Tuesday December 30th 2008
The Gaza Attack - 21 Articles -
Tuesday - [ Day 4 ] ========== ========== ========== ====
From
the ashes of Gaza
Must Read - A
quote...."Tuesday 30 December 2008 08.00 GMT -- The assault on Gaza,
planned over six months and executed with perfect timing, was designed
largely, as Neve Gordon has rightly observed, to help the incumbent
parties triumph in the forthcoming Israeli elections. The dead
Palestinians are little more than election fodder in a cynical contest
between the right and the far right in Israel. Washington and its EU
allies, perfectly aware that Gaza was about to be assaulted, as in the
case of Lebanon in 2006, sit back and watch." -- also posted at CommonDreams
& CounterCurrents
Falling
into the moral abyss
Must Read - A
quote...."The
gradual process of ethnic cleansing in the occupied Palestinian
territories is accelerating, and with it so is the moral culpability of
Israel and the supporters of its policies in the United States. More
and more people from the mainstream of Israeli politics are voicing
alarm. In the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, former Knesset Speaker Avraham
Burg compared the situation in Israel today to Germany on the eve of
Nazis coming to power. Writing for The Huffington Post, former Israeli
peace negotiator Daniel Levy likened Israel to a drunk and the US to a
friend who gives them bottle of vodka and keys to his car. Even current
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has ordered incessant attacks
on Gaza since coming to power, has called recent attacks by Jewish
settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank "pogroms."
Gaza:
the logic of colonial power
Must Read - A
quote...."Monday 29 December 2008 08.00 GMT -- Once again, the Israelis
bomb the starving and imprisoned population of Gaza. The world watches
the plight of 1.5 million Gazans live on TV and online; the western
media largely justify the Israeli action. Even some Arab outlets try to
equate the Palestinian resistance with the might of the Israeli
military machine. And none of this is a surprise. The Israelis just
concluded a round-the-world public relations campaign to gather support
for their assault, even gaining the collaboration of Arab states like
Egypt."
Voiceless
in Gaza: Israeli Carnage and the American Courtiers
Must Read - A
quote...."Dec 30 2008 -- Death and sorrow continue to pour down in
torrents over Gaza. And every death is delivered with the backing of
the full faith and credit of the United States. American money,
American weaponry -- and unstinting, unquestioning American diplomatic
support -- are underwriting the brutal carnage. There is scarcely a
single voice along the commanding heights of American power to raise
the slightest protest against a savage war crime being committed in
broad daylight, day after day, with the approval and connivance of the
"civilized" world. The hard, enclosed, impenetrable shell of American
"bipartisanship" has achieved a steely perfection on the issue of
Palestine; it is itself a missile -- a weapon of mass destruction --
falling on the people of Gaza."
Arab Connivance
In The Gaza Massacre
Must Read - (For the
outrage) --
A quote...."31 December, 2008 -- The alternatives to the Palestinians
are clear : abandon Hamas or die, either by military means or by
"civil" means like blockade and siege. A lesson in democracy in the
purest form by the "Middle Eastern democracy" par excellence -- For
that purpose it can count on its best allies, who are not, despite
appearances, the United States or the European Union, but the
reactionary Arab regimes. Saudi Arabia and Egypt were informed in
advance of the attack, as the daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported in its
edition of Sunday December 28th. As proof that they could hardly care
less: one hour before the attack started, Saudi communications media
were already blaming Hamas for what happened while their London
newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published an interview with Shimon Perez
saying that Israel was not going to attack Gaza and that the Israelis
were "ready for peace"."
-- also posted at ICH
& PaliestineChron
Mr.
Mubarak, Tear Down That Wall!
Special Note - A
quote...."19:15 12/30/2008 -- I'm not calling for a coup d'etat,
but go talk to your leaders and tell them you do not accept what is
happening in Gaza.' -- Hezbollah Sec-Gen Hasan Nasrallah calling for
Egyptians 'in millions' to demonstrate their support for opening the
Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt, 28 December 2008"
Casualties
cross into Egypt
Video - Special Note - A
quote...."While Gaza's boundaries are closed, some casualties from the
conflict have managed to be transferred into Egypt at the Rafah
crossing."
Photo
Gallery: Israel Bombards Ministries in Gaza - (22 Photos)
Must View - PhotoGallery
- A quote...."Ísrael targeted numerous Hamas ministry buildings
in the Gaza Srip on Tuesday, leaving many of them little more than
piles of rubble. The air-raids began on Saturday in response to Hamas
rockets being fired across the border into Israel."
Photo
Gallery : Israel's "Operation Lead" - (23 Photos)
Must View - PhotoGallery
- A quote...."As Israeli air strikes continued to rock the Gaza Strip
on Monday, casualties and damage mounted. Israel has warned the
fighting could go on until the "bitter end."
PHOTOS:
Israel's Massacre of Gazan Children - (26 Photos)
Must View - PhotoGallery
- Videos - A quote...."Israeli
forces killed two girls in an air attack on Beit Hanoun in the northern
Gaza Strip early Tuesday. Local sources report that a missile destroyed
a house belonging to Talal Hamdan in Beit Hanoun today, killing his two
daughters of 12 and 4 years old. A son is reported seriously injured.
Yesterday Israeli forces killed four sisters and a four year old boy.
Over 40 children have been killed since Saturday."
Slaughter
in Gaza: Another Chapter in the Global Elite Master Plan
Special Note - A
quote...."Tuesday, Dec 30, 2008 -- It should be noted that Hamas
claimed 76 of the 132 parliamentary seats in 2006, as the Washington
Post reported at the time. Fatah won only 43 seats, mostly because many
Palestinians realized the organization was heavily comprised, corrupt,
and in league with Israeli intelligence and the CIA. Fatah’s
relationship with the CIA became apparent last year when Fatah security
compounds in Gaza were raided by Hamas — “they found huge supplies of
American-made weaponry including 7,400 M-16 assault rifles, dozens of
mounted machine guns, rocket launchers, seven armored military jeeps,
800,000 rounds of bullets and 18 US-made armored personnel carriers,”
writes Mike Whitney, who cites Aaron Klein of WorldNetDaily."
How
Hypocrisy on 'Terrorism' Kills - posted
at ConsortiumNews
Special Note - A
quote...."December 30, 2008 -- Israel, a nation that was born out
of Zionist terrorism, has launched massive airstrikes against targets
in Gaza using high-tech weapons produced by the United States, a
country that often has aided and abetted terrorism by its client
military forces, such as Chile’s Operation Condor and the Nicaraguan
contras, and even today harbors right-wing Cuban terrorists implicated
in blowing up a civilian airliner."
A
few things the MSM isn’t telling you about the Gaza Attacks
Fact Check - For all
those fact-less, clueless, non-reality based bubble boys and girls out
there....mpg- A quote.... "December 30, 2008 -- (Please feel free to
help add to this list.
This is just a primer course…)"
PJB:
Bush, Obama and the Gaza Blitz
A quote...."December 30, 2008 -- Unwilling to control its fighters, who
fired scores of
missiles into Israel at the end of their six-month ceasefire, Hamas
gave Israel the provocation it needed to deliver a savage blow to the
Palestinian enclave in Gaza."
Party
to Murder
A quote...."Posted on Dec 29, 2008 -- Can anyone who is following the
Israeli air attacks on Gaza—the buildings blown to rubble, the children
killed on their way to school, the long rows of mutilated corpses, the
wailing mothers and wives, the crowds of terrified Palestinians not
knowing where to flee, the hospitals so overburdened and out of
supplies they cannot treat the wounded, and our studied, callous
indifference to this widespread human suffering—wonder why we are
hated?"
Israel
Warns Attack on Gaza Has Just Begun
A quote...."Published on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 -- Israel warned
today that the aerial attack on Gaza, which has now entered its fourth
brutal day, is only "the first of several" military stages intended to
wipe out Hamas."
375
Killed, Over 1,600 Wounded as Gaza Strikes Continue
A quote...."Posted December 29, 2008 -- Updated 12/30 1:15 PM EST --
Israeli warplanes pounded the Gaza Strip for a third straight day, and
Defense Minister Ehud Barak promised that the war would continue “to
the bitter end.” The death toll has continued to rise, with at least
375 killed and over 1,600 wounded."
Egypt
arrests 23 opposition Muslim Brotherhood members
A quote...."Dec 30, 2008, 17:47 GMT -- Cairo - Egyptian security
forces on Tuesday arrested 23 members of the banned opposition Muslim
Brotherhood group as they prepared to meet to discuss the situation in
the Gaza Strip, according to a security source."
Kucinich
criticizes Israel's killings
A quote...."Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:45:36 GMT -- US Congressman
Dennis Kucinich says the continuing Israeli attacks on civilians in the
Gaza Strip are an example of 'collective punishment'." -- also posted at RougeGov
McKinney
relief boat hit by Israeli ship
A quote...."Monday, December 29, 2008 -- Former Georgia Congresswoman
Cynthia McKinney, standing beside a damaged yacht, Tuesday accused the
Israeli navy of ramming the vessel to halt the delivery of medical
supplies to the embattled Gaza Strip. -- “Our mission was a peaceful
mission,” McKinney told CNN after she and 15 others aboard the boat
made it safely to the harbor in the Lebanese seaport of Tyre."
Tuesday,
December 30: National Day of Action in solidarity with the people of
Gaza
Action Alert - A
quote...."December 28, 2008 -- The time has come for the people of this
great nation to
stand up, and show the world who we really are. -- For too long we have
sat quietly by and granted those who would call themselves our leaders,
far too much leniency. For they have abused our indulgence, using
it to undermine our international integrity; ultimately they are
justifying their crimes against humanity by falsely portraying our
indulgence as complicity."
End - The Gaza Attack - 21
Articles - Tuesday - [ Day 4 ] ========== ========== ==========
====
'Half
of Pakistanis believe US missile strikes ineffective’
A quote...."LAHORE: Amid a surge in suspected US missile strikes in the
Tribal Areas, a poll conducted by a US-based economic and socioeconomic
research organisation shows that nearly half of the Pakistanis
questioned (48 percent) do not believe the US missile strikes are
effective, while just 5 percent say they are effective – with the
remaining refusing to express an opinion."
