Tuesday December 2nd 2008

The Mumbia Attack - 8 Articles - Tuesday - [ Day 7 ] ========== ========== ========== ==

Mumbai Attacks: Piecing Together the Story
Must Read - A quote...."December 1, 2008. -- There is a torrent of information and analysis on the recent attacks in Mumbai, but much of the story is nowhere to be seen in the American mainstream media. Here's a guide to what you might have missed:" -- also posted at ICH

PJB: Will the Terrorists Succeed Again?
Must Read - A quote...."December 2, 2008 -- Arguably the most successful act of revolutionary terror was the June 1914 assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo. - Believing his mission to murder the heir to the Austrian throne had failed, Gavrilo Princip suddenly found himself standing a few feet away from the royal car. He fired twice, mortally wounding the archduke and his wife. - Tactically, that act of terror eliminated the reformist Ferdinand, who meant to address the grievances of his Slav subjects by granting them greater autonomy and equality with Austrians and Hungarians inside the empire. - Strategically, the assassination succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of its Black Hand plotters." -- also posted at ICH

The Meaning of Mumbai South Asia, the new arena
Must Read - A quote...."December 3, 2008  -- The Mumbai massacre comes at a time when the U.S. is about to switch battlefields in its avowedly "generational" war on terrorism, from the Middle East to South Asia. As we move our forces eastward into Afghanistan and, inevitably, Pakistan, the events in Mumbai light up the geopolitical landscape like lightning at midnight, prefiguring a new and even bigger quagmire than the one we're supposedly leaving behind in Iraq. Forget the differences between Sunnis and Shi'ites. That's so yesterday. What we're dealing with now, in the Pakistani-Indian rivalry, is a true war of civilizations, pitting Muslims against Hindus."

Mumbai attacks more complicated than corporate press reports
Special Note - A quote...."(WMR) -- As first reported by WMR while the corporate press was uttering the “Al Qaeda” bogeyman as likely behind the terror attacks on Mumbai, the Press Trust of India (PTI) is now confirming WMR’s initial report that Pakistan- and Dubai-based criminal syndicate boss Dawood Ibrahim’s gangsters handed over the weapons and explosive material to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) terrorists to carry out the assault on targets in Mumbai."

Pak TV channel says 26/11 hatched by Hindu Zionists
A quote...."2 Dec 2008, 2216 hrs IST -- NEW DELHI: Mumbai's 26/11 was actually a plan hatched by "Hindu Zionists" and "Western Zionists", including the Mossad, said a self-styled Pakistan security expert on a Pakistan news television show,"

Mumbai Muslims Castigate Attackers as Criminals; Footage of Capture of Ajmal
Contains Videos - A quote...."Wednesday, December 03, 2008 -- Aljazeera English has more on the Indian Muslim Council Trust's request that the attackers of Mumbai not be buried in the city's Muslim cemetery."

India says no question of military action over Mumbai
A quote...."Dec 02, 2008 03:01 EST -- NEW DELHI, Dec 2 (Reuters) - India said on Tuesday it was not considering military action in response to Islamist [they are NOT Islamists, they just call themselves that] militant attacks in Mumbai that killed at least 183 people."

Pakistan Sees Internal Rapprochement as India Tensions Linger
A quote...."Posted December 2, 2008  -- Both India and Pakistan seem to be making some effort to curb what in the first days after last week’s Mumbai attacks seemed a growing risk of war. Both sides have continued to assert that their nations’ respective militaries are prepared to defend themselves, but fortunately neither side seems eager to push the tensions past the point of no return."

End - The Mumbia Attack - 8 Articles - Tuesday - [ Day 7 ] ========== ========== ========== ==

Clinging to the Wreckage (I): Murder, Inc. -- The Continuing Obscenity of U.S. Foreign Policy
Must Read - A quote...."Barack Obama repeatedly insists that the greatest task before us, the task to which he tells us again and again he himself is fully committed and to which he asks all of us to dedicate ourselves as well, is "change." To change a policy of any significance requires that one first identify honestly and in detail the nature of the policy one wishes to alter. As is true of every other national politician of prominence, Obama resolutely refuses to name the actual nature and meaning of U.S. foreign policy today and for the last several decades."

Boy, Am I Ever Glad to Have Voted for Cynthia McKinney!
A quote...."To all the wounded bloggers, Obama campaign activists, dyed in the wool progressives, and lesser evilism voters out there, who have been firmly and resolutely betrayed by a good deal of what Barack Obama had campaigned on; I’m sorry for all you folks (you’re going to have to get used to living with a lot of blood on your hands!). I don’t have a mind sick enough to have imagined what Barack Obama would do, just in the days leading up to even before he will officially take on the role of the 44th President! Who would have known the wasted vote would be the vote for Barack Obama, and not the vote for the far superior candidates (McKinney and Nader, even conservatives like Ron Paul and Chuck Baldwin raised far weightier and more consequential issues than Barack Obama did, during the campaign season), who had no real chance of winning; and were marginalized and ridiculed by a corrupt, consolidated, anti-American, and anti-democratic ‘mainstream’ corporate (or corporatist) media."

Barack Obama's kettle of hawks
A quote...."Barack Obama has assembled a team of rivals to implement his foreign policy. But while pundits and journalists speculate endlessly on the potential for drama with Hillary Clinton at the state department and Bill Clinton's network of shady funders, the real rivalry that will play out goes virtually unmentioned. The main battles will not be between Obama's staff, but rather against those who actually want a change in US foreign policy, not just a staff change in the war room." -- also posted at ICH & CommonDreams & CounterPunch

Obama v. King, on War and Peace
A quote...."Can we successfully fight for social and economic justice in the United States while simultaneously escalating a war in Asia? Barack Obama says we can. But 41 years ago, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. warned against doing exactly that."

Perhaps the Obamatrolls just don't get it yet so this website editor will make it as abundantly clear as possible to them. The continuous quest for the New Roman Empire by this nation's DemoRepubs will kill ANY chance of ever achieving a just, free, fair and peaceful society....period.  Anyone who supports Obama’s position on the continuation of the New Roman Empire should simply state that they desire to make everyone’s lives in this nation nasty, brutish, and short.  That they support high taxes, a warfare state, and little freedom, it would be the honest and truthful thing to do.-- mpg
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Robert Fisk: 'Nobody supports the Taliban, but people hate the government'
A quote...."The collapse of Afghanistan is closer than the world believes. Kandahar is in Taliban hands – all but a square mile at the centre of the city – and the first Taliban checkpoints are scarcely 15 miles from Kabul. Hamid Karzai's deeply corrupted government is almost as powerless as the Iraqi cabinet in Baghdad's "Green Zone"; lorry drivers in the country now carry business permits issued by the Taliban which operate their own courts in remote areas of the country."

U.S. soldiers charged for abusing Afghans
A quote...."KABUL (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan have been charged with the abuse of Afghan detainees, the U.S. military said on Tuesday."

Songs for the Mahdi Army
A quote...."One day in Iraq, a friend picked me up from the house in Baghdad's Mansur district and took me to the Shaab district of east Baghdad. We drove past checkpoints manned by "Awakening" militias created by the Americans to counteract the Shiite-led Mahdi Army militia. My friend, a Shiite himself from Shaab, put a tape in the cassette player. "Now we are the Mahdi Army," my friend laughed, as the singing started. The songs praised populist anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the Iraqi militia loyal to him, which frequently blew up or kidnapped Americans and other foreigners." -- also posted at CommonDreams

Maliki and Bush: Conflicting priorities
Special Note - A quote...."Faced with monumental political pressures and historic moral and patriotic responsibilities, the Prime Minister of Iraqi, Nuri al-Maliki, remarkably was able to derail and delay, for more than nine months, the approval of the security and military pact with Washington. President Bush considers the pact, in its original form, a milestone for his success in subduing the Iraqi people and ensuring the mortgaging to Washington of Iraqi political will and natural resources for years to come."

De Facto Junta?
Special Note - A quote...."One might think the book is closed on the matter of U.S. occupation of Iraq, but no. Admiral Mullen says it's "theoretically possible" to change the agreement. "Three years is a long time," he says, and we will "continue to have discussions with them [the Iraqis] over time as conditions continue to evolve." In July, Mullen said that a deadline for a U.S. withdrawal would be "dangerous." Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has been asked to hang around for a year or so into the Obama regime, objected to the 16-month plan during the presidential campaign, and incoming National Security Adviser James L. Jones, a retired Marine four-star, said in 2007 that a deadline for our withdrawal from Iraq would be "against our national interest." -- What do they call it again, when a country is run by its military?"

How Many Americans Died Because of Bush’s Torture Program?
A quote...."According to a special operations intelligence officer, the answer is a number north of three thousand–not counting the tens of thousands maimed or seriously wounded, the destruction of the nation’s reputation as a moral leader, or the damage done to our Constitution. In a stunning op-ed published in Sunday’s Washington Post, a special operations intelligence officer details his direct experience with torture practices put into effect in Iraq in 2006—long after the Pentagon had forsworn them, but while Donald Rumsfeld was still running the shop." -- also posted at ICH

New York Times Misleads on Taliban Role in Opium Trade
A quote...."The New York Times reported this week that the Taliban have cut back on poppy cultivation and is stockpiling opium, grossly overstating the group’s role in the Afghanistan drug trade." -- Keep in mind folks, the "dreaded" Taliban had almost stamped out the opium trade ....before the US-NRE got there.... after which.... as usual.... "somehow" ....Afghanistan became the world's leader in opium production. - mpg

Media Still Letting Bush Lie on Iraq Inspectors - ABC, WaPo fail to challenge president's misinformation- art. @ FAIR
A quote...."In a December 1 interview with ABC anchor Charles Gibson, George W. Bush gave a grossly erroneous history of the run-up to the Iraq War--a false version of events that Gibson failed to challenge and the Washington Post glossed over the following day."

Nobody’s Ever Gone Wrong Invading Somalia
A quote...."It’s easy to miss the fact that Bill Kristol has, somewhat at random, targeted Somalia for an invigorating little naval bombardment and perhaps invasion in a column mostly centered on a proposal to award torturers the Order of Lenin Medal of Freedom on the explicit basis of their job well done torturing, the better to galvanize public enthusiasm for continuing the Bush administration’s seven-and-a-half-year globe-spanning wave of crimes against humanity and the Constitution. But there you have it:"

Somalia: Another CIA-Backed Coup Blows Up
A quote...."December 02, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" --- Up until a month ago, no one in the Bush administration showed the least bit of interest in the incidents of piracy off the coast of Somalia. Now that's all changed and there's talk of sending in the Navy to patrol the waters off the Horn of Africa and clean up the pirates hideouts. Why the sudden about-face? Could it have something to do with the fact that the Ethiopian army is planning to withdrawal all of its troops from Mogadishu by the end of the year, thus, ending the failed two year US-backed occupation of Somalia?"

Iran builds reactors with native expertise
A quote...."An official in the Iranian nuclear organization says the country has acquired necessary native knowledge for building nuclear reactors."

Iran designs stealth aircraft
A quote...."Iran has announced it has designed a radar-evading, or ‘stealth’, aircraft capable of taking out high-value targets without being detected by hostile radar systems, Press TV reports."

Iran holds naval war games in strategic waterway
A quote...."TEHRAN, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Iran said it began six days of naval war games on Tuesday in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic transport route for global oil supplies which the Islamic Republic has threatened to close if it is attacked.

A peace process that makes peace impossible
A quote...."Palestinian-Israeli peace-making can only deliver if Palestinians are united, but the current Annapolis “peace process” was launched first of all as a blueprint for perpetuating the inter- Palestinian divide." -- For more on this issue see....US Sponsored Civil Wars - Palestine

Dozens hurt as Hebron settlers, Palestinians clash
A quote...."HEBRON, West Bank (AP) - Israeli settlers and Palestinians hurled stones at each other Tuesday near a disputed home in this West Bank city, injuring two dozen people, including a Jewish teenager with a serious head wound, medics and Israeli officials said."

Venezuela Proposes New Regional Currency During ALBA Summit - To be known as the Latero?
Special Note - This is the absolute correct way to go, if Latin and Central America (along with the rest of the world) do not de-couple from the US dollar they will continue to experience unending poverty, economic upheavals and political strife. - mpg -- A quote...."Caracas, November 28th, 2008 (Venezuelanalysis.com) -- In a speech at the III Extraordinary Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) in Caracas on Wednesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez proposed the creation of a regional monetary bloc with its own currency to break the hegemony of the U.S. dollar and U.S.-dominated international financial institutions."

Brazil to sell 100 missiles to Pakistan
A quote...."BRAZILIAN authorities gave approval for the sale of 100 missiles to Pakistan which can be used in air-to-surface attacks on radar tracking instalations, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said."

