

9/11 Family Member Manny Badillo Schools France 24 News - Alt - (France 24 YuTb - 4m27s - 09/13/09)
Must View Video - A quote...."9/11 Family Member Manny Badillo (NYCCAN) schools France 24 News." -- By the way, for more on the CIA's tendency to bring drugs (of any sort) into the US-NRE, look up the history of "Gary Webb"

Bush, Cheney, PNAC, 9/11 & The Criminal Conspiracy To Invade Iraq - (VodPod - 10m45s - Mar 7, 2009)
Must View Video - Regarding the planned assult on Iraq BEFORE 9/11, its excuse 9/11 and Rumsfeld's office of special plans to stove pipe the story to the White House and the mass media. - mpg

911: Reasons Why 9/11 could have been an "Inside Job"
Special Note - A quote...."9/11 was the day steel-framed buildings fell like sandcastles, the law of physics worked in reverse and the United States Air Force went missing in action. So what is the real story? -- Before attempting to identify “nine hundred and eleven reasons why 9/11 was an inside job” (which will start tomorrow as part of an investigative, four-part report), I would like to briefly mention my own “where-were-you-on-9/11-moment” since it has a lot to do with my reasons for rejecting the official version of events that fateful day."

Scientific Poll: Only 29% Of Americans Trust Mainstream Media
A quote...."A new poll by the Pew Research Center has reveled that almost two thirds of Americans do not trust the mainstream media to deliver the truth, marking a 20+ year low. " - bold by website editror

Has Osama Bin Laden been dead for seven years – and are the U.S. and Britain covering it up to continue war on terror?  Special Note - And here's why "only 29% of Americans trust mainstream media" (a.k.a. the presstitutes), the media KEEPS PRETENDING!!  Let's face facts folks, Osama bin long gone, he's dead and buried (or frozen for later re-use)....get over it, this whole shtick is getting really old, it's gone way past its sell-by date (along with Osama), everyone should just stop pretending. - mpg -- A quote...."The last time we heard a squeak from him was on June 3 this year. -- The world’s most notorious terrorist outsmarted America by releasing a menacing message as Air Force One touched down on Saudi Arabian soil at the start of Barack Obama’s first and much vaunted Middle East tour."

NEW INFORMATION Police shooting: Family speaks out
A quote...."WATERLOO — The family of a Waterloo man who was killed by police early Saturday said he was unarmed and had just been shocked by a Taser when he was fatally shot. -- "The cops pulled up and 30 seconds later he was dead," said Keith Shimp, father-in-law of Eric Timothy Rule, 31"

2 GOP-Appointed Judges Shame America
Special Note - A quote...."The federal Appeals Court decision to toss a lawsuit claiming contractors tortured detainees in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison is what you'd expect from a tyranny. -- The new ruling brushes off the charges by 212 Iraqis who said they or their late husbands were abused by U.S. personnel at Abu Ghraib. The suit charged private security firm CACI International Inc., of Arlington, Va., of crimes inside the Baghdad hellhole."

Jailed former congressman James Traficant comes out of prison swinging at AIPAC: "Israel has a powerful stranglehold on the American government" -- Alt - (YouTube - 8 min 59 sec - September 13, 2009) - Special Note  -- A quote...."In an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Traficant said he was the number one target of AIPAC and the U.S. Justice Department. He said that "Israel has a powerful stranglehold on the American government," controlling members of the House and Senate and involving the U.S. in wars in which it has little or no interest. Traficant explains that foreign aid to Israel actually amounts to approximately $15 billion per year, which is about $30,000 per capita annually. He also said he had predicted the economic crash, but people just laughed at him."

91 Former AGs File Brief In Siegelman Case
A quote...."A bipartisan group of 91 former state attorneys general are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal by former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. -- The former Democratic governor is appealing his federal bribery conviction. The former attorneys general, in a brief filed Thursday, said the case raises important free speech issues."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Brazilian Parliament Calls for the Freeze of the Israel - Mercosur Free Trade Agreement - Hip Hip Hooray!!
Special Note - A quote...."The Brazilian Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Relations and National Defense has recommended that the parliament should not ratify the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Mercosur and the State of Israel until “Israel accepts the creation of the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders”. This decision is an explicit act of pressure on Israel to comply with international law, and a rejection of years of incessant Israeli lobbying, pressuring for a vote to ratify the agreement." -- also posted at AtheoNews

Israel must be made to pay for Gaza war
A quote...."The ramifications of Israel's war on Gaza have to be highlighted and addressed by the international community. Israel's leaders should be questioned and held accountable for the atrocities perpetrated during the war. -- Of late, additional reports on the war have been released, all of which highlighted the tragic human civilian cost endured by the Palestinians." - also posted at WarInIraq

Israeli bulldozers ruin farmland in Gaza Strip
A quote...."GAZA, Sept 10 (KUNA) -- The Israeli army executed Thursday an incursion into the Gaza Strip's Al-Magazi camp, bulldozing farmlands owned by Palestinians. -- Palestinian sources told KUNA that bulldozers, the heavy protection of soldiers and air support, began to carry this act aimed at spoiling Palestinians farmlands." -- also posted at WarinIraq

Egypt destroys 10 more Gaza's survival tunnels
A quote...."In another act of tightening the screws on the people of Gaza, Egypt destroys ten more tunnels north of its border town of Rafah used to import vital supplies into the besieged Gaza Strip."

