Beyond
Here Lies Nothing: Surging Further Into the Abyss
---
http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/3/1732-beyond-here-lies-nothing-surging-further-into-the-abyss.html
Must Read - Obama™ Update
-- A quote...."The political class has failed us. At every level, they
have failed us. Republican and Democrat, they have failed us. Liberal,
conservative and centrist, they have failed us. They have lived on
lies, and lived by lies, for so long that they no longer know how to
comprehend the truth, much less communicate it or – God forbid – act on
it. And so they plow on deeper into the darkness, in zombified pursuit
of pointless goals, heedless of the signposts warning of danger, like
some demented wagon train dragging a load of dead mules toward the edge
of a cliff. "
also posted at CounterPunch
--- http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd04012009.html
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Beware
Those Treacherous Afpakis ---
http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis143.html
Must Read - Obama™ Update
-- A quote...." President Barack Obama has now taken full ownership of
the Afghanistan War. Gone are Washington’s pretenses that a western
"coalition" was waging this conflict. Gone, too, is the comic book
term, "war on terrorism," replaced by the Orwellian sobriquet,
"overseas contingency operations." -- Obama’s announcement last week of
deeper US involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan – now officially
known in Washington as "Afpak" – was accompanied by a preliminary media
bombardment of Pakistan for failing to be sufficiently responsive in
advancing US strategic plans." --
also
posted at EricMargolis
---
http://www.ericmargolis.com/political_commentaries/beware-those-treacherous-afpaks.aspx
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Neoconservatism:
The Return - A new incarnation, a new name – and the same old
warmongering
---
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/03/31/neoconservatism-the-return/
Must Read - Obama™ Update
-- A quote...."It was a neocon moment: there they were, the organizers
of the Foreign Policy Initiative, the new neoconservative think-tank –
Bill Kristol, Dan Senor, and Robert Kagan, with Clifford May, Randy
Scheunemann, and junior neocon James Kirchick in tow. It was the
occasion of FPI’s first public event – their Washington coming out
party, so to speak – and who should show up but I. Lewis "Scooter"
Libby. A more fitting symbol of the neoconservative tendency in
American politics – its history, its methods, and its essential
criminality – could hardly be conceived. -- While John McCain was
ostensibly the main attraction, the real focus of the conference was a
celebration of the man who defeated him. As David Weigel put it, the
FPI conference turned into a "Neocons for Obama" festival, as
super-hawkish foreign policy maven Fred Kagan hailed President Obama’s
Af-Pak offensive as the best thing since the Iraqi "surge":" --
One wonders how all those starry-eyed,
anti-war, Obamatrolls feel now that they've been completely and utterly
betrayed? Foolish perhaps, stupid, dumb, used.....what? - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Time
for change - President Obama and the Powers Behind the Throne
---
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5361126
Must Read - Obama™ Update
-- A quote...."The more important question with respect to this post
is, What is President Obama’s relationship the shadowy powers that we
speak of? Has he actually negotiated with them? Have they made it clear
to him that his continuance in office depends on his satisfying their
demands? Have they threatened him? I can’t answer any of those
questions, and I very much doubt that there are many who could. But it
certainly seems that he has done a lot to placate some very powerful
people. Let’s take look at some of those things:"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Procuring
Academics for Empire: The Pentagon Minerva Research Initiative
---
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2009/04/01/procuring-academics-for-empire-the-penta
Must Read - A
quote...."The
Pentagon’s military strategists have recognized that they have suffered
political losses, with strategic consequences in their recent military
invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. US military support for the Israeli
invasions of Lebanon and Gaza, the US-sponsored Ethiopian occupation of
Somali, the coup attempts in Venezuela (2002) and Bolivia (2008), have
also failed to defeat popular incumbent regimes. Worse still, civilian,
family, community and national networks have reinforced the
anti-colonial movements providing essential logistical support,
intelligence, recruits and legitimacy." --
also posted at PalestineChron
---
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14971
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Neo-Cons
and Moral Degeneracy ---
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2009-03-31.asp
A quote...."The presidential advisor for press affairs to Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has an interesting op-ed in the Los
Angeles Times today. Pointing out that Barack Obama’s offer to talk to
the Iranian regime is nice, Ali Akbar Javanfekr pointed out that words
alone are insufficient, especially if the U.S. government persists in
conducting an aggressive and interventionist foreign policy. --
Javanfekr specifically pointed to (1) the U.S. government’s
surreptitious 1953 coup in which it ousted the democratically elected
prime minister of Iran, Mohammed Mossadegh, from office and installed a
cruel and brutal Iranian U.S. puppet in his stead, who proceeded to
terrorize and torture the Iranian people for the next 25 years, with
the support of the U.S. government; and (2) the U.S. government
supported Saddam Hussein in his war of aggression against Iran, a war
which caused the deaths of one million Iranian people. "
also posted at MWC
--- http://mwcnews.net/content/view/29596/26/
& ICH
--- http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22330.htm
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
George
Galloway on The Hour ---
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/george-galloway-on-the-hour/
Video - A quote....“The
very idea that I can be seriously discussed as a terrorist, when I’m
sitting under Big Ben in the British Parliament, and touring the United
States… doesn’t that strike people in Canada as just crazy?” - George
Galloway."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Chavez
calls for Bush indictment ---
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=90133§ionid=351020704
A quote...."Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has called on the
international prosecutors to indict George W. Bush for war crimes in
Iraq and Afghanistan. - Chavez further described an arrest warrant