Thousands Of Ex-Paramilitaries Active In Colombia - Study
A quote...."BOGOTA (AFP)--More than 10,000 demobilized paramilitary fighters are currently active in gangs working for Colombian drug lords, according to a study out Monday."

Nicaragua: Venezuela has offered to replace U.S. aid
A quote...."MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — President Daniel Ortega says Venezuela has offered Nicaragua $100 million in aid if the U.S. and European Union cut off funding over disputed elections. -- Ortega says his leftist ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made the offer last week "without blackmail, without conditions of any sort."

Over US Objections, NATO Resumes Contacts with Russia
A quote...."NATO foreign ministers led by Germany managed to forestall fast-track membership for Georgia and Ukraine, and likewise reached an agreement to resume limited ties with Russia. The move was described as “conditional and graduated re-engagement” by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer."

Iceland offers Russia an abandoned NATO airbase - Say WHAT! - mpg
A quote...."The president of Iceland has offered Russia the use of an abandoned NATO airbase. The Russians declined, partly because the president of Iceland does not have the authority to make such a deal. What is happening here is that, at the moment, Iceland is unhappy with their NATO allies. Partly this is the result of the global recession hitting Iceland particularly hard.
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Spain 'authorised' CIA rendition flights
A quote...."An investigation has been launched after it emerged that the former conservative government of Jose Maria Aznar allowed controversial CIA flights to land on Spanish soil."

The Government's Argument for Deploying Troops in the U.S. is Ridiculous - Even On Its Own Terms
A quote...."Everyone knows that deploying 20,000 troops on U.S. soil violates Posse Comitatus and the Constitution. -- And everyone understands that staging troops within the U.S. to "help out with civil unrest and crowd control" increases the danger of overt martial law. -- But no one is asking an obvious question: Does the government's own excuse for deploying the troops make any sense?"

Maryland Police Play Spies--And Look Like Fools
A quote...." For years, the Maryland State Police, eager to play anti-terrorist surveillance agents just like the big boys on TV, spied on suburban peace activists who may have been loud, but never posed the slightest threat to the nation or the state. -- So what did Maryland taxpayers get for their investment in the state police's investigations of 53 people, including lawyers, a candidate for Congress, a leader of an effort to curb military recruiting in Montgomery County high schools, and a sportswriter? -- Have a look for yourself--it's pitiful." -- Multiply this one episode by hundreds, possibly thousands of agencies and departments across this country, and you will began to grasp the magnitude, the waste, the dangerousness and the total, utter, stupidity of the police state mentality that is increasing its grip on this nation. - mpg -- also posted at CommonDreams

In Guantánamo case, a judge tightens the screws on the US
Must Read - (for the outrage) -- Some quotes...."Washington -  A major battle is brewing in federal court here over the well-established legal requirement that the government must turn over any exculpatory evidence [i.e. evidence that might prove the "suspect" is innocent of the charges or that the charges are legally unfounded] it has uncovered to an accused criminal it is seeking to imprison. -- But what if that person is a suspected terrorist being held as an enemy combatant at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba?" -- Judge Sullivan has ordered the government to turn over exculpatory evidence about the man, but Justice Department lawyers are seeking to narrow the judge's order." - bold by website editor -- OK, let's get this straight, they have evidence that might prove their charges are unfounded and they don't want to present it in court....why?  Because it might prove that their charges are unfounded.  Got that folks, it was supposed to be innocent until PROVEN guilty in the old USofA, in countries with poor legal traditions you were guilty until proven innocent, but now in the brand spanking new US of the NRE you're guilty and they won't even legally let you have the chance to prove you are innocent in a court of law.  Those guys at Gitmo are really, really, sick....or worse.  For more on this issue see....The Convenient Silence of Guantanamo Bay - 05-31-08 - mpg

Ex-prosecutor says Guantanamo is "stain on America"
Related Article - A quote...."LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay are a "stain on America" that risk convicting innocent people because judicial standards are so low, a former senior prosecutor at the prison said on Tuesday."

US stands by refusal to sign cluster bomb ban
A quote...."The United States said Tuesday it will refrain this week from signing a treaty in Norway to ban cluster bombs, because the document is too broad and endangers US soldiers. -- Some 100 countries will ban the use of such weapons when their delegates sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions on Wednesday in Oslo but major producers like the United States, China and Russia are shunning the pact."
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Barnacles
A quote...."One attraction of Austrian economics reflects its grounding in the long tradition of natural law; economic laws are not made, but discovered, and they are in force whether one recognizes or chooses to acknowledge them. The same economizing that the barnacles must undertake in the face of strife should likewise apply with other living creatures, including man. In the area of constructing living quarters, one can see some of the same effects encapsulated in the expression "they do not build them like they used to."

Peter Schiff CNN International - World News Europe - (YouTube - 4 min 27 sec - December 02, 2008)
Video - A quote...."Peter continues his ongoing rant against stimulus packages, bailouts and increased government debt. Peter goes on to say, once again, that saving is the prudent action at this time, continued spending will result in the propping up of these failing companies."

GRAND OPENING!!!!!!
A quote...."Welcome to Bank of American Everyman! We are now A BANK! Cuss I said so…

Mission Statement: To unfreeze credit ratings by getting some money.

Business Plan: Just as soon as Paulson sends me my Bailout Money, my credit rating will thaw.

(Please consider this my application for bailout money. 40 billion would cover it.) (on a side note: I WILL play ball with the big greedy corporate bankers. wink wink. I CAN be bought, cheap)"

Stocks vs. bonds - Commentary: The S&P's dividend yield now higher than the 10-year T-note's
Market Tech Note - A quote...."For the first time since 1958, the dividend yield on the Standard & Poor's 500 index  has risen [above] the interest rate on the 10-year Treasury note. As of Tuesday's close, for example, the S&P's dividend yield was 3.3%, while the 10-year T-Note was yielding 2.7% -- a spread of 0.6 percentage points in favor of stocks.

From The “Panic” Of 2008 To The “Collapse” Of 2009
A quote...."The country’s top trends forecaster, who accurately predicted the “panic” of 2008 nearly a year before it unfolded, is now ominously suggesting that next year will come to be known as “the collapse of 2009″."

Nov. auto sales sink to worst level since 1982
A quote...."NEW YORK – U.S. auto sales plunged 37 percent in November to their worst level in more than 26 years, dashing expectations that this dismal year for vehicle demand had found a bottom, and adding more ammunition to the Detroit automakers' case for a congressional lifeline."

Monday December 1st 2008

The Mumbia Attack - 9 articles - Monday - [ Day 6 ] ========== ========== ========== ==

Mossad-CIA Connection To Mumbai Terror Attacks?
Must Read - A quote...."29 November, 2008 -- Numerous theories are doing the rounds about the dastardly terrorist assault on Mumbai. The dominant view, based on what is being suggested by the media, is that this is the handiwork of the dreaded Pakistan-based self-styled Islamist and terrorist outfit Lashkar-e Tayyeba, which, ever since it was ostensibly proscribed by the Government of Pakistan some years ago, has adopted the name of Jamaat ud-Dawah. This might well be the case, for the Lashkar has been responsible for numerous such terrorist attacks in recent years, particularly in Kashmir. -- The Lashkar is the military wing of the Markaz Dawat wal Irshad, an outfit floated by a section of the Pakistani Ahl-e Hadith, a group with close affiliations to the Saudi Wahhabis. It has its headquarters at the town of Muridke in the Gujranwala district in Pakistani Punjab. The Markaz was established in 1986 by two Pakistani university professors, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and Zafar Iqbal. They were assisted by Abdullah Azam, a close aide of Osama bin Laden, who was then associated with the International Islamic University in Islamabad. Funds for setting up the organization are said to have come from Pakistan’s dreaded official secret services agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). From its inception, it is thus clear, the Lashkar had the support of the Pakistani establishment."

CIA Foreknowledge of the Mumbai Attacks
Must Read - A quote...."Submitted by Reprehensor on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 10:12pm. -- Yesterday, Outlookindia.com reported that the CIA's station chief in Delhi approached one of India's intelligence agencies, the Research and Analysis Wing, and passed on a fairly specific warning...."

More evidence of CIA-backed syndicate involvement in Mumbai attacks
Special Note -- A quote...."Dec 2, 2008, 00:41 -- (WMR) -- WMR’s Asian intelligence sources have provided additional information on the wave of terrorist attacks in Mumbai. -- Under pressure from Washington, this past May Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani cut a secret deal with the United States and India to turn over to Delhi a number of residents of Pakistan wanted by India for terrorism. One of those included in the deal was the CIA’s erstwhile asset, Mumbai-born Dawood Ibrahim, a veteran of CIA operations in Afghanistan during the mujahedin war against the Soviets.

Mumbai Massacre Carried Out By Brits
A quote...."November 29, 2008 "The Daily Star" -- -- Police from the UK and India are probing claims that up to seven of the assassins, whose victims included a 13-year-old girl, travelled from the UK. -- Indian security forces said at least two of the captured terrorists were British-born Pakistanis, while the total number could be as many as seven. In a sick twist, they are thought to have possible links to Yorkshire towns where the 7/7 outrages were plotted."

The Mumbai Cauldron: Who Pressed The Repeat Button Of History?
A quote...."01 December, 2008  -- Those who executed the military precision operation were certainly not amateurs but highly trained and motivated professional terrorists who were prepared to die for their cause and who, I suspect, were part of a larger geopolitical agenda and the operational nature and scale of their enterprise suggests that they were not religious zealots for at no time is there any record or indication of them chanting or exemplifying any religious fervour like those who allegedly flew their hijacked planes into the World Trade Centre."

Double Cover [3]: What Is A False Flag Attack?
A quote...."Sunday, November 30, 2008 -- A quote...."We continue our look at mainstream coverage of the Mumbai attacks:"

LT denies link to Mumbai terrorism
A quote...."Sunday, November 30, 2008 -- WASHINGTON: The banned Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LT) denied its involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks even as US media and intelligence speculated about the group’s possible role in the attacks that left over 200 people, including several foreigners, dead in India’s financial capital, Mumbai."

Shock as top Indian Army officer arrested over bomb attack
From the history file - Related Article - A quote...."November 8, 2008 -- The Indian Army has been shocked by the arrest of a senior Military Intelligence officer on suspicion of involvement in a bomb attack by Hindu extremists in western India in September. -- Colonel Srikant Prasad Purohit is the first serving officer in India's Army — seen as a bastion of secularism since the country's independence in 1947 — to be arrested on terrorism charges."

Muslim body refuses to bury 9 killers
A quote...."1 Dec 2008, 0604 hrs -- MUMBAI: The Muslim Council on Sunday decided not to allow burial of the bodies of the nine terrorists killed during the Mumbai siege in the Marine Lines Bada Qabrastan (cemetery). The council said it was trying to send a message to all cemeteries in India that none of the bodies should be buried on Indian soil."

End - The Mumbia Attack - 9 articles - Monday - [ Day 6 ] ========== ========== ========== ==

Confronting the Terrorist Within
Must Read - A quote...."The Hindu-Muslim communal violence that led to the attacks in Mumbai, as well as the warnings that the New York City transit system may have been targeted by al-Qaida, are one form of terrorism. There are other forms." -- also posted at ICH

Prefatory Thoughts on the Enablers of Evil
Must Read -- Arthur Silber is becoming decidedly MORE unhappy as time goes by with this nations "liberal elites", which to put it frankly, this website editor didn't even think was possible. - mpg --  A quote...."I came across Digby's Credo ("We're 2% less sh-tty than Pure Evil! It's all we've got!" -- a deeply inspiring manifesto if ever I heard one, and one which appears to work wonders with the morally insensate, intellectually inert pustule that is the progressive netroots) by way of IOZ, who has some useful commentary. In my view, however, IOZ does not go nearly far enough. I've already begun work on a new essay, which will be titled: "Notes on the Enablers of Evil." I have a lot to say on these matters. For the moment, I note that one of the keys to the intellectual rot and moral corruption underlying Digby's pronouncements will be found right here: "[T]here is a distinct difference between those who believe in the concept of an imperial presidency and those who are simply weak and corrupt. They both undermine freedom, but the first is many orders of magnitude worse than the second."

Can't We All Just Get Along?, or: Kiss, Kiss, Kill, Kill
Related Article - Here's some more Silber....  A quote...."Any individual who rises to the national political level is, of necessity and by definition, committed to the authoritarian-corporatist state. The current system will not allow anyone to be elected from either of the two major parties who is determined to dismantle even one part of that system."

Adam Curtis’ ‘The Trap’, documentary about the mathematical models of our economic systems; and Jamail and Chomsky on Obama -- Special Note - Contains Multiple Videos -- A quote...."Below you will find the three part documentary “The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom” by  Adam Curtis, “a British television documentary maker who has during the course of his television career worked as a writer, producer, director and narrator”, well known for other documentaries including “The Century of the Self” and “The Power of Nightmares”."

