An Alleged "Two Party System"
Must Read - A quote...." 12/08/07 "ICH" --- -- The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  --   We must be clear about the following bitter realities:  --   1. "Every 10 minutes an Iraqi civilian is injured or killed in a war that George Bush says will not end until he leaves office. Every 10 hours an American soldier is killed in a war that George Bush says will not end until he leaves office. Every 10 days $2 billion is removed from the U.S. Treasury and placed in the accounts of Halliburton, Blackwater and all other war profiteers that are getting rich off the misery of Iraqis and Americans by a government that will continue to remove those amounts or more every ten days as long as George Bush is President of the United States" (from Sally B. Davidson at Veterans for Peace, NY)."

What is Peace?
A quote...."I believe there is always an undeclared war on poor people all over the world and the establishment’s goal is to use any means violent, covert, or criminal to make the poor, poorer; the rich, richer; and to eliminate an educated, healthy, and vibrant middle class that is a threat to the fascist-elite way of life but essential for true freedom and democracy."

Hostile questions baffle US army official
Editor's Special Note: - Some quotes...."Commander of US Central Command Admiral William J Fallon told the GDN that the strongly-worded questions posed by Arab delegates to US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates on whether the large US military presence in the Gulf is in the region's best interests overlooked the important role played by his country."  --  "I just reject out of hand the premise of some of the comments we heard - we are a force for peace in the world and we engage here for the purpose of trying to make this a better world, and I think the record pretty much speaks for itself." - italics by website author.

To all the peoples throughout the world and everyone reading this blog....Please pay close attention to the quote shown above.  After over a million Iraqi dead and over five million Iraqi refugees caused by the US's invasion and occupation of Iraq and subsequent actions taken, the record does speak for itself....and to Admiral Fallon it makes the US a "force for peace" and a "better world."

Many people will say Admiral Fallon is lying, he's just being a shill for US propaganda or he's simply spouting the Neocon line,  the horrible and chilling fact is, he's not, he truly believes what he says, he and many others like him truly believe when they kill millions of people....they're actually "helping them".  Admiral Fallon and others of his ilk could stand on a pile of dead and dying children covered in blood and gore in a city they totally leveled to the ground and say they "helped them"....and truly, sickeningly, revoltingly, BELIEVE IT!

Understand when you deal with these people, when you have converse or commerce with them or they're backers, the MIOC elites and America's corporations, understand quite clearly what you're dealing with, delusional sociopaths who firmly believe when they destroy your societies and kill millions of you....that they're doing you a "favor". – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

CIA photos 'show UK Guantanamo detainee was tortured'
Some quotes...."Lawyers for a British resident who the US government refuses to release from Guantanamo Bay have identified the existence of photographs taken by CIA agents that they say show their client suffered horrific injuries under torture."

Smoking Laptop Follies
Must Read - A quote...."Well, there's some semi-good news. Our courageous National Intelligence Council has just judged [.pdf] "with a high degree of confidence" that Iranian authorities had already halted, way back in 2003, what the NIC inexplicably still characterizes as a covert "nuclear weapons program." Some details of that alleged program, obtained from the hard-drive of a laptop computer, allegedly stolen in Iran in 2004, had been supplied to us a few months later, apparently by the same wonderful folks who had earlier supplied us the "intelligence" on Iraq, obtained by them from "Curveball."

Wash. Post and NY Times ignored Hadley's claim and denial that Bush was told to "stand down" upon learning of Iran intel  --  A quote...."Summary: The New York Times and The Washington Post have reported on the White House's statements regarding President Bush's knowledge of the new intelligence that Iran halted its nuclear program in late 2003 -- and the administration's subsequent "clarif[ication]" and "revis[ion]" of some of those statements -- but neither paper has noted National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley's inconsistent statements regarding whether intelligence officials told Bush to "stand down" upon learning the "new information" on Iran's nuclear weapons program."

The Media Is A Two-Sided Sword That Carves Our Fate, But We Are The Millions...
A quote...."Ah yes, once again, Father Time is steadily moving his hand further into the 21st century in what we truly hope are better days ahead. And just as time itself is perpetual motion, the circus performers are a never-ending matrix too. So what if the 'Corporate Media Mouthpiece' with all its elephant clamoring, found its way into the middle of our living rooms. Simply ignore it, or turn it off! To hell with the constant bastion of bellowing consortium that fouls the airways attempting to keep us dumb-downed and compliant! True enough, the media does hold the sharpest two-sided sword ever forged by man. And yes, its many thrusts continue to split hairs with uncanny ability, affecting virtually every head in our society. But our time is coming, and their sword has lost its edge -- at least on one side -- and there are so few of them, and we are many."

Waxman, Mukasey and Ten Million Missing Emails
A quote...."A government watchdog group now says at least ten million White House emails, which may contain information about the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson's covert CIA status, have been destroyed by the Bush administration."

It WAS five million, now it appears ten million emails have gone missing....will it never end? - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Cave Dwellers: More Democratic Deceit on War and Torture
Some quotes...."The Washington Post reports that Congressional Democrats are preparing to sign off on a spending bill that will, once again, pour tens of billions of dollars into the ongoing war crime in Iraq."  --  "Just as I was finishing up the piece above, fresh confirmation came -- via the Post again -- of the knowing collusion of the Democratic leadership in the worst crimes of the Bush Administration. In this case, it is the foul torture regimen personally instituted by George W. Bush and his top minions, including physical abuses used by Nazi Germany in its torture chambers and psychological torments devised by the KGB and North Korea.

Democratic complicity in Bush's torture regimen
Related Article - A quote...."The Washington Post reports today that the Bush administration, beginning in 2002, repeatedly briefed leading Congressional Democrats on the Senate and House Intelligence Committees -- including, at various times, Jay Rockefeller, Nancy Pelosi, and Jane Harman -- regarding the CIA's "enhanced interrogation methods," including details about waterboarding and other torture measures. With one exception (Harman, who vaguely claims to have sent a letter to the CIA), these lawmakers not only failed to object to these policies, but affirmatively supported them."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Fear grips Basra and Najaf in wake of murder of 40 women
A quote...."More than 40 women have been brutally murdered and their bodies dumped in the streets of the southern cities of Basra and Najaf, police and eyewitnesses say. - The killings come as religious and sectarian factions who wield immense power in southern cities have begun applying strict Islamic jurisdiction by force."

For more on this see....The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

US Deploys Pakistani Insurgents against Al-Qaeda
Special Note - A quote...."Excerpt from article, "Waziristan, a base for movement of Taleban, Al-Qa'idah", by independent Afghan newspaper Cheragh on 6 December

As insurgents in the Pakistani tribal areas increase their attacks on the Pakistani government, there have been various discussions about the relations between the White House and the extremist groups. In line with this, a number of experts believe that the White House has been secretly provoking these groups to fight Al-Qa'idah. This comes at a time when there have been close relations between Al-Qa'idah and the insurgents in the tribal areas for some time... (ellipses as published) - bold/italics by website author

For more on this issue see....US Support of Terror - MEK - PKK - Others
See also....The US's New Map of the Middle East
See also....Parable of the Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Conspiracy is an Absolute Fact
A quote...."Crimes of the State  --  I hear a lot of nonsense on the Internet -- much disinformation, [1] plain old vanilla misinformation, and grotesque ignorance up the wazoo.  --  Ignorance of specific facts and incidents is excusable, but an entirely fraudulent view of modern history?  --  You can't quite be sure if your fellow travellers have any inkling of their own nation's history, of their own government's substantiated, well-documented, and even admitted-to series of wrongdoings -- crimes, conspiracies.  --  Thus, you inevitably run into the cult of wild-eyed hyper-emotional flag-wavers who bring along their own lexicon of rude, arrogant and sometimes vulgar slurs. I'm referring to the "conspiradroid," "whack job," "nutcase," "moonbat," variety.  --  Why do these people seek solace in ignorance? I can understand that the alternative is scary, even terrifying. But hiding your head under the pillow does not make reality just disappear. Sorry, children.  --  Conspiracy is one of the most often prosecuted charges in the United States. It is simply defined as two or more people agreeing to commit any criminal act."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

9/11 - From The History File...Judicial Watch Releases New FBI Documents: Osama bin Laden May Have
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Ground Zero Logic - Proof that 9/11 Was An Inside Job
A quote...."No matter how uncomfortable this topic may seem to many of you, I will ask you to take just a couple of minutes and review the following material - I welcome any logical, cogent arguments that might refute this evidence and line of reasoning - conversely, if you agree with it, I truly believe you have some difficult questions to ask yourself."

See also....NIST Admits Total Collapse Of Twin Towers Unexplainable
See also....NIST: "We are Unable to Provide a Full Explanation of the Total Collapse"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

“Lone Gunman” Kills Cult Members in Colorado
A quote...."A gunman walked into a training center dormitory for young Christian missionaries early Sunday and opened fire, killing two of the center’s staff members and wounding two others,” reports the Guardian. “The shooting happened at about 12:30 a.m. at the Youth With a Mission center, police spokeswoman Susan Medina said. About 45 people were evacuated from the dormitory in this Denver suburb.” - At this time, there are few details, as the gunman escaped without a trace. However, his target has a few rather odd associations."

Inquisitor stands firm against the neocon tide - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."It's not every day that a secular American Jew gets to see the very spot where it is prophesied that his unclean blood will one day flow, so Craig Unger counts himself fortunate, or at least edified, for having lived the experience."

