Tuesday Febuary 3rd 2009 - links page

The US is no longer a global hegemon  ---  http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?article_ID=99054&categ_ID=5&edition_id=10
A quote...."Changes in the status and power of nations, just like changes in economic conditions, are not always immediately apparent. There is, in the jargon of economics, a recognition lag between the time when an economic shock, such as a sudden boom or bust, occurs and the time when it is recognized by economists, central bankers and the government."
also posted at ICH  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21899.htm  ---  Check out the comments at ICH. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Glasnost In London – War Fever In Washington  ---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis135.html
A quote...."Lord West, the security minister of Britain’s Labor government (equivalent to the US Homeland Security chief), dropped a bombshell last week by declaring that his nation’s military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan had actually fueled global radicalism against Britain and the US as well as domestic "terrorism" in the United Kingdom. -- According to the outspoken minister, the Western power’s recent policies in the Muslim world were encouraging what we term terrorism. Interestingly, I happened to be in London at the time, promoting my new book,
American Raj,  ---  http://www.amazon.com/American-Raj-Liberation-Domination-Resolving/dp/1554700876/lewrockwell/
 [ByCm,  ---  http://www.buy.com/prod/american-raj-liberation-or-domination-resolving-the-conflict-between/q/loc/106/208897123.html
 Keenzo,  ---  http://www.keenzo.com/showproduct.asp?M=PUBLISHERS-GROUP-WEST&ID=3268168&ref=GB
 Bordrs,  ---  http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=1554700876&schid=pfggle
 B&N,  ---  http://search.barnesandnoble.com/American-Raj/Eric-S-Margolis/e/9781554700875
 Alibris  ---  http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qsort=p&qisbn=1554700876&siteID=GJqZ1KMKkeQ-Rf6.oLFtaJDEbb04u_NRmg  ---  ]  which argues precisely the same point." -- also posted at ICH  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21895.htm
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Roberto González on Human Terrain Systems - Counterinsurgency, Anthropology and Disciplinary Complicity
  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/price02032009.html
Special Note - A quote...."During the spring and summer of 2007 word began circulating of a new military program designed to draw upon anthropological theory, field methods and personnel in theatres of military battles and occupation. As anthropologists' concerns over the program grew, mainstream media outlets availed themselves for a cascade of fawning uncritical personality profiles and news pieces selling the American public on the idea that more culturally nuanced forms of military occupation would lead to victory in Iraq and Afghanistan. While different branches of the military have a number of anthropologically informed programs, the Human Terrain System (HTS) has become the most visibly controversial program because of the ethical and political problems it creates (and ignores) by embedding social scientists with battlefield troops. Since it was conceived in 2006, the Pentagon has allocated nearly $200 million for HTS." -- Isn't that just great? A new fangled way to convince people all over the world that when the Empire blows them up, occupy’s their countries and try’s to steal their natural resources....It’s doing them a "favor", that it’s actually trying to "help" them.  It really is quite remarkable how the New Roman Empire just keeps sinking to new, more twisted, more debased depths all the time. You would hope at some point it would finally reach bottom.  It’s obviously not there yet and it looks like it's not going to be for quite awhile. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Anti-Empire Report: Change (in rhetoric) we can believe in.
  ---  http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2009/02/04/the-anti-empire-report-change-in-rhetori
Must Read - A quote...."I've said all along that whatever good changes might occur in regard to non-foreign policy issues, such as what's already taken place concerning the environment and abortion, the Obama administration will not produce any significantly worthwhile change in US foreign policy; little done in this area will reduce the level of misery that the American Empire regularly brings down upon humanity. And to the extent that Barack Obama is willing to clearly reveal what he believes about anything controversial, he appears to believe in the empire."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Barack Obama’s strange new political bedfellows  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4319.shtml
A quote...."Feb 4, 2009, 00:24 -- (WMR) -- On the evening of January 31, Washington’s political and business elite met under the aegis of the annual dinner of the Alfalfa Club, billed by the Washington corporate media as one of the nation’s capital’s most secretive and elite groups."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Obama names third Republican to cabinet -- A further bow to the right  ---  http://wsws.org/articles/2009/feb2009/obam-f04.shtml
A quote...."Barack Obama deepened his extraordinary efforts at bipartisan collaboration with the Republican Party on Tuesday with the announcement of New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg as his pick for commerce secretary."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Danger Ahead! Obama's Lincoln Thing - [a.k.a. Lincoln like you've never heard him described before - mpg]
  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/sale02032009.html
A quote...."Let’s just hold it a bit on this Lincoln thing.  If Barack Obama wants to lead the nation as Lincoln did, we’re in for a lot of trouble. "
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Israel is addicted to war  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4318.shtml
A quote...."Israelis go to the polls next Tuesday to choose a new leader. Ahead is Benjamin Netanyahu, a right-wing hard-liner who has little time for the two-state solution, was vehemently against Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and, who, for years, has been banging the drums of war against Iran. This silver-tongued, ruthless individual is highly dangerous. Choosing him is tantamount to choosing war. What are they thinking?"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Gaza Attack - Articles - Tuesday - [ Day 39 ] ========== ========== ========== ========