The Cost of Hegemony is Beyond Reach
A quote...."December 01, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" - -- Undeterred by massive budget deficits from wars, a falling economy, and financial bailouts, the US government has managed to start a new cold war with Russia. Last Friday, the Russian military announced that it was developing a new generation of ballistic missiles in response to the US government’s decision to deploy ballistic missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic."
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The End of the Affair - Obama and the antiwar movement
Must Read - A quote...."As the euphoria of the Obama cult builds toward a climax and the pundits declaim the advent of Something Big, it's the small changes that concern me, particularly those that touch directly on my job, which is to sniff out the War Party wherever it is presently burrowed. The election of Barack Obama has been the signal for many of them to migrate like fleas from the carcasses of the campaigns they attached themselves to and hop on the warm body of the new administration, which presents a rather large target. It's a new day, and in the age of Obama, the War Party's battalions are massed on the ostensible Left. Now that's the kind of change I can believe in." -- also posted at ICH

Obama's Grand Chessboard and the drums of war
Must Read - A quote...."US President Barack Obama is working to move the mighty American war-machine from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan. -- To do that he needs an agreement with Iran about Iraq (and it would seem that agreement has already been found) and a propaganda campaign to convince the public opinion a) that the war in Iraq is over and the US will withdraw from the country and b) that Aghanistan and Pakistan are the centre of terror."

Death Notice
Special Note - Full quote...."After a long illness and a protracted vegetative state, the U.S. anti-war movement finally died today; the joy to see president-elect Barack Obama appointing Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense was fatal. Its peace achievements have been impressive; its stature is best measured by its indefatigable support of the Democratic Party; its understanding of the peace business has been an invaluable asset to Mr. Obama. Funeral services will be held on 20 January, 2009 in Washington, D.C."

With Gates, Obama Opts for Empire
A quote...."Barack Obama’s got a big problem. - He’s suckered himself into believing that we need a bipartisan foreign and military policy. - And so he’s reappointing Robert Gates as head of the Defense Department. - Let’s remember: Gates was head of the CIA during Bush I. As such, he was involved in the invasion of Panama, the funding of a genocidal regime in Guatemala, the support of Suharto’s brutal government in Indonesia, and the overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti. - With Bush I, he pushed the first war against Saddam Hussein, even when it seemed that Saddam was preparing to withdraw from Iraq." -- also posted at ICH

Obama’s first problem is US war crimes - The president-elect has to take a stand on Bush’s dark legacy
A quote...."A small and largely unnoticed spat among the transition planners for the president-elect, Barack Obama, broke out last week. It was the first genuinely passionate debate among the Obamaites and it centres on a terribly difficult and terribly important decision that will be among the first that Obama has to make." -- also posted at ICH

Obama exploits liberal denial
A quote...."By now, we should expect the soft Left (and more than a few radicals) to gleefully guzzle the Democrat Kool Aid every four years. In 2004, it was Anybody-But-Bush. This year, it was Attack of the Obamatrons. Hey, when you’re a liberal, harboring multiple delusions comes with the territory....." -- For more on this issue see...."AViDD "believer" Type-1 and Type-2 Syndromes - 11-04-08 - mpg

Obama's Economic Team - Records of Failure
Special Note - A quote...."Some expected Barack Obama, the newly elected president of the United States, to appoint a completely new economic team so as to implement another New Deal. Obama was going to completely change capitalism, since he couldn’t actually do away with it, and a whole new series of economic regulations were supposed to be on the books. But in fact Obama has selected the most conservative among the Democrats advisors; the very ones who organised frenzied deregulation when Bill Clinton was president at the end of the 1990s. The consistence of his choice, through three emblematic names, is revealing."
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Iraqi court orders U.S. to free Reuters photographer - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi court on Sunday ordered the release of a freelance photographer working for Reuters news agency who has been held by U.S. forces since early September."

The War in Iraq Ends Without Reconciliation; Sunnis’ Interests Not Considered
A quote...."On November 27, 2008, Iraq’s Parliament ratified the U.S.–Iraqi Security Pact that allows American troops to remain in Iraq until the end of 2011. Contrary to expectations, this instrument did not become a symbol of national reconciliation and unity. [How could an agreement made by a tiny unrepresentative Iraqi elite, for an endless foreign occupation, EVER represent national reconciliation and unity? - mpg]  The governing Shi’ite and Kurdish majorities refused to satisfy the main demand of Sunni parties, who asked that the rights of former members of Ba'ath, the ruling party during Saddam Hussein’s regime, be reinstated. In exchange, Sunnis would support the Security Pact."

Bush Still Lies about Iraqi Inspections
A quote...."In what’s been called George W. Bush’s first exit interview, the outgoing President continues a lie that he first unveiled several months after launching the Iraq War, justifying the invasion by claiming that Saddam Hussein didn’t let the U.N. inspectors in."

South Korea ends Iraq deployment, troops head home
A quote...."A South Korean general offered a wish for peace in Iraq on Monday as his troops ended a five-year reconstruction mission in the country - the latest departure from the dwindling US-led coalition. -- The South Koreans are among troops from 13 countries being sent home in advance of the December 31 expiration of the UN mandate that authorized military operations in Iraq. The South Koreans will begin leaving Wednesday and are all due to leave by December 20, the country's military said."

UN accuses Israel of punishing aid workers
A quote...."The UN official responsible for the welfare of 4.6 million Palestinian refugees has accused Israel of extending its collective punishment of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip to include international humanitarian staff."

Israeli police headbutt Palestinian woman
Video - A quote...."Guardian: B'Tselem filmed the incident during Israel's November 5 demolition of Palestinian homes."

Haaretz writer held for entering Gaza
A quote...."Haaretz correspondent Amira Hass was detained by Sderot police last night for having entered the Gaza Strip without a permit. -- By order of the army, Israeli journalists have been barred from entering Gaza since the abduction of soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006."

Assad urges EU to help lift Gaza blockade
A quote...."DAMASCUS - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad held talks with two French envoys on Sunday and urged Paris and the European Union, currently headed by France, to work to lift the Israeli blockade of Gaza. -- Claude Gueant, secretary-general of the French presidency, and Jean-David Levitte, chief diplomatic advisor to President Nicolas Sarkozy, arrived in Damascus earlier in the day and discussed "Franco-Syrian cooperation and the situation in the Middle East," said the official Syrian news agency SANA."

Bulava - the lightest ballistic missile of its type. INFOgraphics
InfoGraphic - A quote...."Russia's newest ballistic missile still under development"
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After 9/11, Rove pressured the entertainment industry ‘to produce propaganda.’
Special Note - A quote...."The New York Times reports today that shortly after 9/11, the White House met several times with “a delegation of high-level media executives, including the heads of every major studio,” in order to discuss how “the entertainment industry could play a part in improving the image of the United States overseas.” Karl Rove attended at least one of the meetings. One of the participants in the meetings, former RIAA chairwoman Hilary Rosen says Rove “put pressure” on them to “produce propaganda”:" -- For more on this issue see....Fake Intel / Propaganda

Indictments Reveal How Dick Cheney Made Money in the Texas Gulag
Special Note - A quote...."The Texas GOP have 'corproratized' the execution of accused 'murderers' in the gulag state of Texas. It should not be surprising, then, that Dick Cheney would be indicted for his role in helping to pioneer the 'corporatization' of detainment and executions on industrial, corporate scales. It is surprising that his indictment was in Texas --the gulag state that took Hitler's idea mainstream! The GOP made the warehousing and killing of folk a business proposition as did Hitler's 'final solution' partnered with the likes of I.G. Farben. The GOP-Nazi 'business model' asks 'why just murder someone when you can murder them under corporate cover and make big bucks in the process?' It's the GOP/Nazi way!" -- See also....Indictments of Cheney, others tossed

Evidence suggests CIA funded experiments at state hospital
A quote...."Few people in Vermont remember Dr. Robert W. Hyde, but one of his former patients can’t forget him. The doctor was involved in one of the nation’s darkest chapters in medical science: In the 1950s, Hyde conducted drug and psychological experiments at a Boston hospital through funding that apparently originated with the CIA. Later, he became director of research at the Vermont State Hospital." -- also posted at BLN

Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security
Police State Warning -- A quote...."New homeland emphasis threatens to undermine Posse Comitatus Act 01 Dec 2008 The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials. The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said. [See: Military command casts broad net with homeland security operations 09 Nov 2008, Elite combat brigade for homeland security missions raises ire of ACLU 02 Nov 2008, and DoD to 'augment civilian law' during pandemic or bioterror attack 11 May 2007.]" -- Paragraph quoted from CLG

Pentagon to deploy 20,000 troops on domestic “anti-terror” mission
Related Article - A quote...."The Pentagon has begun to implement plans for the mobilization of 20,000 regular Army troops in anti-terror operations alongside state and local forces, a dramatic change in US military operations within the borders of the United States."

US prepares for "continuity of government"
Related Video - A quote...."The US federal government has made strong preparations for "continuity of government" in the event of a national catastrophe. A full army brigade is now on active duty within domestic borders, and the Bush administration has issued a directive which allows the president to coordinate all three branches of the federal government in such an event. The Real News spoke to Bruce Fein."
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Every Trick in the Book
A quote...."November 29, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" -- Without any public debate or authorization from Congress, the Federal Reserve has embarked on the most radical financial intervention in history. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is trying to avert another Great Depression by flooding the financial system with liquidity in an attempt to mitigate the effects of tightening credit and a sharp decline in consumer spending. So far, the Fed has committed over $7 trillion, which is being used to backstop every part of the financial system including money markets, bank deposits, commercial paper (CP) investment banks, insurance companies, and hundreds of billions of structured debt-instruments (MBS, CDOs). America's free market system is now entirely dependent on state resources." -- also posted at OnlineJournal

Schwarzenegger Calls Fiscal Emergency in California (Update2)
A quote...."Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying his state is going broke, declared a fiscal emergency and ordered the incoming class of lawmakers into a special session to fix a widening $11 billion deficit."

U.S. Manufacturing Hits 26-Year Low - What! We still have factories in this country?  How did that happen? - mpg
A quote...."US manufacturing slumped to a 26-year low in November, highlighting the abrupt downturn in the world's biggest economy, a survey showed Monday." -- Actually the US isn't the world's biggest economy, the EU is. - mpg

UPDATE 1-US House to push $500 billion stimulus bill
Fiscal Warning -- If they pass it, that will make spending and commitments to this bail-out exceed the nine trillion dollar mark in less than one year! - mpg -- see...Cost Of Bailout Hits $8.5 Trillion - Total sum represents 60 per cent of GDP -- A quote.... "WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi met leading governors on Monday to discuss the size and shape of an economic stimulus package that one Democratic aide said was likely to cost around $500 billion."

Is Uncle Sam Blackmailing the Credit Rating Agencies?
Related Article -- Of course not, don't be silly, they’d never do something like that, like all those statistics they're releasing about inflation, the GDP and the money supply....they’re all absolutely rock solid, same as the good'ol US-NRE's credit rating.  – By the way anybody want a bridge for sale, anybody want to buy some of those Iraqi WMDs? - mpg -- A quote...."As I have previously written, based upon standard criteria, America should lose its AAA sovereign credit rating. Last night, at an investment talk I attended, the manager of more than a billion dollars in investments said the same thing. Interestingly, he asked out loud whether Uncle Sam is blackmailing the credit rating agencies." -- A comment that was posted regarding this article....

Retsey said... "But at some point everyone (foreign sovereigns) must realize that the rating is fraudulent and meaningless - at which point blackmail will be pointless too."

For more regarding this article see....The Green Light 01-16-08 - mpg
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Sunday November 30th 2008

No posts. - mpg

Saturday November 29th 2008

The Mumbia Attack - 8 articles - Saturday - [ Day 4 ] ========== ========== ========== ==

Mumbai Twitter Conspiracy Blues
Must Read  - A quote...."What I am troubled by is the "why". Not the "why" of the terrorists themselves- it is obvious that they were unthinking [4th grade education], misled [satellite phones and gps for "escape"] and enraged. -- The "why" is regarding the true purpose of this mission. -- Why is a terrible question, always open to conjecture. I am extremely prone to conjecture, especially about humans and their motivations. I am unfortunately also prone to cynicism about same. Here are some of my conjectures. Conspiracy theories. Get the tarbrush out of the way, I always say, so there it is. What follows are my conspiracy theories. I think they're quite good- worthy of a Ludlum novel at least."

Plans to partition Pakistan 'on schedule', compliments of Mumbai incident: The cost of creating the map of the 'New Middle East' -- Must Read - A quote...."2008-11-29 18:30. -- Last year we learned that the United States was planning to start a Civil War in Pakistan when  new classified American military documents revealed that the United States government was intensifying efforts “to enlist tribal leaders in the frontier areas of Pakistan in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, as part of a broader effort to bolster Pakistani forces against an expanding militancy.”