Sabra And Shatila: On massacres, atrocities and holocausts
A quote...."It happened twenty-five years ago – 16 September 1982. A massacre so awful that people who know about it cannot forget it. The photos are gruesome reminders – charred, decapitated, indecently violated corpses, the smell of rotting flesh, still as foul to those who remember it as when they were recoiling from all those years ago. For the victims and the handful of survivors, it was a 36-hour holocaust without mercy. It was deliberate, it was planned and it was overseen. But to this day, the killers have gone unpunished."
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

Honduras Resistance Continues on Streets
A quote...."Tegucigalpa, Sep 14 (Prensa Latina) The Honduran popular forces will go back to the street to demand for the constitutional order broken by last June 28 military coup, confirmed the leaders of the movement."
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Sunday September 13th 2009

No posts. - mpg

Saturday September 12th 2009

Scott Horton Interviews Robert Parry
Must Listen Audio Interview - A quote...."Robert Parry, founder of ConsortiumNews.com, discusses Ronald Reagan’s lip service to torture prohibition and support for atrocities in Central America, the hypocritical critiques of “moral relativism” by amoral neocons, the inheritance of an entire generation of government-worshiping journalists, Islamic fundamentalist blowback from Reagan administration attempts to weaken the USSR and the quid-pro-quo deal that enabled Pakistan to develop nuclear weapons." -- ||  Mp3 here (63min:13sec)  ||

"Make $100,000 dollars a month from the comfort of home!"
Satire - A quote...."Do you dream of living large, with a virtually unlimited supply of easy money at your disposal? If so, your search is finally over!! Say goodbye to endless days of drudgery for pennies when you can start raking in $100,000 dollars a month or more using our easy "al Qaeda™"  franchise system." -- For more on this issue see....US Support of Terror

President Obama extends 9/11 national emergency  The endless "National Emergancy (Dictatorship)" continues.
A quote....."WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- President Obama on Thursday extended the national emergency declared following the September 11, 2001 terrorist [false flag] attacks. -- President Bush first declared the national emergency on September 14, 2001, three days after the terrorist [false flag] attacks which left thousands of people dead in three American cities. The National Emergencies Act requires each national emergency to be ended or continued every year."

The United States of Plutocracy
Special Note - A quote...."September 11, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- Paris, September 7, 2009. The United States has for practical purposes been a plutocracy for some years now. American national elections usually function more or less correctly, except that they have become all but completely dominated by money."

Afghanistan Election Fraud and the High Price of Empire
Special Note - A quote...."It is amusing, if remarkable, that there are still some players in Washington who try to maintain the fantasy that Afghan President Hamid Karzai governs with anything akin to legitimacy. -- Karzai, an alleged oil industry fixer awarded control of his country by occupying powers, has always served with strings attached. -- And the Afghan people have been quite aware of that fact." -- also posted at ICH

Will The Next Dixie Chick Please Stand Up?
A quote...."September 11, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- It's summertime in Houston and the right wing noise machine is cranked up and blasting. These same hacks that lied us into Iraq are lying about healthcare. Where is Natalie Maines when we need her? I'm from Texas and I had never heard of the band, The Dixie Chicks. That is until the lead singer made an anti-war comment and hate radio set out to take them down." -- For more on the Dixie Chicks see...."Not Ready to Make Nice"  (Video) - From the Dixie Chicks
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Torture Case Against Iraq Contractors Is Dismissed
Mr. Reficul loves his "contracters", just wait till they start doing "it" to Americans. - mpg -- Full quote...."A federal appeals court dismissed a 2004 lawsuit against two American military contractors by Iraqi victims of torture, saying the companies had immunity as government contractors. The suit was filed on behalf of Iraqis who say they or their relatives had been tortured or mistreated at Abu Ghraib prison. The plaintiffs sued CACI International, which provided interrogators, and L-3 Communications Holdings’ Titan unit, which provided military interpreters. Lawyers for the plaintiffs had argued that the contractors were not immune because the alleged torture fell outside the scope of the work they had agreed to perform."

One dead, 40 injured in Abu Ghraib prison riots
A quote...."BAGHDAD — One prisoner was killed and 40 others injured in riots in the western Baghdad prison formerly known as Abu Ghraib. Prisoners set fire to Baghdad Central Prison during riots yesterday, the Aswat al Iraq news agency reported, adding that the violence was triggered by a search for mobile phones. "Jail authorities started to take security measures and put out the fire," a media official at the Ministry of Justice was quoted by the agency as saying. "

Afghan war could cost Obama key supporters
Special Note - A quote...."Ignoring the overwhelming Democratic-voter opposition to the Afghanistan war threatens to cost Barack Obama the support of young people and anti-war voters who helped make him president. It could destroy any possibility of achieving his robust domestic agenda as well. President Obama needs an exit strategy instead of an escalation strategy."

The Obama Administration is Actually Increasing the US Presence in Iraq - Endless, isn't it? - mpg
A quote...."US presence in Iraq is actually growing. -- Believe it or not, the U.S. presence in Iraq is growing under the leadership of antiwar president Barack Obama. A recent Washington Post by reporter Walter Pincus explains that when U.S. troops are "withdrawn," their jobs are taken over by......mercenaries -- the notorious "contractors," who are hired for fabulous sums of money to sustain the huge U.S. presence there. -- And there are some really awful aspects of this process, including:...."

Senate Panel OKs $128 Billion For Afghanistan, Iraq Wars
Map - Great info-map of "The World by Military Spending" - mpg -- A quote...."September 11, 2009 "Huffington Post" -- With hardly any debate, a powerful Senate committee Thursday approved President Barack Obama's $128 billion request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the budget year beginning in October."

US wants Iran-Iraq confrontation: Vahidi - Hasn't the US-NRE already "been there, done that"? - mpg
A quote...."TEHRAN — Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Saturday that Washington was aiming to trigger a confrontation between former archfoes turned allies Iran and Iraq. -- "America's final goal is to create confrontation between Iran and Iraq," Vahidi said in reaction to an interview by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in which he urged Washington's Arab allies to strengthen their military capabilities in order to pressure Iran into halting its nuclear programme. -- "We advise US officials not to try to militarise the atmosphere in the region and to change their wrong strategy to make up for past mistakes," Vahidi was quoted as saying by Fars new agency."