Jerusalem, the Schizophrenic  ---  http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14784
A quote...."I am almost certain there is no place stranger than Jerusalem. The bus stop scenario is a perfect example of this: two peoples in the same city, some living practically door to door, but virtually in two different worlds. At this bus stop, the Israelis would never use the Palestinian buses and mostly vice versa. Palestinians rarely use Israeli buses, except if they are going to an Israeli hospital or work for an Israeli employer. Other than that, the two peoples are divided by an invisible yet indelible line, each one staying on his or her side of the border, which runs from east to west." -- Just think "Jim Crow" or "Apartheid" and you'll get the general picture. – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Israel rules out Hamas contacts, threatens force  ---  http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/02/02/israel-rules-out-hamas-contacts-threatens-force-3/
A quote...."Feb 03, 2009 01:16 EST -- Israeli foreign minister rules out contacts with Gaza's Hamas rulers, threatens more force." -- Of course, naturally. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Politically, Hamas May Have Won  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/ips/morrowomrani.php?articleid=14189
February 4, 2009 -- "Politically" doesn't mean ANYTHING to the grieving, mutilated, murdered, homeless mothers, fathers, daughters and sons of Gaza.  This was a disaster for the Palestinian people and for Hamas....it also happens to be however, one of the greatest disasters to have ever befallen the Jewish people....save one.  The reason being is that everyone throughout the entire world was finally able to see the true hidden face of the Jewish people of Israel, everyone got to see them laugh while they burned children alive with white phosphorous, saw them wildly cheer from their hilltop vantage points while Palestinians where ripped apart with DIME weapons, watched them compete during their political elections on who could promise to kill the most Palestinians,  bore witness to the herding of Palestinian woman and children into houses, which they were told would be "safe", only to be blown up later by Israeli artillery shells, looked on in horror as UN compounds, mosques, and schools were deliberately targeted and attacked, and finally learned about the murder of Palestinians, along with their children, while they were trying to surrender to IDF units under the white flag of truce.  Everyone now knows the true "character" of those who call themselves Israelis.  Something that will never, ever be forgotten....something that should never, ever, be forgiven. – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Shooting at farmers, what gives Israel the right?  ---  http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m51496&s1=h1
A quote...."Feb 3, 2009 -- I was fairly certain that one of us would be shot today. -- This morning, farmers from Abassan Jadiida (New Abassan), to the east of Khan Younis , the southern region, returned to land they’d been forced off of during and following the war on Gaza. The continual shooting at them by Israeli soldiers while they work the land intensified post-war on Gaza. The Israeli soldiers’ shooting was not a new thing, but a resumption of the policy of harassment that Palestinians in the border areas have been enduring for years, a harassment extending to invasions in which agricultural land, chicken farms, and the houses in the region have been targeted, destroyed in many cases."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

ICC examines Gaza crimes  ---  http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25000972-5005961,00.html
A quote...."February 03, 2009 07:19am -- The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court was conducting a "preliminary analysis" of alleged crimes committed by Israelis during the recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, his office said today."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

IDF colonel leaves speaking tour of UK for fear of arrest.
  ---  http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304666671&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A quote...."Feb 2, 2009 23:25 | Updated Feb 3, 2009 10:31 -- An Israeli colonel involved in Operation Cast Lead returned to Israel in haste on Friday, fearing arrest on charges of war crimes during a visit to the UK."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

US Sold Phosphorus Shells to Israel  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/02/03/us-sold-phosphorus-shells-to-israel/
A quote...."Posted February 3, 2009 -- Among Israel's Most Condemned Tactics in Gaza Was Enabled by Arkansas-Made Rounds." -- also posted at WarInIraq  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/188941
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The "Iranian" Weapon Ships And The Israeli Propaganda
  ---  http://www.sott.net/articles/show/174714-The-Iranian-Weapon-Ships-And-The-Israeli-Propaganda
A quote...."Israels aim is to further isolate Iran by any means and to use the U.S. and other countries to do their bidding. To that end it alleges Iranian support for its enemies, currently especially Hamas, and its propaganda machine is doing a hell of a job to confuse the world with disinformation about this."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The West's Sacred Lie: Ahmadinejad and his New Conference on the holocaust  ---  http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/10546
A quote...."TEHRAN, Jan. 28, 2009 (ISNA) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said a cursory glance at the following events of the Second World War suggests the issue of holocaust is an excuse by the war winners particularly the US and Britain for domination over the world."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Human Rights Watch Goes to War  ---  http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m51495&s1=h1
A quote...."Feb 3, 2009 -- The Middle East has always been a difficult challenge for Western human rights organizations, particularly those seeking influence or funding in the United States. The pressure to go soft on US allies is in some respects reminiscent of Washington's special pleading for Latin American terror regimes in the 1970s and 1980s. In the case of Israel such organizations also face a powerful and influential domestic constituency, which often extends to senior echelons of such organizations, for whom forthright condemnation of Israel is anathema." -- For more on this issue see....Judeo-Christian C/C & US  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/judeochristianconflictcontrolwithinus-weblist-mpg-010409
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Second batch of Chilean aid to Gaza arrives in Jordan  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/04/content_10761115.htm
Action Update -- A quote...."SANTIAGO, Feb. 3, 2009 (Xinhua) -- The second batch of humanitarian aid from Chile arrived Tuesday in Jordan and will be sent to Gaza soon, according to local media reports." -- also posted at WarInIraq  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/188938
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Indonesia to build hospital in Gaza  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/04/content_10761821.htm
Action Update -- A quote...."JAKARTA, Feb. 4, 2009 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia is set to build a hospital in Gaza Strip of Palestine following damages of hospitals during a conflict between Hamas and Israel last month." -- also posted at WarInIraq  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/188930
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

End - The Gaza Attack - Articles - Tuesday - [ Day 39 ] ========== ========== ========== ====

Iraq tribes threaten to take up arms over poll  ---  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090202/wl_nm/us_iraq_anbar
A quote...."RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) – Tribal sheikhs who helped drive al Qaeda militants out of Western Iraq threatened on Monday to take up arms against the provincial government because of what they said was fraud in Saturday's provincial polls."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

OSC: Al-Maliki says US Could Leave Iraq Early  ---  http://www.juancole.com/2009/02/osc-al-maliki-says-us-could-leave-iraq.html
A quote...."Wednesday, February 04, 2009 -- In exclusive statements to the Iraqi Media Center, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has revealed that the withdrawal of the US forces from the country might be sooner than the dates and schedules outlined in the agreement on the pullout of foreign forces from the country, noting that this is a big achievement for the Iraqis." -- also posted at WarInIraq  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/188927
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