India's 9/11. Who is Behind the Mumbai Attacks?
Must Read - A quote...."Global Research, November 30, 2008 -- The Mumbai terror attacks were part of a carefully planned and coordinated operation involving several teams of experienced and trained gunmen. -- The operation has the fingerprints of a paramilitary-intelligence operation. According to a Russian counter terrorist expert, the Mumbai terrorists "used the same tactics that Chechen field militants [trained in Pakistan] employed in the Northern Caucasus attacks where entire towns were terrorized, with homes and hospitals seized". (Russia Today, November 27, 2008). -- The Mumbai attacks are described as " India's 9/11".

Mumbai Attackers were 'Hindus' and 'White Men'
A quote...."Some pictures of the terrorists - "Notice the red cord on his right wrist. - "Tying a red thread or cord around the wrist is a Hindu practice and it is unlikely a Muslim, especially one politicized enough to carry out an attack such as this, would observe it. - "I think this provides more evidence that this was a false flag operation or at least an attack by a non-Muslim group. For more information about the significance of the red thread see wikipedia and this blog post."

Pointed intelligence warnings preceded attacks
A quote...."Sunday, Nov 30, 2008 -- MUMBAI: India’s intelligence services had delivered at least three precise warnings that a major terrorist attack on Mumbai was imminent, highly-placed government sources have told The Hindu."

Mumbai attacks: 300 feared dead as full horror of the terrorist attacks emerges
A quote...."10:07PM GMT 29 Nov 2008 -- Piles of bodies were found yesterday after commandos stormed the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, the last of three buildings that terrorists had occupied in the city. Three terrorists were killed in the battle. -- The end to four days of carnage came as tensions grew between India and Pakistan over the atrocity. -- It is believed that just 10 highly-trained terrorists took part in the attack. Nine were killed and one suspect is under arrest."

Just ten trained terrorists caused carnage
A quote...."Sunday, 30 November 2008 -- Mumbai's 60 hours of terror were the work of a small team of professionally trained "commando killers", who spent weeks planning their atrocities, according to initial evidence emerging here yesterday."

Pakistan pledges action on any group involved in Mumbai attacks
A quote...."17 hours ago [11-29-08 -- 11:10 pm PST] ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a press conference on Saturday that Pakistan will take action against any group within its borders if it was involved in the Mumbai attacks."

For more on this entire issue see....It Will Happen Every Single Time
See also....Al Qaeda - Always There for the US Elites - 03-09-08

End - The Mumbia Attack - 8 articles - Saturday - [ Day 4 ] ========== ========== ========== ==

Pak rejects UK proposal on terror war
A quote...."Pakistan rejects a British proposal for joint military operations against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants on its soil near Afghan border."

Press and "Psy Ops" to merge at NATO Afghan HQ: sources
Hah! like there's really any difference between the two. - mpg -- A quote...."KABUL (Reuters) – The U.S. general commanding NATO forces in Afghanistan has ordered a merger of the office that releases news with "Psy Ops," which deals with propaganda, a move that goes against the alliance's policy, three officials said." -- also posted at WarInIraq -- For more on this issue see....Fake Intel / Propaganda

How the media talks about torture and the rule of law
A quote...."All of this underscores a crucial fact:  a major reason why the Bush administration was able to break numerous laws in general, and subject detainees to illegal torture specifically, is because the media immediately mimicked the Orwellian methods adopted by the administration to speak about and obfuscate these matters.  Objective propositions that were never in dispute and cannot be reasonably disputed were denied by the Bush administration, and -- for that reason alone (one side says it's true) -- the media immediately depicted these objective facts as subject to reasonable dispute."

2008-CR-0128-A | Richard B. Cheney | Alberto Gonzales | -- Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity - PDF
The Texas indictment....for all of them click here - mpg

George W. Bush Belongs in Prison
A quote...."Electing Barack Obama president was the first step in redeeming American democracy.  The second step must be indicting ex-president George W. Bush, giving him a fair trial, finding him guilty of many criminal acts and putting him in prison.  Forget revenge.  Think rule of law and justice." -- also posted at ICH

Kristol Calls On Bush To Pardon Torturers And Wiretappers, Reward Them With Medal Of Freedom
A quote...."In his new Weekly Standard column, right-wing pundit Bill Kristol lays out a to-do list for President Bush before he leaves office. He urges Bush to deliver speeches “reminding Americans of our successes fighting the war on terror.” Kristol dreams, “Over time, Bush might even get deserved credit for effective conduct of the war on terror.”

President 2.0 -- Authoritarianism Without the Incompetence.
Fun Graphic. - mpg

Nobel Laureate: There is a way towards peace for Palestine
A quote...."In this the 2lst century many of us take freedom for granted, but not everyone has freedom here in Israel/Palestine. I realized this, yet again, when I told a Palestinian friend I was attending this conference and he told me that though he was born in Jerusalem he is not allowed to come into East Jerusalem."

Michel: Gaza siege against int'l. law
A quote...."The European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid expresses his increasing concern for the humanitarian situation in Gaza."

Gaza Blockade Approaches 4 Week Mark
A quote...."November 29 marked the 25th day of the Israeli imposed closure on the Gaza Strip. Throughout the week, Israeli allowed a few deliveries of food and fuel supplies into Gaza, but not enough to make a dent in the humanitarian crisis ravaging the area. On November 25, Gaza’s sole power plant was closed due to a breakdown of its electricity-generating units because of the all too frequent shutdowns. The plant has been forced to close down several times in the last 3 weeks as Israel refuses to allow regular shipments of industrial fuel. Currently, only certain sections of the plant are working, while the equipment and spare parts necessary to repair the damage have not been allowed through."

Gaza: Beyond the blockade
Video - A quote...."It has been almost four weeks since Israel decided to completely seal the borders of the Gaza Strip. While Israel has maintained a partial blockade ever since Hamas took power in June of 2007, this is the first time that the Israeli government has elected to stop foreign journalists from entering the Palestinian territory.

The media and the Venezuelan elections
Video - A quote...."Allies of President Hugo Chavez's won a strong majority in Venezuela's local elections on Sunday, winning 17 of 22 state governorships and 265 of 327 mayoral races. The opposition made important gains, capturing the Caracas mayor's office and two of the most populous states."

Russia to conduct 13 ballistic missile launches in 2009
A quote...."MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) are planning to conduct at least 13 launches of ballistic missiles next year, the SMF commander said on Friday."

Iran Viewed as Best Path for Regional Gas Export - Yeah, go ahead Iran! Bait the Neocons some more. - mpg
A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran provides the shortest and most economic path to transfer Central Asian energy supplies to world markets, gas officials believe."

Moscow’s charm offensive in Latin America
A quote...."President Dmitry Medvedev has completed a four-nation tour of Latin American aimed at boosting trade and Russian influence in the region. He ended his trip with the words: “we are back in South America” – a region the US has traditionally considered its ‘back yard’."

Financial Disaster Will Lead to Civil Disorder in 2009 or 2010, Says Secret Citibank Memo
A quote...."An internal memo from a top Citibank analyst reveals what the banks really think about the global financial situation, and the outlook is grim. -- "The world is not going back to normal after the magnitude of what they have done. When the dust settles this will either work, and the money they have pushed into the system will feed through into an inflation shock," wrote Tom Fitzpatrick, Citibank's chief technical strategist. -- He goes on to explain that the massive money creation efforts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks will end with one of two things: A resurgence of inflation, or a fall into "depression, civil disorder and possibly wars."
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The “L” Curve; Understanding Wealth Distribution in America
Must View Video - A really great, graphic demonstration, of the difference between those who "have it" and those who don't. - mpg

AIG Gives "Retention" Pay After Scrapping Bonuses
Special Note - And here's WHY there will always be an "L" Curve, "L" being old english for suckers or chumps. - mpg -- A quote...."American International Group Inc., the insurer that said yesterday it scrapped bonuses for top executives after a U.S. bailout, will still pay 130 managers "cash awards" to stay with the firm, including $3 million to retirement services chief Jay Wintrob.  - bold by website editor

Obviously AIG has learned how to twist the English language from the Bush administration’s ceaseless and remorseless perversion of it.

The whole thing would be really funny if it wasn't so sad.  Just think of it this way, tens of millions of hard working Americans are barely scrapping by, many of whom are about to be thrown out of their homes, all the while they’re handing over their hard earned tax dollars to a bunch of fat piggy executives’ so these executives can live it large at their expense.

To all you people out there who voted for Obama (a man who fully supported all of these bail-outs by the way) there's no other way to tell you this except straight up....you're stupid, it's the only way to describe your collective behavior....you're not only stupid, you're a bunch of dumb, politically lazy, TV fixated, morons and you're all going to pay dearly for it and so will your children. – mpg

For more on this issue see....Having Fun With Your Tax Dollars
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Britain a Big Version of Iceland? Bankrupt Britain Trending Towards Hyper-Inflation
A quote...."The mainstream media is increasingly full of stories of either Britain going bankrupt or the coming deflation associated with the recession. Whilst both are now obvious given the economic data and government actions however what is missing from the headlines is that under the weight of the exploding public sector debt mountain, deflation will fast turn towards hyper-inflation as the government literally prints money in ever more panic measures aimed at turning the economy around."

U.K. takes over Royal Bank of Scotland
A quote...."LONDON: The British government took majority control of Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday after investors shunned the lender's share sale, paving the way for a larger government role in Britain's banking sector."

Unemployment up and November inflation plunges in Euro zone - a.k.a. a recession....at best. - mpg
A quote...."Unemployment in the European Union 15 nations that share the Euro shot up to 7.7% in October — the highest level in two years — as growth dropped sharply. Inflation on the other hand plunged to 2.1% in November as oil came down from the record prices of last July."

Friday November 28th 2008

The Mumbia Attack - 11 articles - Friday - [ Day 3 ] ========== ========== ========== =======

Mumbai, the NYT's revisionism, and lessons not learned
Must Read - A quote...."Friday Nov. 28, 2008 06:12 EST -- It's nice that the Times -- with a disgraced George Bush on his way out the door -- has come to view the Venezuelan military coup as the destructive, anti-democratic event which, by definition, it was.  And it's also nice that the Times is now willing to assign blame for anti-U.S. sentiments in Latin America at least partially to the actions of the U.S. Government itself.  But it's important that the Times not be allowed to delete its own involvement in those events.  Just as was true for Joe Klein's very similar self-serving revisionism on Wednesday, the point here goes far beyond merely illustrating the dishonesty that lies at the heart of this re-writing of history." -- also posted at CommonDreams

Deepak Chopra Blames Washington For Mumbai Terrorist Attacks
Must Read-View - A quote...."Video and Text - Posted November 28, 2008 -- Chopra: Ultimately the message is always toward Washington because it's also the perception that Washington, in their way, directly or indirectly funds both sides of the war on terror. They fund our side, then our petrol dollars going to Saudi Arabia through Pakistan and ultimately these terrorist groups, which are very organized. You know Jonathan, it takes a lot of money to do this. It takes a lot of organization to do this. Where's the money coming from, you know? The money is coming from the vested interests. I'm not talking about conspiracy theories, but what happens is, our policies, our foreign policies, actually perpetuate this problem."

Mumbai Attacks Look Like A Western Intel Operation
Must Read - A quote...."11-28-2008  --  The recent terrorist attacks in Mambai India appear to be the work of a western intelligence agency. Sophisticated terrorist attacks are usually only executed by an institution with a vast amount of resources at their disposal, and not by terrorists living in a cave somewhere. History has shown that high profile terrorist attacks which get top billing in the media are in fact government sponsored. Already, India is blaming Pakistan for the attacks and we’ve also seen an onslaught of propaganda from media outlets attempting to place the blame for this attack on the fictional CIA founded organization Al-Qaeda. There are even eyewitness accounts saying that the attackers did not look like Indians but instead appeared to be western. In fact, some of the attackers have already been identified as British citizens of Pakistan origin. Of course none of that matters, since the media needs to sell the Al-Qaeda myth to the dumbed down masses here in America."

Evidence Mumbai Attackers were Anglo-American Intel Operatives
Special Note -- A quote...."InfoWar 28 novembre 2008 -- As a BBC report notes, at least some of the Mumbai attackers were not Indian and certainly not Muslim. -- Pappu Mishra, a cafe proprietor at the gothic Victorian Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, described “two sprightly young men dressed in black” with AK47s who were “foreign looking, fair skinned.” -- Gaffar Abdul Amir, an Iraqi tourist from Baghdad, saw at least two men who started the firing outside the Leopold Cafe. “They did not look Indian, they looked foreign. One of them, I thought, had blonde hair. The other had a punkish hairstyle. They were neatly dressed,” Amir told the BBC. -- Other “men walked into the cafe, drank beer, settled their bills and walked out. Then they fished out guns from their bags and began firing.” Muslims do not drink alcohol, that is unless they are Muslims like Marwan Al-Shehhi and Mohamed Atta, who reportedly not only liked to drink but enjoyed lap dances by topless dancers as well before they supposedly hijacked planes and flew them into buildings."

