mpgrap-110508-111108

The Election: It Had to Be this Way
Must Read - A quote...."November 07, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" -- The Democrats winning Congress and the White House just had to happen. If we are ever going to change this country from an empire to a representative democracy, we have to rid ourselves of the notion that one corporate political party can do anything toward that goal. Barack Obama will be the catalyst for a new movement, away from false hope and false promises, not because he will deliver to the people of this country anything worthwhile, but because he won’t. This will be the final nail in the coffin of our corporatist society."

The same old with Powell, Rice, and Obama, or real change with Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich? Maybe we should ask Ralph Nader - Must Read -- A quote...."I’m not sure when exactly I became color blind, it was years ago. I believe it occurred during my time at the University of Waterloo where I had the good fortunes of interacting with people from around the world, many of whom were from Africa. The only major difference that I noted between blacks and every other race was that when we played soccer, almost everyone that was from Africa wore gloves and extra clothing so that they could stay warm. -- I mention this because there seems to be a global misconception that the United States is entering a political utopia now that Barack Obama has become President-elect. Unfortunately I believe most of this unfounded faith is based on Obama’s ancestry. -- I just wanted to point out that two of the most powerful black Americans that have recently served in the United States government, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, are considered to be war criminals."

Hail to the Chief of Staff
Special Note - A quote...."The first trumpet blast of change ushers in Rahm Emanuel as Obama’s chief of staff and gate keeper. This is the man who arranges his schedule, staffs out the agenda, includes, excludes. It’s certainly as sinister an appointment as, say, Carter’s installation of arch cold-warrior Zbigniev Brzezinski as his National Security Advisor at the dawn of his “change is here” administration in 1977. -- Emanuel, as Ralph Nader points out in my interview with him below, represents the worst of the Clinton years. His profile as regards Israel is explored well on this site by lawyer John Whitbeck. He’s a former Israeli citizen, who volunteered to serve in Israel in 1991 and who made brisk millions in Wall Street. He is a super-Likudnik hawk, whose father was in the fascist Irgun in the late Forties, responsible for cold-blooded massacres of Palestinians."

How to Treat a President Elect
A quote...." Hint: it's different from a king."

How About Some Real Change in Foreign Policy?
A quote...."The worldwide outpouring of support for Barack Obama brings to mind the worldwide outpouring of support for the American people after 9/11. That post-9/11 support didn’t last for long. It disappeared with George W. Bush’s war on terrorism, invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, torture and sex abuse of detainees, kidnappings and renditions, attacks on civil liberties, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, spying on Americans, indefinite detentions, criminal and civil immunity for criminal acts, and all the rest."

When Are You Going to Rise Up and Take What’s Yours?
Videos - Some fun videos. - mpg

U.S., Allies, Torture Kids in Iraqi Prisons
A quote...."Since it invaded Iraq in 2003, the U.S. has detained thousands of juveniles---some of whom were tortured and sexually abused, according to published reports. Figures of the number of children behind bars vary. Some estimates put the number as high as 6,000. -- While the criminal abuse of male prisoners at Abu Ghraib is well known, child and women prisoners held there have also been tortured and raped, according to Neil Mackay of Glasgow’s “Sunday Herald.” Abu Ghraib prison is located about 20 miles west of Baghdad."

Shiite Clerics Condemn Draft Security Agreement
A quote...."It is not surprising that Sadrist preachers condemned the proposed security pact between the al-Maliki government and the Bush administration in their Friday prayers sermons. It is much more significant that Sadr al-Din al-Qubanji of Najaf thundered against it. He represents the views of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, led by cleric Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. If ISCI opposes the agreement, it has no chance whatever of passing through parliament. I think the AFP article linked above is wrong to speculate that Sunni Arabs are reluctant to see the US go because they fear Shiite and Iranian hegemony in the aftermath. Some may feel that way; I think they are a minority. The last polling I saw put it at 9% of Sunnis who wanted the US to stick around. As reported last week, VP Tariq al-Hashimi, head of the Sunni fundamentalist Iraqi Islamic Party, has called for a national referendum on the security agreement. I read that call as hostility on his part toward it, since it likely could not pass a national vote." -- *Juan Cole*

Egypt arrests 25 Muslim Brotherhood members
A quote...."CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian police have arrested 25 Muslim Brotherhood members at a meeting in the Nile Delta, the Islamists and a security official said on Saturday. The official said that "more than 20" Brothers were arrested at a member's home on Friday evening at Faous in the eastern Nile Delta. The Brotherhood website said that 25 of its members were detained. The website said security forces swooped on a meeting being held by Brotherhood MP Farid Ismail as the deputy began to speak. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group, is formally banned but fielded independent candidates in 2005 elections, winning a fifth of the seats in parliament."