US army deserters flee Iraq  ---  http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/36819
A quote...."Last week’s successful election in Iraq was a major step towards the withdrawal of US troops from the country. But some soldiers are jumping the gun. They’re deserting the US army, insisting the occupation is unjust."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Emerging Threats  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21894.htm
A quote...."WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- As key policymakers abroad survey the attempts to stop and reverse the self-inflicted crumbling of the world's largest economy, they have reached startling conclusions that are out of sync with President Obama's foreign policy objectives."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Pakistan militant attack halts US, NATO supplies  ---  http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/02/03/pakistan-militant-attack-halts-us-nato-supplies-3/
A quote...."Islamist militants blew up a bridge in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, cutting a major supply line for Western troops in Afghanistan, a government official and a NATO spokesman said."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

'Taliban seize' Pakistan policemen  ---  http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/02/20092464553306111.html
A quote...."Thirty Pakistani policemen are reported to have been captured by Taliban fighters in the northwest Swat Valley after they laid siege to a police station."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Iran puts sat into orbit for 1st time  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=84486&sectionid=351020101
A quote...."Iran has placed a domestic research satellite into orbit for the first time, ushering in an era of independence in its space program."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Brouhaha in France over Iran spaceshot  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=84555&sectionid=351020101
A quote...."France has taken a stand against Iran's space research and technology, saying the launch of an indigenous satellite is 'concerning'." -- It's just disgusting isn't it?  The barbarians of Persia manufacturing jet aircraft, submarines, car plants, petro-chemical plants, nuclear power plants, and now this!!  Inferior brown people from the Middle East are not supposed to be able to do things like this.  It completely disturbs the natural and well established order of "white" superiority; it's just simply not done.  How utterly rude of the Iranians for popping the "West's" carefully cherished bubble on these issues. They are completely insufferable. – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Kyrgyzstan President Orders US Air Base Closed  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/02/03/kyrgyzstan-president-orders-us-air-base-closed/
A quote...."At a press conference today in Moscow, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced that the decision has been made to close a US military air base in the country. The two nations had been in negotiations over the amount paid by the US to use the base, and Bakiyev says the talks broke down. The Pentagon denied having been given official confirmation from the Krygyz govt that the decision was finalized."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Six injured by Israeli troop and settler attack on villagers in Sa'er, near Hebron  ---  http://www.imemc.org/article/58750
A quote...."Six Palestinian farmers where injured on Tuesday midday during an attack by Israeli troops and settlers in the village of Sa'er, located near the southern West Bank city of Hebron."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Home demolitions rise in East Jerusalem, Four houses destroyed, 12 more scheduled to be demolished  ---  http://www.imemc.org/article/58749
A quote...."With the escalation of demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, Khader Dibs issued a condemnation of the Israeli-controlled Municipality."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Qaddafi Becomes AU’s New Chairman  ---  http://www.pambazuka.org/aumonitor/comments/2152/
A quote...."(APA)--Sixty-seven year old Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, the leader of the Libyan Revolution who has just been elected new chairman of the African Union (AU) is a convinced advocate of the formation of the United States of Africa."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Cause unclear in death of Minot crew commander  ---  http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/02/ap_minot_commander_020309/
A quote...."MINOT, N.D. — Minot police say they have found no sign of a crime in the death of a Minot Air Force Base missile crew commander, but area waiting more test results. -- The body of Capt. Jonathan Bayless was found late Friday in a field north of Minot. Police Lt. Dan Strandberg says authorities were called after a resident spotted something in the field near his home."
 -- also posted at MilitaryTimes &  ---  http://militarytimes.com/news/2009/02/ap_minot_commander_020309/
 Reficultnias  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/cachedfiles/causeunclearindeathofminotcrewcommander-ap-cached-020309
 -- For more on this issue see....US- False Flag Ops - Barksdale/Minot
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/falseflagops-weblist-mpg-082006#BARKSDALE
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Daschle’s Out! hahahahahahahahahahaha… damn thief…
  ---  http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/daschles-out-hahahahahahahahahahaha-damn-thief/
Full quote...."Tom Daschle went the way of another Obama pick today, and withdrew his nomination… chalk TWO up for us “leftists”! -- That’s two down and at least two to go… -- … we get rid of Rahm and Clinton, and I just might print something NICE about Barack O’Bush every once and a while… -- (well… first he would have to grow some balls on the Gaza crisis situation…)"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Obama Has Appointed Nine Members of the Trilateral Commission to Top-Level and Key Positions
  ---  http://www.blacklistednews.com/news-3203-0-9-9--.html
A quote...."For anyone who doubts the Commission's continuing influence on Obama, consider that he has already appointed no less than nine members of the Commission to top-level and key positions in his Administration." -- also posted at RougeGov  --- 
http://www.roguegovernment.com/Obama_Has_Appointed_Nine_Members_Of_Tri-Lateral_Commission_To_Key_Positions/14114/0/17/17/Y/M.html
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Two Pennsylvania Judges Plea Guilty to Sending Kids to Jail for Kickbacks from Privatized Prison System
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/two-pennsylvania-judges-plea-guilty-to-sending-kids-to-jail-for-kickbacks-from-privatized-prison-system/
Must Read - (For the Outrage of it all) A quote...."The setting is Pennsylvania coal country, but it’s a story right out of Dickens’ grim 19th-century landscape: Two of Luzerne County’s most senior judges on Monday were accused of sending children to jail in return for kickbacks. -- The judges, Luzerne County President Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., 58, and his predecessor, Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan, 56, will serve seven years in jail under a plea agreement. -- They’re alleged to have pocketed $2.6 million in payments from juvenile detention center operators." --
This is exactly what happens when you privatize government services, especially "justice".  Just think about what's been happening in Iraq all these years. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