U.S. sending terror investigators to India
Why, so they can fly the perpetrators families, their friends (and their financiers) out of the country like they did days after 9/11, or mess everything up like they did with the anthrax "investigation"??? - mpg -- A quote...."WASHINGTON - The government ordered FBI agents Friday to fly to India to investigate the bloody Mumbai attacks that killed at least five Americans. U.S. citizens still in the city were warned their lives remain at risk."

Massacre in Mumbai: Up to SEVEN gunmen were British and 'came from same area as 7/7 bombers'
A quote...."Last updated at 7:39 PM on 28th November 2008  --  As many as seven of the terrorists may have British connections and some could be from Leeds and Bradford where London's July 7 bombers lived, one source said. -- Two Britons were among eight gunmen being held, according to Mumbai's chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. At least nine others are reportedly dead. -- The eight arrested were captured by commandos after they stormed two hotels and a Jewish centre to free hostages today. Despite the Indian authorities' assurances that the situation was under control, the siege continued at the Taj Mahal hotel and explosions could still be heard in central Mumbai."

Media Forced To Backtrack On Al-Qaeda Link To Mumbai Attacks
A quote...."Friday, November 28, 2008  --  After brazenly declaring that the Mumbai attacks were the work of Al-Qaeda, the corporate media has been forced to backtrack, while India continues to blame Pakistan in a dangerous escalation of rhetoric between the two nuclear-armed powers. -- Bellicose propaganda about Bin Laden being behind the massacre, which was initially propagated by the BBC, London Times and Fox News amongst others, has largely evaporated, with the majority of the establishment press being forced to admit they have no idea who was behind the siege on India’s financial capital. -- also posted at WarInIraq

Indian forces kill last gunman in Mumbai
A quote...."Associated Press  – 1 hr 1 min ago [12:30 PST] -- MUMBAI, India – Indian commandos killed the last remaining gunmen holed up at a luxury Mumbai hotel Saturday, ending a 60-hour rampage through India's financial capital by suspected Islamic militants that killed 195 people and rocked the nation."

Mumbai terror attack finally put down
A quote...."November 29, 2008, 10:25 -- Indian police say that government troops have finally won their battle against militants in Mumbai. A spokesman said the last few terrorists who had been under siege in the Taj Mahal hotel have been killed."

Pakistani Militants At Center Of Probe
Some quotes...."BERLIN, Nov. 28 -- Pakistani militant groups on Friday became the focus of the investigation into the attacks in Mumbai as India and its archrival Pakistan jousted over who was responsible. Both sides pledged to cooperate in the probe, but tensions remained high amid fears the conflict could escalate." -- "Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who has sought a rapprochement with New Delhi, rejected widespread suspicions in India that Pakistani intelligence services may have supported the Mumbai gunmen. "The germs of terrorist elements were not produced in security agencies' labs in Pakistan," he said Friday. -- bold by website editor

Pakistan The Next US Target
A quote...."11/17/08 06:07:52 am  -- Bill Kristol, a Fox Television commentator and arch American neoconservative revealed recently what many had long suspected was US thinking about the current international situation. -- Kristol recounts that in a 90-minute, mostly off-the-record meeting with a small group of journalists in early July, President Bush “conveyed the following impression, that he thought the next president's biggest challenge would not be Iraq, which he thinks he'll leave in pretty good shape, and would not be Afghanistan, which is manageable by itself… It’s Pakistan.” We have “a sort of friendly government that sort of cooperates and sort of doesn’t. It's really a complicated and difficult situation.” Right on cue, presidential candidate Barack Obama took the baton from Bush in his speech on July 15, in which he argued that more focus and resource were required on both Afghanistan and Pakistan."

End - The Mumbia Attack - 11 articles - Friday - [ Day 3 ] ========== ========== ========== ====

Learning to Lead
Must Read - A quote...."What’s in a system? --  We in the United States have grown acclimatized to a system that first dehumanizes us and then inevitably feeds on our dehumanization, sucking away at our resources, our rights, and our resistance while we scamper frantically around in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness." -- also posted at ICH

Prosecute Bush No Matter What the Political Cost
A quote...."Barack Obama is never going to prosecute George W. Bush for authorizing the use of torture, or so says Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and Robert Litt, a former top Clinton administration Justice Department prosecutor."

Will Somalia Become Obama's War? - posted at BAR
Contains Audio - A quote...."America's joint venture with Ethiopia to invade and occupy Somalia "was not so much an American attempt at regime change, as a cruel conspiracy to plunge Somalia back into the warlord-induced chaos that had reigned since 1991." Barack Obama will have to decide "whether or not to continue George Bush's war."

War in Iraq Ending for International Forces
A quote...."With the expiration of the United Nations mandate at the end of December, 13 of the 19 nations that still have military commitments to Iraq are set to bring them to an end by the end of the year. A farewell ceremony for Bosnia’s 86 soldiers is scheduled for Saturday, and South Korea’s is scheduled for Sunday."

Now I've Seen Everything - A spy goes to work for a thinktank
Special Note -- A quote...."Of course there's nothing all that unusual about a spy going to work for a Washington thinktank. Ex-CIA employees do it all the time: so do all sorts of other spooks, who would otherwise be haunting the world's darkest corners. No big deal. But what I've never seen, and don't recall ever hearing about, is the spectacle of a spy for a foreign country being hired by any organization that hopes to influence U.S. foreign policy. Well, here's one for the record books: the Middle East Forum has hired Steve Rosen, once the head of policy development for the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rosen is accused of stealing highly classified information from the U.S. government and passing it on to Israeli government officials." -- also posted at ICH

Bolivia calls U.S. trade move "political vengeance"
A quote...."We complied better than Colombia and Peru," said Morales, a former leader of coca farmers. "Those are the facts but this is political vengeance because we don't agree with capitalism, provoked wars ... or the free market." -- bold by website editor -- Poor Morales, he just can't comprehend that explaining the "facts" doesn’t get you anywhere with the Bush administration.  That he's talking to people who literally despise the "facts" along with the "fact based community", that he's trying to communicate to people who believe in "creating their own reality" (a.k.a. psychos), a group so indifferent to cause and effect, action and re-action,  that nothing he says will ever penetrate their little Neocon bubble. -- mpg

Dying of Sadness in the Shadow of Empire
A quote...."Britain and America cut a secret deal: land for nukes. London sliced off a sliver of its imperial dominions and gave it to Washington, in exchange for a price reduction on some sleek new nuclear missiles. Together, the two great democracies then drove the inhabitants of the sliver from their homes by force, dumping them into poverty-ridden exile hundreds of miles away. Washington built an imperial outpost on the stolen land, a military base which it used to "project dominance" over strategic regions in Central Asia and the Middle East. Later, the outpost became yet another link in Washington's chain of "black sites" -- secret prisons where captives snatched without charges or due process could be hidden from the world and tortured."

Iranian court orders man to be blinded by acid - Hmmmmm, the Iranians might have something here. - mpg
A quote...." TEHRAN, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A man who blinded a woman with acid after she spurned his marriage proposals will also be blinded with acid under Iran's Islamic law, a newspaper said on Thursday. -- An Iranian court made the ruling on Wednesday based on the system of "qisas" or fair retribution, Etemad-e Melli reported. -- The man identified as Majid proposed several times but was spurned by the woman, identified as Ameneh, the daily reported. In revenge, he threw acid in her face as she left her work in 2004, it added." -- bold by website editor

Canada's opposition parties may topple gov't
A quote...."TORONTO November 28, 2008 (AP) - Opposition parties said Friday they may seek to topple Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government and form a ruling coalition because it isn't doing enough to rescue Canada from the impact of the global economic crisis."

Russia seeks new missiles due to U.S. shield plans
A quote...."MOSCOW November 28, 2008 (Reuters) – Russia's military said on Friday it had intensified efforts to develop new ballistic missiles in response to U.S. plans to deploy an anti-missile system in Europe and Russia's navy test fired a new generation rocket."

Russia Unveils 'Abrams Killer' Rocket
A quote...."The RPG, or rocket-propelled grenade, has long been popular among insurgents, giving them a cheap anti-armor weapon that requires little training. The latest version is the RPG-30. And it allegedly can take out today's toughest tanks. Recently shown on Russian television, the RPG-30 has already been described as an "Abrams Killer."

Medvedev welcomes "common sense decision" on Georgia & Ukraine
A quote...."Dmitry Medvedev has welcomed a decision by the U.S. not to push for Georgia and Ukraine`s entry into NATO using the alliance`s so-called membership action plan (MAP). The Russian President said he was “glad” that “common sense prevailed” in the end."

Saakashvili: we started the war -- Surprise!! -- Betch'ya ain't gonna see this item in the NYT's or WaPo. - mpg
A quote...."For the first time ever, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has admitted that his country started the military conflict in South Ossetia in August. But the Georgian leader is adamant the action was justified. He was testifying before a parliamentary commission investigating the five-day war." - bold by website editor -- For more on this issue see....American Selective Attention Deficit Disorder (ASADD) - 08-16-08 - mpg

Pirates Capture Another Tanker
A quote...."Somali pirates have seized another ship in the Gulf of Aden, despite increased foreign presence in the region."
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VIDEO: Never seen before!: Fox news 5 reports WTC 7 collapse before it happens
Special Note - Another!! TV station reporting WTC7 going down before it actually did.  As you view the video WTC7 will be the large blocky building to the right of your picture. - For more on this issue see....9/11 - WTC7

Did Feds Use Military Intelligence to Spy On RNC Protesters?
A quote...."The American Civil Liberties Union recently came across a revealing RNC Homeland Security Document. This official document was uncovered by the website Wikileaks, which according to its website “We help you safely get the truth out”. This document outlines the planning leading up to the Republican National Convention and how security forces would be working together during the RNC. Many federal, state and local organizations were mentioned in this document, a number of which the ACLU did not know were involved. A number of these agencies are military based, which may directly conflict with Federal law that prohibits the military from engaging in domestic intelligence gathering."

Are you an anomaly? Can you fly out of the country? Do you feel the walls closing in? Can you hear the swine at the door? -- US-NRE - Police State Warning - A quote...."On 24 November 2008, we learned that a 66-year-old retired Canadian born woman was on an international no-fly list when she tried to cash-in on her life’s work and toil by fulfilling her retirement dream of travelling the world.  --  On November 23, former Congresswoman and presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney was prevented from leaving the United States for Syria, where she had planned to give a speech at a “conference being held to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”  --  The above two cases are not unique, there have been many among us who have been flagged as undesirables, and as a society, if we continue on our current path, the only people who will be allowed to travel will be the elite. That is what awaits us at the end of this road, irrelevant of how long it takes."

Terror of Tory MP's daughter as NINE anti-terror police raid his home over 'immigration leaks to media'
British - Police State Warning - A quote...."Extraordinary details of the heavy-handed police operation against Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green were revealed this afternoon. -- Nine counter-terrorism officers raided the MP's London home, frightening his 15-year-old daughter Verity and wife Alicia who were there. -- Mr Green was seized at his constituency home in Ashford, Kent, and held at Belgravia police station for nine hours, only one of which was used to question him about his alleged crime - leaking information embarrassing to the Home Office. " -- Don't worry all you folks now residing in the New Roman Empire (what was once formally known as America); Obama will never do that to the Repub faction of the DemoRepub party.  Just to show you how generous Obama is, and how grateful he is for his selection as our new Emperor, even if Bush and his cronies were to set-up a false flag operation causing the deaths of three thousand of this nation’s citizens, lie the country into two wars, tap the Demo's phones the first day they got into office, gut the constitution, loot the treasury, and kill millions of innocent foreigners all the while making plans to steal their oil.....ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, ho....like such an outlandish set of circumstances would EVER happen in this country....Obama being the kind and gentle soul that he is wouldn't touch a single hair on Bush's little head or any of his cronies. -- Of course it's a completely different matter for the rest of you folks out there. – mpg

Brown Denies Role In Arrest Of Tory MP - For more on the arrest.
Related Article -- A quote...."Senior figures at the heart of the British establishment were embroiled in a constitutional storm over the freedom of MPs after the Conservative Damian Green was arrested for obtaining leaked Whitehall documents. -- Britain's top police officers, the highest-ranking parliamentary officials, senior civil servants and the Prime Minister faced a barrage of questions over the "heavy-handed" treatment of the shadow Immigration minister."
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Ignorance of Money and the Rejection of Austrian Economics
Special Note - A quote...."As the traditional Thanksgiving Day shopping weekend is upon us, we hear the usual canards of hope – hope that consumers will "stimulate" the economy, or we read from people like Karl Rove that President-elect Barack Obama’s "economic team" is "first-rate," and will have the "answers" for the economy. Paul Krugman, who already had advocated trillion-dollar deficits as a way to bring the economy into recovery, says that this new government can "fix the financial system" by even more regulation, thus avoiding the next recession (if we ever recover from this one).