Gulf countries speak out against military option in Iran
A quote...."We want the military factor (of Iran's nuclear programme) to be eliminated," the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdulrahman al-Attiyah told AFP on Saturday. - "What we care for in the GCC is finding solutions that enhance security and stability ... and believe in dialogue as a way to solve the crisis," between the West and Iran, he said."

ANALYSIS-Britain's Iraq war is ending. Who won?
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown has all but called an end to Britain's Iraq war, but as Britain's largest overseas campaign in more than 50 years comes to a close there is little sense of victory. -
In less than two weeks British troops will hand over security responsibility for Basra, the last province they control in southern Iraq, to Iraqi troops. - Nearly five years after then-Prime Minister Tony Blair sent 46,000 British troops to help the United States topple Saddam Hussein, Britain is keeping in place a force of just several thousand, confined to a single air base near Basra city."

The USA Loses Credibility in the Effort Against Nuclear Proliferation
A quote...."The United States has a tradition of losing credibility in nuclear disputes, and the about-face in the cause of Iran isn’t close to being the most eloquent example.  One can say, without exaggeration, that some of the nuclear policies of the last three decades were motivated by a notable insecurity promulgated by American governments."

Africa says "no" to Europe on new trade deals
A quote...."LISBON (Reuters) - Most African leaders on Sunday rejected new trade deals demanded by the European Union, dealing a blow to efforts to forge a new economic partnership at the first EU-Africa summit in seven years."

Iraq's hardline Baathists prefer to stay in the shadows
A quote...."BAGHDAD (AFP) — Hardline Baathists, the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime, prefer to remain in the shadows in Baghdad's Sunni neighbourhoods, fearing that a new law to bring them back into public life will instead serve as their death warrants."

Israeli Democracy: Arabs Need Not Apply
A quote...."From 1948 until 1966, Palestinians inside Israel were subject to military law, while Jews lived under civilian law. During that time, 66 percent of Arab-owned land was confiscated. In 1947, Jews owned 6.7 percent while Palestinians held the rest. Today, Israeli Palestinians, 20 percent of the population, own 2.5 percent of the land."

Venezuela and Belarus Strengthen Strategic Alliance
A quote...."Mérida, December 9, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com) - President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, made an official visit to Venezuela this weekend, where he signed several biliateral agreements to provide Venezuela with industry and technology from Belarus and the two countries formed a joint company to extract oil from Venezuela's Orinoco River Delta."

Brazil’s vision of Mercosur includes all of South America
A quote...."Changes in Argentina are an opportunity for closer political links and economic ties with Brazil while the two leading South American countries work in the construction of a Mercosur extending from the Caribbean to Patagonia, said Brazil’s Foreign Affairs minister Celso Amorim."

Bolivian assembly approves new draft constitution
A quote...."A special Bolivian constituent assembly approved this weekend a new draft constitution, despite a boycott by the main opposition party. Bolivians will now have a chance to vote on the changes in a national referendum next year."

Fears of US slowdown seem to be affecting Japanese economy
A quote...."Japan revealed Friday that its economy grew by much less than previously thought in the third quarter of 2007 amid a housing slump and slower investment by firms in new factories and equipment."

Iran, China set to sign major oil deal: minister
A quote...."Iran and China's Sinopec could, as early as Sunday, sign a final multi-billion dollar agreement for the development of the Yadavaran onshore oil field, the Iranian oil minister said."

Gazprom, Shell, Sonatrach and Polski win first gas contracts: Libya
A quote...."Libya on Sunday awarded four potentially lucrative gas exploration contracts to fuel giants Shell, Gazprom, Sonatrach and Polski, the first ever given to foreign firms as relations warm between Tripoli and the West."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Where Was Jeb? - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."A government money market debacle unfolding in Florida is raising questions about former governor and presidential brother Jeb Bush's possible involvement in the mess."

Traders See 50% Odds Fed Will Cut Rate by Half Point (Update2)
A quote...."Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Odds the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by half a point next week surpassed 50 percent for the first time, according to trading in futures contracts, reflecting concern banks face more losses on securities tied to subprime loans."

Mortgage Industry Insider Says the Mortgage Mess is Far Far Worse than You Suppose
A quote...."Straight Talk on the Mortgage Mess from a Mortgage Industry Insider, as featured at MarketWatch, 12:11:23 PM, December 6th, 2007.  --  Even before this mortgage mess started, this insider with 20 years experience in the mortgage industry kept saying that this is going to get real bad. He kept saying this was beyond sub-prime, beyond low FICO scores, beyond Alt-A, and beyond the imagination of most pundits, politicians and the press. When he was asked why somebody from inside the industry would be so emphatically sounding the alarm, he simply replied, “Somebody’s got to warn people."

Fed expected to lower rates despite raging inflation
Special Note - A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- In a glorious bit of timing, the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates on Tuesday for a third straight meeting, just days before government data are released showing some of the highest inflation rates in decades.  -  That's all you need to know about the Fed's balance of risks: Policymakers are much more worried about the illiquid credit markets and the possible hit that the credit squeeze could have on the economy than they are about the risks of inflation breaking out."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Assassination of Hugo Chavez, A New Greg Palast DVD
DVD Review - A quote...."BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt) - The inimitable Greg Palast, the intrepid investigative reporter mainstream American media won't touch, because they are in his sights too. In this DVD, he goes South of the Border to provide the real scoop on why the populist pro-democracy tilt of our neighbors to the South is so threatening to corporate America, which means our current government. - Actually this consists of three of Greg's greatest hits on the role of oil, the Bush Administration, the World Bank and the IMF, and U.S. interference in government affairs in Venezuela, Ecuador and Mexico."

Psychotropic Drug Prescriptions [in Britain] to Children Skyrocket 400 Percent in Ten Years
A quote...."Prescriptions of psychiatric drugs in the United Kingdom to children under the age of 16 have more than quadrupled since the mid-1990s, according to figures recorded by the government. In the mid-'90s, general practitioners wrote 146,000 such prescriptions, while in the most recent fiscal year they wrote 613,000."

For more on this see....THX-1138
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The risk in nanotechnology
A quote...."WAVING a packet of carbon nanotubes accusingly at the assembled American politicians during a hearing last month in Congress, Andrew Maynard was determined to make a point. The nanotechnology expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington, DC, had bought the tiny tubes on the internet. They had arrived in the post along with a safety sheet describing them as graphite and thus requiring no special precautions beyond those needed for a nuisance dust."


Good Times, Bad Times 1: The Hysteroidal Cycle
Must Read - A quote...."Some observers have suggested that societies and countries, like the individuals that make them up, pass in cycles from good times to bad times and back again. They have called this pattern of change the hysteroidal cycle, from the psychological definition of hysteria: a psychological state of uncontrollable fear or exaggerated excitability. Here it is being used to describe "fear of truth" or fear of thinking about unpleasant things so as to not "rock the boat" of current contentment."

The Origins of America's World Wide Image Problem in Bush's Embrace of the 'Science of Lying'
A quote...."Successful lying has become a science. Highly paid consultants taught Bush officials the new science of effective lying at the outset of Bush's new regime. The cost, however, will be picked up by US taxpayers; it is no coincidence that new studies show US prestige declining as the world learns the truth about Bush's hidden agenda. --  Typically, the US responds with promises of more spin and PR, more ludicrous attempts to put a smiley face on torture, lies, and aggressive war. The US will try to spread the guilt around and "reframe" the issue.
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Inquiry Sought On CIA Tapes
A quote...."CIA officials said the agency never turned over the videotapes to the Sept. 11 commission because the panel did not specifically request them. But several members and staffers, including the panel's Republican co-chairman, disputed that claim yesterday and said the CIA's failure to disclose the tapes was in defiance of commission demands."

Rockefeller, Harman: We Kinda Sorta Knew About CIA's Torture Tapes
Related article - And they kinda sorta didn't do anything about it.  Does THAT sound familiar to anyone? - mpg

The CIA tapes continued...
Related article - A quote...."But if there is a cover up, it is likely to conceal evidence that might cause "diplomatic problems" with our two friends - Pakistan and Saudia Arabia.  The Bush administration has proved over and over, that friends like ISI and the House of Saud are much more important than our own national security. I tend to call this treason, others have often called it "diplomacy." I will let you decided if giving aid and comfort to the very people who were behind the attacks on this country is a matter of diplomacy or a matter of treason."

Which lie should we believe? CIA admits it destroyed evidence it said didn't exist.
Related article - A quote...."Writing in TIME magazine, former CIA agent and occasional "conspiracy theory" debunker, Robert Baer, concedes that 9/11 skeptics seem all the more credible after the CIA admits destruction of key evidence. Full-time debunker Gerald Posner also sees a cover-up."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Whitewash
A quote...."You might reasonably assume that the 9/11 Commission and other government agencies investigated September 11th, and concluded based upon the evidence that Osama Bin Laden and his group of terrorists were solely responsible for that atrocity. - Unfortunately, a quick look at the government's investigations reveals that -- not only has there never been a real investigation -- but the behavior of government representatives in willfully obstructing all attempts at investigation comprises evidence of guilt. Specifically, in all criminal trials, evasiveness, obstruction, and destruction of evidence all constitute strong circumstantial evidence that the accused is guilty or, at the very least, not to be believed.  --  9/11 is no different."

Hill Close To Deal on War Funds - Democrats Would Drop Iraq Timeline - [Again !!]
This headline hopefully doesn't surprise anyone?  If it does, you must have stumbled onto this blog by accident....after just returning to earth from your ten year trip to Mars.