First, Jail All Bush's Lawyers  ---  http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/020309.html
A quote...."If new Attorney General Eric Holder really means what he said in his oath – that he will “support and defend the Constitution of the United States” – then he must give serious consideration to prosecuting crimes committed by the Bush administration, including its torturing of detainees."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Dozens of secret Bush surveillance, executive power memos found; Could be made public
  ---  http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Dozens_of_secret_Bush_terror_memos_0203.html
A quote...."Details about more than three dozen secret memoranda written by Bush Administration officials now sit atop a chart created by a public interest reporting group. The memos track new details about dozens of secret Bush Administration legal positions on torture, detention and warrantless wiretapping."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Perfect Storm  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21896.htm
Must Read - A quote...."February 03, 2009  "WSJ"- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin -- Good afternoon, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the forum's organisers for this opportunity to share my thoughts on global economic developments and to share our plans and proposals. The world is now facing the first truly global economic crisis, which is continuing to develop at an unprecedented pace. The current situation is often compared to the Great Depression of the late 1920s and the early 1930s. True, there are some similarities. However, there are also some basic differences. The crisis has affected everyone at this time of globalisation. Regardless of their political or economic system, all nations have found themselves in the same boat." -- "In the last few months, virtually every speech on this subject started with criticism of the United States. But I will do nothing of the kind. I just want to remind you that, just a year ago, American delegates speaking from this rostrum emphasised the US economy's fundamental stability and its cloudless prospects. Today, investment banks, the pride of Wall Street, have virtually ceased to exist. In just 12 months, they have posted losses exceeding the profits they made in the last 25 years. This example alone reflects the real situation better than any criticism. The time for enlightenment has come. We must calmly, and without gloating, assess the root causes of this situation and try to peek into the future."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

It's Going To Get Worse, Much Worse / Before It Gets Better - [Drepression/Deflation]
  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/It-s-Going-To-Get-Worse-M-by-Allen-L-Roland-090203-449.html
A quote....We are in a deepening Depression which will get worse, much worse before it gets better and that may not be until mid 2010 at the earliest  and remember, that's a mid-term election year:"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Federal Reserve's Self-Imposed Dilemma - [Hyper-Inflation]  ---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north682.html
Special Note - A quote...."The Federal Reserve System faces a dilemma of its own creation: the doubling of the monetary base. You can see it here.   ---  http://garynorth.com/public/4512.cfm  ---  The only thing that is keeping this from creating mass inflation is the decision of commercial bankers to deposit the bulk of this increase with the Federal Reserve. The banks are not lending out this money. Neither is the FED. This money does not legally belong to the FED."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Big Deficits and a Weaker Dollar  ---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/rozeff/rozeff267.html
Special Note - A quote...."Hyperinflation in the U.S. hasn’t happened for quite some time. The last two instances that come to mind are confederate money in the 1860s and the continentals in the 1770s. In both these cases, governments used inflation to finance wars because their tax systems were weak."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

PJB: Democrats’ New Deal: This is It?  ---  http://buchanan.org/blog/2009/02/pjb-democrats-new-deal-this-is-it/
Special Note - A quote...."“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” sayeth Rahm. -- Opportunistic and cynical, yes. But also savvy political counsel that transformational presidents have always followed." -- Check out the comments. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Sophistry Reigns Supreme The Slippery Slope of Stimulus  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/morici02032009.html
A quote...."As Congress has added to the stimulus package, members have become ever more elastic in defining various kinds of spending and tax programs as GDP boosting and jobs creating. Expanded welfare payments, unemployment benefits for part-time workers and more generous tax write offs for past corporate losses to name just a few."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

World leaders wary of U.S. economic measures
  ---  http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/content/news/2009-02-02/world-leaders-wary-of-us-economic-measures/
Special Note - Protectionist Blow-Back Alert -- A quote...."DAVOS, Switzerland February 2, 2009 (NY Times) — This was supposed to be the year the United States came in from the cold at the annual gathering of world leaders here. But instead of receiving a warm embrace, American policies were rebuked again and again in rhetoric that recalled the anger of the Bush years — mainly aimed at what the world views as the new threat of protectionism by the United States."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

'Buy American' plan sparks warnings  ---  http://english.aljazeera.net/business/2009/02/2009243130471508.html
Protectionist Blow-Back Alert -- A quote...."Barack Obama has warned the US congress not to tie protectionist language that could trigger a trade war to a multi-billion dollar economic recovery package. -- The comments from the US president follow unease among some of America's top trading partners that so-called "buy American" clauses could damage already struggling global trade and efforts to revive the world economy."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

EU lodges complaint with WTO over possible US protectionism  ---  http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=462188
Protectionist Blow-Back Alert --  A quote....The European Union has said it will lodge a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization about US President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Bankrolling charitable gifts  ---  http://thehill.com/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79402&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=70
A quote...."Financial firms and other companies receiving billions of dollars in federal bailout money spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for meetings and charitable gifts on behalf of lawmakers." -- For more on this issue see....Having Fun With Your Tax Dollars
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/havingfunwithyourtaxdollars-weblist-mpg-reficultnias-110808.html
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Iceland Prime Minister To Try And Fire Central Bank Governors - If only WE could do that. - mpg
  ---  http://www.roguegovernment.com/Iceland_Prime_Minister_To_Try_And_Fire_Central_Bank_Governors/14107/0/8/8/Y/M.html
A quote...."Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir will present a bill at a cabinet meeting today on amendments to legislation on Iceland’s Central Bank, including reducing the bank’s governors from three to one. The resulting position will be advertised."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

US car firms report sales slump  ---  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7868141.stm
A quote...."Sales at Ford plunged 42% last month, compared with a year earlier, while those at GM declined 49%, and Chrysler was hit by a fall of 55%."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Huge fourth-quarter loss for Motorola  ---  http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Huge_fourth_quarter_loss_for_Motoro_02032009.html
A quote...."Troubled US mobile phone manufacturer Motorola reported a huge fourth-quarter loss on Tuesday and said it was suspending its dividend and looking for a new chief financial officer."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Tens of thousands more jobs eliminated in the US  ---  http://wsws.org/articles/2009/feb2009/jobs-f04.shtml
A quote...."The massive destruction of jobs, along with attacks on retirement funds and other benefits, continues in the US, with major corporations announcing layoffs on nearly a daily basis."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Are We Experiencing Depression-Level Unemployment? -- http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2009/02/are-we-experiencing-depression-level.html
A quote...."The government bandies around scary figures concerning rising unemployment. But those figures are still well below those suffered during the Great Depression. -- Right? -- Well, it depends."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Monday Febuary 2nd 2009 - links page