Analysis: Iraq's spat with Syria backfiring on PM
Related Article - A quote...."Iraq's prime minister is feeling a backlash over a bitter fight he picked with Syria, which he accuses of harboring Saddam Hussein loyalists suspected in deadly bombings in Baghdad. Critics say he just wants to divert attention from his own government's security failures." -- For more on this issue see Syria's Rufugees
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Victims' families tell their stories following Nato airstrike in Afghanistan
A quote...."At first light last Friday, in the Chardarah district of Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan, the villagers gathered around the twisted wreckage of two fuel tankers that had been hit by a Nato airstrike. They picked their way through a heap of almost a hundred charred bodies and mangled limbs which were mixed with ash, mud and the melted plastic of jerry cans, looking for their brothers, sons and cousins. They called out their names but received no answers. By this time, everyone was dead."

'I told the US to talk to the Taliban. They jailed me'
A quote...."He was the man they called the mullah with a human face, the internet mullah, or the Rudolph Hess of the Taliban. Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil was the Taliban's foreign minister. It was he who in October 2001, a month after 9/11 and weeks before the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, broke ranks with the hardline clerical leadership and tried to broker a peace deal with Washington."

Putin warns against Iran attack
A quote...."Russian PM Vladimir Putin has warned against military action targeting Iran or imposing new sanctions to curb its nuclear programme."

After 30 years, US accepts face-to-face talks with Iran
A quote...."After Iran's lead nuclear negotiator expressed readiness to resume talks over the country's nuclear program and a range of other issues with the West, the Obama administration responds by accepting Tehran's offer to meet face-to-face."

As arrogance falls, Iran, Turkey will emerge
A quote...."Given "the imminent fall of arrogant powers" [Oh, if wishes were fishes. Ahmadinejad should get real - mpg] Middle Eastern countries, especially Iran and Turkey, need to boost ties, says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. -- In a Saturday meeting with the visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, President Ahmadinejad said that "the progress of Iran and Turkey is in the interest of the countries in the region and the world," IRNA reported."  - also posted at WarInIraq
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Hariri resignation sparks fears of instability in divided country
A quote...."BEIRUT: The political void left by Saad Hariri in stepping down as Lebanon’s prime minister-designate has sparked fears of instability in the divided country despite forecasts that he will soon return. Hariri was appointed on June 27 but on Thursday he said his attempts to form a government of national unity had proved fruitless and he accused the Hizbullah-led opposition of blocking his efforts."

Arabs urged to back Lebanon Security Council bid
Special Note - After what Israel did to Lebanon with the US-NRE's acquiescence and while its former Secretary of State, "Calamity Condi" said with a smirk that it was "the birth pangs of a new Middle East" when Lebanon got pounded from the air and carpeted with over three million cluster bomblets, Lebanon should definitely be on the Security Council....so they can protest and defend themselves if they're attacked again. – mpg -- A quote...."BEIRUT: Caretaker Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said on Thursday he has urged Arab countries to back Lebanon in its bid for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council. “I asked them to back and support Lebanon in its nomination for the seat, “ Salloukh said at the Rafik Hariri airport upon his return from Cairo where he took part in the Arab foreign ministers meeting. “The elections will be held next month and all Arabs will vote for Lebanon. "

Despite quiet, Lebanese, Israelis fear conflict
A quote...."Despite one of the quietest periods in decades along the Israel-Lebanon frontier, people on both sides of the border seem to fear that another eruption of violence is only a matter of time."

Jumblatt: Iran arms can defend us against Israel
A quote...."Leader of Lebanon's most powerful Druze clan Walid Jumblatt says Lebanon can turn to Iran to acquire the weapons it needs for protection against its enemies. -- Speaking to Press TV in Beirut on Saturday, Jumblatt said Washington refuses to provide Lebanon with its essential armament, fearing that the weapons could be used against its ally, Israel." - bold by website editor
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Russia's Medvedev arrives on working visit to Turkmenistan
A quote...."TURKMENBASHI, September 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived on Sunday on a working visit to Turkmenistan to discuss energy issues with his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov."

Russia could create consortium to facilitate energy deals in Iraq
A quote...."MOSCOW, September 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russian energy companies could create a consortium to resolve issues hampering their work in Iraq, the Russian energy minister said. -- "I think our companies could create a consortium to facilitate the resolution of the existing problems there," Sergei Shmatko told participants of the Valdai Discussion Club discussions on Saturday, summarizing the results of his recent visit to Iraq."

The EU can prove more useful in cooperation with Russia
Interview - RIA Novosti interviews Alexandre Adler -- A quote...."Alexandre Adler, a well-known French historian and columnist at Le Figaro and France Culture, for the first time participates in the Valdai Club Summit and shares his thoughts on the topics discussed this year."

Chavez says Venezuela to get Russian missiles
A quote...."MOSCOW, September 12 (RIA Novosti) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said that Caracas is to receive Russian short-range missiles. - Chavez was speaking after returning home from a 10-day world tour, including a visit to Russia. - "Soon some little rockets are going to be arriving," he said at the presidential palace. "They can fly 300 kms. And they don't miss their targets." - "We are not going to attack anybody, these are just defence tools, because we are going to defend our country from any threat, wherever it may come from," he went on." -- One wonders (for a nano-second) just who he could be talking about. - mpg

Hugo Chávez arrives on arms ‘shopping spree’
Related Article - A quote...."At a time of renewed tensions between Mr Chávez’s Government and neighbouring Colombia, the firebrand Venezuelan leader is reported to be ready to buy at least 100 T72 and T90 tanks at a cost of up to $500 million (£300 million), which would double his army’s tank force. " -- also posted at DProgram