Pakistan closes
Afghan supply route
A quote...."Pakistan has suspended supplies to US and Nato forces in
neighbouring Afghanistan as security forces launch a major offensive
against suspected pro-Taliban fighters."
Pakistan,
China sign security equipment deal
A quote...."ISLAMABAD: China and Pakistan on Monday signed a
handing-over document for the security equipment supplied to Pakistan,
after a meeting with Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs He Yafei
and Interior Adviser Rehman Malik."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Security
worsens in once violent Ramadi
A quote...."Attacks on government police and troops have escalated in
the Province of Anbar of which Ramadi is the capital. The province,
Iraq’s larges in area, was once a bastion of anti-U.S. groups namely
al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Most attacks against U.S. troops originated in
the province until Sunni tribal leaders, lured by U.S. promises and
money, decided to take on al-Qaeda. But the groups have made a
comeback, although not as ferocious as in the first four years of U.S.
occupation of Iraq which started in 2003."
U.S.
Losing 'Secret' War in Somalia
A quote...."For several years the U.S. military has fought a covert war
in Somalia, using gunships, drones and Special Forces to break up
suspected terror networks -- and enlisting Ethiopia's aid in propping
up a pro-U.S. "transitional" government. It's a relatively unknown
front in the "war on terror," and one where the U.S. and its allies are
losing ground, fast." -- also posted
at BLN
The
Soaring Cost of the American Defense Establishment - The
$775,000-a-Year GI
A quote...."The U.S. military is now spending more – on a constant
dollar basis – than it did in 1968, when the Defense Department had
more than 500,000 soldiers stationed in South Vietnam. If you include
the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, then the U.S. military
spent about $580 billion in 2007; that’s about 33 percent more – again,
measured in constant (year 2000) dollars – than the United States spent
in 1968. Even without the cost of those ongoing wars, America’s
military spending is higher now than at any time since 1945."
Add
Up the Damage
A quote...."Does anyone know where George W. Bush is? You don’t hear
much from him anymore. The last image most of us remember is of the
president ducking a pair of size 10s that were hurled at him in
Baghdad. We’re still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Israel is
thrashing the Palestinians in Gaza. And the U.S. economy is about as
vibrant as the 0-16 Detroit Lions. But hardly a peep have we heard from
George, the 43rd." -- also posted at
CommonDreams
Rare
Suicide Bombing in Iran Kills 4
A quote...."TEHRAN — Employing a tactic not seen in Iran before, a
suicide bomber affiliated with a Sunni militant group killed four
people and wounded 12 in an attack early Monday in Saravan, a
southeastern city, the official IRNA news agency reported. -- The
group, Jundallah, has attacked Iranian armed forces and Revolutionary
Guards in the past. But this was the first time it had used a suicide
bombing similar to those in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan."
MoveOn's [un-]shocking retreat from the
battlefield - You just knew it
was gonna happen. - mpg
A quote...."I'm not suggesting we pursue some animalistic joy of
revenge. In fact, revenge has nothing to do with it. This is national
self-preservation I'm talking about. For if we permit the Bush
administration's darkest luminaries to walk away legally unscathed, we
are inviting more of the same. And that "more" will return to haunt us
in exponential spades."
Georgia
tempting fate again?
A quote...."According to intelligence that is coming in, Georgia has
moved 28 tanks into the city of Gori, where a tank battalion is
deployed. Moreover, Cobra armoured personnel carriers have been
detected in the village of Nikozi in the immediate vicinity of the
Republic of South Ossetia’s borders," the press release said."
Georgia
fails to honour peace deal - Lavrov
A quote...."Georgia hasn't fulfilled its obligations under the
Medvedev-Sarkozy ceasefire plan, signed shortly after the war in South
Ossetia, Russia's Foreign Minister has told Russian TV."
Ukraine says
the money's in the pipeline...but Russia still waits...
A quote...."Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz says it has transferred
more than $US 1.5 billion to a mediating company to settle payment for
November and December. Russia's Gazprom, however, says it hasn't
received the money yet."
The Mumbia Attack - 2 Articles -
Tuesday - [ Day 33 ] ========== ========== ========== ====
Pakistan
army: We must 'avoid conflict' with India
A quote...."Pakistan's army chief stressed Monday the need to avoid
conflict with India, days after he ordered troops toward the rivals'
shared border amid tensions following last month's terror attacks on
Mumbai. - Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani made the remarks to a top Chinese
diplomat who was visiting Islamabad to try and ease the situation
between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India."
China
steps up effort to ease India-Pakistan tension
A quote...."ISLAMABAD, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Indian and Pakistani military
officials held an unscheduled hotline call, a Pakistani security
officer said, as China joined efforts to ease tension between the
neighbours inflamed by last month's militant attacks in Mumbai."
End - The Mumbia Attack - 2
Articles - Tuesday - [ Day 33 ] ========== ==========
==========
Gazprom,
Once Mighty, Is Reeling
Special Note - A
quote...."MOSCOW — A year ago, Gazprom, the Russian natural gas
monopoly, aspired to be the largest corporation in the world. Buoyed by
high oil prices and political backing from the Kremlin, it had already
achieved third place judging by market capitalization, behind Exxon
Mobil and General Electric." -- A
tale of woe, Gazprom paid too much, they borrowed to much, and they
borrowed from the wrong people. They might survive if they concentrate
on their core business for the next several years.
Home
prices off record 18% in past year, Case-Shiller says
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Home prices are back to their
March 2004 levels, having dropped in 20 major U.S. cities by 2.2% in
October and by a record 18% from the previous year, according to the
Case-Shiller price index published Tuesday by Standard & Poor's."
Monday December 29th 2008
The Gaza Attack -14 Articles -
Monday - [ Day 3 ] ========== ========== ========== ====
The
implications of one of
the largest one-day slaughter of Palestinians in the 60-year conflict
with Israel
Must Read - A quote...."
On the
Israeli offensive in Gaza, and The Grand Chessboard:
1)
Setting The Stage.
2)
Political Status of
Gaza.
3)
The Humanitarian
Situation in Gaza.
4)
The Significance
of Palestine.
5)
The
Implications of the Most Recent Events.
So,
Who Wants To Wipe Someone “Off The Map”?
Must View Map - A
quote...."December 29, 2008 -- As Rob Kall over at OpEdNews tries to
shape the story about the Israeli bombing of Palestinians in Gaza, he
conveniently forgets 90% of the story, as he tries to, like Condi Rice
and Nancy Pelosi, cast the blame for this atrocity on the
victims. What Kall is forgetting (or simply omitting?) is
that Gaza has been under siege for 18 months in a clear violation of
the Geneva Conventions’ Article 33 (classified as a War Crime).
This, after Israel, by right of what someone claims is “God’s will” has
been slowly removing a people from their sovereign nation, by violence
and starvation, for 60 years. Mr. Kall forgets to include that
part of the story."
Israel’s
subjugation of the Palestinians must end now -
posted at the OnlineJournal
Must Read - A
quote...."Israel pounded Gaza strip in retaliation for rockets fired at
its Southern borders, killing over 280 Palestinians and wounding
hundreds more, over half of whom were civilians, and bringing
destruction to the already deteriorating Palestinian infrastructure.
Israel used F16 bombers against an essentially defenseless population.
The greatest weapon in the Palestinian arsenal is inaccurate makeshift
rockets with an extremely short range that often miss their targets."
Before Our
Very Eyes -- Israel's Attempted Endgame in Gaza
Must Read - A
quote...."December 29, 2008 -- The intensity of the bombings on
Saturday, which left over 230 people dead and 800 wounded, many
seriously, was what struck one witness, R., who claimed never to have
heard so many explosions so close together and for such an
uninterrupted period of time inside the Gaza Strip. One after another,
the explosions sounded, most of them near heavily populated areas; and
in one case only 30 meters away from his daughter’s elementary school."
Paul:
No such thing as an independent Israel
Interview - A
quote...."Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:03:57 GMT -- The following is an
exclusive Press TV interview with US congressman Ron Paul, a unique
conservative politician who wants an end to US military presence on
foreign soil, advocates US withdrawal from the UN, NATO and the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and opposes the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS). " --
also posted at
ICH
Robert
Fisk: Leaders lie, civilians die, and lessons of history are ignored
A quote...."Monday, 29 December 2008 -- We've got so used to the
carnage of the Middle East that we don't care any more – providing we
don't offend the Israelis. It's not clear how many of the Gaza dead are
civilians, but the response of the Bush administration, not to mention
the pusillanimous reaction of Gordon Brown, reaffirm for Arabs what
they have known for decades: however they struggle against their
antagonists, the West will take Israel's side. As usual, the bloodbath
was the fault of the Arabs – who, as we all know, only understand
force." --
also posted at ICH
& CommonDreams
Today
I end my support of Israel
A quote...."December 29, 2008 -- Like davidminzer, I’m Jewish and
descendant of holocaust survivors. Moreover, I’ve been a Zionist all of
my life. I went to a Zionist school, I was active in Zionist youth
groups. I’ve always been a fervent supporter of Israel as a refuge for
Jews around the world who seek a place to exercise their traditions and
embrace their identity in peace. -- I sang the Israeli anthem in the
train rails of Aushwitz-Birkenau and I pledged to fight every day of my
life to make sure the savage crimes that had taken place there would
never happen again. Every year I pledged: Never Again. Remember and
Never forget. -- Well, I haven’t forgotten. And so to honor that
pledge, to honor the memory of my family members who died in those
death camps and because “there comes a time when silence is betrayal”,
today I finally and publicly end my support for the state of Israel."