'Encouraged by a wicked wizard, Greenspan, Bernanke toils at his printing press'
Special Note - A quote...."People blame this crisis on cheap money and greedy bankers. They certainly cannot be exempted. But I take a more fatalist point of view. There has to be a reason for humans to die off in their 70s and 80s. I believe it is so that the memory of a generation's mistakes is erased, allowing future ages to repeat the folly of greed and fear."

U.S. will not balance budget by 2012: White House -- And they say the Neocons don't have a sense of humor. - mpg
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government will not reach its goal of balancing the federal budget by 2012 because of the response to the global financial crisis, the White House said on Wednesday."

Fed Boosted Emergency Loans To Banks - They're STILL increasing their loans to the banks, as of last week! mpg
A quote...."WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve boosted its lending to commercial banks and investment firms over the past week, indicating that a severe credit crisis was still squeezing the financial system."

FDIC's list of 'problem' banks swells to 171
You don't get on this list if you're a "problem", you get this list if you're a corpse. - mpg -- A quote...."NEW YORK (AP) -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday the list of banks it considers to be in trouble shot up nearly 50 percent to 171 during the third quarter -- yet another sign of escalating problems among the institutions controlling Americans' deposits."

Next Round Of Foreclosures To Hit Retail
A quote...."(CBS/AP) Black Friday's retail shoppers hunting for holiday bargains won't be enough to stave off what's likely to become the next economic crisis. Malls from Michigan to Georgia are entering foreclosure, commercial victims of the same events poisoning the housing market. - Hotels in Tucson, Ariz., and Hilton Head, S.C., also are about to default on their mortgages. - That pace is expected to quicken. The number of late payments and defaults will double, if not triple, by the end of next year, according to analysts from Fitch Ratings Ltd., which evaluates companies' credit."

Thursday November 27th 2008

Bones
Must Read - A quote..."November 27, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" --- It is generally considered a courtesy for a newly inaugurated President to overlook any sins of the past incumbent in the interests of 'looking ahead' and in the knowledge that the same good manners will be repeated after his/her own end of term."

Chomsky: What Next? The Election, The Economy, and The World
Must View Videos - A quote...."Since roughly 1930s “ish”, marketing has been less and less about need and more about desire. Tapping into emotional connections between consumer and product. “They want uninformed consumers/voters to make irrational choices based on the effects of illusions, slander, …” or as I would put it, an artificial emotional connection between voter and candidate. When in reality, there is no real evidence to suggest the product or the candidate exhibits any of the desirable traits the consumer/voter sees in the marketing campaign. Sometimes, quite the opposite is true of the product and consequently that product would require even better marketing to sell to the consumer; ie. “Brand Obama” wins."

The Obama "Dream Team": - Rubin-clones And Other Fakers
Must Read - A quote...."November 27, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" --- Things are getting crazier by the day. On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that the Fed would commit another $800 billion to fight the financial crisis which has spread to the broader economy and is causing sharp declines in consumer spending. The Fed plans to buy $600 billion of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and another $200 billion of Triple A bonds from non-bank financial companies that provide financing for consumers. There's just one little hitch, Fannie and Freddie are already owned by the government, so buying the bad paper is like moving the figures from one ledger to another. It's pointless. Except for the fact, that by shuffling the paperwork, Bernanke can drive down long-term interest rates and (hopefully) rekindle flagging home sales. It's quite a trick."

Out of Your Trance, A--holes
Special Note - Arthur Silber's back and he doesn't sound happy about O-Bomb Away's coronation. - mpg -- A quote...."I will not make a show of false modesty here, and instead I will point out that I predicted everything that is now transpiring. I did so on the basis of carefully reasoned arguments based on the available relevant facts, always keeping in mind the nature of the political system that rules our lives. A number of individuals frequently write off views like mine as mere "cynicism." When such criticisms are offered without much (or any) more, this is simply a way of dismissing arguments one doesn't like without engaging them. Well, one shouldn't expect more from amoeba. -- I point you to two essays in particular: "Killing Truth and Hope -- The Fatal Illusion of Opposition" and "Silenced: Barack Obama and the End of Struggle toward Truth and Freedom." At the beginning of the latter article, you will find links to many of my essays about Obama's candidacy and the issues it raised.

Washington Old Guard Wins on Gates
Special Note - A quote...."With Bob Gates as Secretary of Defense and Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, the incoming Obama administration is shaping up to be a reunion of strong supporters of the Iraq War. -- Despite Barack Obama’s emphasis during the campaign on the importance of showing sound judgment about going to war, judgment here is not a factor. Both Defense Secretary Gates and Sen. Clinton were wrong on Iraq early and long."

The Real World Order Is Chaotic
Special Note - Not that the "elites" wanted chaos for themselves of course, but that's what happens when your tidy little systemic paradigm starts to break down, usually because the "masses" have figured out how their  masters are playing the "game" and just how much they're being cheated.  Looks like the "elites" are simply going to have to develop a new, more subtle, paradigm or "game plan"....Obama just won't do anymore, despite his gift for the gab even he's too obvious now. - mpg -- A quote...."Perhaps the clearest expression of just how desperate mankind has become in its efforts to restore social order without, in the process, deviating from the premise of centralized authority, was seen in President George W. Bush’s usurpation of personalized decision-making power. Having tested the water to see if there was any significant objection to his stated preference for political dictatorship – of which there was little – Mr. Bush proceeded to turn the direction of American society to whatever whim or vision fascinated him at the moment. If war was an attractive course, he would declare it on his own initiative – constitutional grants of such authority to congress notwithstanding. Nor did it seem to matter to Boobus Americanus, or the media, or the corporate owners of American society, what the pretext or identification of enemies for such wars happened to be."

Millenium Three Colonialism - posted at WatchingAmerica
A quote...."The entire world agrees that the occupation of Iraq was a crime that unleashed violence in this formerly stable country. The American campaign in the region unleashed terror in the name of the war on terror. That is how ruin was released in Iraq, and instability, unrest, confusion, and exhaustion were released in the entire region!" -- For more on the "White Bull" see....The Black Bull died today

Courage and Hope
Special Note - A quote from GWB2...."For new readers who aren't familiar with my first website, here are some messages of hope and courage in these difficult times:
The Mumbia Attack - 5 articles - Thursday - [ Day 2 ] ========== ========== ========== =======

Plenty of Suspects, Little Evidence in Mumbai Attacks
A quote...."A myriad of coordinated attacks across India’s financial capital of Mumbai continues this evening, and though a group calling itself the Deccan Mujahedeen (Deccan is a plateau that makes up most of southern India) has claimed credit for the attack, there is no shortage of speculation, or suspects, for who is actually behind it.

Q+A-Who could be behind the Mumbai attacks and why?
Database - A quote...."MUMBAI, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Militants armed with automatic weapons and grenades attacked luxury hotels, hospitals and a famous tourist cafe in India's commercial capital Mumbai late on Wednesday, killing at least 101 people."

Mumbai: Contradictions in the Media, it does not add up. Taxi blows up near airport
Some interesting quotes from the msm, juxtaposed with each other. - mpg

Attributes Suggest Outside Help
A quote...."BERLIN, Nov. 27 -- Counterterrorism officials and experts said the scale, sophistication and targets involved in the Mumbai attacks were markedly different from previous terrorist plots in India and suggested the gunmen had received training from outside the country. But they cautioned it was too soon to tell who may have masterminded the operation, despite an assertion from a previously unknown Islamist radical group. -- Officials in India, Europe and the United States said likely culprits included Islamist networks based in Pakistan that have received support in the past from Pakistan's intelligence agencies."

Indian navy intercepts ship suspected in Mumbai attacks (Extra)
A quote...." New Delhi - An Indian Navy ship gave chase and intercepted a merchant vessel suspected of bringing terrorists to Mumbai, news reports said Thursday. -- At least 101 people, including six foreign nationals and 14 top police officials, were killed by groups of heavily armed terrorists in a shooting spree in Mumbai that began on Wednesday night and continued into Thursday."

Regarding the article shown above....This terrorist group got its money and training from somewhere....therefore everyone who truly wishes to find out how this crime happened, everyone who is truly interested in discovering the truth, everyone who sincerely wants to obtain JUSTICE, can only do so if they  follow the money!

Anybody who will not do this, anybody who does not state this.....any investigator, any agency, any political leader, any mass-infotainment outlet of any kind which does otherwise or says otherwise, tacitly supports the tactic of “terror" in all its forms -- indigenous "homegrown" attacks, "foreign organized and/or financed" attacks and the inevitable and highly useful "false flag" attacks, which arise from, and are always facilitated by, long term "State" sponsored relationships with already established "home grown" or "foreign organized/financed" terror groups.

And of course as circumstances will usually have it, all this "terror" will eventually lead to Nation state mass-terror attacks, the bombing and destruction of entire countries and peoples many of whom had nothing to do with any of these groups in the first place.- posted 11-27-08 mpg -- For more on this issue see....Zinn and Zelikow - Two Like Minds Thinking Together - 11-22-08 - mpg & US Support of Terror & US Sponsored Civil Wars

End - The Mumbia Attack - 5 articles - Thursday - [ Day 2 ] ========== ========== ==========

You Cannot Pardon a Crime you Authorized - War Crimes of President Bush and His Subordinates
A quote...."Never before has a president pardoned himself or his subordinates for crimes he authorized. The closest thing to this in U.S. history thus far has been Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence. Bush is widely expected to follow that commutation with a pardon. Not only did Libby work for the White House, but he was convicted of obstruction of justice in an investigation that was headed to the president. Evidence introduced in the trial, including a hand-written note by the vice president, implicated Bush, and former Press Secretary Scott McClellan has since testified that Bush authorized the exposure of an undercover agent, that being the crime that was under investigation."

Seeking Integrity at the CIA
A quote...."The Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) must be a person whose previous professional performance has been distinguished by unimpeachable integrity and independence. The director must have the courage of his or her own convictions. -- Without integrity and courage, all virtue is specious, and no amount of structural or organizational reform will make any difference."

Afghan president wishes he could shoot down U.S. planes
A quote...."November 27, 2008 Wednesday, November 26, 2008 -- KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday he would bring down U.S. planes bombing villages if he could, in a sign of growing tension between Afghanistan and its Western backers as the Taliban insurgency grows in strength."

Secret SOFA provisions exposed
A quote...."An Iraqi media outlet has exposed 'secret' provisions of the US-sought security pact amid ongoing parliamentary deliberations on the deal."

Iraqi parliament passes a conditional and temporary ratification
Must Read - (for an important clarification of the SOFA agreement) -- A quote...."By Raed Jarrar -- This is a rough translation of what the Iraqi parliament has passed today. This will make the law valid for the next six months until the Iraqi people vote on it in a national referendum:

"Reuters reports that the Iraqi parliament passed the US-Iraqi security agreement, which stipulates that all US troops will be out of Iraq by 2011. of 275 members of parliament, 198 attended and 149 voted in favor. That means it barely passed from the point of view of an absolute majority, though it was a clear simple majority. Apparently the al-Maliki government bowed to Sunni Arab demands that the agreement be submitted to a national referendum, California-style. If that is true, it is possible that it could still be rejected by the Iraqi people. But al-Maliki got it through parliament by painting opponents as implicitly opposing a US withdrawal, and that campaign tactic may work with the general public, too." - bold by website editor -- Paragraph quoted from InformedComment

Top UN official slams ‘Apartheid’ by Israel
A quote...."UNITED NATIONS - United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann said the international community should consider using boycotts, divestments or sanctions to pressure Israel to improve its treatment of the Palestinians, Democracy Now! reported Wednesday."

A whoring, lying state
A quote...."Israel routinely claims to be “civilized, and democratic.” However, in truth, Israel is neither civilized nor democratic. In fact, one can safely claim that Israel is actually a criminal, barbarian and utterly uncivilized  state that lives and thrives on murder, theft and mendacity."

Palestinians Forced from East Jerusalem Homes by Israeli Settlers Despite US Protests
A quote...."Despite US and international protests, a similar fate recently befell the family of Mohammed al-Kurd and his wife Fawzieh, residents of their East Jerusalem home since 1956. Evicted in a pre-dawn raid by Israeli police, the al-Kurd family was forced to move into a tent on private land rented from a Palestinian neighbor while Israeli settlers moved into their home of more than fifty years. Israeli harassment against the family continued, however, including repeated demolition of the tent in which they had been forced to live despite its location on private Palestinian land."

Gaza: Salvation in a News Broadcast
A quote...."When Gaza's electricity is in working order, most Palestinians in the impoverished and overcrowded Strip huddle around their television screens. It's neither "American Idol" nor "Dancing with the Stars" that brings them together. It's the news."