Actually that probably isn't far enough, or long enough.  You'd have to just be getting back from your thirty year interstellar journey not to know about the DemoRepubs and their unrelenting mendacity. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Hill Briefed on Waterboarding in 2002
A quote...."In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was given a virtual tour of the CIA's overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk." - bold/italics by website author

Politics, like biology, is evolving and progressives are at the cutting edge.
A quote...."Establishment politics is an appendix that burst in the American body politic. The 2006 Democratic Congress may well be a tipping point in American social evolution.  These DLC "Democrats" are indistinguishable from the most carnivorous fascist pugs. A very few exceptions prove the rule, but dems are cheek to jowl with the pugs at the hog trough provided by America's Dictatorship of the Rich for their obedient political puppets."

Amen brother....amen. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

White House & Press Spinning Iran’s Centrifuges
A quote...."Those who know about the centrifuges used to refine uranium tell me they must spin at an almost unrivaled velocity-almost unrivaled, because Bush administration statements are being spun at equivalent speed by White House and corporate media spiders. Without Spinmeister Karl Rove and former spokesman Tony Snow, it is amateur hour at the White House. And the theater would be as funny as The Daily Show, were the subject not so serious."

Two Strikes
A quote...."Well, it should be two strikes and you're out for the foam-at-the-mouth warmongers. It should come as no surprise that the same people who ranted and raved for war with Iraq were also ranting and raving for war with Iran."

The Battle For Basra & Iraq’s Oil
A quote...."With over 80 percent of the country’s known oil reserves, Basra holds the key to Iraq’s economy. Without its revenues the central government in Baghdad would collapse. The struggle for power in Basra is central to the larger battle for control in the new Shiite dominated Iraq. This is a report from Basra by independent filmmaker Rick Rowley of Big Noise films. [includes rush transcript]"
||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  || More...  || ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

South America set to launch new bank today to rival IMF
A quote...."Latin American leaders on Sunday inaugurate the Bank of the South, the brainchild of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who hopes it will help wean the region off institutions like the IMF. - Six South American presidents are scheduled to gather in Buenos Aires on Sunday to formally launch the bank, which will be headquartered in Caracas. - The creation of the regional bank comes amid a widespread perception in South America that adjustment policies imposed by multinational credit agencies have failed. - The bank, which will start operations in 2008 with an initial capital of seven billion dollars, is designed to support regional development and integration projects."

Hip Hip Hooray.....Finally the people of South America are standing on their own two feet and throwing off the shackles of those loan sharking, blood sucking, Banksters.

An open note to all of South America however, the IMF, the World Bank and the US elites who manage them will do anything to sabotage this effort, every trick in the book will be used, every dirty ploy will be tried....so watch out.

Hire people that weren't trained by Western financial institutions, but hire good, qualified, experienced people who have a verifiable history of incorruptibility.  Establish air tight, iron clad, rules and procedures that follow the highest international standards of "good practice" for banks.

Don't loan money to a given project based solely on "political or ideological" grounds.  Always consider whether the project is economically viable or the concept is feasible. "Charity" is not an option; nothing hurts a community’s self-confidence or trust in governing institutions more than a failed project.  And finally don't buy any financial instruments or products, or deal with in any way shape or form, any US financial institution or bank....EVER!

Or you'll be sorry you did.(an you'll be a heck'of a lot poorer) – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Why US Is The Only 'Superpower'
A quote...."In a controversial book, John Perkins narrates a real life tale. His personal journey from the member of international community of highly paid professionals who are employed to cheat poor countries around the globe to maintain US monopoly. Eventually he calls himself as a former economic hit man and deconstructs international intrigue and corruption, the sinister mechanics of imperial manipulations and control."

See also.... Confessions of an Economic Hit Man Part I,  Part II,  Part III
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Russian Warships to Dock in Syria - Russian military build-up in Mediterranean starts; linked to Iran?
A quote...."In an effort to expand its military presence in the international arena and reestablish a naval presence in the Middle East, Russia has dispatched a naval fleet to the region, including a guided missile cruiser, two anti-submarine ships and 47 fighter planes. The fleet will dock at the Syrian port of Tartus where Russia maintains a technical base. At the same port, Iranian ships are also docked."

Central Asian Gas Hike May Hit European Consumers
A quote...."All three Central Asian gas-rich states – Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakstan – have announced gas price hikes for their main customer, the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, in a move which may have severe knock-on effects for Europe."

Banksters Gone Wild - Wall Street's Bad Boys and Their Washington Enablers
Must Read - A quote...."Imagine you moved in next door to a mischievous child. Over the years, you watched the parents scold ever so lightly as the deviant behavior grew from stealing loose change to petty larceny to bank robbery. You knew for sure the child would eventually get caught and end up in prison; but you didn't count on one thing: the parents used their political clout with each ratcheting up of the crimes to avoid prosecution, effectively turning the overseers of the public interest into criminal enablers. As the enablers "fixed" the outcome of each crime, they also sealed the records from public view and historical perspective.  --  That scenario typifies how criminal behavior has exploded on Wall Street and why President Bush, Congress and the regulators are stumbling around in the dark looking for cures for a financial crisis that they can neither understand nor contain: they're enablers in denial. Nothing more dramatically illustrates the criminal contagion than the fact that for the second time in 13 years, Orange County, California has found Wall Street toxic sludge threatening its public funds. - bold/italics by website author

CFR: Considering the PetroEuro
A quote...."Easily missed amid the rising outcry over oil prices is the fact that they have only been skyrocketing in dollar terms. Priced in euros—or yen, or pounds sterling—the cost of a barrel of oil has risen much less over the past decade. At recent meetings of OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, ministers disputed whether oil should be sold in euros instead of dollars"

Iran drops dollar from oil deals: report
War Warning - A quote...."TEHRAN (AFP) — Major crude producer Iran has completely stopped carrying out its oil transactions in dollars, Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said on Saturday, labelling the greenback an "unreliable" currency."

Liberty Dollar Fights Back
A quote...."Liberty Dollar, the firm that got raided by the FBI before Thanksgiving for trying to start a precious-metals-based currency to compete with the greenback, now says it's back in business."

Crimes Against Humanity':
Book Review - A quote...."RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif., Dec. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- In his new book, "Crimes Against Humanity: A Shocking History of U.S. Crimes Since 1776" (published by AuthorHouse - http://www.authorhouse.com), Chaitanya Dave fearlessly goes where few dare to tread. Dave presents indisputable, in depth, factual accounts of numerous invasions, assassinations, subversions, coups and sabotage perpetrated by the United States on foreign governments, and he reveals the actual motivations behind these crimes, unlike what is reported in the compliant media.

France Suspends Commercial GMO Seed Use, Studies Safety
A quote...."PARIS - France formally suspended on Thursday the commercial use of genetically modified (GMO) seeds in the country until early February and ordered a biotech safety study. - The future of GMOs has long been the subject of heated debate in France — Europe’s top grain producer — and the country’s reluctance to use GMO crops compares starkly with the United States, which is far more tolerant of the technology."

Progressive Daily Beacon Sunday Funnies
Paul Combs: See Dear...
David Horsey: Don't have any
Drew Sheneman: Last time...
John Cole: Fact...
Rob Rogers: Pencil...
Bob Gorrell: Credibility...
Jeff Danziger: Insanity...
Kevin Siers: Rudy's tryst...
Charlie Daniel: Wolf...


Keith Olbermann's Special Comment 12/6/07 - posted at ICH
Must View - A quote...."Keith Olbermann Says "You sir should not be President!"  Click here for transcript

Important Note: Besides the usual spot-on, biting, commentary, Mr. Obermann discusses an analysis of Bush's speeches before and after August conducted by Dan Froomkin, strongly suggesting that Bush either received or was briefed on the NIE report at some point during the month of August. – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

White House Quietly Admits Bush Lied About When He Learned That Iran Had Suspended Its Nuclear Program
A quote...."The White House has quietly admitted that George Bush lied to reporters at a news conference on Tuesday when he said he was not informed by intelligence officials that Iran's nuclear weapons program had been suspended in 2003."

"Missing" evidence is familiar Bush pattern
Special Note: - A quote...." In April, I compiled a long list of the numerous court proceedings and other investigations which were impeded by extremely dubious claims from the Bush administration that key evidence was mysteriously "missing." Much of the "missing" evidence involved precisely the type of evidence that the CIA has now been forced here to admit it deliberately destroyed: namely, evidence showing the conduct of its agents during interrogation of detainees."

Glen Greenwald has compiled a long list of "missing" videos, tape recordings, documents, e-mails, etc. that the Bush administration "somehow" seems to have "lost".  ALL of this activity in the "old days" would have had these guys serving long stretches of time behind bars....yet nowadays nobody seems to care.  What the heck happened to this country? – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Getting Past ‘Oh!’: Why Americans Misunderestimate the Depravity of the President They Hate
Must Read - A quote...."Bush is incompetent and Iraq is likely the greatest foreign policy blunder in two-plus centuries of American history. But to say that - and particularly to say that alone - does not truly do justice to either disaster, Bush or his war. The truth about this president and his motives for war are far, far uglier than the words ‘incompetence’ or ‘mistake’ imply."

Check out the comments! - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

More Evidence of Obstruction of Justice in 9/11 Investigation
Must Read - A quote...."By now you've heard that the CIA destroyed videotapes of interrogations of alleged Al Qaeda members. The interesting part of this story is that the 9/11 Commission claimed that it obtained most of its information about the attacks from these interrogations (and then only indirectly as reported by the military to the Commission)."

How Bush Fosters Bad Intelligence
A sample From the 9/11 History File - April 24th 2004 - A quote...."LOS ANGELES -- On April 13, during only his third prime-time press conference as president, George W. Bush was asked why he had insisted that his forthcoming testimony to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States be given jointly with Dick Cheney, the Vice-President."