issued for Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir over alleges 'war crimes'
and 'crimes against humanity' in Darfur as 'ridiculous' and 'farce'."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Taking It
to the Streets of New York and San Francisco ---
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41285
Action Alert - A
quote...."You know how World Can't Wait has been saying "Stop
Occupations & Torture for Empire!"? -- We are taking the message to
the streets. I'll have more to say on that in a little bit. Here are 2
reports...."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Judge
Orders Release of Guantanamo Detainee
---
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/31/AR2009033103102_pf.html
A quote...."In a one page order, U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle
ordered the government "take all necessary and appropriate diplomatic
steps to facilitate the release" of Yasim Muhammed Basardah, 33. The
judge did not explain the ruling, which came after a review of
classified records and a sealed court hearing today."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
It
was never about democracy ---
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4531.shtml
Special Note - A
quote...."The people of the Middle East could learn more about modern
democracy from the antiwar camp, and not from former President Bush and
his ‘coalition of the willing,’ the very anti-Christ of democracy."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Vow to
fight raises question: How long will Iraq's calm last?
--- http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/65083.html
A quote...."In America, the U.S. "surge" of additional troops to
Baghdad is heralded as a success, and President Barack Obama has said
he'll draw down American forces in Iraq and turn his attention to
Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Iraq, however, what the U.S.-led invasion
and occupation started is far from over. -- Most Iraqis think that
today's lower level of violence is the eye, not the end, of the storm,
and that the decisive power struggles are just beginning. The
U.S.-backed Iraqi government is widely regarded as an undeserving group
of exiles who returned to Iraq on the backs of American tanks." --
Perhaps....but after awhile people get
really tired of being tortured or killed. After helping to end
the lives of over a million Iraqis, displacing five million more, while
causing almost unlimited destruction to the country's economy and
infrastructure, all this taking place after ten years of brutal
sanctions which may have contributed to the deaths of over half a
million Iraqi children, in a
nation of just twenty seven million people, the US-NRE may have finally succeeded in subjugating
Iraq as it did when it colonized
the Philippines in 1913.
--- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine-American_War
---
So
we should all hail the “success” of the New Roman Empire. – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Analysis:
Weekend uprising shows Iraqi tensions ---
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/03/31/international/i091202D40.DTL
Related Article - A quote...."The recent uprising by Sunni
paramilitaries here is a sign of growing tension between the former
insurgents and the Shiite-led government that runs Iraq — a distrust
that could blow up again as the United States draws down its military
forces."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Betrayed Awakening
--- http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m53062&s1=h1
Related Article - Some quotes...."Maliki sent out his army to capture
Awakening leaders no longer payed by the U.S.:" - "The U.S. is actively
helping in this:" - "This might well reignite a civil war, but with the
Iraqi army now more capable, the chances are against the insurgents."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
UK:
No more sanctions on Iran, for now ---
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=90145§ionid=351020101
A quote...."The UK foreign secretary says the international community
should not rush to impose more sanctions on Iran, saying the move could
destroy Washington's new approach. -- Speaking before the Parliament,
David Miliband said Tuesday that "Now is not the time to be rushing for
more sanctions."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
World
economic crisis provokes fall of Hungary’s government
--- http://wsws.org/articles/2009/mar2009/hung-m31.shtml
Another one bites the dust. -
mpg
-- A quote...."The rapidly deteriorating economic situation is leading
to political turbulence throughout Eastern Europe. Latvia's government
collapsed at the beginning of the month, and the Czech government
headed by Mirek Topolanek was forced out of office by a no-confidence
vote just a few days after Gyurcsany's resignation. Moreover, in recent
months many countries in the region have been shaken by massive
protests." --
also posted at GlobRsrch
---
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12970
& Dprogram
---
http://dprogram.net/2009/03/31/world-economic-crisis-provokes-fall-of-hungary%E2%80%99s-government/
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
March
28th: 40,000 on Put People First March ---
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/03/425535.html
Videos - Photo Gallery --
A
quote...."A march for Jobs, Justice and Climate headed across London on
Saturday 28th as part of a global campaign to challenge the G20 ahead
of the summit taking place on April 2nd. About 40,000 people braved the
cold weather from 11am until 5pm and marched from Victoria Embankment
via Westminster to Hyde Park for a rally."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
U-20: Will the Global
Economy Resurface? --- http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/6001
If they de-couple from the
US-NRE's ceaseless attempts to remake itself into the New Roman
Empire....perhaps. - mpg
-- A quote...."The Group of 20 (G20) is making a big show of getting
together to come to grips with the global economic crisis. But here's
the problem with the upcoming summit in London on April 2: It's all
show. What the show masks is a very deep worry and fear among the
global elite that it really doesn't know the direction in which the
world economy is heading and the measures needed to stabilize it. --
The latest statistics are exceeding even the gloomiest projections made
earlier. Establishment analysts are beginning to mention the dreaded
"D" word and there is a spreading sense that a tidal wave just now
gathering momentum will simply overwhelm the trillions of dollars
allocated for stimulus spending." --
also
posted at CommonDreams
--- http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/03/31-0
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
G20 - Make or Break?
--- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na1jgi9d148 ---
(RN YouTube - 14 min 43 sec - March 31, 2009)
Must View - RN Video - A
quote...."Engdahl: The question in the EU is - will they go down with
the dollar system or find their own way? "
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Chavez
to seek Arab backing for `petro-currency'
---
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i6_iHdAHpT1bTNgqUvqlFYnDnUwAD978UFBG0
A quote...."DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sought
Arab support Tuesday for his idea of a new oil-backed currency to
challenge the U.S. dollar at a twin-region summit whose agenda focuses
on trade issue but also touches on Arab worries about rival Iran's
growing influence in Latin America."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
US
admits N. Korea missile to carry satellite ---
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=90136§ionid=351020405
A quote...."US defense officials have announced that North Korea's
upcoming missile launch would probably carry a satellite rather than a
warhead. - The officials who spoke on condition of anonymity noted on
Tuesday that a commercial satellite image of the Musudan-ri missile
test site showed a Taepodong-2 missile with a bulb-shaped payload
cover, consistent with a satellite payload, rather than a warhead."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Russian
movie gives Kremlin's view of Georgia war
---
http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/03/31/russian-movie-gives-kremlins-view-of-georgia-war/
A quote...."The action-packed movie, "Olympius Inferno," first
broadcast Sunday on state television, has anti-American overtones,
reflecting Russia's anger over U.S. support for Georgia." --
For more on this issue see....American
Selective Attention Deficit Disorder (ASADD) - 08-16-08 - mpg
---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/americanselectiveattention-blog-mpg-081608
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Has
Washington lost Lebanon? (Part I) --
Hmmmm, didn't know Washington owned it. -
mpg
---
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14966
A quote...."Even before 1958, when US Embassy officials delivered
suitcases filled with election buying cash to its favorite Lebanese
politician, the incumbent, unpopular, corrupt, and anti-Muslim
President Camile Chamoun, the Lebanese have looked favorably on
America. Today, known Americans in Lebanon rarely skip a day without
receiving thumbs up, a ‘welcome to Lebanon’, or a puckering of the lips
and a “mwwas” which translates locally more or less as “kisses to you.”
- Yet it may be a case of unrequited love."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Kafka
Era Double Standard ---
http://pulsemedia.org/2009/03/31/kafka-era-double-standard/
A quote...."The U.S. political class and those of the EU and the new
“hope” and “change” leader of the United States, Barack Obama, justify
Israel’s attack on Gaza as based on its “right of self-defense.” There
is, of course, the question of whether it is acceptable to defend
yourself by a massive attack on a civilian population when this is not
the only route to self defense—the Israelis could withdraw from an
illegal occupation, they could stop starving the Gaza population, and
they could abide by negotiated ceasefires (in this case, effectively
and almost surely deliberately ended by their November 6 killing of six
Gaza Palestinians)."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Not an
Analogy: Israel and the Crime of Apartheid ---
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/03/31-15
A quote...."In recent years, increasing numbers of people around the
world have begun adopting and developing an analysis of Israel as an
apartheid regime. (1) This can be seen in the ways that the
global movement in support of the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle is
taking on a pointedly anti-apartheid character, as evidenced by the
growth of Israeli Apartheid Week.(2) Further, much of the recent
international diplomatic support for Israel has increasingly taken on
the form of denying that racial discrimination is a root cause of the
oppression of Palestinians, something that has taken on new levels of
absurdity in Western responses to the April 2009 Durban Review
Conference.(3)"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Stop
the War Coalition - Hezbollah MP Hussein El Haj Hassan London 3 March
2009
---
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2009/03/stop-war-coalition-hezbollah-mp-hussein.html
Video - (YouTube - 23 min
31 sec - March 31, 2009) --
From
http://www.stopwar.org.uk
--- http://www.stopwar.org.uk/
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
New
York Times Censorship: The Political Cartoon They Did Not Want You to
See
---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/cachedfiles/nytcensorship-howtoservetheuspub-rocktruth-cached-033109
Cartoon
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Ali
The Don - Arab Blood - Music Video -
Alt
--- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjifaWQQqPw ---
(YouTube -
5 min 42 sec - March 30, 2009)
---
http://pulsemedia.org/2009/03/31/ali-the-don-arab-blood/
Must View Video -- A
quote...."Ali's The Don's debut music video for his hard hitting single
"Arab Blood" Track produced by Moe Music. www.myspace.com/moemusiclive
** Read Lyrics @ bottom."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
New