Cuban Alarcon Calls to Mobilize for The Five
A quote...."Havana, Sep 12 (Prensa Latina) President of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcon called on people worldwide to multiply the mobilization to force the United States to release the five anti-terrorist Cuban fighters held in US prisons."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

NGO Reports on Gaza War Belie Israeli Claims
A quote...."This week, two respected human rights organizations — one Palestinian, one Israeli — each came out with very full reports into the extent of the damage caused by the assault Israel waged against Gaza last winter." - also posted at AtheoNews & AntiWar

Israeli opens fire at Palestinians in Jerusalem, clashes erupt
A quote...."Jerusalem - Ma’an - Clashes erupted after an Israeli man opened fire on gathered Palestinians near the Silwan neighborhood adjacent to the Old City of Jerusalem. Two Palestinians were taken to hospital, one in critical condition. Dozens of others were arrested as Israeli police and border guards mobilized in the area in an attempt to take control of the situation, which erupted into clashes when Israeli forces descended." -- also posted at AtheoNews & WarInIraq

Israel targeting fishermen, farmers in Gaza
A quote...."On 31 August, Israeli gunboats shot at and shelled the fishing trawler of Khaled al-Habil, destroying it completely and leaving the boat's 18 fishermen and their families without a source of income."

My rights, my remedy
A quote...."The occupation looms large over everything in Palestine. Men with guns patrol your neighborhoods, detain your family and neighbors and dictate exactly when you can leave your house. There are days when you can't get to school or go to the beach on your rutted roads, and most of the people you know are poor. You learn before long that the men with guns are Jews -- and the people living in the beautiful homes on the hills behind barbed wire are Jews. The language on your milk carton is Hebrew. Not long after that, you begin to ask why things are the way they are." 

Dividing War Spoils: Israel's Robbery of Palestinian Property
A quote...."While the news headlines were occupied with the freeze or suspension of Jewish settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories or with the competition for positions in the sixth Fateh conference in Bethlehem, Israel is putting into effect the most devastating operation since the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in al Nakba of 1948.  This new operation aims to eliminate irrevocably Palestinian rights and historical roots in Palestine."

Problems Defending Palestinians in Israeli Courts
A quote...."Established in 1992, the Addameer (Arabic for conscience) Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association provides support for Palestinian prisoners and works to end torture, arbitrary arrests and detentions, other forms of abuse, and unjust and unequal treatment in Israel's criminal justice system that handles Jews one way and Palestinians another."
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

Pentagon asks for joint military maneuvers with Honduran coup regime
No doubt in order to maintain "their" coup. - mpg -- A quote...."WASHINGTON - The United States Southern Command asked the Armed Forces of the coup government of Honduras to participate in the maneuvers of the Allied Forces Panamax 2009, although Washington a month earlier had announced its intention to suspend all cooperation military with the Central American country. Honduras appeared in the list of 21 countries that naval exercises will be coordinated by the United States between 11 and 22 September, despite international rejection of the regime of Robert Micheletti referred Telesur."

UN to Cut Off Aid to Honduran Elections
A quote...."United Nations, Sep 12 (Prensa Latina) The United Nations decided to cut off a previously scheduled aid to the electoral process in Honduras, as a new action against the putschists who took over the country in June, Prensa Latina was told Saturday."
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More on the Iranian Election.....

Iran leader issues stern warning to opposition
A quote...."TEHRAN - Iran’s supreme leader told the opposition on Friday they would face a harsh response if they drew their “swords” against the ruling establishment. -- The warning from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered at Friday prayers three months after a disputed poll that led to widespread unrest, was a clear message he would not tolerate any threat to Iran’s clerical system of government." - also posted at WarInIraq
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Democrats pledge more cuts in Medicare to fund Obama’s health care overhaul
On the health care issue - A quote...."Democratic leaders in the House and Senate expressed their support for the Obama administration’s plans for the overhaul of health care, as outlined in the president’s speech Wednesday. The ongoing talks outside of public view center on finding more ways to cut costs through amendments to the existing proposals."

Why Did Health Insurance Stocks Go UP After The President's Speech?
On the health care issue - A quote...."The President gave a speech Wednesday night that was exciting, stirring, and unapologetic in its defense of government activism. He singled insurance companies out for special criticism, gave a convincing argument in favor of the public plan option, and forcefully stated that a health reform bill can and will be passed this year. -- So why did health insurance stock prices go up the next day?"
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Could Wall Street Be Any Less Popular?
A quote...."Since it worked so well the first time around, Wall Street has spawned a new age of securitization – instead of mortgages, this time it’s life insurance policies. Before we spit on this one, here’s how it works:"

Top Economists Say We Must Break Up the Insolvent Banks (Government Says Let's Make Them Bigger)
A quote...."The following top economists and financial experts believe that the economy cannot recover unless the big, insolvent banks are broken up in an orderly fashion:"

Did Greenspan Just Confirm Exeter's Theory of Gold?
A quote...."Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Antal Fekete has argued for years that gold is the ultimate - and only - safe haven when things really hit the fan."

Friday September 11th 2009

“The Washington Post reported on November 15, 2005 that it had obtained documents detailing how executives from major oil corporations, including Exxon-Mobil Corp., Conoco Royal Dutch Shell Oil Corp., and the American subsidiary of British Petroleum met with Energy Task Force participants while they were developing national energy policy. Wiki"

Thursday September 10th 2009

Treason, Betrayal and Deceit: 9/11 and Beyond
Must Read - A quote...."September 10, 2009 "Information Clearing House' -- The attacks on September 11, 2001 have been a defining moment for America. The political and psychological impact on Americans of a concerted and visible attack in America was enormous -- indeed, it is an interesting "coincidence" that the attacks occurred on the one day of the year whose mention reinforces a public sense here of danger and emergency: 9-1-1." -- also posted at OhBummer

Turning 9/11 Realities Upside Down: When the "Big Lie" becomes the "Truth"
Must Read -- Multiple articles regarding 9/11 from Global Research - mpg  -- also posted at Creative-i

Charlie Sheen And 9/11 - [28 Reasons to Have A True Investigation]
Special Note - A quote...."On 8 September 2009, Prison Planet.com has an article entitled: Charlie Sheen Requests Meeting With Obama Over 9/11 Cover-Up (“20 Minutes With The President,” ) -- Among the points Charle Sheen makes:...."