"Because the 9/11 commission wants to ask us questions," he replied, "that's why we're meeting."

"The reporter tried again: "I was asking why you're appearing together, rather than separately, which was their request."

"Round II: "Because it's a good chance for both of us to answer questions that the 9/11 commission is looking forward to asking us."

"Bush could have saved even more time by issuing a simple (and accurate) "Because I said so." The biggest reason the President will be testifying some time between now and May 18, 2004, rather than in 2002, is that he fought tooth and nail against creating the public commission in the first place (favoring a secretive internal review), and then dragged his feet at every opportunity to cooperate with the body's requests for information and access to administration officials."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

9/11 - From The History File...9/11 Commission Primer
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Former Italian President: "9-11 Carried Out By Mossad And CIA"
A quote...."The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera carried the following article on November 30, 2007. They report that President Emeritus of the Italian Republic Francesco Cossiga has stated that 9/11 was the work of US and Israeli intelligence. Not only that, all Democratic leaders in Europe and America are also aware of this fact."

This Is A Banana Republic
A quote...."What defines such a republic? How about an executive that ignores the rule of law, commits war-crimes and then destroys the actual evidence? Today's bombshell is that the CIA has done just that with respect to tapes  made recording the torture of enemy combatants. Read the whole story. We live in a country where the government can detain indefinitely, torture in secret, and then secretly destroy the tapes of torture sessions to protect its own staff:

The Central Bank; Silent partner in the bloodletting
A quote...." 12/07/07 "ICH"  -  The United States is not a beacon of hope or a light unto the world. It is a menace and a growing threat to survival on earth. America's political and military belligerence is just an extension of a domineering economic system which serves the sole interests of the rich and powerful. The Central Bank plays a critical role in this paradigm. Nation's don't go to war without the blessing of their main financial institutions. The “big money” guys are the silent partners in the plunder and bloodletting.  -  The men who own and oversee the US financial system; created the cancer which is presently devouring it from the inside. Now the tumor has metastasized and spread through the entire organism. The situation is irreversible. The economy is on its last legs and headed for a fall. US political leaders will have to accept a world in which America is just one of many states of equal power and significance. Military funding will slow to a dribble. The killing will stop. Finally."

The surge is a sideshow. Only total US pullout can succeed
A quote...."When resistance leaders are given an assurance that the Iraq occupation will end completely, real negotiations can begin "
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Mideast Strategic- Consensus Fantasy
A quote...."Indeed, the notion that the United States could utilize a perceived common strategic and ideological threat – the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and Shi'ite Iran today – to bring together Arabs and Jews under an American umbrella and help create the conditions for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement has been a central concept shared by the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. It also reflects the influence of the pro-Likud neoconservative ideologues on these two conservative Republican presidents."

Gates Urges Gulf Region to Counter Iran
A quote...."     MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates planned to tell Gulf countries Saturday they must work together to help the U.S. counter Iranian threats, including Tehran's ballistic missiles and meddling in Iraq. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States still wants new sanctions."

Baer Suggests Saudis Could Stage Terror In America to Instigate Iran Attack
A quote...."Former CIA veteran Robert Baer has suggested that a withdrawal from the possibility of striking Iran could be reversed if a terror attack was to take place in America - and he fingered America's ally Saudi Arabia as the most likely perpetrator of any such attack. Baer also questioned why the U.S. and its allies continue to protect individuals who consorted with the alleged mastermind of 9/11 before the attacks."

For more on the three articles shown above see....The CONversation - 09-04-06 - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

US reversal on Iran intel [NIE Report] reflects breaking of the ranks: analysts
A quote...."The US reversal on Iran's nuclear weapons program has exposed a breaking of ranks within a waning administration, with US intelligence and military professionals asserting themselves on issues of war and peace, analysts said. - Senior US intelligence officials said this week they were responding to new information, subjected to more rigorous analysis than in the past, in declaring with "high confidence" that Iran halted a covert nuclear weapons program in 2003."

Review of Iran Intelligence to Be Sought - As Conservatives Reject New NIE, Republican Senators to Urge Congressional Panel  --  A quote...."Senate Republicans are planning to call for a congressional commission to investigate the conclusions of the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran as well as the specific intelligence that went into it, according to congressional sources. - The move is the first official challenge, but it comes amid growing backlash from conservatives and neoconservatives unhappy about the assessment that Iran halted a clandestine nuclear weapons program four years ago."

Regarding the two articles shown above....

There's a war going on within America's governing institutions for what remains of this nation's heart and soul.  There are those who are fighting the brave fight for America as it used to be, a nation of laws with a constitution and a reticence for massive, openly avowed, murderous, wars of conquest.  Than there are the Neo-Romans fighting to establish a Pax Neo-Romana across the length and breadth of the planet, lusting for power and profit and willing to kill millions to get what they want.

The Neo-Romans with the complicity of the Demo part of the DemoRepub party, despite some recent resistance, are currently winning this war.  The just released NIE report from the law abiding faction still left within the CIA is probably the last shot across this nation's bow before the country finally plunges into the long dark night of despotism and rampant, unrestrained, militarism.

May God have mercy on us all. – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

'Millions missing' from Iraq fund - [that's Billions....with a "B"]
A quote...."A $5.2bn (£2.6bn) fund used to train and equip Iraqi security forces cannot be shown to have been used properly, US military auditors say in a new report."

The Winter of the American Despot
A quote...." Bush and Cheney and the rest of the Pod people are really starting to sound out of touch. They are crying about the recent National Intelligence Estimate and how wrong it is, how biased its creators, and how mistaken the world would be to believe a word of it. - Too bad they didn’t have this reaction last time we got a long-delayed and highly politicized NIE. - Neoconservatives everywhere are getting eye tics and cocking their heads as if receiving encrypted messages from the mother ship."

Israeli minister 'in fear of arrest' cancels UK visit
A quote...."A senior Israeli minister has turned down an invitation to visit Britain because of fears he could have been arrested on war crimes charges arising from the assassination of a top Hamas military commander five years ago."

Gaza's medical sector suffers Israeli sanctions, restrictions
A quote...."JERUSALEM/GAZA, 5 December (IRIN) - Health officials in the Gaza Strip say they are concerned about hundreds of patients unable to travel to Israel or other countries for vital treatment, and that local hospitals lack essential medical equipment, drugs and fuel"

Summit’s Goal: Perpetuate Repression of Palestinians
A quote...."After meeting their own low expectations for the Annapolis conference amid intense skepticism, Bush administration officials crowed with delight,” said an Associated Press story. - And well they might. It was more symbolism than substance, but President Bush looked almost presidential. - But all Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert really agreed on was to negotiate — Bush called it “hard bargaining.”

Britain's Neo-Imperial Dreams in Afghanistan
A quote...."Dean Acheson, the distinguished American statesman, famously opined in a speech at West Point in 1962, "that Great Britain has lost an empire and has not yet found a role." Forty years later, in 2002, Tony Blair and fellow dreamers thought the tragedy of 9/11 provided them with the opportunity once again to play a determining role on the world stage. The notion that Britain was to America as Greece had been to Rome – implying that Britain was going to be the "brain" and America the "brawn" – became a fashionable topic of discourse in the British media."

ASEAN leaders endorse integration blueprint
A quote...."SINGAPORE — A detailed timetable seeking to establish an ASEAN Economic Community in eight years has hit the ground running, with leaders of 10 Southeast Asian countries affixing their signatures yesterday to a declaration adopting a so-called blueprint for economic integration and an attached “strategic schedule.”

Russia Ignores Rice's Call for Sanctions
A quote...."BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday the United States would continue along a two-track strategy to deal with Iran, pressing for new sanctions and demanding Tehran come clean about its nuclear program while offering talks to sweeten the deal. But Russia ignored her calls to punish Iran."

COLOMBIA:  Jail the Messenger
A quote...."The arrest and imprisonment of two young women carrying evidence showing that at least 17 of the 45 hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas are still alive could place an insurmountable roadblock in the path forged by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, in his efforts to broker an agreement for an exchange of hostages for imprisoned rebels."

Hugo Chavez: The Paradoxical Neo-Conservative Defeat
A quote...."Which side is disappointed after the victory of the "no" vote to the constitutional reform Hugo Chavez advocated? With close to 51 percent and 4.5 million votes, the Venezuelan opposition has profited from both the demobilization of Chavists who had been working around the clock for nine years and a legalistic strategy encouraged by Teodoro Pettkoff, former minister in the right-wing government of Rafaël Caldera.  --  Outside the country, however, a certain number of President Chavez's detractors must be embarrassed. Their scheme of thinking had spurred them to present the referendum as "determined in advance" and as a stage in the "totalitarian drift" of the "populist dictator." Have we ever seen a dictator lose an election by 300,000 votes? On that score, many countries would like to have a dictator like Hugo Chavez!"

PRC denies entry to more US carriers
A quote...."REJECTION:  Aside from the USS `Kitty Hawk,' China also rejected a request by the USS `Reuben James' and a cargo plane support mission for the US consulate in Hong Kong  "

U.S. missile shield plans threaten Russia-NATO cooperation - Lavrov
A quote...."BRUSSELS, December 7 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Central Europe threaten Russia-NATO cooperation in missile defense, the Russian foreign minister said on Friday. - The U.S. plans deploy a radar in the Czech Republic and a missile defense base in Poland. Russia has said the move would threaten its national security."