Anarchy
In The UK
Action Update - A
quote...."December 28, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" -- THE
murderous military campaign which has been unleashed by Israel has
provoked people across the world to demonstrate, rally and protest in
their hundreds of thousands. Soon the movement will turn into millions
as more ordinary, decent citizens of the world show their disgust at
the barbarism of Israel ... and the cowardly silence of our own
leaders. This is no longer a political issue, or a Middle East issue.
It is a case of what is right and what is wrong, and what is decent and
what is inhumane. And ordinary people are now taking the initiative
because they can no longer rely on their political leaders to show any
of the human qualities demanded of them including strength, integrity
or compassion. British people, normally reserved and controlled,
brought anarchy to the streets of upscale Kensington yesterday as they
stormed barracades and pushed past police to head towards the Israeli
Embassy in London."
In
response to Gaza raids, Hamas threatens to assassinate Livni, Barak
A quote...."Last update - 08:19 29/12/2008 -- Hamas on Sunday
threatened to respond to an ongoing Israel Defense Forces assault on
the Gaza Strip by assassinating senior Israeli officials. Senior Hamas
official Fatah Hamad specifically threatened Livni and Defense Minister
Ehud Barak."
Israel
pounds Gaza for a third consecutive day
Video - A
quote...."December 29, 2008 -- Israeli jets are again bombing
targets in the Gaza Strip. The air assault is now into a third day.
Warships have also been involved in the attacks, shelling the area
around Gaza's port."
Over
345 Killed in Gaza as Israel Preps for Ground Invasion
A quote...."Posted December 28, 2008 - Updated 12/29 5:55 PM EST --
There are two reasons a Gazan is outside today amid continuing Israeli
air strikes, to bury relatives or to search for food. Food continues to
be in short supply and shops are closed in what the UN is describing as
a “disastrous” humanitarian situation. Dead relatives to bury are sadly
quite plentiful as the toll of two days worth of Israeli attacks has
surpassed 345 killed and 1,550 wounded. For the rest of the tiny
strip’s 1.5 million residents, life consists of remaining home and
hoping the next bomb dropped doesn’t land on them."
Civilian
death toll rises after second day of air strikes
A quote...."Monday 29 December 2008 -- To the doctors at the Shifa
hospital in Gaza City it was another body on a chaotically busy day. By
early Saturday afternoon the morgue was already overflowing so they
laid out the corpse of 20-year-old Ali Abu Rabia on the floor outside.
One of the hospital staff pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket,
scrolled through the numbers, and called the young man's father." --
also posted at CommonDreams
A Hundred
Eyes for an Eye
A quote...."Published on Monday, December 29, 2008 -- Israelis and
Arabs "feel that only force can assure justice," I. F. Stone noted soon
after the Six Day War in 1967. And he wrote: "A certain moral
imbecility marks all ethnocentric movements. The Others are always
either less than human, and thus their interests may be ignored, or
more than human and therefore so dangerous that it is right to destroy
them." - The closing days of 2008 have heightened the Israeli
government's stature as a mighty practitioner of the moral imbecility
that Stone described."
The
neighborhood bully strikes again
A quote...."Last update - 00:22 29/12/2008 -- Once again, Israel's
violent responses, even if there is justification for them, exceed all
proportion and cross every red line of humaneness, morality,
international law and wisdom. What began yesterday in Gaza is a
war crime and the foolishness of a country. History's bitter irony: A
government that went to a futile war two months after its establishment
- today nearly everyone acknowledges as much - embarks on another
doomed war two months before the end of its term." -
also posted at ICH
End - The Gaza Attack - 14
Articles - Monday - [ Day 3 ] ========== ========== ==========
====
Sunday December 28th 2008
The Gaza Attack - 16 Articles -
Sunday - [ Day 2 ] ========== ========== ========== ====
Shock,
Awe and Lies: The Truth Behind the Israeli Attack on Gaza
Must Read - A
quote...."Mon Dec 28 2008 -- Here is a simple, stone cold fact. You
cannot read or hear the truth about what is happening in Gaza from any
corporate media in the United States. The only thing you will find
there are regurgitations of Israeli spin, which are themselves only
regurgitations of the kind of spin that American militarists have put
on their own depredations -- for centuries now. Up and down the
American media and political establishments, you will find nothing but
bleatings about Israel being "forced" to launch its vicious blunderbuss
attacks against heavily populated Gaza because of the "recent spate of
Hamas bombings" since the end of a six-month ceasefire. -- This is of
course a damnable and deliberate lie. Papers in Israel -- in Israel,
but not the United States -- are reporting the truth:
the murderous assault on Gaza was planned
not only before the six-month ceasefire ended -- it was planned before
the cease-fire even took effect. Indeed, the cease-fire was part of the
military plan to decimate the civilian areas of Gaza; it was a hoax, a
scam, a deliberate feint to buy time for military preparations
-- precisely the same strategy followed by the Bush Regime (and its
bipartisan Establishment supporters) in "going to the UN" to seek a
"peaceful solution" to the "Iraqi crisis" -- when the invasion was
already in the works." -- bold by website editor
Not
by Might, and not by Power -- - OR: Israeli Gaza Strike Kills More Than
225
Special Note - A
quote...."December 28, 2008 at 08:55:34....at least 225 Palestinians
were killed by Israeli bombs in one more attempt to quell by might and
power the use of violence (on a much smaller scale) by Hamas, in
what Hamas sees as itself a retaliation against the Israeli blockade
and semi-starvation of the people of Gaza."
Egypt
accused of 'deceiving' Hamas
Special Note - A
quote...."Published: 12.28.08, 09:11 --
London-based newspaper quotes sources who say Egyptian intelligence
minister deliberately misled Palestinian organization about IDF
intentions; Hamas sources say this is why movement's compounds were not
evacuated."
Egyptian
Border Guards Open Fire on Fleeing Gazans
To ad lib a
quote from "A Man for All Seasons...."Why Mr. Mubarak, it profits a man
nothing to give his soul for the whole world....but for a few billion
dollars yearly from the US-NRE?" -
mpg -- A quote...."As the Israeli
military’s attacks on Gaza move into their second day, there is no sign
that the international calls for calm are getting any consideration.
Indeed, with Israel advancing tanks to the border and calling up
reservists the hundreds of Gazans killed in the first 24 hours of the
onslaught may soon be a drop in the bucket."
Death toll in
Gaza rises to 313; over 1,000 injured
A quote...."December 29, 2008 -- Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli warships
bombarded the headquarters of the Palestinian presidency on Monday
morning in Gaza City."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
No Leadership From Obama. - Oh Contraire!
12-28-08 - revised 12-30-08
mpg
No
Comment and No Leadership From Obama
That's
not entirely true, he made his
comments and indicated what would be acceptable to him and to the
elites he represents during two recent presentations he gave before AIPAC.
Both of which were the most flagrantly craven,
and disgustingly obsequious
set of performances ever given by a
candidate for the office of president of the United States for
people that represent the interests of another national state....this
attack by Israel against the people of Gaza was the forseeable and inevitable
result.
By the way gentle reader if you didn't
know that Hamas won
a free,
fair, and heavily monitored election in both the West bank and
the Gaza Strip in 2006, whereupon the US-NRE, Saudi
Royals,
Egyptian elites
and Israeli politicians
immediately
made a collective decision to supply billions of dollars worth of
munitions and
support to Hama's rival Fatah,
while
fomenting a vicious civil war between the two factions, eventually
escalating in June of
2007 to a crushing
blockade of the entire Gaza Strip and
finally culminating in this latest massive attack by Israel, all
actions which were designed to
mercilessly eliminate Hamas.... ask
yourself why. Really, truly, for once in your see no evil, hear
no
evil, speak no evil lives,
honestly ask yourself why.
A quote...."December 29,
2008 -- As President-elect Barack Obama vacationed in Hawaii on Dec.
26, stopping off to watch a dolphin show with his family at Sea Life
Park, an Israeli air raid besieged the impoverished Gaza Strip, killing
at least 285 people and injuring over 800 more."
This website editor
hopes all you Obamatrolls out there appreciate Mr. Bombs Away's "God
Father" like, Michael Corleone touch. Just as the Caligula from
Crawford attended the 2008 Olympics, his attendance perfectly
timed for Saakashvili's
US-NRE approved blitzkrieg against South Ossetia, so too has Bombs
Away
O-Bomb-a gone on vacation -- with his family....with his
family no less!! -- while his counter part, the soon to be prime
minister of Israel, Tzipi Livni, launches Israel's
long planned, and US-NRE approved, blitzkrieg against the
Palestinians on the Gaza Strip.
At least Tzipi Livni had
the courage to go on camera from the start of this debacle to try to
defend the indefensible, Obama on the other hand, who without a shred
of doubt was informed of these plans of murder and mayhem some time
ago, has chosen to hide behind Bush of all people and claim he can't do
a thing about it, when we all know he's agreed with what's being done
all along. What a sniveling, conniving, coward he is.
You Obamatrolls must be very proud of your candidate right now, and of
yourselves no doubt. Probably you’ll keep all those gory pictures
of the dead
children
murdered in the Gaza Strip right next to all your
other memorabilia. The campaign buttons, flyers, tee-shirts and
other mementos of what you've done to further the PNAC Protocols and
the ruthless, murderous ambitions of this nation's wealthy elites by
campaigning and casting your vote for that monster.
What a proud and glorious day this is for the New Roman Empire and all
its Neo-Roman Citizens. – mpg
==========
========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
US
veto blocks UN anti-Israel resolution
A quote...."Sun, 28 Dec
2008 08:17:23 GMT - The UN Security Council has been unable to
force an end to Israeli attacks against Gaza due to the intervention of
the United States. Washington once again used its veto powers on Sunday
to block a resolution calling for an end to the massive ongoing Israeli
attacks against the Gaza Strip.