Able Danger and DIA had advanced knowledge of 9/11 - posted at Online Journal
Special Note - A quote...."(WMR) -- A source with close ties to the highest echelons of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) told WMR that personnel who worked for the DIA on the classified counter-terrorism data mining operation known as Able Danger were aware of the planned attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and other major facilities in Washington, DC, on 9/11 but their information was permitted, on purpose, to languish in the intelligence and law enforcement bureaucracies without any proactive measures being taken."

Audio:The Truth behind 9/11 - (Mp3 - aprox 1 hour)
Audio Interview - A quote...."GRNH, David Ray Griffin interviewed by Michel Chossudovsky."

Charlie Sheen Requests Meeting With Obama Over 9/11 Cover-Up
A quote...."Actor and television star Charlie Sheen has publicly requested a meeting with President Barack Obama to urge him to reopen the official investigation into 9/11 in light of the fact that the majority of the 9/11 Commission members have now publicly gone on record to express their conviction that the government agreed to lie about the official story."

Group: NYC initiative for new 9/11 investigation gets legal opening
Action Update - A quote...."New York City Coalition for Accountability Now, a group comprising 9/11 family members, first responders and survivors, said on Thursday that New York City attorneys have conceded that enough valid signatures have been collected for a 9/11 investigation ballot initiative to move forward."

What Role Did the US-Israeli Relationship Play in 9-11?
Special Note - A quote...."With a well-planned provocation, the anticipated response can even become a weapon in the arsenal of the agent provocateur. In response to 9-11, how difficult would it be to foresee that the U.S. would deploy its military to avenge that attack? With fixed intelligence, how difficult would it be to redirect that response to wage a long-planned war in Iraq -- not for U.S. interests but to advance the agenda for Greater Israel? -- The emotionally wrenching component of a provocation plays a key role in the field of game theory war planning where Israel is the authority. With the televised murder of 3,000 Americans, a shared mindset of shock, grief and outrage made it easier for U.S. policy-makers to believe that a known Evil Doer in Iraq was responsible, regardless of the facts." -- Just keep in mind three factions for this little kubaki play folks. The US-NRE, Saudi Royals and Israel....the "true axis of evil", or if you like, the "true un-holy trinity".  - mpg

Israel's 9-11 Gift To Americans
A quote...."Just in time for the anniversary of 9-11, they have created a “movie” Er, make that a “Hasbara Film to Demonize Muslims and instill anti-Muslim hatred and fear. “ Because that is what it is. see here their "gift" to you: -- New Israel Media to offer online stream of the third jihad on anniversary of 9/11 attacks."

Richard Clarke: "A Lot of the Cases After 9/11 Were Manufactured or Enormously Exaggerated and Were Announced with Great Trumpets by the" Government -- A quote...."Many of us have written for years that the evidence against most of those arrested post-9/11 as being "terrorists" was either faked or blown out of all proportion, and that most of the so-called terrorists are either semi-retarded or were enticed by money offered by undercover agents."

The Post–9/11 Roundup of Innocents
A quote...."Many Americans have been lulled into a false sense of security by the end of the George W. Bush administration. In reality, the government continues to pose grave perils to people’s rights and liberties. And it could take only one shocking incident for the government to once again show its heavy-handed ways."
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Ground broken on $3.4 billion Homeland Security complex
A quote...."WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Washington notables broke ground on the future home of the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, symbolically starting construction on the biggest federal building project in the Washington area since the Pentagon 68 years ago." -- Millions of people are going to be kicked out of their homes, but this nation's new Gastapo will have a brand new $3.4 billion home of their own, probably with torture cells in the basement.  Your tax dollars at work folks. - mpg

Michael Moore's smash and grab
Film Review - A quote...."You know this film is going to be subversive when it opens with clips depicting actual bank robbers – caught on security cameras in the midst of their heists – grabbing their loot with Iggy Pop's cover of Louie Louie (a special version for the film) blasting away in the background. Moral equivalence for the titans of the financial industry, and their political protectors, is just around the corner." -- also posted at CommonDreams
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Care Tactics - Samantha Power and the Weaponization of Human Rights
Special Note - You see, little wee Samantha is there to "help" all those poor little Muslims in the Middle East....(roll the eyes, shrug the shoulders, turn away in sadness as millions more die in terror and horror. - mpg) -- A quote...."The blogosphere buzzed. Surely Samantha Power was the paladin, the conscience, the senior director for multilateral affairs to bring human rights back into U.S. foreign policy. -- Don’t count on it. “Human rights,” a term once coterminous with freeing prisoners of conscience and documenting crimes against humanity, has taken on a broader, more conflicted definition. It can now mean helping the Marine Corps formulate counterinsurgency techniques; pounding the drums for air strikes (of a strictly surgical nature, of course); lobbying for troop escalations in various conquered nations—all for noble humanitarian ends."