Russia will supply India with modern tanks. INFOgraphics
A quote...."Weapons exports grow from year to year. "In 2006, Russia reached a record $5.3 billion. This year, it is planning to beat this record and post $5.5 billion. I am sure we will meet this target and perhaps go one better," Sergei Chemezov, general director of Rosoboronexport, the state arms-exporting agency, said in late November."

Ron Paul And The War Crime Tribunals
A quote...."Can Ron Paul win the presidency? The answer is definitely yes, based on a popular vote but Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 and we still got his opponent, a psychopathic war criminal, as president, who was solely in the race because he was himself the son of a psychopathic war criminal (and a former president). So I'm not sure why we have a popular vote. Most Americans do not fully understand the Electoral College, and I'm one of them. It's the Electoral College that elects the president."

'Homegrown Terror' Act [HR 1955] an Attack on Internet Freedom?
A quote...."I regret that I was unavoidably out of town on October 23, 2007, when a vote was taken on HR 1955, the Violent Radicalization & Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act. Had I been able to vote, I would have voted against this misguided and dangerous piece of legislation. This legislation focuses the weight of the US government inward toward its own citizens under the guise of protecting us against "violent radicalization."

We [the Pentagon] "Must Fight the Net"
A quote...." The Pentagon's Information Operations Roadmap is blunt about the fact that an internet, with the potential for free speech, is in direct opposition to their goals. The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system"."

Official in Blackwater probe quits - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, under scrutiny for his brother's link to the Blackwater security firm, has decided to resign, U.S. officials said on Friday. - Krongard, the State Department's top investigator, has been accused by current and former subordinates of thwarting probes into waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq, including alleged arms smuggling by Blackwater."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Florida Just First to Face National Run on the Bank: Joe Mysak
A quote...."Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Florida officials are going to meet today to talk about the crisis in the state's Local Government Investment Pool. I don't know what they are going to talk about, but I know what they had better decide."

Belgium: a country divided...nearly
A quote...."MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Yelena Shesternina) - Belgium has left Ukraine far behind in the race to set a record for life without a government."  --  This ones funny. - mpg

Clooney and Pitt Spoof Larry Craig Stall Scene
Awww....just for the heck of it. - mpg


A new Chinese red line over Iran
Must Read - A quote...."The NIE means the Bush administration cannot resort to a military strike against Iran during its remaining term in office, as it says that Iran "halted" its secret nuclear weapons program in the autumn of 2003. The military option simply doesn't exist anymore, no matter US officials' grandstanding  -  Equally, the Bush administration's diplomatic campaign to get the international community to back tougher sanctions against Iran runs into a cul-de-sac. Washington has been lobbying for a third round of United Nations sanctions against Iran. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talked to their Chinese and Russian counterparts. But Beijing and Moscow have taken serious note of the NIE. Probably, their intelligence already knew of its contents. At any rate, they reiterated their aversion for another UN Security Council sanctions resolution.

The CIA ‘War’ on Bush: The New Neocon Ploy
A quote...."As I mentioned just yesterday, the neocon pushback on the NIE Iran report continues to be relentless. Now it has gelled into a visible, pointed strategy. It’s all about the “CIA’s war on Bush” as the geniuses over at Powerlines have put it.On the same blog, long-time Kissinger Krony and current employee at the American Enterprise Institute, Mark Falcoff, argues the same line, explaining to us dunderheads that the CIA is divided into two clear factions. The action/operative types are just like the cool straight-shooters in the movies. And then, oh heavens, are all those pointy-headed analyst guys who…well… you just can’t trust. Says Falcoff: “The estimates guys are mostly academic types who couldn’t find a job teaching at a university when they got their Ph.D. Politically and culturally they are absolutely indistinguishable from the career people at the State Department. You can imagine what that means in the present context of Bush-hatred.”  --  Oooooo, how scary indeed! If the CIA guys are so twisted, incompetent and duplicitous, what must the resident “scholars” at the lower-rung AEI think-tank be like? Mark?"

For more on this issue see....Fake Intel - pressure / purges
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Former CIA Officials: Bush Iran Claims "Preposterous"
A quote...." Four former CIA officials who provided intelligence information to past presidents described as preposterous President Bush's claim that he was unaware until very recently that Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003. - "It's unbelievable," said Melvin Goodman, who worked for the CIA from 1966 to 1990 and now is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy.

Joe Nobody in Nowhere Minnesota: How Bush Will Continue to Further His Iran Lies
A quote...."George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are going to continue telling the lie that Iran is on the verge of creating nuclear weapons -- as they had regarding Iraq -- and eventually, without a doubt, the corporate-owned-madmen-enabling-media are going to go along with the game and report the Iran lies as though they too, had never heard of the NIE. Don't believe me? Okay, ask the Bush administration to produce the intelligence assessment that supports Bush, Cheney and Petraeus' claims that al-Qaeda has overrun Iraq.  --  Someone start the "Jeopardy" theme music... Do-Dee-Do...."

Two-thirds of Israelis oppose attack on Iran: poll
A quote...."JERUSALEM (AFP) - Two-thirds of Israelis oppose their country launching on its own a military attack against nuclear installations in arch-foe Iran, said a poll published on Thursday. - When asked "should Israel alone attack the Iranian nuclear installations," 67.2 percent said no, while 20.9 percent said yes and 11.9 percent had no opinion, said the survey aired on public radio."

So?  Two thirds of Americans also want US troops out of Iraq....and the elites who run the US and Israel could care less about what the "little people" want. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Is Hillary buckling?
Must Read - A quote...."If both trends continue, a collapse of the center-right in the Democratic Party and the collapse of the mainstream in the Republican Party who are supporting Mitt Romney – then we could be witnessing some of the earliest symptoms of new political awakening in American history. What would be interesting would be a chain reaction that would transform both major parties into popular and populist parties. Loyalists in both parties have had enough of the crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush-Clinton-Bush Era".

"At this point in the arc of history, the American public is fed up with the excesses of Republican neoconservativism led by Cheney, Bush, Bolton, Ledeen, Abrams, Pipes, Hadley, Libby and Rice and its stealth faction in the DLC led by Senator Clinton and her husband aided by their merry band of neocons clustered around Al From, Howard Wolfson, Stanley Greenberg and James Carville, all of whom supported the ill-fated wars of the Bush Era. In 2002, encouraged by her husband and their minions in the DLC, Senator Clinton led the charge against Iraq, and she has been at the forefront of the pack calling for another surge of jingoistic bellicosity against Iran."

For more on the article shown above see....You Can STILL Vote to Stop the Madness 10-07-07 - mpg

See also....Dennis Kuchinich
See also....Mike Gravel
See also....Ron Paul

This is not an endorsement of any particular candidate for President.  The three shown above are posted simply because all three of them have specifically stated they do not support the Neocons' quest to establish a Neo-Roman Empire. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Bush Family Fortune -  Pt. 1/6 - Pt. 2/6 - Pt. 3/6 - Pt. 4/6 - Pt. 5/6 - Pt. 6/6
Must View - (YouTube - aprox 10 min each - November 09, 2007)
A quote...."This hour long documentary follows the award-winning reporter-sleuth Greg Palast on the trail of the Bush family, from Florida election finagling, to the Saudi connection, to the Bush team's spiking the FBI investigation of the bin Laden family and the secret State Department plans for post-war Iraq. - These are the hard-hitting reports that have been seen in films like Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, broadcast internationally on BBC Newsnight television, and are found in Palast's international bestselling book The Best Democracy Money Can Buy"

For more videos see....9/11 & It's Fallout - Videos
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

9/11 - From The History File...Ron Motley's 9/11 Class Action: Following the Money Trail
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Dentist, the 9/11 Hijackers, and the FBI -- Part II
A quote...."Finally, the conclusion of the Collateral News story, posted here last week, about the mysterious death of Dr. David Graham, of Shreveport, LA."

Previous stories on Dr. Graham's death, as referred to in this Collateral News piece:

• "Treason in Shreveport", Sander Hicks;
• Who Killed Dr. David Graham? Complaint filed with DOJ Story by Jeff Ferrell of KSLA news;
• "The strange death of Dr. David M. Graham", YES! Weekly, Greensboro's Alternative Newsweekly.

========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Blackwater's Bu$ine$$
A quote...."Gunning down seventeen Iraqi civilians in an incident the military has labeled "criminal." Multiple Congressional investigations. A federal grand jury. Allegations of illegal arms smuggling. Wrongful death lawsuits brought by families of dead employees and US soldiers. A federal lawsuit alleging war crimes. Charges of steroid use by trigger-happy mercenaries. Allegations of "significant tax evasion." The US-installed government in Iraq labeling its forces "murderers." With a new scandal breaking practically every day, one would think Blackwater security would be on the ropes, facing a corporate meltdown or even a total wipeout. But it seems that business for the company has never been better, as it continues to pull in major federal contracts. And its public demeanor grows bolder and cockier by the day."

$1B In Military Equipment Missing In Iraq - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."Tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, crates of machine guns and rocket propelled grenades are just a sampling of more than $1 billion in unaccounted for military equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces, according to a new report issued today by the Pentagon Inspector General and obtained exclusively by the CBS News investigative unit."

For more on this see....US Support of Terror - Guns 4 Everyone
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The unmentionable in Harold Pinter's Nobel acceptance speech - posted at Online Journal
Must Read - A quote...."One of the methods Pinter calls the “low intensity conflict” and describes it as follows, “Direct invasion of a sovereign state has never in fact been America's favoured method. In the main, it has preferred what it has described as 'low intensity conflict.' Low intensity conflict means that thousands of people die but slower than if you dropped a bomb on them in one fell swoop. It means that you infect the heart of the country, that you establish a malignant growth and watch the gangrene bloom. When the populace has been subdued or beaten to death -- the same thing -- and your own friends, the military and the great corporations, sit comfortably in power, you go before the camera and say that democracy has prevailed. This was a commonplace in US foreign policy in the years to which I refer.”