Jewish settlers beat up Palestinian boy near Hebron
A quote...."HEBRON, West Bank (AFP) – Jewish settlers on Saturday beat up a six-year-old Palestinian boy near the West Bank town of Hebron, and he was taken to hospital suffering from moderate head wounds, medics said."

Israel demolishes homes for 'City of David' heritage site
A quote...."Israel has been accused of demolishing Palestinian houses in Arab East Jerusalem while international attention was focused on the election of Barack Obama. -- Palestinian leaders and Israeli human rights organisations have said Israeli authorities displaced more than 20 people – mostly children – by demolishing three homes in the Silwan district of Jerusalem to make way for an archaeological park." -- For more on this issue see article shown below....

Travesty of Tolerance on Display in Jerusalem - Museum lays waste to ancient Muslim cemetery
A quote...."Israel seems to have little time for the irony that a modern Jewish shrine to "coexistence and tolerance" is being built on the graves of the city's Muslim forefathers. - The Israeli Supreme Court's approval last week of the building of a Jewish Museum of Tolerance over an ancient Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem is the latest in a series of legal and physical assaults on Islamic holy places since Israel's founding in 1948." -- Reminds this website editor of a scene from the movie "Schindler's List" wherein the commandant of the Krakow concentration camp, Amon Göth, is motivating his troops by describing the "end of history" for the Jews in Poland while he's walking back and forth on the camp's newly paved road....paved with the headstones from a nearby Jewish cemetery. - mpg -- Posted 11-05-08

'Hamas is ready for dialogue with Obama' - It'll be a cold day in Hell before that happens. - mpg
A quote...."Hamas' senior political leader Khaled Mashaal says his movement is ready to hold talks with US President-elect Barack Obama."

'Washington still threat to Caracas'
A quote...." A top Venezuelan general says the United States is still a threat to his country although Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election. "The interests of the United States will always be the same. Obama will be able to manipulate some foreign policy, but in essence the goals and intentions of North America will stay the same: to dominate the world," said Operations Command chief General Jesus Gonzalez."

Russia, Venezuela sign deals on joint bank, aluminum plant
A quote...."CARACAS, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Venezuela have signed a memorandum on setting up a joint development bank with starting capital of $4 million."

Russia, Belarus and Ukraine offer arms to Qaddafi
A quote...."MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Andrei Murtazin) - Russia is unlikely to get what it wants from Libya. - Before Muammar Qaddafi came to Moscow, analysts thought he would sign military contracts worth between $2 billion and $4.5 billion with Russia. However, while the Kremlin staff was busy searching for a place to build a Bedouin tent for Qaddafi, the "son of the desert" was thinking about his bargaining tactic in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine."

Russia to open military bases in Abkhazia, S.Ossetia
A quote...."MOSCOW November 7, 2008 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will open military bases in two Georgian breakaway republics, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in 2009, a source in the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.Georgia -- The source said the ministry plans to open one base in Gudauta, in the west of Abkhazia, and another in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia."
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Italian PM: truth of S. Ossetia conflict must emerge
Full quote...."MOSCOW November 6, 2008 (RIA Novosti) - The international community should be told the truth about the August war between Georgia and Russia over Tbilisi's breakaway republic of SouthSilvio Berlusconi Ossetia, the Italian premier said on Thursday." -- "Berlusconi, one of the few western leaders who said that Russia's actions at that time were a response to Georgia's aggression, said Rome's position on the conflict in South Ossetia was solely based on facts. "It turned out that we were able to find them [the facts] out, and I believe that this knowledge should help the international community to understand and overcome the international disinformation," the Italian premier said."

Georgia fired first shot, say UK monitors
A quote..."Two former British military officers are expected to give crucial evidence against Georgia when an international inquiry is convened to establish who started the country’s bloody five-day war with Russia in August."

A Damning Admission on the Georgian War
A quote...."The New York Times on Friday carried a front-page article headlined “Accounts Undercut Claims by Georgia on Russia War.” The article cited a report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a multinational association of 56 member states whose monitors were in Georgia when the fighting broke out, which demolishes the official US account of the August 2008 Russian-Georgian war, according to which the war was an act of Russian aggression."