York kicks off boycott campaign against Motorola ---
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10435.shtml
Action Alert - A
quote...."More than 50 New Yorkers protested outside the Motorola
office in downtown Brooklyn this morning. The protest launched a new
city-wide campaign to boycott Motorola over the company's complicity in
the Israeli government's apartheid practices against Palestinians." --
For more on how to boycott Israel see the
upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" on this website. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Guns,
Gold, Secession ---
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10435.shtml
A quote...."There is a secession movement afoot and its proponents are
determined to put a halt to the federal government’s ambitions to
destroy and reconstruct an entire economy and dissolve the last
remnants of individual liberty. Twenty-eight states are invoking the
law of the land, the U.S. Constitution, by rolling out legislation to
assert their sovereignty as free states in order to keep from being
undermined by the never-ending swarm of unrestrained federal decrees."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
G20
"Terrorist Plot" Exposed As Teenagers With Plastic Guns And Fireworks
--- http://infowars.net/articles/march2009/310309G20_plot.htm
That's "our"
mass-faux-infotainment media for you, getting it wrong every single
day. - mpg -- A quote...."Yesterday's reports of a foiled
"terrorist plot" in relation to the G20 protests in London have been
scaled back after it was revealed that the house raided by police
contained only plastic guns and fireworks."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Monsanto
GM-corn harvest fails massively in South Africa ---
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/270101
A quote...."South African farmers suffered millions of dollars in lost
income when 82,000 hectares of genetically-manipulated corn (maize)
failed to produce hardly any seeds.The plants look lush and healthy
from the outside. Monsanto has offered compensation."
==========
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====
News
from the front: Bank losses spreading ---
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4533.shtml
Financial Alert - A
quote...."Last Friday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
reported that for the first time in history commercial US banks have
suffered a $3.4 billion quarterly loss in a giant sector that they
thought, until now, was solid: that is, bets on interest rates. The
loss was more than seven times worse than their previous quarterly loss
in that category. - Of the total derivatives loss, only 7.8 percent was
in credit default swaps, the instrument that brought down AIG. Notably,
82 percent of total losses were in interest rate derivatives, the solid
category. The remainder is in “other.” U.S. banks, alone, control $204
trillion in derivatives today. These facts came from the notable Dr.
Martin Weiss. A more detailed look is linked here."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
AIG
crisis could be the tip of an insurance iceberg
---
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-aig30-2009mar30,0,1747696.story
A quote...."The company's situation reflects problems throughout the
life insurance industry as investments suffer. Further strain could
bring about a second financial crisis."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
U.S.
Spending 100% of GDP on Bailouts and Related Programs
---
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/03/us-spends-100-of-gdp-on-bailouts-and.html
Chart - Some
quotes...."As I have previously pointed out, Paul Krugman is calling
for the U.S. and Europe to spend an amount equal to 4% of their gross
domestic products on the financial crisis. -- Today, Bloomberg notes...
[see article shown below] - In
other words, instead of spending 4% of GDP, the U.S. is committing to
spending close to 100%. This dwarfs spending during the New Deal:" --
"For those who argue that much of the trillions being spent today is in
the form of loans and guarantees, I would argue that taxpayers will
never see most of this money ever again. It is spent, and gone. Indeed,
most of the financial giants which the loans were made to are insolvent
and will be out of business in a couple of years."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Financial
Rescue Nears GDP as Pledges Top $12.8 Trillion (Update1) -
link posted at BuzzFlash ---
http://www.buzzflash.com/
---
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=armOzfkwtCA4
Special Note - A
quote...."March 31 (Bloomberg) --
The
U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or committed
$12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of
everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest
recession since the 1930s." - bold by website editor
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Obama’s
Busted Bank Bailout -
$12.8 Trillion for the
banks, $26 Billion
for the little guy...got the point - yet? mpg
---
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12819
A quote...."The Obama $787 billion fiscal stimulus bill designed to
resurrect the non-financial economy—now in virtual freefall—provides
only $180 billion in total spending in 2009.
Only $26 billion of that is allocated for
job spending, according to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office.