See also....Nobel Lecture - Pinter - txt & Nobel Lecture - Pinter - vid & Nobel Lecture - Pinter-PDF
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Recalling the Fall of Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam - US Meddling in Australian Politics
A quote...."On November 24, 2007 the Australian Labor Party swept into power with Kevin Rudd replacing conservative Liberal Party Prime Minister John Howard. I awoke that morning with an email from a friend about this victory with the subject line "about bloody time! John Howard was becoming an embarrassment." I concur. George Bush's "coalition of the willing" (or "killing" as I say) is rapidly fading out. This news took me back, however, to 1972 and the Labor Party victory of Gough Whitlam. I was also in a state of euphoria with that win, but by 1975 the Whitlam government was dissolved by what some said was a CIA coup. Americans seem not to know about this important history."

Little Soman's Little War - And other portraits by an American Journalist in Afghanistan
Must Read - A quote...."The United States war in Afghanistan is the forgotten war. Private military companies and U.S. troops in Afghanistan are today committing egregious atrocities, and the war is mostly off the American media. When it does appear in the U.S. it is the same old U.S. Pentagon information warfare appearing in, for example, the Atlantic Monthly—whose advertisers include Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman but whose narratives are consumed like candy by Americans hunger to believe any lie that makes then feel O.K. about what they know in their hearts to be murder."

Why Bush's troop surge won't save Iraq
A quote...."What the recent publicity about the "success" of the troop surge has ignored is this: The Bush administration has downplayed the collapsing political situation in Iraq by directing the public's attention to fluctuating numbers of civilians killed. While there have been some relative gains in security recently, even there the picture remains dubious. The Iraqi ministry of health, long known for cooking the books, says that a few hundred Iraqis were killed in political violence in November. However, independent observers such as Iraq Body Count cite a much higher number -- some 1,100 civilians killed in Iraq in November. They reported that bombings and assassinations accounted for 63 persons on Saturday, the first day of December, alone."

Neocons Down, Not Out
A quote...."Since the neoconservatives began to emerge as a political force in the mid-to-late 1970s, they have followed a consistent strategy of targeting the information flows inside the United States, paying particular attention to controlling the nation’s intelligence analysts and purging independent thinking from the U.S. news media."

Annapolis & "The Surge": Spinning a Legacy
A quote...."I'm usually looking for any signs of hope in that bloody, tense region, so I surprised myself by blurting out in despair: "What will be accomplished? Nothing! It's all for show. The decisions have already been made, and, since Bush won't use his leverage in a forceful way, and therefore Israel feels free to operate as it wishes, there will be no significant chance for change in the situation there until we have a new U.S. president."

Simply outrageous
A quote...."Only one word can adequately describe the nerve of the Israeli government: outrageous.  --  Fresh from Washington and words of peace and goodwill, practically the first thing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert does is tell his people, in a classic manoeuvre that Israel normally accused Yasser Arafat of, that he in no way feels bound by any date at the end of 2008 to wrap up negotiations with the Palestinian side, exactly contrary to what was agreed at Annapolis."

Freedom of the Press in Israel...
A quote...."You can generally measure how democratic a country is measuring how free its press is. In Israel, it seems traveling to country's not on the "friend" list is a crime:"

Special Relationship: Global Snatch and Grab is the Law of the Land
A quote...."The government of the United States has officially informed the courts of Her Majesty the Queen that Her Majesty's subjects may be kidnapped (and that was the precise term used by the government of the United States) by agents of the United States at any time – and there is not a bloody thing that Her Majesty can do about it."

CIA admits destroying tapes of interrogations
A quote...."WASHINGTON: The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency's custody, a step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about the CIA's secret detention program, according to current and former government officials."

US is the world's largest jailer: HRW
A quote...."The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country in the world, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday, citing new US government figures. - At the end of 2006 more than 2.25 million persons were behind bars in US prisons and jails, an all-time high, the rights group said, citing figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), a branch of the US Department of Justice." - bold/italics by website author"

Bush Goes Private to Spy on You
A quote...."A new intelligence institution to be inaugurated soon by the Bush administration will allow government spying agencies to conduct broad surveillance and reconnaissance inside the United States for the first time. Under a proposal being reviewed by Congress, a National Applications Office (NAO) will be established to coordinate how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and domestic law enforcement and rescue agencies use imagery and communications intelligence picked up by U.S. spy satellites."

Americans Are Uniting Against S 1959, But The Battle Isn't Over Yet
Action Alert - A quote...."The fight has begun, and the support to defeat this Bill building like a gathering storm!  -  For the first time since the Vietnam War Protests, Americans are banding together in solidarity to fight Senate approval of the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. In just three of four days, there have been several more sites carrying this important message - and they increase every day. Now that the momentum is building, the necessity to ramp-up the pressure is tantamount to success, and winning this one fight will embolden our country to take-on other issues that deserve our attention as well. To date, these are some of the sites that linked to, or have published this call to action:"

See also....The U.S. Congress Legislates Genocide Of The Mind
See also....The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act: A Tutorial in Orwellian Newspeak
See also....Civil Libertarians Warn of 'Patriot Act Lite'
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Persian Gulf Council to improve finance and trade with Iran.
A quote...."In the first ever attendance of an Iranian president in the Persian Gulf summit, Ahmadinejad announced Iran's readiness to enhance cooperation in the commercial, tourism, cultural, scientific and technological fields and said Tehran was prepared to offer the PGCC a free corridor from the North to South for the transportation of goods across its territory."

Warships head to Mediterranean in Russian show of strength
A quote...."Russia has dispatched an 11-ship aircraft carrier group to the Mediterranean Sea as a first step towards re-establishing a naval presence in the region."

Russia refuses to share info under CFE after Dec. 12 moratorium
A quote...."MOSCOW, December 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will not share information with NATO under the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty after its unilateral moratorium comes into effect on December 12, a senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday."

Russian President Vladiminr Putin invited to South American Mercosur trade summit
Complete quote...."MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay: Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to attend a summit of South American presidents Dec. 17-18, a Russian Embassy official said Wednesday. - While chances are "low" that Putin might attend the Mercosur summit, Embassy press officer said he didn't expect a decision until the last moment on an invitation issued by President Tabare Vazquez. - Vazquez currently holds the rotating presidency of the trade bloc, which also includes Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Venezuela is seeking to complete its entry."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

State Dept. retains manager of troubled embassy project
A quote...."WASHINGTON — A State Department project manager banished from Iraq by the U.S. ambassador and under scrutiny by the Justice Department continues to oversee the construction of the much-delayed new American embassy in Baghdad from nearby Kuwait, State Department officials disclosed Thursday."

Bush Nominates Rush Limbaugh's Cousin To Federal Court
A quote...."WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush this afternoon nominated Missouri Supreme Court Justice Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. to be a U.S. District Court judge in Missouri’s Eastern District."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

China report: BRIC nations all experiencing marked inflation
A quote...."The "BRIC" nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China - are all experiencing rising inflation and adopting similar measures to prevent prices of goods spiraling out of control, according to a report by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). - The NDRC said the global price hikes were the result of a combination of factors: the sustained growth of the world economy, a global problem of excess liquidity, the falling dollar, a decrease in the production of farm products, OPEC's output restrictions, excess speculative capital in the international markets and an increase in the demand for grain used to produce bio-fuel

Fear and greed: The financial crisis driving Bush’s subprime mortgage plan
A quote...."The near-panic in financial circles that lies behind the Bush administration’s scheme to freeze some subprime mortgage interest rates is summed up in an article by Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein published on Wednesday under the headline “It’s Not 1929, but It’s the Biggest Mess Since.”

Wall Street's sub-prime loss could soar as bond insurers face shortfall
Special Note: - A quote...."The combined loss suffered by Wall Street banks on bonds backed by high-risk sub-prime mortgages could more than double to about $110 billion (£54 billion) after Moody’s, the ratings agency, gave warning that America’s biggest bond insurers were “somewhat likely” to run short of funds."

House prices seen falling 30 pct - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - Housing markets from Punta Gorda, Florida, to Stockton, California, will crash and suffer price drops of more than 30 percent before the housing crisis is over, a report from Moody's Economy.com said on Thursday"


A Miracle: Honest Intel on Iran Nukes
A quote...."12/04/07 "ICH" -- -- For those who have doubts about miracles, a double one occurred today. An honest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's nuclear program has been issued, and its "Key Judgments" were made public. - With redraft after redraft, it was what the Germans call eine schwere Geburt – a difficult birth, 10 months in gestation. - I do not know how often Vice President Dick Cheney visited CIA headquarters during the gestation period, but I am told he voiced his displeasure as soon as he saw the first sonogram/draft very early this year and is so displeased with what issued that he has refused to be the godfather. - This time Cheney and his neocon colleagues were unable to abort the process. And after delivery to the press, this child is going to be very hard to explain – the more so since it is legitimate."

Post NIE-tal Thoughts...Cong. Medals of Honor, Journalistic Testicles, Impeachment Urgency & Pelosi's Treason.
A quote...."No-one-- absolutely no-one believes that Bush just got wind of this a week earlier. This time around, his lies are so baldfaced, so... insulting... not one person in the media indicated this was worthy of belief. Sy Hersch says nine days before the release Bush briefed Israel's Ehud Olmert on it. - The POTUS's level of incompetence, the incapacity to lead, to communicate and persuade was so screamingly obvious at Bush's press conference. Bush needs surrogates, like Scott McClellan or Dana Perrino to do his lying for him. He's no good at it."