For more regarding the three articles shown above see....American Selective Attention Deficit Disorder (ASADD) - 08-16-08 - mpg
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Details Emerge on new WTC Collapse Videos - More on that WTC7 video from Alex Jones. - mpg
A quote...."A source connected to the previously unreleased footage of the collapse of WTC1 and WTC7 which suddenly appeared on internet video-sharing site Veoh.com last weekend has revealed details about the footage to The Corbett Report." -- For more on this issue see....9/11 - WTC7

Experts confounded: Turnout higher in Ohio in 2004 Exactly WHAT is going on with this country's election system?
Vote Watch 2008 - Special Note -- A quote...."Despite a record number of registered voters this year, intense interest in the presidential election and the historic outcome, Ohio's voter turnout was lower Tuesday than in 2004, unofficial statistics show. -- Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is reporting 67 percent turnout, compared with 72 percent in 2004. She had been predicting 80 percent turnout this time." -- "....overall turnout still is expected to be lower than in 2004, leaving experts at a loss to explain it -- especially because the number of registered voters increased by 319,000 from four years ago." - bold by website editor

High Court May Consider Legality of Detention
A quote...."Marri's attorneys say such detention power is unconstitutional and dangerous, raising the possibility that the government could one day snatch anyone off the street, even a political opponent, and lock him up without a trial. A prominent group of former judges and Justice Departmentlawyers, along with retired military officers, filed briefs backing Marri's position. They include Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, who led the Army's first official investigation into abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq."

Feds and Telcos Defend Spy Amnesty to Court
A quote...."At issue is the recently enacted "telecom immunity" power which the Bush administration is trying to use to wipe out dozens of anti-spying lawsuits targeting AT&T, Verizon and Spring. The suits accuse the companies of violating federal privacy law when they allegedly secretly helped the government snoop into on Americans' phone calls, phone records and emails."

ACLU wants probe into police-staged DNC protest
Agent Provocateur Alert - A quote...."When a Jefferson County deputy unleashed pepper spray at unruly protesters on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, he did not know that his targets were undercover Denver police officers. -- Now the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado is questioning whether that staged confrontation by police pretending to be violent inflamed other protesters or officers during the most intense night of the four-day event."
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Editorial: Why the GM/Cerberus/Chrysler Bailout is bad for taxpayers
A quote...."[The following analysis was sent to TTAC by a New York City bankruptcy lawyer who wishes to remain anonymous. It's twice as long as our usual editorial, but I think you'll find it's well worth your time. Thanks to you-know-who-you-are.] Cerberus Capital, a highly secretive NYC-based vulture investment fund, wants the U.S. government and taxpayers to bailout its failed investment in Chrysler and its failing investment in GMAC." -- Also posted at ICH -- Why we should NEVER bail out GM, see articles and videos shown below. - mpg

Despite GM's Staggering Losses, CEO Still Rakes In Millions
A quote...."It's difficult to imagine a more poorly run corporation than General Motors these days. The company reported a $2.5 billion loss in the third quarter and warned that it could run out of cash in 2009. GM's share price is down 78 percent this year." -- For more on this issue see....Who Killed the Electric Car? - video - FutureCrusH - (Google Video - 32 min - Oct 6, 2005) - video Who Killed the Electric Car? - (Gogle Video Trailer - 2 min - May 16, 2006)

The Black Hole Gets Bigger: AIG Back for Yet Another Bailout
A quote...."The Financial Times reports that AIG is up to its old tricks, back again to the trough for more money. Christmas The Iceland credit default swaps settlement is coming soon, you know. The worst is that AIG is pretending to act as if this is a negotiation as opposed to extortion. Get a load of this crap:"

"AIG’s executives were on Friday night locked in negotiations with the authorities over a plan that could involve a debt-for-equity swap and the government’s purchase of troubled mortgage-backed securities from the insurer."

AIG execs at posh Phoenix resort after $85 billion bailout - While at the exact same moment they're haveing fun.
A quote...."08 Nov 2008 The 2008 Asset Management Conference held this week at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix included many senior managers at American International Group, or AIG--recipients in September of more than $85 billion from the federal government. AIG made significant efforts to disguise the conference, making sure there were no AIG logos or signs anywhere on the property. An AIG spokesperson said there were no AIG markers in order to minimize signage costs and to lower the company's profile. A hotel employee told ABC15, "We can't even say the word [AIG]." The ABC15 Investigators went undercover at the resort and found AIG executives having poolside meetings while drinking coffee and working out at the spa while other attendees were in conference rooms for seminars. We also watched as half a dozen of the executives went to dinner at McCormick & Schmick's at the Camelback Esplanade, racking up a bill of more than $400 for drinks, appetizers, and meals." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG -- For more on this issue see....Having Fun With Your Tax Dollars

Taxpayers may pay legal bills for mortgage execs
So if the government sues them for malfeasance, it'll have to pay for their lawyers....isn't that just wonderful? - mpg -- A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) — When the government took over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers inherited more than just bad debts. They're also potentially on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in legal fees for the executives at the center of the housing market's collapse."

Berkshire Hathaway Profit Falls 77% on Investments, Insurance
Well, that's what happens when you switch from being a "value investor" to being a "well connected" investor. Perhaps Mr. Buffet should go back to the fundamentals. - mpg -- A quote...."Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted a fourth straight profit drop, the longest streak of quarterly declines in more than a decade, as hurricanes hurt returns at insurance operations and investments lost value."