Inside
Gaza: 'The hospital morgues were already full. The dead were piled on
top of each other outside'
A quote...."Sunday, 28 December 2008 -- I am safe, and yet I feel like
a walking dead person. Everything around me shows it. It is hard to
write something of any coherence while exposed to cold winter air and
to the smell that lingers after the detonation of Israeli bombs. They
must have been massive. During the bombing I opened all the windows
around my apartment to avoid them imploding as a result of the vacuum
shocks sweeping through Gaza City after each enormous bang." -- also
posted at
ICH
Gaza
hospitals are overwhelmed, Red Cross says
A quote...."GENEVA, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are
overwhelmed and unable to cope with the casualties from Israeli air
strikes, the international Red Cross said on Sunday."
Amira
Hass / 'Gaza strike is not against Hamas, it's against all Palestinians'
A quote...."Last update - 01:49 29/12/2008 -- At 3:19 P.M. Sunday, the
sound of an incoming missile could be heard over the telephone. And
then another, along with the children's cries of fear. In Gaza City's
Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, high-rise apartment buildings are crowded
close together, with dozens of children in every building, hundreds in
every block."
Israel
Bombs Gaza’s Oldest University
A quote...."Posted December 28, 2008 -- Israeli warplanes attacked
Islamic University of Gaza, the oldest university in the Gaza Strip
today. No injuries were reported but the strikes destroyed several
buildings on the female portion of the campus and damaged many other
buildings near the university. Another college run by the university in
southern Gaza City was also attacked."
Israel
Using New US-Supplied Smart Bombs in Gaza Attacks
A quote...."Posted December 28, 2008 -- When Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice declared Hamas responsible for all the killings in
Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip, it was easy to dismiss it as an
expression of the Bush Administration’s “special relationship” with the
Israeli government and knee-jerk support for any killings with the word
terrorist remotely linked to them. Yet it seems there may have been a
more practical concern of culpability at play."
Israel gears
up for ground assault as death toll passes 300
Contains Video - A
quote...."After two days of Israeli air strikes against Hamas, Gaza is
on the brink of a humanitarian disaster, with more than 300 people
killed and 1,000 injured. Overcrowded hospitals are running short of
medicine and staff. "
UN
blasts Israel over Gaza massacre - (RT Video YuTb - 2 min 40 sec -
December 27, 2008)
Video - A
quote...."December 27, 2008 -- The UN Security Council is holding a
closed emergency session in New York to discuss the latest Israeli
attacks on Gaza."
Gaza
massacres must spur us to action
Action Alert - A
quote...."Palestinians everywhere are asking for solidarity, real
solidarity, in the form of sustained, determined political action. The
Gaza-based One Democratic State Group reaffirmed this today as it
"called upon all civil society organizations and freedom loving people
to act immediately in any possible way to put pressure on their
governments to end diplomatic ties with Apartheid Israel and institute
sanctions against it." --
also
posted at CounterCurrents
Tuesday,
December 30: National Day of Action in solidarity with the people of
Gaza
Action Alert - A
quote...."December 28, 2008 -- The time has come for the people of this
great nation to stand up, and show the world who we really are. -- For
too long we have sat quietly by and granted those who would call
themselves our leaders, far too much leniency. For they have
abused our indulgence, using it to undermine our international
integrity; ultimately they are justifying their crimes against
humanity by falsely portraying our indulgence as complicity. -- As
Israel targets a captive, defenseless population, with weapons that the
people of this nation supplied them in order that they may defend
themselves against legitimate threats, our leaders blame the victims in
Gaza. That will not do."
End - The Gaza Attack - 16
Articles -
Sunday - [ Day 2 ] ========== ========== ========== ====
U.S.
Considers New Covert Push Within Pakistan
A quote...."Published: January 6, 2008 -- WASHINGTON — President Bush’s
senior national security advisers are debating whether to expand the
authority of the Central Intelligence Agency and the military to
conduct far more aggressive covert operations in the tribal areas of
Pakistan."
Our
kids as mercenaries -
links
posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."The Pentagon doesn’t talk much about it, but over half of
America’s presence in Iraq today is made up of mercenaries. That’s how
we keep down the number of actual troops. We now hire civilians to do
for the soldiers many of the things they used to do for themselves.
Everyone knows about Halliburton and Blackwater, and many have heard
tell of scores of other companies that, at exorbitant rates, feed,
house and supply our fighting men and women. There is even occasional
note of the regiments of Bangladeshis slipped in to do the army’s scut
work. -- But what about our heroic troops themselves? Surely, THEY’RE
not in it for the money. Surely, they’re not abandoned at the end of
their tours like so many paid contractors. Surely, we nurture them for
the rest of their lives like the heroes that they are. Sure."
Indian
parliament rushes through draconian “anti-terror” laws
A quote...."Barely three weeks after the Mumbai terrorist attack,
India's Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government
pushed draconian new "anti-terror" laws through parliament."
Poverty and
Inequality Decline in Venezuela
A quote...."Mérida, December 24, 2008 (venezuelanalysis.com)--
Over the last decade, Venezuela’s poverty has decreased, and this has
seen a corresponding decrease in inequality and an increase in over all
development. Poverty down by 24.5 percentage points."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The Mumbia Attack - 3 Articles -
Sunday - [ Day 31 ] ========== ========== ========== ====
Shut
Down CIA Station In Islamabad
Must Read - A
quote...."December 28, 2008...8:16 pm -- A war with Pakistan is India’s
opportunity to legitimize action beyond its borders –which is what
superpowers do – and launch its new career as a U.S.-propped [and
Bollywood-propped] ‘superpower’. Pakistan will have to match the
challenge or accept Indian hegemony for the rest of the century. And
while at it, time for Pakistani government and military to order the
closure of CIA station in the Pakistani capital. The new American
agenda in the region contradicts Pakistani interests. How can this be
done? Please learn how the Saudis dealt with Edward W. Genhm." --
For more on this issue see....It
Will Happen Every Single Time - 01-01-08 - mpg
Pak,
India military contact cool down war hysteria
A quote...."MUMBAI,India, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Senior Indian and
Pakistani military officers have made contact in an effort to cool down
tensions following the Mumbai terror attacks that almost triggered a
sub-continental war, reported local newspaper Times of India Monday on
its website."
Pakistan
- Jama't-ud-Da'wah, The Saudi Wahabbi Influence
A quote...."December 27, 2008 -- In the wake of the Mumbai attack on
10th December 2008, the UN Security Council's al-Qaeda/Taliban
Sanctions Committee (the "1267 Committee") took several actions related
to the terrorist group Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LET). It listed four of its
members of the terrorist group Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LET) for targeted
sanctions, including asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo."
End - The Mumbia Attack - 3
Articles -
Sunday - [ Day 31 ] ========== ========== ==========
25%
of [US] Retailers May Go Bankrupt
A quote...."Retailing has always been a tough business. Now it's
a brutal business. Some observers now predict that more than 25%
of retailers may go bust in the the next two years."
Saturday December 27th 2008
The Gaza Attack - 21 Articles -
Saturday - [ Day 1 ] ========== ========== ========== ====
More
Than 200 Killed As Israel Drops 100 Tons Of Bombs In Gaza City
Must View Video -- A
quote...."The BBC Reports December 27, 2008 -- Israeli F-16 bombers
have pounded targets across the Gaza
Strip, killing more than 200 people, according to local medical
workers. -- Most of those killed were policemen in the Hamas militant
movement, which controls Gaza, but women and children also died, the
Gaza officials said. About 700 other people were wounded."
Gaza
raids expose Israeli failure
Must Read - A
quote...."December 28, 2008 -- The unprecedented wave of airstrikes
yesterday could not have been a more dramatic indication of the failure
of Israel’s policy to remove Hamas from power in Gaza."
From
Apartheid to Ethnic Cleansing; Israel Launches f-16 Strikes In Gaza
Must Read - Action Alert
- Photos - Videos -- A
quote...."End the Occupation has sent out this information begging us
to call our representatives. I hope you will avail yourself of this
option."
Gaza
Today: 'This is Only the Beginning'
Special Note -- A
quote...."21:41 12/27/2008 -- As I write this, Israeli jets are
bombing the areas of Zeitoun and Rimal in central Gaza City. The family
I am staying with has moved into the internal corridor of their home to
shelter from the bombing. The windows nearly blew out just five minutes
ago as a massive explosion rocked the house. Apache’s are hovering
above us, whilst F16s sear overhead."
Massacre
In Gaza: 230 Killed
Special Note - A
quote...."Gaza Strip, 27 Dec, 2008- Saturday morning started as usual
but dramatically changed by 11AM. Sixty Israeli F16s bombarded around
100 police stations, civil and governmental offices across Gaza Strip.
The bombardment which simultaneously took place left (at the time of
writing)160 people killed and around 3 hundred wounded. A number of
wounded are expected to die while many corpses still lie under the
rubble of buildings. -- also posted
at DesertPeace
Israeli
Airstrikes Kills Hundreds In Gaza
Special Note - A
quote...."After months of a sickeningly brutal blockade, in which more
than a million people have been deprived of life's essentials, the
blockaders have escalated the "conflict"."
A
year's intel gathering yields 'alpha hits'
Special Note - A
quote...."Updated Dec 28, 2008 5:59 -- At 11:30 a.m., more than 50 fighter jets and attack
helicopters swept into Gazan airspace and dropped more than 100 bombs
on 50 targets. The planes reported "alpha hits," IAF lingo for
direct hits on the targets, which included Hamas bases, training camps,
headquarters and offices. -- Thirty
minutes later, a second wave
of 60 jets and helicopters struck at 60 targets, including
underground Kassam launchers - placed inside bunkers and missile silos
- that had been fitted with timers." -- bold by website editor
Stench of Death
Hangs Over Gaza
A quote...."28-dec-2008 08:24 ECT -- GAZA CITY — With thick clouds of
smoke billowing into the sky and dead bodies littering into the
streets, a stench of death rose from the ruins of the Gaza Strip on
Saturday, December 27. -- "Where are my sons?" screamed Um Ibrahim as
she ran hysterically looking for her little kids. -- She lives near a
security compound Israeli planes pounded to the ground on Saturday."
IAF strikes
mosque, TV station in day 2 of Gaza offensive
A quote...."December 27, 2008 -- Israel Air Force warplanes struck
targets in Gaza early Sunday, including a mosque and a TV station,
after a day of intensive air strikes that killed at least 230
Palestinians and wounded close to 800."