More War is Job One: Torturing the Truth on Iran
A quote...."Anyone hoping that the "no nukes in Iran" NIE report might hobble the Administration's armed march toward Persia should take note of how George W. Bush moved the goal posts in his warmongering game during a press conference on Tuesday.  --  As the New York Times reports, Bush declared that Iran will not be "allowed" to acquire even the "scientific knowledge" required to build a nuclear weapon. Previous "red lines" which could trigger an attack had been based on Iran actually building a weapon; now even nibbling at the forbidden fruit of nuclear knowledge could serve as "justification" for a "pre-emptive strike" to quell the "danger." After all, as Bush rather illiterately told reporters, "What's to say they couldn't start another covert nuclear weapons program?" Better safe than sorry, right?"

Bush Grasp of Reality Tenuous
A quote...."Farideh Farhi, at our group blog, Global Affairs, says she listened to Bush's press conference on Tuesday -- which was full of implausible statements -- and now wants to know what George W. Bush has been smoking. Uh, I don't think that substance is typically smoked so much as snorted. Or maybe his current favorite is just a stong bottle of beer."

Hersh: Bush Told Olmert Of NIE Two Days Before President Was Allegedly First Briefed On It
A quote...."I’m told that Olmert had a private discussion with Bush about it during Annapolis — before Annapolis. Bush briefed him about it."          --  Seymour Hersh  --

IAEA: US Iran Report Matches UN Agency
A quote...."VIENNA, Austria (AP) - A new U.S. intelligence review that concludes Iran stopped developing a nuclear weapons program in 2003 is consistent with the U.N. atomic watchdog agency's own findings and ``should help to defuse the current crisis,'' the organization's chief said Tuesday."

No Iran Attack? - Don't Be So Sure…
A quote...."The release of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program has everyone breathing a sigh of relief. According to our best intelligence, the Iranians stopped their weapons program in 2003. The liberal pundits and the more reasonable Sullivanesque conservatives are shouting "Hallelujah!" War has been averted!  --   My response: not so fast."

The BBC, David Miliband and Arsehole Politics
A quote...."It never fails to amaze me that even when faced with the devastating truth, as it was today, the pathetic BBC and its talking heads, in a desperate face-saving operation, have to turn reality on its head in an attempt to prove that the opposite is true."

Bush, Cheney and Corporate-Owned Media Insulting the Peoples' Intelligence
A quote...."Will America's Britney Spears' crotch-obsessed corporate-owned media again insult the peoples' intelligence by questioning whether Bush and Cheney knowingly misled the public about the danger posed by Iran? Really ... will the media REALLY do that?"

This one's fun. - mpg

Bolton Calls For Congressional Witch-Hunt Into Anti-Bush ‘People In The Intelligence Community’
A quote...."Yesterday’s National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) concluded that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, pouring cold water on neoconservative calls for bombing Iran. Like his ideological kin Norman Podhoretz, former U.N. ambassador and Iran war hawk John Bolton has been attempting to slander the U.S. intelligence community’s collective judgments."

For more on this issue see....Fake Intel - pressure / purges
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal - [2003] - posted at BuzzFlash
From the History File - 2003 - A quote...."International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal."

This is an obvious case of RTS (Republican Tourettes Syndrome)
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

15-Month Tours of Iraq Likely for Awhile [try forever - mpg]
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) - The No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq said Tuesday that 15-month combat tours are too long for U.S. soldiers but probably cannot be shortened until next fall as troop levels decline."

A prelude to confrontation with Iran: the US arms Sunni militia in Iraq
A quote...."One of the factors that American military planners have been compelled to take into account as the Bush administration prepares for war with the Shiite regime in Iran is that they will face opposition from the Shiite population inside Iraq, as well as the Shiite parties that dominate the pro-occupation government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki."

IRAQ: Government to cut items from its free food handouts
A quote...."BAGHDAD, 4 December 2007 (IRIN) - From the beginning of 2008 the quantity of national food rations delivered freely to all Iraqi families will be further reduced - from 10 to five items, due to lack of government financial support, Trade Minister Abid Falah al-Soodani said on 3 December."

Iraq will suffer from cholera for two years -govt
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Iraq will continue to suffer from cholera for the next two years until projects for providing sanitised water and a new sewage system are built, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Our Troops Must Leave Iraq
A quote...."The American people no longer support the war in Iraq. The war is being carried on by a stubborn president who, like Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War, does not want to lose. But from the beginning this has been an ill-considered and poorly prosecuted war that, like the Vietnam War, has diminished respect for America. We believe Mr. Bush would like to drag the war on long enough to hand it off to another president."

"The war in Iraq reminds us of the tragedy of the Vietnam War. Both wars began with false assertions by the president to the American people and the Congress. Like Vietnam, the Iraq War has introduced a new vocabulary: “shock and awe,” “mission accomplished,” “the surge.” Like Vietnam, we have destroyed cities in order to save them. It is not a strategy for success."           --  Walter Cronkite and David Krieger  --
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Young Pakistanis: Bin Laden Is A CIA Creation
Video (YouTube - 3 min 19 sec - December 04, 2007) - A quote...."An ABC news piece that ran yesterday morning attracted attention after four Pakistanis who were being interviewed about the attitudes and life of young people in Pakistan declared Osama Bin Laden to be a creation of western intelligence and stressed that Islamic extremist attitudes towards the west were virtually non existent in their country before 9/11."

Fox News won’t run pro-Constitution ad
Video - (YouTube - 30 sec - November 28, 2007) - A quote...."The Center for Constitutional Rights recently produced an ad called “Rescue the Constitution” that criticizes the Bush administration for “destroying the Constitution” through the use of tactics like renditions and torture. Fox News is refusing to air the ad, claiming that it needs “documentation” that the constitution “is indeed being destroyed.” Watch the ad:

Evidence Of Innocence Rejected at Guantanamo
Some quotes...."Just months after U.S. Army troops whisked a German man from Pakistan to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2002, his American captors concluded that he was not a terrorist."  --  "USA considers Murat Kurnaz’s innocence to be proven,” a German intelligence officer wrote that year in a memo to his colleagues. “He is to be released in approximately six to eight weeks."

What Happens to U.S. Troops Who Commit Mass Murder? - (absolutely nothing. - mpg)
A quote...."While U.S. atrocities in Iraq are generally covered up by the government, military, and mainstream media, there have been a few major incidents that have been impossible to keep completely hidden. In such cases, we may hear calls for an investigation or talk that some troops may get charged. But we rarely hear about what happens after that. Here is a look at three horrific war crimes committed by U.S. forces in Iraq, and what happened afterward to the troops involved."

127 Journalists Jailed by 24 Countries, Including 2 by US, Advocates Say
A quote...."But the group also cited two journalists who have been held without charges by the United States: Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, who has been held by U.S. forces in Iraq for nearly 20 months, and Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj, who has been jailed for five years at the military prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. - Hussein, who was part of a team of AP photographers who shared a Pulitzer Prize in 2005, was seized by U.S. forces in Iraq in 2006. - The military has declined to provide details of the accusations against him but has said he had links to insurgent groups in Iraq."

He sure does have "links to the insurgents"....after all, he's a Muslim....in Iraq....and he works for al Jazeera -- what else do you need to know? - mpg

For more on this issue see....US - Killing the Messenger
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Largest Civil Disobedience Movement in US History Underway
Action Alert - A quote...."I am of the opinion that there has never been a movement in U.S. history with the number of arrests which have taken place in opposition to the Iraq War. This list of appeals, arrests and legal cases is not all-inclusive. Please send additions, corrections and updates to mobuszewski at verizon.net."

Vermont Activists Shut Down Military Recruitment Centers for a Day
Action Alert - Related article - A quote...."Williston, Vermont--On the heels of a campaign launched earlier this week from the halls of Mount Mansfield Union High School in Jericho, Vermont, a crowd nearing 75 on Friday, united under the banner, “Out of Our Schools – Out of Iraq,” and successfully closed down recruitment for the afternoon in Williston, Vermont."

Annapolis "The Tumult And The Shouting Dies..."
A quote...." 12/04/07 "ICH" -- -- "THE TUMULT and the shouting dies, / The captains and the kings depart…" Rudyard Kipling wrote in his unforgettable poem "Lest We Forget" ("Recessional") - King George departed even before the tumult had died. His helicopter carried him away over the horizon, just as his trusty steed carries the cowboy into the sunset at the end of the movie. At that moment, the speeches in the assembly hall were still going ahead at full blast."

Annapolis: Fruitless Negotiations
A quote...."....beyond the speeches, the current circumstances of the Middle East conflict in conjunction with the political weakness that is plaguing Abbas, Olmert and even Bush himself, suggest that these peace talks will be fruitless. To establish harmony in the region, the Israeli government and political classes must first recognize the right of Palestinians to build a nation state according to U.N. resolutions 242 and 338. This has yet to occur."

The plan to topple Pakistan's military
A quote...."As he [Musharraf ] completed the remaining part of his US visit, his allies in Washington and elsewhere, as all evidence suggests now, were plotting his downfall. They had decided to take a page from the book of successful "color revolutions" where Western governments covertly used money, private media, student unions, NGOs and international pressure to stage coups, basically overthrowing individuals not fitting well with Washington's agenda. - This recipe proved its success in former Yugoslavia, and more recently in Georgia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. - In Pakistan, the target is a president who refuses to play ball with the US on Afghanistan, China and Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan."