New jobs created in 2009, given that level of spending, will result in
new job creation in the low hundred thousands at best, while
simultaneously a minimum of 5-7 million new unemployed will be added to
the jobless rolls in 2009. That’s less than a half-million new
jobs compared to thirteen million new unemployed since the current Epic
Recession began in late 2007. -- One thing is thus quite clear about
the Obama fiscal stimulus plan: it is not a jobs creation program. It
is not designed to create anything near the number of jobs that have
been, are currently being, and will soon continue to be, lost." - bold
by website editor
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The
Mendacity of Hope - The Obama Betrayal ---
http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff03312009.html
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."We are witnessing one of the fastest
betrayals of the Democratic Party base in modern memory, as President
Barack Obama and the Democratic Party leadership in the Senate slither
away from a crucial constituency, the labor movement, and from support
of labor’s key legislative agenda item: passage of a bill, “The
Employee Free Choice Act,” which would restore a measure of fairness to
labor relations."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Rapid
Declines in Manufacturing Spread Global Anxiety -
link posted at BuzzFlash ---
http://www.buzzflash.com/
---
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/business/worldbusiness/20shrink.html?_r=1&src=linkedin
A quote...."Since it was founded by his great-grandfather in 1880, Carl
Martin Welcker’s company in Cologne, Germany, has mirrored the fortunes
of manufacturing, not just in Europe but around the world."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
All
50 states in recession for first time since 1970s Coincident indicators
show widespread contraction
---
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/all-50-states-recession-first/story.aspx?guid=%7B0AD71800-BFB7-468A-859E-81D3A91207D2%7D
Map - A
quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The great recession of 2008 and
2009 is likely to be not only the longest downturn since World War II,
but also the most geographically widespread recession since at least
the 1970s."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Home
values sink at record pace in January - Case-Shiller index down 19% in
past year, 29% from the peak
---
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/home-values-sink-record-pace/story.aspx?guid=%7B2AEA804A-2895-440A-828B-D6C60A8553B6%7D
This is not a surprise. - mpg
-- A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Home values in 20 major U.S.
cities fell at the fastest rate on record in January and are now down a
record 19% in the 12 months ending in January, Standard & Poor's
reported Tuesday." -- "Prices are down 29% from the peak in mid-2006,
according to Case-Shiller. Prices have fallen to September 2003 levels.
Prices in all 20 cities are down at least 10% from their peak, with
prices in Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, San Francisco and San Diego down
more than 40%."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Banks
Starting to Walk Away on Foreclosures -
link posted at BuzzFlash ---
http://www.buzzflash.com/
---
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/us/30walkaway.html?th&emc=th
A quote...."SOUTH BEND,
Ind. — Mercy James thought she had lost her rental property here to
foreclosure. A date for a sheriff’s sale had been set, and notices
about the foreclosure process were piling up in her mailbox.
-- Ms. James had the tenants move out, and soon her white house
at the corner of Thomas and Maple Streets fell into the hands of
looters and vandals, and then, into disrepair. Dejected and broke, Ms.
James said she salvaged but a lesson from her loss. --
So imagine her surprise when the City of South Bend contacted her
recently, demanding that she resume maintenance on the property. The
sheriff’s sale had been canceled at the last minute, leaving the
property title — and a world of trouble — in her name."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Explosion
of optimism - Commentary: Sentiment trends typical of bear-market
rallies
---
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Sentiment-trends-not-encouraging/story.aspx?guid=%7BD9282159-815B-46CA-A59F-92703EA22F35%7D
Market Tech Note - A
quote...."ANNANDALE, Va. (MarketWatch) -- During bear-market rallies,
investors and advisers alike are particularly eager to jump on the
bullish bandwagon. Unfortunately for the bulls, that is an accurate
description of what has happened since the stock market hit its
bear-market low on March 9. -- To be sure, this explosion in optimism
over the last three weeks doesn't automatically mean that the market's
rise is nothing more than a bear-market rally. -- But it does increase
the odds that it is...."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
“This is the most well-defined
and publicly known crime I have seen in my lifetime. There is no debate
about it. There is no ambiguity. It is well known. You‘ve got people
involved who have basically admitted the elements of a war crime that
we are committed to prosecuting. We don‘t need a truth and
reconciliation commission because we are already reconciled to the rule
of law. There is nothing to reconcile to. What the people have to
reconcile are the people who broke the law. They need to reconcile with
the law. And he [Obama] happens to be having a debate with one of those
people as if they are talking about some quaint notion of policy.” -- *Jonathan Turley*
“… GM and Chrysler are pushing
the United Auto Workers to accept shares of stock in exchange for half
of the payments into a union-run trust fund for retiree health care.
They also want labor costs from the union to be competitive with
Japanese automakers with U.S. operations."
"Little progress has been made between the companies and the union.”
MSNBC"
Sunday March 29th 2009
Real
Journalism Versus "Professional Journalism"
Must Read - Censorship Warning
- A quote...."If Jon Stewart left his studios with his camera crew,
went
to where establishment figures were speaking, and threw tough questions
at them, you'd get something like
We
Are Change. -- The We Are Change reporters have asked the tough
questions - a la Stewart (well, minus the comedy) - to former
presidents, secretaries of defense, leading Neocons and Iraq war
architects, and all of the other establishment figures they could find.