On the ground in
Gaza: Israeli strikes spread chaos, desperation
A quote...."December 27, 2008 -- How do I describe a massacre? What do
I tell you first? Do I first tell you about the dead people that I see
in the streets? Or do I first tell you about the terror we are living?
Where do I begin?"
Israeli
Jets Bomb Gaza; Honor The Three Voices
A quote...."Posted December 27, 2008 -- Christmas is supposed to be the
season of peace but it symbolic value has been repeatedly devalued,
first, with Richard Nixon defiling the holy day by bombing Hanoi and
since then, this time of the year seems to motivate war makers to
showcase exercises of brutality. It is also interesting that the right
wing loudmouths who rail about a “war on Christmas” have nothing to say
about wars that erupt during the Christmas season."
West
Bank rises up in response to massacre in Gaza
A quote...."December 27, 2008 -- In response to the bombing attacks
that have left 205 people dead in Gaza, Palestinians across the West
Bank and inside the ’48 have organized to protest the crimes. In almost
every district, mass marches and clashes have occurred. The
Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign has joined networks and committees such as
the National and Islamic forces, the Committee against the Siege in the
mobilizations that are rocking the entire West Bank.
Eyewitness:
Chaos in Gaza
A quote...."December 27, 2008 -- Israeli planes are still flying over
Gaza and they have
just targeted another Hamas [security] compound in the middle of the
Gaza Strip, in a place called Khan Younis. -- We can see from our
office here in Gaza, in the middle of Gaza City, ambulances are still
evacuating the injured from buildings and school kids are trying to
find secure places."
Hamas
Press Conference After Israeli Attacks On Gaza
Video -- A
quote...."Taher al-Noono, a Hamas spokesman, speaks to reporters in
Gaza following Israeli attacks which killed more than 195 people and
wounded more than 200 others."
Bush
Winks at Israel’s Slaughter in Gaza, While Obama and Clinton Are Silent
A quote...."27 Dec08 -- Israel recklessly bombed Gaza on Saturday,
killing at least
205 Palestinians and wounding at least 350 more, according to
Palestinian health officials. -- This wholly disproportionate response
to Hamas’s immoral but largely ineffective rocket attacks on Israel is
guaranteed to further enflame the Middle East." -- also posted at ICH
& WarInIraq
Gaza
Massacres Must Spur Us To Action
A quote...."27 December 2008 -- I will play music and celebrate what
the Israeli air force
is doing." Those were the words, spoken on Al Jazeera today by Ofer
Shmerling, an Israeli civil defense official in the Sderot area
adjacent to Gaza, as images of Israel's latest massacres were broadcast
around the world."
War
on Gaza: A World Reacts
A quote...."Posted December 27, 2008 -- Israel’s long-promised
attack on the Gaza Strip commenced
in earnest today, with over 200 already dead as of the most recent
reports. But at the Israeli Foreign Ministry mounts its “emergency
international PR effort” to secure international support for what
Defense Minister Ehud Barak promised will be a “long and difficult”
military campaign in the heavily populated strip, international
opposition to the killings is already trickling in."
Israel
launches air strikes on Gaza
RT-Video - (YouTube) -- A quote...."December
27, 2008 -- At least
155 people are reported to have been killed and more than 200 injured
after Israel launched air strikes on Gaza city. The action targeting
Hamas has caused widespread destruction and civilian casualties. It
comes just a week after the collapse of a truce between Palestinian
militants and Israel."
Israeli
air strikes kill 200 in Gaza
RT-Video - (YouTube) -- A quote...."December
27, 2008 -- At least
205 people have been killed and nearly 400 injured after Israel
launched air strikes on Gaza City. Israeli military officials said more
than 100 tonnes of bombs were dropped on Gaza by mid-afternoon on
Saturday. Israel says the attacks are in retaliation for Hamas rocket
fire on southern Israel."
Massive
Israeli air raids on Gaza
BBC - Video
Israel
Kills Civilians in Gaza
Video (YouTube) -- Looks like raw video footage. - mpg
End - The Gaza Attack - 21
Articles - Saturday - [ Day 1 ] ========== ==========
========== ====
Funding,
Arming, and Training Iraqis and Afghans to Fight Their Fellow Countrymen
A quote...."A strategy which had the U.S. military effectively arming
all sides of the civil violence in Iraq is emerging as the strategy of
choice in Afghanistan for the military leadership Barack Obama has
chosen to carry-over from the Bush administration. -- The proxy war
that the military wants Afghans and Iraqis to fight for them is a
reflection of their utter failure to produce any of the political
reconciliation and progress they promised would occur behind the
escalation of force they prosecuted in Iraq and the escalation they're
planning for the cities surrounding their nation-building prize in
Kabul."
U.S.
will give free weapons to Afghan civilians
A quote...."One way to quell a violent and deteriorating situation,
according to the U.S. military, is to flood the place with guns. --
That's exactly what is planned for Afghanistan, where a rising tide of
chaos is slowly pushing the country past Iraq as the most dangerous
battlefield Americans tread upon."
The
US Army Document That Proves the US is the World's Number One Sponsor
of World Terrorism
Special Note -- A
quote...."In a 'manual' which is officially to be released only to
'students from foreign countries on a case-by-case basis only', the US
Army outlines a program of what it now calls 'irregular warfare', in
fact US state sponsored terrorism, insurgency, and PSYOPS." -- For more on the three articles shown above
see also....Parable
of the Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone
& US
Support of Terror
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The
Coming Surge Into Afghanistan Obama and the Graveyard of Empires
A quote...."Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen is reportedly
recommending to President-Elect Obama that the U.S. increase by 30,000
its current force of 32,000 in Afghanistan. That, as Robert Dreyfuss
points out in a recent column, is about 20,000 more troops than Obama
was proposing while on the campaign trail. -- Obama, who has enthused
about refocusing the “War on Terror” back on Afghanistan, is likely to
accede to the admiral’s request."
As
Taliban nears Kabul, shadow gov't takes hold
A quote...."Taliban shadow government wields growing influence in
Afghanistan, moves closer to capital."
Iraq Basra oil
exports plunge 68pc
A quote...."Iraq's oil exports from its southern Basra terminal fell by
67.5 per cent to 552,000 barrels per day (bpd) on Saturday, from 1.7
million bpd on Friday, said a shipper. The shipper told Reuters that he
did not know the reason for the fall, but exports from the southern
Basra terminal, which pumps about three quarters of Iraq's oil, have
tended to be erratic in recent months."
PAKISTAN:
Like Other Assassinations Bhutto's Remains a Mystery
A quote...."KARACHI, Dec 27 (IPS) - "The chapter is closed, and the
Pakistan People’s Party [PPP] is dead. It doesn’t matter who killed
her," said Mohammad Sharif, a young driver working for a voluntary
agency, referring to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s
assassination on Dec. 27 last year."
Rahm
Emanuel: Foot in the door
A quote...."If you want, at the dawn of this brave new era, a sobering
insight into the way Barack Obama will go about being the Most Powerful
Man in the World, try sitting down with a copy of the official report
into his office's dealings with the disgraced Illinois governor, Rod
Blagojevich."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Top
25 Censored Stories for 2009
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The Noose Tightens --
Rumsfeld, Ashcroft and other top Bush officials could soon face legal
jeopardy. @ BuzzFlash
Special Note -- A
quote...."The United States, like many countries, has a bad habit of
committing wartime excesses and an even worse record of accounting for
them afterward. But a remarkable string of recent events suggests that
may finally be changing—and that top Bush administration officials
could soon face legal jeopardy for prisoner abuse committed under their
watch in the war on terror."
Yes We Can
Unpardon War Criminals - But
Bombs Away O-Bomb-a won't. - mpg
A quote...."On his third day in office President Grant revoked two
pardons that had been granted by President Andrew Johnson. President
Nixon also undid a pardon that had been granted by President Lyndon
Johnson. There may be other examples of this, as these two have
somewhat accidentally come up in a discussion focused on numerous
examples of presidents undoing pardons that they had themselves
granted, something the current president did last week. (See
http://pardonpower.com ). In 2001, President George W. Bush's lawyers
advised him that he could undo a pardon that President Clinton had
granted."
Internment And Interrogation of 13-Year-Old Canadian
Teen At Guantanamo Raises Ethical Issues 27 Dec 2008 The
internment and severe interrogation of 13-year-old Omar Khadr at
Guantanamo Bay raises serious ethical issues. His interrogators at the
notorious camp have used snarling dogs against him. He was also
placed in "stress positions," upended and used as a human mop to clean
the floor. The U.S. forces were convinced he had thrown a grenade
that killed an American soldier. Omar Khadr, originally hailing from
Canada, is one of the 19 Guantanamo prisoners charged with war crimes.
The tribunal has refused permission for the defence counsel to
introduce as evidence photographs taken at the scene of the July 27,
2002, firefight near Khowst, Afghanistan – it was there Khadr is
supposed to have thrown the grenade that killed Army Sgt. 1st Class
Christopher Speer. The photographs taken by U.S. soldiers as they
stormed the bombed-out compound show Khadr lying facedown in the dirt
under the blasted remnants of a roof. Navy Lt. Cmdr. William C.
Kuebler, Khadr's lead defense lawyer argued
Khadr could hardly have thrown the grenade that killed Speer if he was
buried and unconscious when the Delta Force soldier entered. -- Paragraph quoted from CLG
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The Mumbia Attack - 2 Articles -
Saturday - [ Day 30 ] ========== ========== ========== ====
Pakistan
calls for dialogue amid India tensions
A quote...."ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan's leader has pleaded for
dialogue, not war, to fight terrorism in South Asia but told India not
to push Islamabad too hard for action against extremists one month
after the Mumbai attacks."