Kangaroo Country: "Terror" Verdict Against Charity a Bitter Fruit of Bipartisan Policy
A quote...."If the Holy Land Foundation "terrorism" case had been held in Russia, we would now be enduring a flood of thundering commentary from every leading orifice of the corporate media, denouncing yet another travesty of justice in the sham democracy controlled by the Kremlin. Yet a decorous editorial silence covers the convictions of five charity officials whose only crime was helping needy and oppressed people through agencies used by international charities such as the Red Cross, and by the United States government itself. As Alternet.com reports:"

US: Muslim charity and five leaders convicted after witch-hunt trial
A quote...."The federal government did not charge that Holy Land Foundation or its leadership funded or participated in any violent acts. Instead, the indictment charged the charity with sending over $12 million to institutions and social welfare programs that were controlled by Hamas after its 1995 designation by the US as a terrorist organization."

The Corruption That Makes Unpeople Of An Entire Nation
A quote...."November 27, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" --- I went to the Houses of Parliament on 22 October to join a disconsolate group of shivering people who had arrived from a faraway tropical place and were being prevented from entering the Public Gallery to hear their fate. This was not headline news; the BBC reporter seemed almost embarrassed. Crimes of such magnitude are not news when they are ours, and neither is injustice or corruption at the apex of British power."

Ahmadinejad Welcomes Tajik President
Photo Gallery - A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- Tajikistan's President Imomali Rakhmon arrived here in Tehran on Thursday and was warmly received by his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."

Chinese FM: President Hu's participation in APEC meeting, state visits successful, fruitful
A quote...."BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao's participation in the Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Lima on Nov.17-26 and his state visits to Costa Rica, Cuba, Peru and Greece are rich in content and fruitful in result, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said here Thursday."

Putin Offers to End Stand-Off Over Missiles in Eastern Europe
A quote...."Russia is prepared to make plans to deploy missiles in its Kaliningrad exclave "disappear" if the US drops plans to base part of its missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic, Russia's prime minister says."

Russia hails U.S. 'common sense' over Georgia, Ukraine NATO bids
A quote...."HAVANA, November 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed satisfaction on Friday with a U.S. decision not to push for Georgia and Ukraine's fast-track membership of NATO."

Putin says Ukraine must pay gas bill before new contract signed
A quote...."MOSCOW, November 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian prime minister told his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday that Kiev must pay off its natural gas debt to Russia before a 2009 supply contract can be signed. -- Vladimir Putin's spokesman said that during the telephone conversation, the sides also discussed means of strengthening bilateral ties."
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The attempted overthrow of FDR in 1934
A quote...."Smedley Butler, a celebrated Marine of the time, was called by Teddy Roosevelt “the finest fighting man in the armed forces.” He won two Congressional Medals of Honor. After facing gunfire 120 times in his military career, General Butler saved his country AFTER he retired from the military."

Report suggests CIA covered up role in missionary's death  ---  27 Nov 2008 A top-ranking Republican said he will call for a new federal inquiry into an alleged CIA cover-up in the 2001 military attack on a small plane in Peru that killed an American missionary and her infant child. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., the ranking Republican on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, said the attack that killed Veronica and Charity Bowers can be traced to a reckless CIA-sponsored drug interception program that already had downed numerous other planes. -- Paragraph quoted from CLG

Terrorists could strike Britain by infecting country with bird flu 27 Nov 2008 Terrorists could strike Britain by infecting the country with bird flu or Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a leading group of security experts has warned. A commission led by Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader, identified 27 countries where terror organisations could become a threat to the UK. The report by the Institute of Public Policy Research warns that one of the biggest emerging threats comes from terrorists turning to biological warfare. [Lets nip the 'al-Qaeda-bird flu-link' lie in the bud. It's not 'al-Qaeda' that's trying to get the bird flu pandemic party started--it's the US. See: Killer flu recreated in the lab  07 Oct 2004 UK Scientists have shown that tiny changes to modern flu viruses could render them as deadly as the 1918 strain which killed millions. A US team added two genes from a sample of the 1918 virus to a modern strain known to have no effect on mice. Animals exposed to this composite were dying within days of symptoms similar to those found in human victims of the 1918 pandemic. See: Indonesian Minister: Rich nations creating "new viruses" to create markets for drug companies to sell vaccines Supari says US using bird flu virus to develop biological weapons 06 Sep 2008. See: HHS Declares 'Health Emergencies' to Limit Legal Liability for Anti-terrorism Vaccines, Drugs 19 Oct 2008 The U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, Michael Leavitt, has declared a series of 'public health emergencies' -- due to risk of a bioterrorism attack -- that continue through 2015.]  --  Paragraph quoted from CLG

NSA’s reported eavesdropping on Tony Blair causes major rift in U.S.-British intelligence relations
A quote...."WMR -- Revelations by ABC News that the National Security Agency (NSA) kept an intercept file on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, including information on his “private life,” has sent shock waves through the British and American intelligence communities. -- ABC News reported that files on Blair’s communications were maintained in a NSA database code-named “Anchory” and was accessible from the NSA regional signals intelligence site at Fort Gordon, Georgia, known as “NSA Georgia.” The facility focuses on intercepting communications in Europe and the Middle East."
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Milton Friedman's Role and His Influence on the Two Worst Regimes in US History
Special Note - A quote...."As recently as 2005, Milton Friedman was still singing the praises of utterly failed economic policies that had been put to the test by Herrs R. Reagan and Bush Sr and found tragically lacking. Friedman is enamored with policies that bankrupted the nation, made terrorism worse, created the longest, deepest recession since the crash of 1929, exported jobs abroad and resulted in the destruction of the American labor movement and, as a result, the loss of employee rights. Because Ronald Reagan put into effect the lame-brained ideas of Milton Friedman, we live poised on the precipice of economic collapse at the end of the very worst Presidency in American history."

Get Out Your Wheelbarrows!
A quote...."I’m ready and willing to admit I am no economist. On the other hand, I actually paid attention in history class. I did not buy the answers to the test questions either. Let’s look back to the days of the Weimar Republic in Germany after WW I. It seems times were tough, jobs hard to find and the economy a mess. Sound familiar? So, how did they "fix" it? They printed money until they couldn’t afford more paper. And surprise, surprise… it didn’t work! Inflation ran amuck and the prices of basic necessities skyrocketed. Hence, the need for wheelbarrows to lug all their funny money to the market so they could buy a loaf of bread… if they could find one that cheap."

Malls, hotels next victims in new mortgage crisis
A quote...."WASHINGTON – The full scope of the housing meltdown isn't clear and already there are ominous signs of a new crisis — one that could turn out the lights on malls, hotels and storefronts nationwide."

Small Independent Retailers Have An Opportunity To Capture New Business As Chain Stores Become Insolvent
Small Business Tool Tip - A quote...."Small business faces unprecedented challenges today. It’s obvious that retail stores, small and large, are closing down all over the country. The most visible closures in my area are a breakfast restaurant, an Italian dinner place, Chili’s restaurant, Mervyn’s department store, and a local movie theatre complex. It may be time to take strong measures and re-think your business. There will be fewer retailers chasing a smaller market, so small business must exercise sharp business acumen to survive."

Wednesday November 26th 2008

The Neo-Yeltsin Administration? -- The Obama Letdown
Must Read - A quote...."Reality had to raise its ugly head. Barack Obama was elected with overwhelming approval to inaugurate an era of change. And at his November 25 press conference, he said that his decisive victory gave him a mandate to change the direction in which America is moving. But his recent economic and foreign policy appointments make it clear that when he chose “change” as his campaign slogan, he was NOT referring to the financial, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sectors, nor to foreign policy. These are where the vested interests concentrate their wealth and power. And change already has been accelerating here. Unfortunately, its direction has been for the top 1% of America’s population to raise their share of in the returns to wealth from 37% ten years ago to 57% five years ago and an estimated nearly 70% today."

Custodians of Empire
Special Note - A quote...."The Obama national security "team" -- part of that much-hailed "team of rivals" -- does not yet exist, but it does seem to be heaving into view. And so far, its views seem anything but rivalrous. Mainstream reporters and pundits lovingly refer to them as "centrist," but, in a Democratic context, they are distinctly right of center. The next secretary of state looks to be Hillary Clinton, a hawk on the Middle East. During the campaign, she spoke of our ability to "totally obliterate" Iran, should that country carry out a nuclear strike against Israel. She will evidently be allowed to bring her own (hawkish) subordinates into the State Department with her. Her prospective appointment is now being praised by the likes of Newt Gingrich and Henry Kissinger." -- also posted at ICH

Obama’s odious entourage
Special Note -- A quote...."Disappointment follows disappointment with each ‘new’ face, but there is a sort of silver lining. -- Yes, we mustn’t expect too much. We all know it is the establishment that comes first in United States politics. Obama’s presidency could easily be sabotaged by the powers that put him there. -- But still. He would never have made it past the first, obscure primary without his army of selfless, grassroots activists, and his coffers were first filled by millions of small, personal donations. Surely these are the people he should honour with at least a few names. Even Clinton had his Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala (at least until she was tarred and feathered by the right). Obama’s one token progressive appointment was Melody Barnes of the Center for American Progress, who was chief counsel to Senator Edward Kennedy, and will head the toothless Domestic Policy Council. -- Not one of the 23 Senators and 133 House Representatives who voted against the war in Iraq are on his transitional team or even on a short-list for an important post in his Cabinet. The only promise that might be kept is to close Guantanamo, though he could hardly do less. The entire US legal establishment seems to be pushing to end this outrage." -- also posted at WarInIraq

“I am the decider!”, said Barack… wait… What?
Special Note - A quote...."We are being scolded already by the new Father-Figure-in-Chief. It’s his house and if we want to live under His roof, we have to obey His rules; no questions, no sassy back-talk. -- I guess the days of this presidency being about us and not about Him are long gone. Yes dear, the honeymoon is over. So shut up and make Him a sandwich. -- Obama spoke at a press conference today about those of us who dare question His choices for certain cabinet appointments."

"Imperial Crusades: The Corruption of U.S. Foreign Policy" by Alexander Cockburn
Videos - note: it has an autoload feature - A quote...."On June 7, 2008, Alexander Cockburn delivered the following speech, "Imperial Crusades: The Corruption of U.S. Foreign Policy," to the second Future of Freedom Foundation conference, "Restoring the Republic," held in Reston, Virginia." -- A partial transcript....

"So that's what we got from Obama....now many people think...and I think it's a characteristic I've noticed down the years....and they say….he had to say that....he had to say it.....and they say, well, in there, there's a secret Obama, look behind that front one there's another shadowy Obama who’s the "good one" --  if you half close your eyes you can just see it there....." -- *Alexander Cockburn*, from his speech at the second Future of Freedom Foundation conference, June 7, 2008.

For more on what ails all those poor Obamatrolls see....AAViDD believer type-1 (Advanced Audio Visual Disassociative Disorder

The Mumbia Attack - 1 article - Wednesday - [ Day 1 ] ========== ========== ========== =====

Indian troops move to release hostages in Mumbai
Breaking Story -- A quote...."November 27, 2008, 8:35 -- At least 101 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in a series of co-ordinated attacks in India's financial capital, Mumbai. Six foreigners are said to be among the dead. More than 100 hostages are being held in two 5-star hotels in the city. Troops have begun moving into the hotels, despite resistance on the part of the terrorists."

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Motorcade shooting was a Georgian stunt - Poland
Special note - another false flag event uncovered - A quote...."Poland has dismissed last week’s shooting incident involving the motorcade of the Georgian and Polish presidents as a stunt. Special services in Warsaw say the alleged attack near the South Ossetian border was a provocation staged by Georgians. -- A report by Poland’s Internal Security Agency (Agencja Bezpieczenstwa Wewnetrznego – ABW), published by the Dziennik newspaper, claims Georgia staged the incident for propaganda purposes." -- bold by website editor

Iraq to hold referendum on US troops pact -- Hip Hip Hooray for the Iraqi people!!! - mpg
Special Note - A quote...."Iraq plans to hold a July referendum on a controversial military pact allowing US troops to remain for another three years that parliament is expected to adopt on Thursday in a delayed vote. -- The decision to hold such a referendum could set Baghdad on a collision course with Washington, which needs the military pact to replace the UN mandate governing its more than 150,000 troops, which expires on December 31."

The Iraqi Security - Treaty is Deceitful
A quote...."Ali Larijani, the head of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (speaker of the parliament), while calling the Iraqi security treaty “deceitful”, compared some paragraphs of the treaty to a “mirage.” -- Mr. Larijani, who today (Monday) spoke to a group of reporters continued by saying that America wants to payoff the cost of their problems in Iraq through the “wallets of the people of this [Iraq] country."