Bananas in Bananastan
Special Note - A quote...."The long war just got longer, by fiat of Minister of Peace Robert Gates.  In an interview with al Jazeera’s Abderrahim Foukara, Gates said, "both Afghanistan and Pakistan can count on us for the long term."  To paraphrase the punch line to a joke about asylum inmates, we’re freaking nuts and we’re never getting out of there. -- The long warriors have won.  They have their everlasting conflict that will eternally justify the existence of a bloated U.S. military, and they suckered a Democrat into doing it for them. "I do not believe that President Obama would have made the commitment he has made if he did not believe we could achieve our objectives in Afghanistan," Gates told Al Jazeera. "

Senate panel OKs $128 billion for wars
It's sort'a endless isn't it folks?  But let's be honest about this whole thing, many of you eagerly voted for Obama, so you have only yourselves to blame. - mpg -- A quote...."With hardly any debate, a powerful Senate committee Thursday approved President Barack Obama's $128 billion request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the budget year beginning in October."

Eight years after 9/11 Taliban now have a permanent presence in 80% of Afghanistan
Maps - A quote...."LONDON – The Taliban now have a permanent presence in 80% of Afghanistan, up from 72% in November 2008, according to a new map released today by the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS). According to ICOS, another 17% of Afghanistan is seeing 'substantial’ Taliban activity. Taken together, these figures show that the Taliban has a significant presence in virtually all of Afghanistan."

Taliban presence seen across almost all Afghanistan
Related Article - A quote...."SINGAPORE, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The Taliban have a significant presence in almost every corner of Afghanistan, data from a policy think tank showed on Thursday, as the country lurches into political uncertainty after a disputed presidential election."

German Troops in Afghanistan - The Left party trumps with anti-war card in election campaign
A quote...."The only party calling for an end to Germany's engagement in Afghanistan has moved up in recent polls. After a German-ordered airstrike killed scores in Kunduz last week, the Left's view is becoming more popular."

Backlash mounts over journalist rescue in Afghanistan
A quote...."KABUL (AFP) – Criticism mounted Thursday over the dramatic airborne rescue from Taliban territory of a kidnapped Western journalist who walked free as four others, including his Afghan colleague, were killed. -- Negotiators were deep in talks with the Taliban to free New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell and negotiations appeared to be progressing well before British commandos intervened with the rescue operation, a source told AFP.
 - also posted at Yahoo

Pakistan rejects Obama's 'AfPak' strategy
A quote...."Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari rejects his US counterpart's strategy for regional peace which links Pakistan and Afghanistan. -- "Afghanistan and Pakistan are distinctly different countries and cannot be lumped together for any reason," Zardari told The Financial Times in an interview."

Iraq: The oil minister must stop his animus practices against the workers
A quote...."Once again the Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, has issued an arbitrary decision by relocating a number of labour leaders and activists in the oil sector in Basra."

US May Be Sucked Into Yemeni Civil War - Gee whiz, not another one! - mpg
A quote...."As the Yemeni government continues to reject calls for talks to end the conflict in the nation’s Shi’ite dominated north, rising numbers of displaced are creating a humanitarian crisis which and the conflict seems set to be long enough to force Yemen to seek international help." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Lebanese PM-designate Hariri quits
A quote...."Hariri quited after more than 10 weeks of trying to form a unity government with opposition groups including Hezbollah."

Russian report: Netanyahu may be planning attack
War Warning - A quote...."PM's rushed visit to Moscow under cloud of secrecy occupies Russian media. Kommersant paper quotes 'informed Israeli' source as saying 'It can't be ruled out that Israel may be ready to move on to decisive actions with regards to Iran, and Netanyahu decided to inform Kremlin of this' "

Lack of Evidence Over Iran ‘Nukes’ Alarms US
War Warning - Special Note - A quote...."Though there appears to be virtually no evidence that they have any inclination to do so and considerable evidence to suggest they aren’t currently doing so, US Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Glyn Davies is now accusing Iran of desperately trying to retain the ability to hypothetically create a single atomic weapon if they chose to do so at some later date."

New US spy report verifies Iran stance
Related Article - Some quotes...."US spy agencies have recently concluded that Iran has deliberately not taken the critical steps to make a bomb, despite having produced enough nuclear fuel." -- "In the first specific reference to the new NIE findings, US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Glyn Davies ignored the positive aspects of the report and declared on Wednesday that Iran now had what he called a 'possible breakout capacity' if it decided to make a bomb. Davies did not say what he meant by 'breakout capacity', but the official US position is that it would take Iran several years to make the uranium it has enriched -- for nuclear fuel at low levels [3%] -- usable for weapons [about 90%]."

Iranian bank to open branch in Ecuador
A quote...."The Export Development Bank of Iran reportedly plans to open a branch in Ecuador in an effort to increase the country's financial activities in South America. "

China to get 42 new high speed rail services
Also known as "public spending projects" and despite what many Libertarians say, if they're done right, they can be enormously beneficial for a society. - mpg - A quote...."42 new high-speed railway lines will be built in China over the next three years. -- Chinese officials have announced a new rail network, on which trains will be able to run on both high-speed and normal lines."

Former Moldovan president doubtful over new leadership
A quote...."CHISINAU, September 11 (RIA Novosti) - Vladimir Voronin, who resigned as Moldova's leader last week, strongly criticized the incoming leadership in a national address on Friday, accusing them of pursuing personal power agendas. -- Voronin, who leads the Communist Party, served two consecutive four-year terms as president, but was barred by the constitution from seeking a third term. Parliament, now led by a pro-Western coalition, has yet to elect a new leader. -- "I pass the reigns of power in the country to the hands of the new leadership with a heavy heart... I do not believe that politicians who have united themselves only on negative emotions and openly blackening the name of their own country, while seeking divisions of power, are capable of offering society a positive program," he said."

Chavez recognises Georgia regions
A quote...."Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president, has recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two Georgian breakaway regions, as independent states during a visit to Russia."