Naomi Wolf on Real and Fake Mass Protests   ---  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/39499  ---  (YouTube - 9 min 29 sec - Feb, 01, 2009)
Must View Video - A quote...."Naomi Wolf, author of "The End of America", argues that bureaucracy has killed effective protesting because mass social protests in the U.S. now have a feeling of "Disneyland activism." -- "It feels fake, because it is fake," she says."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Noam Chomsky: The United States - Israel’s Godfather
  ---  http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/noam-chomsky-the-united-states-israels-godfather/
Must View Video - A quote...."Noam Chomsky speaks about Gaza, Palestine, Israel at a meeting in Boston. 1-21-09 filmed by Paul Hubbard at the Palestine Cultural Center for Peace - www.socialistworker.org"

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

The Looming Crisis at the Pentagon - How Taxpayers Finance Fantasy Wars
  ---  http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175029/chalmers_johnson_economic_death_spiral_at_the_pentagon
Special Note - A quote...."Like much of the rest of the world, Americans know that the U.S. automotive industry is in the grips of what may be a fatal decline. Unless it receives emergency financing and undergoes significant reform, it is undoubtedly headed for the graveyard in which many American industries are already buried, including those that made televisions and other consumer electronics, many types of scientific and medical equipment, machine tools, textiles, and much earth-moving equipment -- and that's to name only the most obvious candidates. They all lost their competitiveness to newly emerging economies that were able to outpace them in innovative design, price, quality, service, and fuel economy, among other things." -- also posted at AlterNet
  ---  http://www.alternet.org/workplace/124881/america_is_completely_broke%2C_and_here_we_are_funding_fantasy_wars_at_the_pentagon/
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

A Bankrupt and Discredited Country -- The Era of American Leadership Is Over  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21885.htm
Some quotes...."February 02, 2009 "Information Clearinghouse" --  James Petras examines Obama’s foreign policy appointments
  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21878.htm  ---  and finds the largest collection of Zionist militarists outside of Avigdor Lieberman’s far right political party in Israel." -- "Obama’s economic appointments are just as discouraging. Obama chose as his Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the man who helped Bush’s Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, engineer the $700 billion dollar rip off of the US taxpayer, money that was gifted to the crooked banksters who destroyed Americans’ pensions, jobs and health care coverage."
also posted at CounterPunch  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts02022009.html
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Torture Chic: Why Is the Media Glorifying Inhumane, Sadistic Behavior?
  ---  http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/124739/torture_chic%3A_why_is_the_media_glorifying_inhumane%2C_sadistic_behavior/
Because more than half of this country really digs the stuff. - mpg -- A quote...."When photographs of torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib appeared in 2004, Bush's approval ratings sank, yet torture themes multiplied in film and TV. From 2002 through 2005, the Parents Television Council counted 624 torture scenes in prime time, a six-fold increase. UCLA's Television Violence Monitoring Project reports "torture on TV shows is significantly higher than it was five years ago and the characters who torture have changed. It used to be that only villains on television tortured. Today, "good guy" and heroic American characters torture -- and this torture is depicted as necessary, effective and even patriotic"." -- Um Yummy!!! --  For more on this issue see....Would You Have Been A Nazi? - A new test of Milgram's obedience experiment asks if it can still happen here.
  ---  http://www.reason.com/news/show/130920.html
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Defamation League  ---  http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090216/alterman
Special Note - A quote...."To delve deeply almost anywhere into the arguments over the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is to invite an overload of irony, but let us focus for one moment on a fracas caused by Abe Foxman, national director of the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League. Irony No. 1 is that a "league," as such, does not exist. Foxman is it. (When asked, for a New York Times profile, whom in the organization besides himself a reporter might interview, Foxman "couldn't think of anyone.") Irony No. 2? Under Foxman, "antidefamation" is not really the ADL's line; defamation is." -- For more on this issue see....Judeo-Christian C/C & US - ADL  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/judeochristianconflictcontrolwithinus-weblist-mpg-010409#ADL
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Israeli Who Runs the Obama White House - posted at BollynInfo  ---  http://www.bollyn.info/
  ---  http://www.bollyn.info/home/articles/polphil/rahm-emanuel-and-barack-obama/
From the History File - Thursday, 06 November 2008 -- A quote...."It should come as no surprise that the New York Times article by Mark Leibovich fails to mention Emanuel's Israeli roots -- or the fact that his father was a member of the most murderous Zionist terrorist group in Palestine in the 1930s and 40s -- the Irgun.  The New York Times is the leading Zionist-controlled newspaper in the United States by virtue of the fact that it has been controlled by the Sulzberger family, founding members of B'nai B'rith (Jewish Freemasons) Lodge No. 1, for more than one hundred years."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Obama More Deadly for Afghan Civilians than Bush (in Jan 2009):  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21891.htm
A quote...."“Change” Afghans Should Look Upon with Skepticism -- Simple arithmetic reveals that the eleven days under the Obama clock were 18-50% more deadly for Afghan civilians than the twenty days under the Bush regime."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Obama preserves renditions as counter-terrorism tool  ---  http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-rendition1-2009feb01,0,7548176,full.story
A quote...."The role of the CIA's controversial prisoner-transfer program may expand, intelligence experts say."
also posted at ICH  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21882.htm
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

"Obama sellout continues:Obama picks Republican senator for commerce job
 ---  http://uk.reuters.com/article/usTopNews/idUKTRE51207U20090203  ---  02 Feb 2009 President Barack Obama will name a third prominent Republican to his cabinet on Tuesday, nominating Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire as commerce secretary, a White House official said on Monday." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG  ---  http://www.legitgov.org/
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Bush's War Totals  ---  http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090216/tirman
A quote...."Its estimates are nearing 100,000, more than double its June 2006 figure of 45,000. (It does not count nonviolent excess deaths--from health emergencies, for example--or insurgent deaths.) If this is an acceptable marker, a plausible estimate of total deaths can be calculated by doubling the totals of the 2006 household surveys, which used a much more reliable and sophisticated method for estimates that draws on long experience in epidemiology. So we have, at present, between 800,000 and 1.3 million "excess deaths" as we approach the six-year anniversary of this war."
also posted at ICH  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21888.htm
& AlterNet  ---  http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/123818/iraq%27s_shocking_human_toll:_about_1_
  ---  million_killed,_4.5_million_displaced,_1-2_million_widows,_5_million_orphans/
 -- For more on this issue see....Fake Intel / Propaganda - Iraq Deaths
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/fakeintell-weblist-mpg-090206#IRAQDEATHS
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