Elements
of an Inside Job in Mumbai Attacks
Special Note - A
quote...."Indian police last week arrested Hassan Ali Khan, who was
wanted for investigations into money laundering and other illicit
activities, and who is also said to have ties to Dawood Ibrahim, the
underworld kingpin who evidence indicates was the mastermind behind the
terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month."
End - The Mumbia Attack - 2
Articles - Saturday - [ Day 30 ] ========== ==========
========== ====
A
one-word explanation? Try ‘greed’
Must Read - A
quote...."In a capitalist system, the knowledge of greed’s dual nature
— its power when harnessed, its danger when it is not — sets up a
permanent, enduring tension. The trick is to give greed enough play to
reap its benefits while minimizing greed’s danger. In that sense, a
greed-powered economy is like a nuclear-powered submarine. Both are
driven by a potentially boundless but destructive source of energy that
must be kept within bounds to operate safely. -- But greed by its
nature is seductive. Greed always seeks more, a little more, just a bit
more, please. And greed can cause us to rationalize things that cannot
and should not be rationalized."
US
holiday season retail sales plunge amid recession - Another one word explanation....try fear.
- mpg
A quote....."A dismal Christmas-New Year shopping season for American
retailers -- that's what a preliminary poll showed Friday as the United
States reeled from a prolonged recession that has cut jobs and
spending."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Asteroid
Impact (HD)
If you think this website's
content is depressing, watch this video. It's a vivid
demonstration that things could actually be much worse. Hopefully that
happy thought will cheer you up. - mpg
Friday December 26th 2008
U.S.
Draws India Into The Afghan "War"
Must Read - A
quote...."Islamabad will be chuckling with pleasure. The parameters of
its foreign policy, which Indian diplomacy rubbished for decades, are
finally gaining habitation and name. The heart of the matter is that
India has made itself vulnerable to U.S. pressure. Of all Afghanistan’s
neighbouring countries that are exposed to the danger of militancy,
India is the only “non-combatant” threatened with a spill-over. The
Central Asian countries bordering Amu Darya, though much weaker than
India, have marvellously insulated themselves from the pernicious
fallout from the Hindu Kush. So has China’s Xinjiang. So indeed has
Iran despite robust efforts by the U.S.-British intelligence to inject
the virus of terrorism into its eastern provinces. Certainly, Moscow
managed to insulate Chechnya too." --
For
more on this issue see....Viral-Neocons
: A clinical medical diagnosis. - 05-25-06 - mpg
Herding
Humans For Profit
A quote...."December 26, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" -- -
Basically, the Pentagon and the CIA are working in tandem to force
targeted nations like India and Pakistan to accept the decision which
has been made to "outsource" the terror war to them and other patsy
nations like them. Agency contract hits like the Mumbai attack and
bombings in FATA are blamed on "al Qaida" by the government-controlled
media in the West and in the media controlled by the "patsy" foreign
governments. Biased, hate-based reporting serves to drive patriotic
fervor to a frenzied state. The duplicitous leaders in those countries
then carry-out America's will, to set them upon a path to war, in
effect, driving their own people into a "kill trap" where unwanted war
is forced upon them. This pattern prevails all over the earth, wherever
the US has imperial designs. We are all being herded into a global war
trap, some call it world war III." --
also
posted at Uruknet
Must Read -- "US
[-NRE is] a lying sack of
warmongering sh*t, even in 1915:
Secret of the Lusitania: Arms find challenges Allied
claims it was solely a passenger ship 20 Dec 2008 Her
sinking with the loss of almost 1,200 lives caused such outrage that it
propelled the U.S. into the First World War. But now divers have
revealed a dark secret about the cargo carried by the Lusitania on its
final journey in May 1915. Munitions they found in the hold suggest
that the Germans had been right all along in claiming the ship was
carrying war materials and was a legitimate military target. Winston
Churchill, who was first Lord of the Admiralty and has
long been
suspected of knowing more about the circumstances of the attack than he
let on in public, wrote in a confidential letter shortly
before the sinking that some German submarine attacks were to be
welcomed. [
Sound familiar?]"
-
Paragraph quoted from CLG --
Article also posted at ICH
Al
Qaeda is More of a U.S. Propaganda Campaign than a Real Organization
A quote...."Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook wrote....
"Al-Qaida, literally "the
database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of
mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to
defeat the Russians."
"Former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski told the Senate
that the war on terror is "a mythical historical narrative"."
Is
the ‘New World Order’ Changing Yet Again?
Must Read -- Not if there's a single IOU, Bond, or
Synthetic Debt Instrument, (CDOs, SIMs, CDSs, etc.) that can be sold to
willing suckers so they can unwillingly help fund this nation's wealthy
elites' relentless and bloody campaign to implement the PNAC
Protocols. Not while these wealthy elites have a single
additional dollar they can print and pawn off to others. Not
while the DemoRepubs are in
charge of this "Racket".
Not while a single breath of political life remains in that murderous
duopoly party's decayed, leprous, diseased, stinking corpse.....It's
really that simple -
mpg --
A quote...."All this was done for “good causes”, people of the world
were told. It was necessary to “rid the world of terrorism”, to
“liberate people from tyranny”, to destroy “the axis of evil” and to
eliminate threats to the security of the West. -- The real agenda
was, however, different. They were out to demolish unfriendly regimes
under the garb of “ushering in democracy”, splinter and remap the
Muslim world, crush Islamic groups opposed to US policies, grab energy
resources, extend hegemony into former Warsaw Pact countries and Soviet
Republics, promote the interests of American military industrial
complex that thrives on war, terrorize the world into submission and
financially gain from the resulting chaos. Like a drunken cowboy,
America was wildly shooting off the hip – totally out of control."
The
Bloody Career of Admiral Dennis C. Blair - Obama's New Intelligence
Chief Ran Interference for Indonesia's Butchers -- A quote...."Two
days after the massacre, the Pentagon dispatched Blair two days later
to meet with Wironto and demand that he disband the militias and allow
a fair vote in East Timor. Instead, Blair offered assurances of
continued US support for the TNI and invited Wironto to Pacific Command
Headquarters in Hawaii as his personal guest. According to top secret
CIA intelligence summary issued after the massacre, however (and
recently declassified by the author through a Freedom of Information
Act request), “Indonesian military had colluded with pro-Jakarta
militia forces in events preceding the attack and were present in some
numbers at the time of the killings.”
Top
Ten Myths about Iraq, 2008
A partial list of some of the
more egregious lies currently being circulated by this nation's
mass-infotainment system, and its gunuflecting, utterly shameless
presstitutes. - mpg
Remembering
Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter--Is Our Conscience Dead?
A quote...."On the news today of the death of Harold Pinter, the winner
of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature, I remembered hearing his Nobel
Laureate lecture/acceptable speech. I was in London in December, 2005
speaking at the annual Stop the War conference when Pinter delivered
his speech—not in Oslo, as Pinter was very sick and could not travel,
but in London via TV link."
Seymour
Hersh: "After 9/11 We Became a Different Country" -
posted at AlterNet
A quote...."Asharq Al-Awsat, London -- In this interview, Asharq
Al-Awsat speaks to veteran American reporter Seymour Hersh, who, four
years ago, exposed the now infamous prison abuse scandal of Abu Ghraib
in Iraq at the hands of U.S. soldiers."
Bush's
$1 Trillion War on Terror: Even Costlier Than Expected
Some quotes...."The news that President Bush's war on terror will soon
have cost the U.S. taxpayer $1 trillion - and counting - is unlikely to
spread much Christmas cheer in these tough economic times. A trio of
recent reports - none by the Bush Administration - suggests that
sometime early in the Obama presidency, spending on the wars started
since 9/11 will pass the trillion-dollar mark." -- "But many Americans
may suffer a moment of sticker shock from the conclusions of the CSBA
report, and similar assessments from the Government Accounting Office
and Congressional Research Service, which make clear that the nearly $1
trillion already spent is only a down payment on the war's long-term
costs."
Unscripted:
Green Zone Theater and the Shoe Drama
A quote...."The plot, so unexpectedly, thickened in Iraq on a Sunday
like no other. The two main actors - US President George W. Bush, and
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki – took to the stage to perform
another well-rehearsed press conference. The scripts were ever so
predictable: Bush to tout the ‘progress’ achieved in Iraq, while
al-Maliki to express gratitude for the freedom bestowed on his country.
Both men were to caution from overstated optimism, and to forewarn of
the great challenges that are yet to come. The two partners were to
shake hands, smile and walk away. Things, however, didn’t go according
to plan on Sunday, December 14. -- A surprise appearance by till then
little-known Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi provided a most
unpredictable conclusion to the public performance regularly held in
Baghdad’s Green Zone theater."
Spain
PM says no more troops for Afghanistan
A quote...."MADRID, Spain: Spain's prime minister says he has no plans
to expand his country's contingent of peacekeepers in Afghanistan. -
Within days, the government will eliminate a 3,000-person limit on the
number of Spanish soldiers who can be stationed abroad."
Robert
Fisk’s World: How can anyone believe there is 'progress' in the Middle
East?
Must Read - A
quote...."Let's kick off with the man who is not going to change the
Middle East, Barack Obama, who last week, with infinite predictability,
became Time's "person of the year". But buried in a long and immensely
tedious interview inside the magazine, Obama devotes just one sentence
to the Arab-Israeli conflict: "And seeing if we can build on some of
the progress, at least in conversation, that's been made around the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be a priority." -- What is this man
talking about? "Building on progress?" What progress? On the verge of
another civil war between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, with
Benjamin Netanyahu a contender for Israeli prime minister, with
Israel's monstrous wall and its Jewish colonies still taking more Arab
land, and Palestinians still firing rockets at Sderot, and Obama thinks
there's "progress" to build on?"
Israeli
Gaza raid kills 180, wounds 800
BREAKING NEWS - Sat, 27
Dec 2008 09:55:33 GMT -- A quote...."Israeli warplanes have
carried out a massive airstrike on Hamas security compounds inside the
Gaza Strip....." -- "
At least 180
people have been killed and 800 other Palestinians have been wounded
in the Israeli blitz, a Press TV correspondent reported from the Gaza
Strip. Television footages showed the bodies of dead people including
men, women and children on Gaza streets." -- "Israel F16 bombers and
apache helicopters carried out at least 30 simultaneous raids on at
least 30 separate targets in Gaza City." -- bold by website editor
Q&A:
Israel Bars Credible Observers from Gaza -
Well....now we know why, don't we?