Nicaragua signs deal on relations with ex-Georgian republic
A quote...."MOSCOW, September 11 (RIA Novosti) - Nicaragua and the former Georgian republic of Abkhazia have signed an agreement on establishing diplomatic relations, Nicaraguan media reported. -- The Central American country recognized the independence of Abkhazia, along with Georgia's other ex-republic, South Ossetia, after last summer's conflict between Russia and Georgia."

Lula: "Brazil will not behave like new money" in spending petroleum income
Full quote...."We will not repeat the mistakes of other countries", because "we know that wealth from petroleum is a double-edged sword" said the Head of State."

Puerto Rican Activist Group (Part 2 of 4 ) the Young Lords 40th Anniversary
Part I - Part II  - Part III - Part IV - (YouTube - aprox 10 min each - August 21, 2009)
Videos - A quote...."This weekend marks the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the revolutionary community organizing group the Young Lords. The group called for self-determination for all Puerto Ricans, community control of institutions and land, freedom for all political prisoners and the withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam, Puerto Rico and other areas. The Young Lords would also play a pivotal role in spreading awareness of Puerto Rican culture and history, leaving a legacy still felt today. We play excerpts of the documentary Palante, Siempre Palante!: The Young Lords and speak to three of the groups original members: Luis Garden Acosta, Mickey Melendez, and Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez." -- For more videos click here, here and here.
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Join the 2009 Olive Harvest Campaign
Action Alert - A quote...."With rapidly escalating levels of settler violence in the West Bank, the International Solidarity Movement is issuing an urgent call for volunteers to participate in the 2009 Olive Harvest Campaign."

Ten Palestinian citizens wounded by Israeli settlers in Yatta
A quote...."AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- A number of savage Israeli settlers protected by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) attacked Thursday a number of Palestinian homes located near Susiya settlement, southeast of Yatta town in Al-Khalil, which led to the injury of ten citizens."

Gaza economy strangled by Israel
A quote...."The accelerated pace of Gaza’s economic asphyxiation since January, when the Bank of Israel cut ties with the tiny enclave, has highlighted the degree to which Israel has engineered the Gaza Strip’s absolute financial dependency on its larger neighbour."

Palestine Photo Essay II
Photo Essay - A quote...."Photo essay by Matthew Miller and Nima Sheth.  See also their photo essay Viva Palestina USA Goes To Gaza."

Colonialist Cuisine. Warning: Does Not Freeze Well (updated)
Cartoon - Quote of the Day -- A quote...."(O)f one thing I am certain: we must try to convince our government and the public that we must stop deluding ourselves about negotiating with the Israelis on a settlement freeze and on the adoption of the Two State Solution.  The Israelis would be quite willing, though grudgingly, to enter into negotiations, endless negotiations, over a “settlement freeze”.  (It’s not something we should be pushing. That’s a sheer diversion.)  The Israelis love “the peace process”. They kept it going for forty years, and they’d gladly keep it going for another forty years. The just don’t want a decent, workable, fair just PEACE. It’s time we stopped playing that game.  It’s futile– and basically dishonest." -- *Landrum Bolling*

Cosmetic boycott against Israel as settlement row deepens in Europe
Action Alert - A quote...."A launch of CODEPINK's Stolen Beauty campaign designed to spread word of Ahava's illegal practices -- its products are falsely labeled as "Made in Israel" but in actuality are made in an illegal settlement in occupied Palestinian territory, and often contain resources appropriated from occupied land, in violation of international law." -- For more on how to boycott Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website - mpg
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

General Strike vs. Honduras Coup
A quote...."Tegucigalpa, Sep 10 (Prensa Latina) The three Honduran trade unions started Thursday a 48-hour general strike in the state sector, demanding the restoration of constitutional order, broken after the June 28 military coup."
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More on the Iranian Election.....

The ‘Axis of Evil’ and the ‘Great Satan’  - posted at Online Journal
Must Read - A quote...."No significant event in Iran can go without repercussions for relations with the West. Almost 30 years after the overthrow of Iran’s autocratic ruler and America’s policeman in the oil-rich Gulf, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the legacy continues to haunt both countries. -- The presidential election of June 2009 has been no exception." -- also posted at MEO & PalestineChron & CounterPunch
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On The Health Care Issue....

Obama Tries On The Uniform
Must Read -- A quote...."September 10, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- Me and Barack, we have one thing in common, I guess. We’re both slow learners. -- Watching his long overdue speech on healthcare tonight, I think maybe it’s a race between the two of us to see who is the pokier. -- Obama seems to be slowly learning that if you’re not willing to call out evil monsters for what they are, then what you’re doing probably isn’t worth a damn. -- And maybe I’m slowing learning that, at the end of the day, Obama doesn’t really care to do anything that’s worth a damn after all." - bold by website editor - "Tonight I saw a guy on my TV screen who was way too little and way too late, but nevertheless looked tougher than we’ve ever seen him in the two years he’s been part of public conscienceness. Unfortunately, in his case, that ain’t actually saying much. Pointing to Obama’s steeliest moments is sorta like identifying something as the smartest thing George W. Bush ever said. Big deal."

Healthy Profits: Corporate Money Moves Tell the True Tale of Obama's "Reforms"
A quote...."Want to know the  true significance of Barack Obama's speech on health care "reform" Wednesday night? Then just follow the money: Insurance Stocks Rise After Obama Speech (Truthdig):

First of All… He Does Lie. Second… You SHOULD have Called Bush a Liar
A quote...."The fake progressive blogosphere is lit up today over the republican lawmaker who had the audacity to yell out “You lie!” during Obama’s speech last night. And that is just as they want it because the Obama/DLC/Clintonista White House certainly appreciates a good distraction when they can get it. But while all the remaining Obamatrolls stew and fester over whether or not someone should be disrespectful to the president, let’s face facts; he DOES lie. And he lies quite often. -- In fact, he lied last night during that speech. A lie so terrible, so disgusting, that ANY “progressive” has to step back and take note."