-- So their interviews are syndicated nationally and they've all
received Pulitzer prizes, right? -- Not exactly . . .We Are Change
founder Luke Rudowski was arrested for trying to ask New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg about his refusal to pay for the health care of
9/11 first responders. -- The charges? Trespassing and "impersonating a
member of the press."
Time
to stop the rip-off
Must Read - A
quote...."The crisis in the United States has taken a dangerous turn
over the past week, a turn that may prove to be the undoing of the
Barack Obama presidency. -- On January 20, Obama stepped into much more
than the worst economic and financial crisis since the Great
Depression. He inherited the helm of a country ravaged by 30 years of
runaway human greed and a complicit government that rewarded it. Obama
now finds himself in the middle of a perfect tempest, buffeted on the
one side by a relentless financial and economic downturn and on the
other a bewildered nation waking up to the landscape of unparalleled
economic injustice that had been hidden out of sight with most
Americans working hard just to get by. -- If Obama does not get a
handle on what ails America, and soon, he risks losing the support of
the American people, destroying his presidency and leaving the American
economy in financial freefall and a nation tearing itself apart."
[British]
Treasury reserves will have to be raided to fund Afghan surge
Special Note - A
quote...."[British] Treasury officials are expected to take a
critical look at plans to send additional British troops to Afghanistan
as it becomes clear that reserves will have to be raided to cover the
extra cost." --
And so the US-NRE,
and Britain with the help of their "friends" the Saudi Royals and the
Israelis, continue their efforts to establish a Neo-Colonial Empire
over the entire Middle East. This whole thing is totally
ridiculous, funding
almost every Salafist, Whahhabist, Fundamentalist terrorist group out
there for the last thirty years with one hand, while using these
agent provocateur's actions as justification to bomb, occupy and kill
millions of Muslims with the other, is not only a seriously sick and
twisted policy of pure evil.....it's also extremely expensive. If
the world continues to buy US-NRE and British bonds to help fund these
campaigns of conquest and terror, their economies will go right down
the tubes along with the bonds they've bought. It's about time
the world's nations put a stop to these antics. - mpg
Freeze
the 1.5 Quadrillion Derivatives Bubble as a First Step Towards World
Economic Recovery
A quote...."
Act
Independent - PDF -- Washington DC, March 22 – On the eve of the
long-awaited London conference of the G-20 nations, we are rapidly
descending into the chaos of a Second World Economic Depression of
catastrophic proportions. In the year since the collapse of Bear
Stearns, we have moved toward the disintegration of the entire
globalized world financial system, based on the residual status of the
US dollar as a reserve currency, and expressed through the banking
hegemony of London, New York, and the US-UK controlled international
lending institutions like the International Monetary fund and the World
Bank."
The
Obama Government: Take From the Poor and Give to the Rich
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."These past several weeks have witnessed a
stunning attack on working people, with the Obama administration
leading the charge. -- It started with Larry Summers, Obama’s chief
economic adviser, responding to the A.I.G. bonuses by pontificating
about the sanctity of contracts: “We are a country of law. There are
contracts. The government cannot just abrogate contracts.” Like a mad
dog pursuing its prey, he pounced on the conclusion that absolutely
nothing could be done about the bonuses. Unfortunately, Summers voiced
no similar outcry when the Obama administration, only weeks earlier,
insisted that the U.A.W. contracts be renegotiated as a condition for
the auto industry receiving a bailout, suggesting that a different set
of rules applies to the rich than to the rest of us who constitute the
majority and work for a living." --
also
posted at Uruknet
GM
chief Wagoner to resign at Obama's request
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- General
Motors Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner is resigning
from his leadership of the troubled automaker at the request of the
Obama administration, reports said Sunday. --
Shall we cover it one more time
folks? Just $42 Billion so far for the ENTIRE auto industry, an industry
which directly or indirectly employs approximately three million people
and Obama, the "Pope of Hope" the "Patron of the little people" the
"Chanter of Change" demands that the CEO of this nation's largest car
company resign. -- OVER $12 TRILLION
so far in back stops, loan guarantees and actual cash payouts to the VERY PEOPLE WHO CAUSED THIS CRISIS,
the greedy Banksters, Brokers and Hedge Fund operators, who then
promptly steal TENS OF BILLIONS
of dollars from Obama's oh so generous gift of the public purse, all
the while calling their theft bonuses, and Obama demands from these
miscreants and mavens of mendacity...... ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Have you
folks out there FINALLY gotten
the message yet, have you gullible fools who so eagerly flocked to the
polls to worship Capitalism’s newest Judas finally had enough? – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The
Accountability Imperative
A quote...."A little more than one year ago, we found ourselves in the
midst of a presidential election campaign that seemed almost
interminable. In one of the Republican primary debates, Senator John
McCain spoke some words that stood out then and still reverberate
today. “Torture is the defining issue of our age,” he said. They were
the truest words uttered in any of the Republican primary debates. They
linger."