-
mpg
A quote...."UNITED NATIONS, Dec 26 (IPS) - The U.N. High Commissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay last week lambasted the Israeli government
for detaining and expelling a human rights expert, Richard Falk, who
was on a U.N.-mandated assignment to probe the human rights situation
in the occupied territories."
No
Democracy in Palestine as Fatah postones Convention
A quote...."With the `peace process` going nowhere, and beset by
chronic internal divisions, Fatah has once again postponed convening
its long-overdue Sixth Congress. The last time Fatah held its general
congress was in Algiers nearly 20 years ago."
Russian
president signs law to ratify Caspian gas pipeline deal
A quote...."MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev has signed a law to ratify an agreement with Kazakhstan
and Turkmenistan to build a natural gas pipeline along the Caspian
coast."
Serbia
joins Southern Stream
A quote...."MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei
Fedyashin) - On December 24, Catholic Christmas Eve, the Slavic gas
transit system strengthened its position: Dmitry Medvedev and Serbian
President Boris Tadic signed several agreements on oil and gas at a
meeting in Moscow."
Russia
deploys 2nd S-400 missile system
A quote...."Russia deploys missiles fitted with S-400 Triumf air
defense system, which can hit target at a distance twice the range of
the US Patriot."
Russia
selling surface-to-air missiles to Libya, Syria: report
A quote...."MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia has begun to fulfil a
250-million-dollar contract to deliver surface-to-air missiles to seven
countries including Libya, Syria and Venezuela, the Vedomosti business
daily reported Friday. -- Russia will also deliver the S-125 Pechora-2M
missile batteries to Egypt, Myanmar, Vietnam and Turkmenistan under the
contract, the newspaper said, citing a source in the state-owned
Russian Technologies corporation."
The Mumbia Attack - 2 Articles -
Friday - [ Day 29 ] ========== ========== ========== ====
Welcome Mossad !
Must Read -- A
quote...."The discussion and debate generated by the bloody terror
attack in Bombay allegedly carried out by the dreaded Lashkar-e-Toiba
still continues. While relations between India and Pakistan have
reached a new low, the only saving grace of the unfolding situation is
that the war of words did not transcend the level of rhetoric and
ruling elites of both countries showed wisdom in not precipitating the
matter further. "
-- Well it was a
nice thought anyway, one which has just been eclipsed by more recent
events. See the article shown below....
Pakistan
Shifts Troops From Afghan Border to Indian Border
A quote...."Following through on an action it threatened
nearly a month
ago,
[Demonstrating the
Pakies remarkable patience, despite India's repeated attempts to
escalate the situation.] the Pakistani military today began
shifting thousands of its troops away from the Afghan border region,
where it has been mired in fighting against assorted militant groups,
and massing them along the Indian border in preparation of a potential
war with its long-time rival." -- bold/underline by website editor --
This action, part of a chain of events
that started with what may very well turn out to be a "false-flag"
operation which involved elements from within India, along with support
from the Saudi Royals, Mossad and CIA, will increase tensions along the
Pakistan and Indian borders and will help strengthen al-Qaeda's
position in Pakistan and even possibly increase their stature versus
the Taliban. Such an outcome would be totally in keeping with all
the other things that have happened during the last eight years of the
US-NRE’s so-called "war
on terror"....what an absolutely amazing coincidence. - mpg
For more on this issue see
also....Al
Qaeda - Always There for the US Elites - 03-09-08 - mpg
End - The Mumbia Attack - 2
Articles - Friday - [ Day 29 ] ========== ========== ==========
====
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9/11 - From The History File...Letter
to Secretary Rumsfeld: DOD Contracts with ESSI - in
PDF
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
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En
Route to Military Rule
Special Note - A
quote...."We no longer have a civilian-led government." -- This ominous
conclusion comes to us from Thomas A. Schweich, who held the title of
deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement
affairs in the Bush Regime, by way of a December 21 Washington Post
op-ed column. Lamenting "the silent military coup d’etat that has been
steadily gaining ground below the radar screen of most Americans and
the media," Schweich describes the infusion of the military "into a
striking number of aspects of civilian government" as "the most
unnerving legacy of the Bush administration."
Wait,
Let me Get This Straight; Impeach Blago, But Don’t Look At the Evidence
Against Him?
a.k.a. "A Gitmo Style Trial"
-- A quote...."What? WTF? U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald sent a
letter to the Illinois House of Representatives that are looking to
impeach Gov. Blagojevich because he has been charged with 2 crimes
after being arrested, and Fitzgerald asked them not to look at the
details of those charges … when considering Blogojevich’s
impeachment?" --
Blago's
mistake was that he didn't record all of
his conversations himself and keep detailed records of EVERYONE he
spoke with along with all the deals he concocted in a nice safe
place.
No doubt if he had, "they" wouldn't have touched him. - mpg
A
Closer Look at the Pentagon's 'Minerva Initiative'
A quote...."Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced the first Minerva
Research Initiative awards, which will fund social science research on
key strategic issues. -- Seven projects were selected out of a total of
211 proposals. The Pentagon will commit a total of up to $50 million to
those research efforts." --
also
posted at RougeGov
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Islamic
Banks Are Surviving the Financial Crisis Better Than Western Banks
A quote...."As I have previously
written,
the Islamic banking system may survive the financial crisis better than
the Western system because it forbids usury and the buying and selling
of debt."
Visits
to U.S. Retailers Fell 24% on Weekend Before Christmas
A quote...."Traffic decreased 6.5 percent for the week through Dec. 20
from a year earlier, ShopperTrak said. The pre-Christmas weekend drop
was the biggest since at least 2003. The company uses a sampling of
more than 50,000 stores in shopping centers and malls to measure foot
traffic, or count the number of customers that enter the locations."
Japan
factory output has biggest fall on record
A quote...."TOKYO (AP) — Japan's contracting economy got a slew of bad
news Friday when government figures showed that industrial production
plunged by its biggest margin on record in November, the jobless rate
jumped and household spending fell."
Americans
Prefer News From Web Than Newspapers
A quote...."The Internet has surpassed newspapers as the main source
for national and international news for Americans, according to a new
survey."
Europe's
rail system moving full steam ahead
A quote...."High-speed rail is moving ahead at high speed in Europe.
Railroads there keep adding new high-speed lines and increasing
service, while here in the United States, we keep fretting about the
need for better transportation but do little about it. If you're
heading for Europe next year, you can try out several new lines, and
additional lines will open by summer."
Thursday December 25th 2008
No posts. - mpg
Wednesday December 24th 2008
Hey
Reagan Democrats - Now Do You Get It?
Must Read - A
quote...."The
Reagan Democrat (technically, Imbecelicus politici) was always the
strangest and most contemptuous of species from the habitat of American
politics, as you’ve perhaps already heard. Try to imagine another
example from the animal kingdom that could be so readily counted upon
to bring harm upon itself and others. There are some of course, but
usually they are simply ignorant animals, often with very limited
cranial capacity." -- also posted at
CounterPunch
In
The Great Tradition Obama Is A Hawk
Must Read - From the History File, and a good call. - mpg -- A
quote...."14/06/08 "ICH" -- -In 1941, the editor Edward Dowling wrote:
"The two greatest obstacles to democracy in the United States are,
first, the widespread delusion among the poor that we have a democracy,
and second, the chronic terror among the rich, lest we get it." What
has changed? The terror of the rich is greater than ever, and the poor
have passed on their delusion to those who believe that when George W
Bush finally steps down next January, his numerous threats to the rest
of humanity will diminish."
Here Come
the Progressives! -- Watch out!
Special Note - A
uqote...."....what's rising on the left-end of the political spectrum
is a new brand of neoconservatism, a "liberal" and even "enlightened"
variety of the same old hubris-in-arms that animated the departed
warmongers of AEI. You can forget AEI; it doesn't matter that much
anymore, now that the Republicans are out of power – but get ready for
PPI! -- What the heck is PPI? I can hear you asking that question, and
the answer is simple: it's the neocons all over again, albeit this time
in "liberal" drag.
Washington
Needs a Makeover - And Bombs
Away O-Bomb-a ain't it. - mpg -- posted at ConsortiumNews
A quote...In four weeks, the long national nightmare of George W.
Bush’s presidency will come to an end, but the big question then will
be whether much will change – even with a solid Democratic majority in
Congress and the nation’s first African-American President in the White
House."
Prosecute
Bush, Cheney and Co.
A quote...."In Your Heart, You Know It's Got to Be Done -- This is no
time to let by-gones be by-gones. We must prosecute Bush, Cheney and Co
for crimes against the people of the United States and Crimes against
Humanity."
Seasonal
forgiveness has a limit. Bush and his cronies must face a reckoning
A quote...."Heinous crimes are now synonymous with this US
administration. If it isn't held to account, what does that say about
us?" -- also posted at CommonDreams
War
With Contempt for Civilians Torture, Slaughter and Lies
A quote...."In September an Afghan journalist, Jawed Ahmad, was
released from a US military prison in Afghanistan where his jailers "
broke two of my ribs during the beatings." He worked for Canadian TV
and the BBC, among other media outlets, and he had done nothing wrong.
That is obvious, because he was freed without charge after a year of
hellish treatment at the hands of uniformed filth whose claim to being
human is at best feeble. If there had been the slightest genuine
suspicion that he had committed a crime he should have been put on
trial, but that is not the way the US system works, in these horrible
days. Bush policy in Iraq and Afghanistan is never to admit that anyone
can be innocent because everyone arrested is automatically guilty. But
will it get any better under Obama? Can he alter what has become normal
behavior on the part of the robotic minions of the commander-in-chief?"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iraq
story buried by US networks
Must View Video - A
quote...."Major networks spend only 2 minutes per week on Iraq war
coverage; Lara Logan of CBS joins critique." -- For more on this issue see....Fake
Intel / Propaganda - Iraq Death Toll
"Que
Huevos!" Where's al-Zaidi's Pulitzer?