The real agenda behind Obama’s health care “reform”
A quote...."Major presidential addresses in the United States are generally characterized by a certain political schizophrenia, as the chief executive provides one message for popular consumption and another message to the ruling elite. This was certainly the case with the speech Obama gave Wednesday night on health care."

Obama’s health care speech and the lies of the Nation
A quote...."The Nation magazine, the voice of what passes for “left” liberalism in the United States, has responded to president Obama’s speech on health care with a mixture of lies and gross exaggeration."

What Obama Actually Said About Health Reform
A quote...."President Obama closed his address to the joint session of Congress by scolding those who have raised the absurd charges regarding his health care initiative. It was well timed and diverted attention from fundamental flaws in his proposal. -- This article examines the Obama plan as outlined in his speech. His goals were clear and the speech was well structured. The heart of the address provides the type of information necessary to judge the merits of the plan as presented." -- also posted at OhBummer

Worse Than Nothing
A quote...."My quick take on the policy content of the President's Speech - a horrible entrenchment of the insurance industry that will make them a permanent fixture. -- Yes, they may be forced to stop doing things that should already be illegal, like all the mafia abuses Bob has done such a great job of documenting. In exchange, they get the power and force of the government forcing everyone to be their customer."
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"US is on the slippery slope to economic collapse"
Financial Warning - Must View Video - More from Max -- A quote...."The U.S. dollar-based post WWII phantasmagorical world of never having to pay your debts is coming to a close, states financial journalist Max Kaizer to RT."

How the GOP Pays Off its 'Base' of Elites
Must Read - Charts - Graphs - A quote...."When more and more have less and less to spend, what is an economy to do but shrink? Economists call it 'contraction' but by any term, it results in recession/depression."

Green Shoots and White Lies: The Verbal Pandemic That Saved the Experts
Must Read - A quote...."Hark! Hear the buzz? -- It's the sap of the economy stirring. -- Animal spirits are back on the prowl. -- Just this week, a Schwab analyst argued that the recovery would be much stronger than expected. -- Down in the federal maternity ward you can hear the squall of new life as Team Obama slaps cold flesh and breathes life into clammy infant lips. -- Recovery is abornin'."

A Consumer Economy at a Standstill
Must Read - A quote...."This recovery is wonderful in every way, except the important ones. It is like a shiny new airplane. It has glossy aluminum wings. It has plush seats in the first class section. Trim stewardesses serve drinks. Movies are available on demand in all sections."

If You Think Corporations Run The Government Now…
Charts - A quote...."Then just wait and see what happens after, as expected, the Supreme Court allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on behalf of their favored candidates: " -- also posted at ICH & AmericanEveryman & CommonDreams

The Economy Will Not Recover Until Trust is Restored
Special Note - "A quote...."A 2005 letter in premier scientific journal Nature reviews the research on trust and economics:


“Good Billions After Bad”–One Year After Wall Street Bailout, Pulitzer Winners Barlett and Steele Investigate Where All the Money Went -- A quote...."It’s been exactly one year since the onset of the financial crisis and the passage of the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. But what were the factors in deciding who received bailout funds? And what happened to all the money? The answer to those two simple questions is: We don’t know. In a new article in Vanity Fair, the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative team Donald Barlett and James Steele try to find an answer. The problem is, they write, “once the money left the building, the government lost all track of it.” [includes rush transcript]" -- ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More…  || 

$1.1 Trillion in Toxic Loans: $908 Billion in Interest Only and $198 Billion in Option ARMs. The Zombie Loans that Simply Don’t Die. -- Special Note - A quote...."Two years of a deep and prolonged recession and we still can’t seem to get a hold of the toxic assets plaguing the books of banks.  Much of this comes from the scamming and blood sucking from banks on the taxpayer.  How can $13 trillion in backstops and commitments not resolve the problem?  First, the banking system operates as a crony operation looking to serve its own interest even if it comes at the detriment of the entire economy.  News coming out this week simply reaffirms what we have been saying for the entire year.  The Alt-A and option ARM wave is imploding right on schedule."

What is the Main Cause of Residential Foreclosures?
Special Note - The foreclosure problem in American is not just subprime mortgages. True, banks have been holding on to their foreclosed properties for months, but now they're getting ready to release them onto the market, which could depress prices for existing homeowners, further driving them underwater. But that's not what I'm talking about. -- There are huge tidal waves of defaults on option arm, alt-a, and other types of loans coming (see this and this)."

Slump May Have Swollen Ranks of U.S. Uninsured to 50 Million
A quote...."Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The number of people in the U.S. lacking health insurance may have grown as much as 9 percent to 50 million people last year, adding fuel to President Barack Obama’s push for overhauling the system. "

Number of poor in US climbs to 39.8 mln: Census Bureau
A quote...."Nearly 40 million people lived in poverty in the United States last year as the recession forced the first significant rise in the US poverty rate in five years, the US Census Bureau said in a report Thursday."

US trade deficit widens
Special Note - (And this is how NOT to do "public spending projects - mpg) -- A quote...."The US trade deficit has widened due to an increase of imported items, including thousands of foreign-made cars sold under the Obama administration’s "cash for clunkers" scheme. -- The trade gap grew 16.3 per cent in July to $32bn, the largest month-to-month increase since February 1999, the US commerce department said on Thursday." - bold by website editor - Haaaa haaa haaaa, you're killing me folks, I'm rolling on the ground here, it's just too funny..... mpg

Derivatives Collapse and the China Gold and Silver Markets
A quote...."In 2009, China opened up various exchanges for investment in both gold and silver to the Chinese public, which previously was not allowed to invest in gold and silver. The opening of silver exchanges to the Chinese public is the most recent development and was accompanied by a ban on silver exports." -- bold by website editor

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091009-091609 - links page

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