European Activists Call For Bush To Be Tried For Torture  ---  http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45636
A quote...."Now that former U.S. president George W. Bush is an ordinary citizen again, many legal and human rights activists in Europe are demanding that he and high-ranking members of his government be brought before justice for crimes against humanity committed in the so-called war on terror. -- also posted at RINF  ---  http://rinf.com/alt-news/activism/european-activists-call-for-bush-to-be-tried-for-torture/5196/
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Film: "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder"  ---  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/39500
A quote...."Anyone following attempts to hold George W. Bush and gang accountable knows about Vince Bugliosi's best-selling book, which has finally just been mailed to all district prosecutors. Everything you can do to make a prosecution of Bush for murder happen is posted here."
  ---  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/33654
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Gaza Attack - 9 Articles - Monday - [ Day 38 ] ========== ========== ========== ========

Hamas denies reports of a truce with Israel - Summary
  ---  http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/253839,hamas-denies-reports-of-a-truce-with-israel--summary.html
Special Note - Full Quote...."Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:24:05 GMT -- Beirut/Cairo - Hamas representatives on Monday denied they had agreed to a one-year truce with Israel. The Lebanon-based spokesman of the Palestinian movement Hamas, Osama Hamdan, reiterated the movement's stance that there could be no long-term peace agreement before the Egyptian and Israeli blockade of Gaza was lifted, contradicting remarks made by a Gaza-based Hamas representative Sunday. -- "As we said before, we want the siege to be lifted on our people in Gaza. Then we can talk about an agreement," Hamdan told Deutsche Presse-Agentur"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Gazans say Israeli troops forced them into battle zones  ---  http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/61329.html
Special Note - A quote...."Posted on Monday, February 2, 2009 -- Conscripting Palestinians during the recent fighting in Gaza would appear to violate not only international law, but also Israel's court-imposed ban on using civilians as human shields. -- "The laws of war make it clear you must distinguish between civilians and combatants and you cannot force a civilian to take on a combat role," said Daniel Reisner, a legal scholar who spent nearly a decade as the head of the Israeli military's international law department. "Using a human shield is illegal."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Al-Attatra Village in Gaza : Then Came the Foreshadowing Silence  ---  http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_29512.shtml
Photo Slide Show - A quote...."Jan 30, 2009 -- GAZA - Twenty-eight letters of the Arabic language aare no longer sufficient to create a the new vocabulary capable of describing the horrible stories of the Israelis Cast Lead Operation - Massacre in Gaza. The great pain from her grief will last for a long time. Nor can the creation of even 100 letters in the repetoire of the English language express the deep trauma in Ismail's face, a face washed by a thousand tears. I am looking into the eyes of a man's face, aged but still so young. In just a few days many years were added to his face."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Operation "Cast Lead" - For the Record - For History
  ---  http://www.slide.com/r/JPXwu624xj8M-aBj2qF53WRCAE3eFjbh?previous_view=
  ---  TICKER&previous_action=TICKER_ITEM_CLICK&ciid=72057594261409160
Photo Slide Show - Some of these are very grim. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Innocence, Morality Ravaged in Gaza  ---  http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/398306_firstperson02.html
A quote...."February 02, 2009 -- Israel has dropped tens of thousands of pounds of U.S.-made and/or U.S.-paid-for munitions on one of the most densely populated regions on Earth. Israel has been firing on known United Nations schools, killing dozens of civilians. -- There are credible U.N. reports that Israel has bombed shelters to which Israel evacuated civilians 24 hours earlier. Israel is using artillery shells, widely banned cluster munitions and white phosphorus munitions, all of which guarantee an increasing proportion of civilian casualties (more than 50 percent of the more than 1,000 Palestinians killed)." -- also posted at ICH  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21890.htm
& CommonDreams  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/02-14
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Gaza and the Crimes of Hosni Mubarak  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/amiri02022009.html
A quote...."February 2, 2009 -- As staggering as the statistics detailing Gaza’s destruction may be, they still do not present a complete picture of the unique travesties and tragedies suffered by individuals, families, neighborhoods and villages during Israel’s savage 22-day assault on the tiny territory. Yet, they bear repeating. From the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (www.pcbs.gov.ps)  ---  and various NGOs:"

• 1,334 killed, one-third of them children (more children than ‘militants’ were killed)
• 5,450 injured, one-third of them children
• 100,000 displaced, 50,000 made homeless
• 4,100 residential homes and buildings destroyed, 17,000 damaged (together accounting for 14 percent of all buildings in Gaza)
• 29 destroyed educational institutions, including the American International School
• 92 destroyed or damaged mosques
• 1,500 destroyed shops, factories and other commercial facilities
• 20 destroyed ambulances
• 35-60% of agricultural land ruined
• $1.9 billion in total estimated damages