U.S. forces
release [Iraqi] TV channel officials
A quote...."Basem Mohammed Hassan al-Majidi, the director of the
satellite channel al-Ittijah, and Hussein Hadeed Shalloushi al-Saadi,
the station’s TV director, have been released by U.S. forces,” the
chief news editor of the channel, Hamid Akab, told Aswat al-Iraq news
agency. -- Akab called for an apology from the U.S. forces for the harm
done to the journalists."
Obama
Won’t Speed Up Iraq Pullout
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."In yet another instance of lowering the
expectations on the campaign promised US pullout from Iraq, President
Barack Obama touted the military progress in the nation but ruled out
increasing the speed of his current pullout strategy."
US
opens another prison for Iraqis
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The American military has inaugurated a
27-million-dollar prison in northern Iraq which is capable of holding
3,000 detainees."
The
Great Afghan Bailout - It's Time to Change Names, Switch Analogies
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Let's start by stopping. -- It's
time, as a start, to stop calling our expanding war in Central and
South Asia "the Afghan War" or "the Afghanistan War." If Obama's
special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke
doesn't want to, why should we? Recently, in a BBC interview, he
insisted that "the 'number one problem' in stabilizing Afghanistan was
Taliban sanctuaries in western Pakistan, including tribal areas along
the Afghan border and cities like Quetta" in the Pakistani province of
Baluchistan.
Obama
orchestrating from the same old Bush music sheet
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The adage that the more things change,
they remain the same, is holding true with the US. With lot of fanfare
about Change and We Can Change, Obama ignited hope not only in his own
nation, but all around the world. Bush warmongering had touched raw
nerves all around the world. America and Bush were the most hated words
in world vocabulary. However, Obama’s public address today over his
plans for Afghanistan and Pakistan, have dampened the hope for any
change for the better. Obama asked a question: why US was in
Afghanistan? His own answer to that simple question was as convincing
about the presence of Al Qaida in Afghanistan and Tribal areas of
Pakistan as Bush allegation of WMD in Iraq. Bush was not able to fool
the world over his simplistic harangue over Sadaam’s non existent
Weapons of Mass Destruction. Obama himself does not appear to be
convinced of the Al Qaida menace, while enunciating his plan to tackle
terrorism that 'threatens’ US and its allied countries in the world.
The whole warmongering rationale is pat and stale. When he says: "I
want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused
goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda." This
is like chasing a mirage."
Obama
vows no pursuit by US troops into Pakistan
Obama™ Update --
Like so many of his
other promises, he'll break this one when it suits his masters
financial or geopolitical interests. - mpg -- A quote...."But
asked if he [Obama] would send US troops on the ground into militant
safe havens inside Pakistan, Obama stressed: "No.
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
France
calls Gaza 'open-air prison'
A quote...."France has warned that the Gaza Strip cannot remain an
'open-air prison' forever, urging Israel to lift the blockade on the
territory." --
also posted at
WarInIraq
Economic Boycott
of Israel Works: 21% of Israeli Exporters Affected -
Yipee! -
mpg
Action Update - 21% of
Israeli exporters have been directly affected by the boycott movement
since the beginning of 2009. So reports today (29 March) The Marker, a
Hebrew-language economic newspaper." --
For more on how to boycott Israel see the
upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg
Israeli forces
violently disperse Hebron demonstration, one German citizen arrested
A quote...."11:30am on Saturday, the 28th of March, Israeli forces
violently dispersed a Hebron demonstration, firing tear gas and sound
bombs and arresting one German solidarity activist. -- More than 50
Palestinian residents of Hebron, supported by international and Israeli
solidarity activists, were nonviolently rallying against the illegal
Israeli settlements inside of Hebron’s old city. The demonstrators
gathered near Beit Romano settlement, holding signs against the
occupation and chanting, “free, free Palestine!”
Tough
Times for University Students in Gaza
A quote...."Many university students who lost relatives or whose homes
were destroyed during the recent 23-day Israeli offensive are finding
it difficult to cope, according to university officials and students.
-- Some have been unable to register for the new semester due to lack
of funds; others are still traumatised."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Pretending
to be civilized in an epidemic of institutional sadism
A quote...."From the you-can't-be-serious department: Savana Redding
was a 13-year-old honors student at a small Arizona middle school. In
math class one morning the principal ordered her to pack up and follow
him to his office. The principal interrogated her about a planner
Savana had lent a friend, and a few ibuprofin pills sitting on the
principal's desk, which were found in the planner. Savana knew nothing
about the pills. -- The principal then ordered her to the nurse's
office for a strip search. Over ibuprofin pills. Not that it would make
a difference if she were carrying crack. She was 13. She was being
ordered to strip. Her parents were never notified. Savana did not
consent to the search but complied in humiliating details." -
also posted at CommonDreams --
Her parents should sue the heck
out of them, it'll pay for her college education. - mpg
NY
judge orders release of CIA 'torture' documents
A quote...."NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has given the CIA a month to begin
releasing documents related to the destruction of videotapes of
detainee interrogations. -- Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan
federal court says the CIA should start turning over the information
and a list of witnesses to the American Civil Liberties Union within 30
days or explain why the agency should be exempt."