A quote...."Que Huevos!" ("What Balls!") grinned Don Juanito the
tailor, sipping his tea across the counter and extolling the bravery of
Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi reporter who gained instant hero status
for hurling his shoes at U.S. president George Bush during a Baghdad
news conference last week (Dec. 13th). "He should have thrown clown
shoes - that way he wouldn't have missed Bush," Daniel the greeter
chimed in. An avid wrestling fan, Daniel was impressed by Bush's
stutter step dodge of the incoming missiles. "The shoes must be the
weapons that Bush was looking for, no?" smiled Manuel the waiter, "now
they will take all the shoes from Iraq!" Berta the nurse invited the
crowd to bring their old shoes to the U.S. Embassy here to bid goodbye
to George Bush.
Amid wide Taliban
rule, a NATO supply line in Pakistan is choked
Special Note -- A
quote...."PESHAWAR, Pakistan: This frontier city boasts a major air
base and Pakistani Army and paramilitary garrisons. But the 200 Taliban
guerrillas were in no rush as they methodically ransacked a NATO supply
depot here two weeks ago. -- The militants began by blocking off a long
stretch of the main road, giving them plenty of time to burn everything
inside, said one guard, Haroon Khan, who was standing next to a row of
charred trucks. -- After assuring the overmatched guards they would not
be killed — if they agreed never to work there again — the militants
shouted "God is great" through bullhorns. They then grabbed jerrycans
and made several trips to a nearby gas station for fuel, which they
dumped on the cargo trucks and Humvees before setting them ablaze."
Strong
explosions hit foreign trucks parking area
Full quote...."Strong explosions hit the parking area of the foreign
forces' supply trucks in Khost province
* -- Two strong explosions hit the parking area of the foreign forces’
supply trucks in Khost city, the provincial capital of the eastern
province of Khost on Tuesday evening. -- Quqnoos.com reporter said
firing is still continuing in the parking area after the explosion. --
There are no reports about the cause of the explosion and the number of
civilian casualties so far." - *link added -- also posted at WarInIraq
US to Fund Afghan
Militias, Applying Iraq Tactic - a.k.a.
The "Surge" Deux - mpg
Special Note - US-NRE Strategy
Note
-- The surge into Afghanistan of
US-NRE troops means nothing,
watch who the US-NRE
chooses to back, bribe, co-opt or attack in Afghanistan over the next
six to twelve months. Playing off the ethnic and religious groups
against each other
in that country will be much more difficult this time around because
the differences between them are much less sharply defined then they
were in
Iraq. The
US-NRE can't simply blow up another Al-Askari Mosque
to get the desired internal fratricide going. But it may very
well try to do something
similar. –
mpg -- A quote...."Kabul, Afghanistan - The Afghan government
will formally start a U.S.-funded effort to recruit armed local
militias in the battle against the Taliban in remote parts of the
country, exporting the tactic to Afghanistan from Iraq." -- also posted at WarInIraq -- For
more on this issue see....US
Support of Terror
'Kidnapper
of Iranian diplomat nabbed'
A quote...."A senior Pakistani official has announced that the
mastermind behind the abduction of an Iranian diplomat had been
arrested."
Cold
War shivers - posted at OnlineJournal
A quote...."2008 will be remembered as a turning point in Russia’s
relations with the West. It was a tumultuous year, with Kosovo,
missiles in Europe and NATO’s seemingly relentless march eastward like
thunderclouds gathering on Russia’s horizon, which finally burst 8
August over South Ossetia, bringing tragedy to Georgians, triumph and
tragedy to Ossetians and Russians, as the Russian army stopped short of
Tbilisi in their defence of the plucky Ossetians."
Iran,
Europe, and America After the August [Georgian - South Ossetian] War
A quote...."In a situation where America’s strength becomes a dubious
premise, European nations would be forced to revert to the old Eurasian
geopolitics, and follow old Eurasian logic."
Ukraine and
Gazprom square off for annual gas row
A quote...."Moscow is threatening to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine
over unpaid bills. It follows a statement from Kiev that it won’t be
able to clear its debt to Gazprom by the end of the year. Russia says
European consumers won’t be affected by the dispute."
Russia
to put 3 Glonass satellites into orbit
A quote...."MOSCOW, December 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will launch a
rocket on Thursday to orbit three Glonass navigation satellites from
the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, a space agency spokesman said.
-- Glonass - the Global Navigation Satellite System - is the Russian
equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is
designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users
to determine their positions to within a few meters."
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U.S.
Military Preparing for Domestic Disturbances
Military Coup / Dictatorship
Alert - A quote...." A new report from the U.S. Army War College
discusses the use of American troops to quell civil unrest brought
about by a worsening economic crisis. - The report from the War
College’s Strategic Studies Institute warns that the U.S. military must
prepare for a “violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States”
that could be provoked by “unforeseen economic collapse” or “loss of
functioning political and legal order.”
Will
the U.S. Break Up?
A quote...."America now has some 300 million people, 50 states, and
more federal, state and local agencies than anyone can possibly list.
It is hard to govern such a large, complex and populous system when
anything goes seriously wrong. -- And a lot is going wrong right now.
Five
New Jersey men convicted in FBI-concocted Fort Dix “terror” case
A quote...."A federal court convicted five young men from New Jersey
Monday on conspiracy and gun charges for an alleged "terrorist plot"
that would not have existed outside of the activities of undercover
informants for the FBI."
Why Al
Franken Should NOT Be Riding Private Planes
A quote...."The tragic and suspicious death of Karl Rove's election
thief in chief should send a clear message to Al Franken and other key
liberals: don't be riding in any small private planes. Death by air
crash now seems to be the favored means of ridding the Rovian right of
troublesome characters."
Michael
Connell and Juan Mouriño; What do They Have in Common
A quote...."So little info out there on the Mike Connell story from the
MSM. Like that is a surprise. Brad blog and few others are working on
the story. But when I first heard the story, I immediately
thought of another story from south of the border that also didn’t get
much press."
The Mumbia Attack - 1 Article -
Wednesday - [ Day 27 ] ========== ========== ========== ====
Pakistan
urges India to accept help offer
A quote...."Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:56pm GMT -- ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -
Pakistan's parliament called on India on Wednesday to respond
positively to Pakistani offers of cooperation in investigating the
Mumbai attacks and condemned "war hype" between the nuclear-armed
neighbours."
End - The Mumbia Attack -
1 Article - Wednesday - [ Day 27 ] ========== ==========
==========
Greed
has pushed political credibility and financial trust into freefall
A quote...."'What an ideology is, is a conceptual framework with the
way people deal with reality," Alan Greenspan told the Congressional
House oversight and government reform committee on 23 October.
"Everyone has one. You have to - to exist, you need an ideology. The
question is whether it is accurate or not." As the former chairman of
the Federal Reserve, from 1987 to 2006, Greenspan stood at the helm of
US monetary policy during the time conditions for the current meltdown
were being created." -- An ideology
of self-interest is not an ideology, it's just a pathetic attempt to
justify unbridled greed and avarice, and in the end, even murder and
mayhem. Theories are better, paradigms are better, either they're
predictive and accurate or they're not, either way you'll know soon
enough. -- mpg
'PONZI
SCHEME' AT CITI
A quote...."A new Citigroup scandal is engulfing Robert Rubin and his
former disciple Chuck Prince for their roles in an alleged Ponzi-style
scheme that's now choking world banking."
1/3 of
Banks Will Disappear Next Year
A quote...."Many banks don't have enough money to survive in 2009, but
mergers will keep their brands alive, said Ralph Silva of TowerGroup."
The
Fed Is Playing with Fire
A quote...."Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Ben Bernanke, is putting
all his eggs in one basket by reducing the interest rate to almost
zero, and exhausting all other options."
Commercial
Loan Defaults May Triple as Rents Decline (Update1)
A quote...."Lenders that used optimistic rent estimates to grant
mortgages beginning in 2005 stand to lose as much as $23.1 billion, or
7.02 percent, of total unpaid balances if landlords lose 5 percent of
net operating income, according to Reis. Analysts examined data on
22,890 properties that together may
account for unpaid loans of about $329 billion in 2009, said
Victor Calanog, director of research." -- bold by website editor
U.S.
jobless claims surge to 26-year high
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing
new claims for jobless benefits jumped by 30,000 to a 26-year peak last
week, government data on Wednesday showed, as the country's year-long
recession continued to chill the labour market."
Australian
bank fiasco—a warning of “tougher times” ahead
A quote...."A capital-raising debacle involving one of the country's
"big four" banks, the former government-owned Commonwealth Bank of
Australia (CBA), has underscored the fragility of the entire banking
and financial system amid rising bad debts and warnings of worse to
come."
Sadly,
the worst for the [British] economy is yet to come
A quote...."According to experts at Capital Economics, next year's
gross domestic product will contract by a shocking 2.5pc - the worst
single year for growth since 1947. I suspect they are more realistic
than most. For digging down into the numbers, it is plain that the
worst of the correction has not even been accounted for yet. The
savings ratio is up, yes, but this is less a sign of thrift than a
technical correction in dividends. As people truly start battening down
the hatches in the coming months, that figure will rise more sharply -
a good thing in the long run, but in the short run something that will
yank down GDP growth even more dramatically."
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A heart-warming tale
for the holidays: Fermat's Last Theorem
Contains Video - A
quote...."Some of the most intense and passionate people that I have
ever met in my life have been from the realm of mathematics,
consequently over the years I have discovered that I love the story of
how the language of mathematics is used to unveil the unknown
more than the intricate details of the language. The following
documentary is about some of these people, and how one of humanities
greatest mysteries was revealed to the world."
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122408-123008
- links page
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