In the face of such massive devastation and hardship—and this after the crippling 18-month siege had already reduced Gazato a state of bare subsistence—the behavior and actions of the regime of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak remain as contemptible after the war as they were before. -- also posted at ICH  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21887.htm
& GlobRsrch  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12141
& CounterPunch  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/amiri02022009.html
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Gaza: The New Siege Mechanism  ---  http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14780
Special Note - A quote...."15:06 02/02/2009 -- Israel, the occupying power, is determined to keep a tight grip on the reconstruction process, which is why it sustained its closure of the border crossing following its "unilateral" ceasefire. Indeed, this is why it declared the ceasefire unilaterally: it did not want to be bound by any agreement -- the Egyptian initiative or any other framework -- that would oblige it to lift the embargo, if only partially, in order to facilitate reconstruction. Tel Aviv has also been seeking to obtain "guarantees" from international agencies such as UNWRA. On 19 January Reuters reported that Western diplomats revealed that Israel had asked the UN and other agencies to submit itemised lists of the goods, equipment and staff that they intend to send into Gaza, whether for urgent relief or for the more long-term reconstruction process."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Aid workers risk life and limb in Gaza  ---  http://www.russiatoday.com/features/news/36776
A quote...."February 3, 2009, 9:19 -- Humanitarian workers and rights activists in Gaza are helping locals put their lives back together after the three-week-long Israeli offensive. Many aid workers were in the region during the fighting and came under fire along with residents."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Today's Photo: A Little Survivor  ---  http://rockthetruth.blogspot.com/2009/02/todays-photo-little-survivor_02.html
A quote...."Mai, 4, one of the few who survived the massacre of Samouni family in Gaza City, Zaytoun quarter. Around 29 of her family members killed and ten other wounded. According to the family, Israeli soldiers gathered them in one house then hit them [with] 3 artillery shells. Those who [were] still alive suffer from severe psychological problems and traumas." -- bold by website editor
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Prosecutor looks at ways to put Israeli officers on trial for Gaza 'war crimes'  ---  http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m51468&s1=h1
A quote...."February 2, 2009 -- The International Criminal Court is exploring ways to prosecute Israeli commanders over alleged war crimes in Gaza."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Latest on BBC: Gaza appeal projected onto Portland Place (Must see!)  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/188802
Action Update - A quote...."02.02.2009 23:23 -- In light of the BBC's continued refusal to air the Disasters Emergency Committee aid appeal members of the UK section of the International Solidarity Movement, have decided to utilise the BBC's Portland Place Broadcasting House building as the backdrop for a public projection of the appeal."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

End - The Gaza Attack - 9 Articles - Monday - [ Day 38 ] ========== ========== ==========

Low turnout in Iraq's election reflects a disillusioned nation  ---  http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/61245.html
A quote...."BAGHDAD — Voter turnout in Iraq's provincial elections Saturday was the lowest in the nation's short history as a new democracy despite a relative calm across the nation. Only about 7.5 million of more than 14 million registered voters went to the polls."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Sunni Arabs in Baghdad enclave left off voter rolls  ---  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-list1-2009feb01,0,4515237.story
A quote...."Some Sunnis in Adhamiya are unable to find their names on the rolls or are registered to vote in distant precincts. They accuse the Shiite-led government of deliberating leaving them off." -- also posted at WarInIraq  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/188737
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Afghans Protest After US Raid Kills Civilians  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/02/01/afghans-protest-after-us-raid-kills-civilians/
A quote...."Hundreds of Afghan protesters took to the streets Sunday in protest over a US raid they said led to the deaths of at least two civilians, the latest in a string to US raids which have killed a large number of innocent civilians."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

U.S. Drone Strike America’s Introductory Gift to Pakistan?
  ---  http://watchingamerica.com/News/19426/us-drone-strike-americas-introductory-gift-to-pakistan/
A quote...."It is the high time for Pakistani leadership to openly clarify the point that in the case of further strikes on the tribal region, the Pakistani forces will have to be pulled from the tribal region and Swat district. These attacks are an open attack to the integrity and the sovereignty of Pakistan. If the Pakistani leadership compromises on this, then there will be an obvious increase of Talibanization in Pakistan. Currently, a major portion of Swat is already under the control of rebels and if the drone strikes continue, the Taliban will succeed in strengthening their holds on other districts of the state of Sarhad. And it is possible that, in the end, America will leave us alone in a quagmire and extract herself easily from the situation, as she is doing in Iraq. This would, consequently, result in our paying heavily for the situation, not only during our generation, but the next generation will have to as well."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Slain Exile Detailed Cruelty of the Ruler of Chechnya  ---  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/world/europe/01torture.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
A quote...."Umar S. Israilov saw the men who had come to kill him. They confronted him in the neighborhood where he lived in hiding in Vienna. He must have sensed their intentions, because he ran. -- For more than two years, Mr. Israilov, a Chechen in exile, had formally accused Russia’s government of allowing a macabre pattern of crimes in Chechnya. Even by the dark norms of violence in the Caucasus, his accusations were extraordinary." -- Perhaps Putin wants to drag Russia back to the good'ol days of Stalin, when twenty million Russians died needlessly.  Think of where Russia would be today if that hadn't happened, it might still encompass the territory of the old Soviet Union, it might have had a much more peaceful and prosperous future....but it didn't, and it doesn’t, and that’s a tragedy many Russians are living with to this day.  Lawlessness can kill a nation state faster than cancer can kill a person; it eats out the insides of a nation until it collapses like a rotten gourd.  It could happen again, it has happened before, it's something everyone in Russia should think about. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Iran puts sat into orbit for 1st time  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=84486&sectionid=351020101
Special Note - A quote...."Iran has placed a domestic research satellite into orbit for the first time, ushering in an era of independence in its space program."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Airbus delivers to China  ---  http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=461702
Special Note - Full quote...."Airbus should deliver its first Chinese-assembled A320 plane in June. -- The jet, completed at the plane maker's assembly line in Tianjin in north China, will be delivered to Sichuan Airlines after a May test flight.-- The Tianjin plant is expected to deliver 11 jets this year and more than 20 jets in 2010. -- Airbus has a presence in China as part of its bid to compete with Boeing in the world's second-largest aviation market."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Global Financial Crises And Hugo Chavez  ---  http://www.countercurrents.org/basit020209.htm
A quote...."The Financial Crises that has gripped the globe resulting in the growing unemployment, poverty and hunger that will further aggravate during the coming months and years have created great uncertainty. While the global political and financial leaders and the media and establishment that support them, are groping in darkness about the solution to overcome this crises that has gripped the world community, it is futile to maintain expectation on the ability of these leaders to retrieve the situation as they themselves are the basic reason for this crises. This has been proven during the just concluded World Economic Forum meeting in Davos where empty discussions and debates was held, that lacked any concrete ideas to fix this crisis. The Davos Forum failed to find any answer and they stressed more about the problems instead of finding solutions."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