Gul urges “constructive approach” towards Pakistan
A quote...."Turkish President Abdullah Gul Monday urged the international community to remain committed to a “constructive approach” towards Pakistan, keeping in view its pivotal role against global terrorism."

Putin's Landslide
A quote..."As expected, Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party won a landslide victory in yesterday’s parliamentary elections, garnering over 63% of the vote as of this writing, which will give it 70% of the seats in the Duma, or national assembly."

Railway to go through Central Asia Work Starts on Iran-Russia Railway
A quote...."Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has inaugurated construction work on a new 900-km railway line linking Iran with Russia across Central Asia. - Berdymukhamedov ceremonially began the construction by laying a section of gilded rail in the northwestern border city of Bereket, near Iran. - He said the line would enable goods to be transported more cheaply between Russian and Central Asia and on to Europe. - According to Turkmenistan's railway ministry the new line will have an annual capacity of between 10 and 12 million tons of freight when it opens in four years."

Suspension of CFE treaty to urge partners to look for way out - FM
A quote...."MOSCOW, December 5 (Itar-Tass) -- The Russia-NATO Council, due to meet in Brussels in a couple of days will focus on Moscow’s cooperation with the alliance, in particular the future of the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty and plans for deploying a third US missile defense site in Europe and its correlation with NATO’s research into missile defense issues, sources at the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.  --  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will attend the meeting of the Russia-NATO Council on December 7.  --  “The suspension of the CFE treaty’s operation, due to take effect as of December 12, is a forced measure, expected to encourage Russia’s partners to look for ways out of the dead end,” the diplomatic sources said. “The readiness to negotiate will remain throughout the period of the CFE treaty’s suspension.”

Argentine leader gives rare TV interview
A quote...."President Nestor Kirchner, credited with leading Argentina out of an economic meltdown after his 2003 election, said Wednesday in a rare television interview that his president-elect wife would have a "much better" administration than his."

Chavez expected in Buenos Aires and Mercosur summit
A quote...."Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez has confirmed he will be in Buenos Aires for next Monday’s taking office ceremony of elected Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and a week later he will be back in the River Plate but in Montevideo for the Mercosur presidential summit."

OPEC countries reject consumer calls for oil output increase
A quote...."ABU DHABI, November 5 (RIA Novosti) - The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided at a meeting on Wednesday to keep output at current levels despite consumer calls for an increase."

U.S. air force grounds F 15s for 3rd in a month
A quote...."WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) — The head of Air Combat Command, Gen. John Corley, made the decision Monday evening after the accident investigation board looking into the Nov. 2 breakup of an F-15C over Missouri raised new concerns about the fighters."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Flight School Drop-Out Pulls Off Manuever that would Challenge World's Top Pilots?
A quote...."How difficult would it have been to fly a Boeing 757 into the Pentagon in the manner observed on 9/11?  -  Well, the head of the flight school where the pilot of the plane which crashed into the Pentagon trained said that neither the hijacker or he himself could have performed such flying feats in a Boeing 757."

9/11 Truth has the Power to Stop Fascism
A quote...."Numerous prominent gatekeepers have recently said that 9/11 truth is a "distraction", and "takes energy away from working on more important issues". Are they right? - Actually, 9/11 is the core issue, the central knot which holds all of the other tyrannical actions of the last 6 years together. When the central knot of 9/11 lies is pulled, it will cause the entire fascist mess to unravel."

Why The MSM Won't Touch 9/11
A quote...."I have been told by reporters that they will not report their own insights or contrary evaluations of the official 9/11 story, because to question the government story about 9/11 is to question the very foundations of our entire modern belief system regarding our government, our country, and our way of life. To be charged with questioning these foundations is far more serious than being labeled a disgruntled conspiracy nut or anti-government traitor, or even being sidelined or marginalized within an academic, government service, or literary career. To question the official 9/11 story is simply and fundamentally revolutionary. In this way, of course, questioning the official story is also simply and fundamentally American."  --  Air Force Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski  --
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

9/11 - From The History File...The Kean Commission - The Official Commission Avoids the Core Issues
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Say It Isn’t So!
A quote...."After reading Klein’s book, I had a rather frightening epiphany. For years, sane people have been carrying on about how barking mad the Bush administration is. Their every policy flies in the face of common sense and never fails to produce a negative feedback that makes the situation even worse. The policies all seemed bizarre on the surface, from gutting the Iraqi army that morphed into the insurgency, to ignoring Afghanistan and allowing the Taliban to reassert control, to allowing to deficit to reach an astronomical high.  --  Now, I am wondering if they are that stupid."

After Blackwater Controversy, State Dep't Gave Bonuses to Contracting Officials
A quote...."According to internal State Department cables obtained by TPMmuckraker, the State Department has slated two Diplomatic Security officials who oversee private-security contractors guarding U.S. diplomats in Iraq and Afghanistan for salary bonuses."

Of course....they're being rewarded for a job well done. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

What's at Stake, What Can Be Done
A quote...."Election Year 2008 may represent a last-ditch opportunity to save the American Republic and its noble promise of “unalienable rights” for all mankind. Today’s political crisis cannot be overstated."

High Crimes and Ms. Demeanor - Impeach Pelosi Instead
A quote...."Nancy Pelosi's impeachment is off the table, stance is not only ridiculous, it is criminal. To leave unchallenged the deliberate misleading of the country to war, (and the effort to do the same a second time), makes her party a knowing accessory to the same misdeeds. Congress has an equal duty to protect the Constitution as the President. Each day of equivocation is one more day steeped in the crimes of the Bush administration."

Kucinich First, Edwards Second in PDA Straw Poll
A quote...."The Congressman's showing indicates that Progressive Democrats are still in sync with the Kucinich agenda: Out of Iraq; no attack on Iran, single-payer healthcare, fair trade, etc."

Why the Left Should Welcome the Resurgent Old Right
A quote...."One of the more interesting developments of the Bush years has been the resurgence of the Old Right. Self-described conservatives taking an anti-war and anti-empire stance is not the anomaly it may seem to many on the Left. In fact, the Left should find much to laud in the Paleoconservative / Paleolibertarian reaction against Neoconnerie."

USA TODAY/Gallup Poll: Significant drops in support for Clinton & Giuliani
Special Note : A quote...."National support for Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Rudy Giuliani significantly eroded over the past month," USA TODAY Washington bureau chief Susan Page writes."

Tom Hayden [a surprising sell-out] and the Dead End Democrats - The Anti-War Enablers
A quote...."The December 17th issue of the liberal  Nation magazine contains an article penned by former California Senator Tom Hayden, purporting to offer antiwar voters a glimpse of hope for mainstream relevance in the coming election year-which will certainly be a contest between two pro-war candidates from the two corporate political parties. Hayden's article, "How the Peace Movement Can Win: A Field Guide," exudes confidence that antiwar activists have a role to play in spreading a message of peace as the presidential primaries begin on January 3rd."

For more on the six articles shown above see....You Can STILL Vote to Stop the Madness 10-07-07 - mpg

See also....Dennis Kuchinich
See also....Mike Gravel
See also....Ron Paul

This is not an endorsement of any particular candidate for President.  The three shown above are posted simply because all three of them have specifically stated they do not support the Neocons' quest to establish a Neo-Roman Empire. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

54% of Venezuelan ballot boxes will be opened to backup electronic results
A quote...."More than half of the ballot boxes containing the physical votes of the Referendum Sunday December 2nd will be opened to verify the electoral process, announced Supplemental Rector of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Humberto Castillo, during a special broadcast on Venezolana de Televisión (VTV)."

For some reason Chavez doesn't trust the vote, perhaps because the exit polls show the measure was leading by six percent on the day of the election, perhaps because they used electronic voting machines (you'd think they would have known better), perhaps because the vote was so close.

If they find out this election was as bent as US elections have been recently, this editor's recommendation is that they leave it for another referendum next year while beating the opposition over the head during the whole time with any dirt they uncover.

It would be just too traumatic to annul the results at this point. – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

De-pegging from dollar a ‘sovereign decision’: PM
A quote...."THE GCC summit, which concluded in Doha yesterday, has not taken a decision to drop the dollar peg, but it is for each member state to take appropriate steps to safeguard their currencies, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani has said."

Low lake levels drain suppliers' resources
A quote...."The ever-receding water levels at both Lake Allatoona and Lake Lanier are pushing drinking water suppliers toward extraordinary measures to keep metro Atlanta's drinking water flowing and fit to drink."

What if we had a White House press conference that wasn’t a scam (questions I am dying to ask the commander guy)
A quote...."The following are questions I asked The Decider at the White House Press Conference. Or was it just a dream?"  --  Some samples....

"Is there anyone in the corporate media not on the White House payroll, and if so, how do you explain the nightly news?"

"Is the reason you didn’t follow up with “I did not have sex with that woman” after Condoleezza referred to you as “my husband,” is that you are afraid this is the one thing which leads to impeachment, since, obviously, everything else is ignored by Congress?"

"After the Taliban said they would give you Osama if you showed them evidence he did 9/11, did you ever come up with an excuse for why you didn’t show them evidence, just in case somebody from the corporate media ever asked why you killed all those people? (not that they would actually ask, heh)."

"Which spyware causes my computer to run so slowly -- the FBI trojan, NSA keylogger or Homeland Security worm? And why do we call it the Land of the Free again? I keep getting confused, sir."

"Do you always get stoned before making a speech? Have you ever thought of laying off, say, a couple hits to see if you might be able to pronounce simple words like “nuclear”?"