Torture
of Abu Zubaida, designed by psychologists, yielded nothing
A quote...."The first of the CIA’s “enhanced interrogations,” that of
Abu Zubaida, described as “torture” in recently leaked portions
of the International Committee of the Red Cross’s report on CIA
interrogation tactics, led to nothing other than tens of thousands of
investigatory hours wasted chasing fairy stories he told to get the
pain to stop, the Washington Post reports today. All reliable
information obtained from him was obtained prior to the torture." --
For more on this issue see....False
Leads
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Economic
Crisis Slams Canada - Federal Government Denial
A quote...."The first two months of 2009 were a disaster for working
people; 240,000 workers lost their jobs. The job losses in January were
the largest monthly loss ever in Canada. November to February losses
are the steepest since the crushing recession of 1981/82. -- Since June
of 2008, Canadian households have lost 8% of their net worth. Household
credit debt grew by 2% in the fourth quarter of 2008."
GM,
Citigroup getting dropped from Global Dow gauge
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- That's four new U.S. stocks
added to the Global Dow, and two others much in the news recently --
Citigroup Inc. and General Motors Corp. -- coming out."
On
eve of G-20 summit in London - European powers rebuff US, British
proposals for economic stimulus
A quote...."In what appears to be a calculated leak by the German
government to demonstrate its opposition to increased deficit spending,
Der Spiegel magazine published excerpts this weekend of a draft final
communiqué proposed by Britain for the G-20 summit of leading
economies to be held in London April 2."
Is
there any gold inside Fort Knox, the world's most secure vault?
A quote...."It is said to be the most impregnable vault on Earth: built
out of granite, sealed behind a 22-tonne door, located on a US military
base and watched over day and night by army units with tanks, heavy
artillery and Apache helicopter gunships at their disposal. -- Since
its construction in 1937 the treasures locked inside Fort Knox have
included the US Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address,
three volumes of the Gutenberg Bible and Magna Carta. -- For several
prominent investors and at least one senior US congressman it is not
the security of the facility in Kentucky that is a cause of concern: it
is the matter of how much gold remains stored there - and who owns it."
- also posted at
RogueGov
--
They're gonna open the vault's
door and all they'll see on the floor is a tiny dusty little envelope
with the words I.O.U. scrawled on it. - mpg
Russia
backs return to Gold Standard to solve financial crisis
A quote...."Russia has become the first major country to call for a
partial restoration of the Gold Standard to uphold discipline in the
world financial system." -
also
posted at BLN
[Russia's]
Central Banker Says Worst of Crisis Over [for Russia]
A quote...."Russia has come out of the sharpest phase of its economic
crisis, capital outflows have ceased and foreigners are returning to
Moscow stocks, Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said
Friday."
Daunted
by recession, Britons save for more than a rainy day
This is a good news, bad news
situation. First the good news, eventually the savings of
Britain's people could be used to help fund future growth. Now
the bad news, First, and worst of all, this is a very strong sign of
massive deflation caused by what is known as a "liquidity trap",
second, it's not very much even though it was four times the previous
amount saved, just £11.7 billion in a quarter,
third; the savings won't be useful for quite some time, for many years
in fact, and fourth, what's been saved may not do the British very much
good since Britain allowed it's entire housing market to become even
more of a bubble than the one in the US-NRE. - mpg -- A
quote...."Anxious Britons, fearful over soaring unemployment and a
long, deep recession, are drastically increasing their savings, it
emerged yesterday."
---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/theconvenientsilenceofgitmo-blog-mpg-053108
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ==== ---
http://www.businessinsurance.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?articleId=4154&a=a&bt=terrorist
"Typically, these countries are
in a desperate economic situation for one simple reason—the powerful
elites within them overreached in good times and took too many risks.
Emerging-market governments and their private-sector allies commonly
form a tight-knit—and, most of the time, genteel—oligarchy, running the
country rather like a profit-seeking company in which they are the
controlling shareholders."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====”The concerns that we will have a
meltdown like 1929 are dramatically overblown,” -- *Senator Bob Kerrey*, Democrat of
Nebraska.
”If we don’t pass this bill, we
could find London or Frankfurt or years down the road Shanghai becoming
the financial capital of the world,” -- *Senator Charles E. Schumer*,
Democrat of New York…
”This historic legislation will
better enable American companies to compete in the new economy.”
-- *Lawrence H. Summers*,
Treasury Secretary
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====— Only an estimated 50,000 of
300,000 displaced families — or 16 percent — have returned to their
Baghdad homes, according to the U.S. military. Most are believed to be
Sunnis.
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====