US Spying: Main Core, PROMIS, and the Shadow Government (Pt. 3)
  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/US-Spying--Main-Core-PRO-by-Ed-Encho-090202-224.html
 -- Part II  ---  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTivPZZorWY
 -- Part I  ---  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUSZHC1Gu7U
Special Note - A quote...."With the long overdue departure of the Bush administration from the White House it is the hope many that the myriad of transgressions against the Constitution and the people of America will begin to seep out into the public domain. It took a remarkably short time. The day after the helicopter hauled ole George away like so much rubbish a major story broke. In an astonishing shot across the bow directed at the shadow government the first significant whistleblower has already come out with a story (once again ignored by the corporate media) and delivered a devastating blow to the premise that the massive illegal domestic spying programs of the Bush administration were undertaken in order to protect America from terrorism in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Your ISP is watching you  ---  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/02/privacy-civil-liberties
A quote...."Since last autumn, BT – under the "Webwise" banner – has been trialling a technology called Phorm, which dials direct into your internet service provider's network and intercepts communications between you and the websites you visit, using information about the sorts of things you are viewing to serve you targeted ads."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Our Children and Our Children's Children  ---  http://dark-wraith.com/index.php?itemid=253
Must Read - A quote....."Yes, our children and our children's children will be paying for this bonus and that $600-per-person check last year; but they will be paying for considerably more than two rounds of pandering handouts that will be largely ineffective against a freight train of recessionary forces that will not let up until a sufficient level of asset devaluation has been realized in its own course, at its own pace, and for our own good."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Fed lends two trillion without oversight  ---  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxuqmPyKqcs  ---  (YouTube - 6 min 1 sec - January 30, 2009)
Video - Special Note - A quote...."So, you know about the Treasury's $700 billion bailout plan. But you probably don't know that the Federal Reserve has lent out about $2 trillion since September. Few do. And that is what's irritating bulldog Congressman Alan Grayson. Will he be able to shed a light on the Fed's secret spending?"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Global recession - where did all the money go?
  ---  http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/dan-roberts-on-business-blog/interactive/2009/jan/29/financial-pyramid
Interactive Slide Show - Special Note - A quote...."Before the credit crisis, the world was awash with money  Now central banks are pumping in more than ever before and still everyone is short.  Dan Roberts explains the illusion of wealth." -- For more on this issue see....Effective Fed Funds Rate & Total Nonfarm Payrolls  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/cachedfiles/fedfundschart-photopg-cached-032407
& Some Tentative Laws - 07-20-08 - mpg  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/sometentativelaws-blog-mpg-072008
& 1.3 Quadrillion and Counting - 09-18-08 - mpg  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/1.3quadrillionandcounting-blog-mpg-091808
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

California goes broke, halts $3.5 billion in payments  ---  http://rawstory.com/news/2008/California_goes_broke_halts_3.5_billion_0202.html
A quote...."California, the eighth largest economy in the world, is broke. -- "People are going to be hurt starting today," said Hallye Jordan, speaking on behalf of the state Controller. "There's no money."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

U.S. Consumer Spending Falls for Sixth Straight Month (Update2)
  ---  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4wAvtbTYx8U&refer=home
A quote...."Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Consumer spending in the U.S. fell in December for a record sixth consecutive month, capping the worst year since 1961, a slump that is likely to persist as companies slash payrolls."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

ISM Mfg Index  ---  http://bloomberg.econoday.com/byshoweventfull.asp?fid=438201&cust=bloomberg&year=2009
Chart - A quote...."The ISM manufacturing report shows less weakness in what may offer hope that economic contraction is slowing. The ISM's manufacturing index rose more than 2-1/2 points to 35.6 reflecting, fortunately, improvement in new orders which rose to 33.2 from 23.1. The 10-plus point move seems dramatic but the 33 level is still very low and indicates that many more manufacturers are reporting month-to-month weakness than strength. Backlog orders likewise improved, up 6-1/2 points to 29.5. -- The employment index, unfortunately, did not improve, holding unchanged at a 29.9 level that points squarely at continued and severe payroll contraction for the manufacturing component in Friday's employment report."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

S Korea exports dive at record rate  ---  http://english.aljazeera.net/business/2009/02/20092241951485750.html
A quote...."South Korean exports shrank at their fastest rate ever in January, government figures have shown, as the deepening global downturn continues to hammer Asia's fourth-largest economy."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Mexico’s Peso Stuns UBS With Biggest Drop Since 1995 (Update3)
  ---  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aE_iJ8Ff6QT4&refer=exclusive
A quote...." Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The steepest decline in Mexico’s peso in 13 years blindsided everyone from UBS AG economists to Gustavo Huitron, the local marketing manager for Mercedes-Benz. -- After weakening 20 percent last year, the currency fell to a record low of 14.4484 per dollar today. RBS Greenwich Capital Markets in Greenwich, Connecticut, now predicts another 3.8 percent drop by June 30. The peso’s worst performance since 1995’s so-called Tequila Crisis is being driven by the U.S. recession and falling oil prices, which are cutting Mexican exports and government revenue."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Sunday Febuary 1st 2009 - links page

"You call it hope- that fire of fire!
It is but agony of desire." -- *Edgar Allan Poe*, Tamerlane:1827

"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. …..You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it." -- *Morpheus*, The Matrix

Saturday January 31st 2009 - links page

"Hamas must meet clear conditions: recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence, and abide by past agreements."

"I will not keep Olmert's commitments to withdraw and I won't evacuate settlements. Those understandings are invalid and unimportant," Netanyahu said.

Friday January 30th 2009 - links page

Thursday January 29th 2009 - links page

"The idea to bombard the closing ceremony of the Gaza police course was internally criticized in the Israel Defense Forces months before the attack. A military source involved in the planning of the attack, in which dozens of Hamas policemen were killed, says that while military intelligence officers were sure the operation should be carried out and pressed for its approval, the IDF's international law division and the military advocate general were undecided."

Wednesday January 28th 2009 - links page

“Based on the people who have been appointed to the key foreign policy positions, I foresee essentially no change at all. And as far as the military is concerned, I don't see any change there either,” -- *John Sayen*