List of Iraqi academics assassinated in Iraq during the US-led occupation
Data Base - A quote...."The following relation has being created against the Occupation and for the Sovereignty of Iraq with the information provided by direct Iraqi university sources and international and Arab media. It only includes names and data referred to university academics assassinated during the Occupation period." -- bold by website editor -- also posted at GlobResrch & ICH

After 7 Years, Judge Orders Release of Guantánamo Kidnap Victims
Must Read - (for the outrage) -- A quote...."November 26, 2008 -- On Thursday, in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush, delivered a major blow to the outgoing administration’s “war on terror” detention policies by ordering the immediate release of five Algerian-born Bosnian prisoners at Guantánamo, after concluding that the government had provided no credible evidence that, as was alleged, the men intended to travel to Afghanistan to take up arms against U.S. forces."

Israel's Slow-Motion Genocide in Occupied Palestine
A quote....."Imagine life under these conditions: -- Living in limbo under a foreign occupier. Having no self-determination, no right of return, and no power over your daily life. Being in constant fear, economically strangled, and collectively punished." -- also posted in PalestineChronicle & Creative-i

UN aid chief to EI: Gaza people "stripped of their dignity"
Interview - A quote...."The Electronic Intifada's correspondent in Gaza, Rami Almeghari, sat down with UNRWA Chief of Operations in the Gaza Strip, John Ging, to discuss how the siege, and the latest closures are affecting UNRWA and the civilian population in Gaza. UNRWA is the UN agency responsible for providing aid to millions of Palestinian refugees. On 4 November, Israel sent tanks into the Gaza Strip and carried out attacks which killed six Palestinians, breaking a ceasefire that had generally held since June. Palestinian militias retaliated by firing rockets at Israel. Since then Israel has tightened its blockade of the Gaza Strip." -- also posted at CounterCurrents

IAEA approves nuclear aid to Syria
A quote...."The UN nuclear watchdog has agreed to provide Syria with assistance in developing nuclear technology despite the West's 'concerns'."

Turkey to Invest $12bln in Iranian Gas Field
A quote...."Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said Ankara would invest $12 billion in Iran's South Pars offshore gas field."

Iran aiming for 50,000 centrifuges
A quote...."Iran's Atomic Energy Organization plans to install 50,000 centrifuges in the country's nuclear facilities in the space of five years."

Olmert wins US backing for Iran war
War Update - A quote...."Israel's prime minister says Washington has not rejected a request by Tel Aviv to take any action it deems "necessary" against Iran. -- Ehud Olmert, the outgoing premier, said Tuesday that he had extensively discussed Iran and its nuclear program with "Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the (US) president". -- It's unlikely that an attack will be launched against Iran soon, Obama will wait till the economy hits rock bottom in one to two years at which point he'll get the best economic "war boost" possible.  For more on this issue see....The Iran Game - All Over Again - 05-27-08 - mpg

Dozen Venezuelan warships to join drills with Russian navy
A quote...."LA GUAIRA (Venezuela), November 26 (RIA Novosti) - Twelve Venezuelan warships will take part in a joint exercise with a Russian naval group due to start on December 1, a senior Venezuelan military official said on Wednesday."

Chavez slams Obama's 'very bad signals' to Iran
A quote...."CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fierce critic of the United States, late Monday slammed "very bad signals" from U.S. president-elect Barack Obama that he said were "disrespectful" to Iran. -- "Iranian President "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent him a letter. The reply wasn't good. It was disrespectful. Obama was unable to get away from the cliche. He spoke like (President George W.) Bush. They are very bad signs," Chavez said in a late night news conference to foreign journalists."

Conversations With Chavez and Castro
Contains Video - Sean Penn regarding Chavez and Castro -- A quote...."This article is an adapted excerpt of the essay/interview "A Mountain of Snakes," which will appear in full December 1 at HuffingtonPost.com."

International Observers “Dazzled” by Venezuelan Electoral Process
A quote...."Caracas, November 26, 2008 (venezuelanalysis.com)-- A group of more than 130 international election observers praised the organization, fairness, and efficiency of last Sunday's regional and local elections in Venezuela, and also gave constructive suggestions for how to reduce lines at polling booths in the future."

Feet of Clay or an Achilles’ Heel?
A quote...."Media outlets were predicting a disaster for Venezuela's Chavistas. Desperate for news that was fit to print, the opposition-controlled Venezuelan press and its foreign counterparts convinced many that the time had come for Hugo Chávez and his Bolivarian Revolution, after stumbling a year ago in a slim referendum defeat, to finally reveal its feet of clay and come crashing down under its own weight. But the opposition had already squandered the slight momentum it achieved a year ago on partisan bickering, and would not live up to the unrealistic optimism it sought to foster in the media. -- In reality, the catastrophic collapse of Chavismo was not to be, but nor was this a crushing victory or a clear mandate for the drastic radicalization of the revolutionary process. What was revealed was not feet of clay, but an Achilles' heel, giving necessary pause to revolutionaries and imposing reflection on some serious strategic losses."

LATIN AMERICA:  Future of Private Pension Funds in Doubt
A quote...."BUENOS AIRES, Nov 26 (IPS) - Pension funds in Latin America have suffered sometimes drastic losses as a result of the global financial crisis. Argentina decided to nationalise its private pension funds, and in Chile, Colombia and Mexico there are voices urgently calling for reforms." -- And it was the good'ol US-NRE who encouraged many of these governments to "privatize" their pension plans.  Another "gift" bestowed on Latin America's people by the banksters in Washington DC. - mpg

COLOMBIA:  Financial Scandal a Hurdle to Uribe’s Re-election
Another one of Bush's cronies is about to bite the dust. - mpg -- A quote...."BOGOTA, Nov 26 (IPS) - Five thousand people chanting anti-government slogans in the Colombian capital’s central Bolívar Square reflected the sharp fall in popularity of right-wing President Álvaro Uribe, whose bid to reform the constitution to allow him to run for a third term in 2010 has suffered serious setbacks in Congress."

Russia test-launches new-generation RS-24 ballistic missile
A quote...."MOSCOW, November 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia successfully test launched on Wednesday a new-generation intercontinental ballistic missile bearing multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) warheads."

Russia to host BRIC 2009 summit
A quote...."RIO DE JANEIRO, November 26 (RIA Novosti) - The next summit of BRIC countries will be held in Russia next year, President Dmitry Medvedev announced on Wednesday. -- The first summit of the four BRIC members - Brazil, Russia, India and China - was held in July 2008 in Hokkaido, Japan. Russia had hosted a meeting of BRIC foreign ministers two months earlier, in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg."

Queen Rania's Top Ten List
A quote...."Queen Rania of Jordan has for some time had her own channel on youtube and has done a number of broadcasts attempting to clarify the reality of Islam, to present a modernist vision of the place of women in Islam, and to combat extremist interpretations of her religion. -- The queen, who (like me) is a graduate of the American University in Cairo, worked at Citibank and Apple Computers in the region before marrying Abdullah bin Hussein of Jordan in 1993 (he is now King Abdullah II). She has been lauded for her work for women's rights in Jordan, and she is a new breed of queen, holding the rank of colonel in the Jordanian armed forces."
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Hamilton's Curse and the Death of the Dollar Standard
A quote...."Hamilton, as is widely known, favored a highly centralized government, a near-dictatorial executive, and a mercantilist/corporatist economic system. As DiLorenzo points out (and as we'll see anon), in the pursuit of his nationalist designs Hamilton had no compunctions about using what Exeter, King Henry's royal emissary who delivered an ultimatum to the French, called "bloody constraint" against his countrymen who preferred freedom to Hamilton's concept of "greatness." -- Indeed, Hamilton's notion of "honor" obtained through bloodshed and coercion wasn't that different from that of Prince Hal, the "vain, giddy, shallow, humorous youth" who sought to vindicate his kingly stature by waging the first war his advisors could contrive."

A message to the citizens of the US from Australia and the UK: Do not under any circumstances give up your guns
A quote...."No matter what transpires  in the United States of America in the coming months to years, it is extremely important that  citizens of the United States  do not give up their rights to keep and bear arms. This right is protected under the  Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, drafted in 1791."

State justice confirms he yelled "Tyrant!" at Mukasey before AG collapsed
A quote...."25 Nov 2008 Richard Sanders, a justice on the Washington State Supreme Court, has never been one to shy from controversy or blunt language. And last week, as he sat at a Federalist Society dinner and listened to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Sanders reached his tipping point. After listening to Mukasey defend the Bush regime's counterterrorism policies -- its detainment practices at Guantánamo Bay, its interpretation of the Geneva Conventions' reach -- Sanders stood and shouted "Tyrant! You are a tyrant!" [Well-said!] -- Paragraph quoted from CLG

New Details on F.B.I.’s False Start in Anthrax Case
A quote...."WASHINGTON — A federal court on Tuesday unsealed documents that shed new light on why F.B.I. anthrax investigators spent years pursuing the wrong man, Steven J. Hatfill, who was exonerated by the government this year and received a $4.6 million settlement."

Cops Tase 54 Year Old Woman For Sitting In Wrong Seat At Football Game  -Thugs in blue, that's all they are. mpg
A quote...."Wisconsin Police were caught on camera tasing a 54 year old woman and confining her to a wheel chair after she sat in the wrong seat at a football game in Madison. -- Margaret Hiebing, a veteran Badger season ticket holder, was ejected from the Camp Randall stadium during the Oct. 11 game against Penn State after she was found sitting in the wrong seat, reports WKOW 27 News."
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The Sins of Thomas Friedman did the Stupids Do It?
Is that what you call people who makes millions, or even billions of dollars off the suckers....'scuse me...the American taxpayers?? - mpg -- A quote...."The Stupids are back. You remember that fictional family who appear in series of books portrayed as totally incompetent, people who confuse the most simple concepts and tasks. (Ha, Ha!) The books were themselves denounced as irresponsible and inspired movies which were dismissed as “stupid plus.” -- But now the Stupids seems to have inspired a column by none other than Thomas Friedman, the star of the not your father’s New York Times. In a new column by this best selling hero of all serious media, we finally have an easy-to-read explanation of the financial crisis — namely the nerds on Wall Street were just plain dumb, or to use an overused term, “stupid.”

As mortgages went bad, executives cashed out
A quote...."While Irvine subprime lender New Century was failing, key executives continually changed their stock trading plans and often sold within days of colleagues' trades, a Times investigation shows."

Citigroup Bailout Slammed By New Yorkers
A quote...."NEW YORK, Nov 26 (Reuters) - The bailout of Citigroup has made people in New York angrier than they were about any of the other government rescues of financial institutions this year. -- In a random sample of people inside the Port Authority, the world's busiest bus terminal, only one man backed the government decision to prop up the New York-based bank, even though it is a huge employer in the region."

Cost Of Bailout Hits $8.5 Trillion - Total sum represents 60 per cent of GDP
A quote...."The total cost of funds committed to the bailout in its various guises has now hit $8.5 trillion dollars, up from $7.7 trillion in just two days after the federal government committed an additional $800 billion to two new loan programs on Tuesday. -- The total amount of funds now committed equals a figure that represents 60 per cent of the U.S. gross domestic product."

After Paulson Announces New $800 Billion Bailout, Credit Default Swaps Against U.S. Rise to All-Time High
A quote...."You might assume that government bailouts would assure investors about the health of the U.S. economy. After all, the government is pulling out all of the stops to make sure that the economy recovers, right? -- Actually, no. As Markit's Miles Johnson writes:

CDS [credit default swapos] on the debt of the US government reached all-time highs on Wednesday as investors struggled to digest the government’s latest stimulus package splurge. (On Tuesday the Federal Reserve unveiled an $800bn injection into consumer lending markets, prompting further unease over the level of national debt and ballooning money supply.) -- The news pushed the cost of protecting against US default over five years to an all-time high, rising 5 basis points to 49bp. The spread on ten year contracts too reached record highs, up from a close of 48bp to 53bp.

U.S. Oct. new-home sales fall 5.3% to 433,000 pace
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- As job and economic worries hound consumers, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday that sales of new homes fell an estimated 5.3% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000, the lowest level since 1991."

[US] October durable orders down 6.2%, transportation orders fall
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The faltering economy was reflected in government data Wednesday that showed dwindling demand for U.S.-made durable goods in October, along with weaker capital spending by nervous companies."

Consumer spending down 1 percent in October
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) -- As the financial crisis was gaining force, Americans cut back on their spending in October by the largest amount since the 2001 terrorist attacks. -- The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that consumer spending plunged by 1 percent last month, even worse than the 0.9 percent decline that had been expected. Personal incomes were up 0.3 percent last month, slightly better than the 0.1 percent gain analysts had expected."

U.S. Economy: Goods Orders, Consumer Spending Tumble (Update1)
A quote...."Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. business investment weakened last month and consumers are retrenching worldwide, reports today showed, heightening pressure on policy makers to take stronger steps to combat the credit squeeze."

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