MPG'S
DAILY RAPSHEET AND BLOTTER ON THE "GREAT GAME" - links page
@ www.reficultnias.org
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Editor's note : From now on each weekly blog page will have
several items
culled from the past called "9/11 - From The History
File" : It's for those who didn't know, and also for those who
forgot....or are trying to forget.
Editor's note -
War Update,
War Alert,
War Warning,
Red War Warning
and
War
Imminent
- refer to articles
regarding the upcoming war with Iran. In the order they appear as
shown above, they represent less serious to more serious possible
threats of war. - mpg
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Tuesday April 8th 2008 - links
page
Losing
the War for Reality ---
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/040708.html
A quote..."When future historians look back at the sharp decline of the
United States in the early 21st Century, they might identify the
Achilles heel of this seemingly omnipotent nation as its lost ability
to recognize reality and to fashion policies to face the real world."
--
It's called TV....stop watching
it. - mpg
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If America
Declines, Don't Expect Anyone to Talk About It ---
http://www.alternet.org/story/81652/
A quote...."Rarely in U.S. history has a president, especially a
two-term president, been so unpopular at a time when the Congress,
captured in the midterm elections by the opposition, is held in no
greater regard. In such a case, the norm is for the two to fight, with
one side gaining the edge. But that has not been true of George W. Bush
and the Democratic Congress elected by running against him in 2006."
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Röpke
on the Subprime Mess ---
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/fuller2.html
A quote...."In my personal reading time, which is just a very few
minutes a day, I’m reading Wilhelm Röpke’s A Humane Economy,
having only become aware of his writings in the last few months. As I
read, I’m having one of those Yogi Berra moments in that it feels like
"déjà vu all over again." I’ll explain why in just a bit,
but first let me set the stage."
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Oh, What a
Lovely War! So? ---
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080414/takiff
A quote...."
So?"
-- Vice President Cheney, March 19, when
asked about the American public's disapproval of the Iraq War"
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Endless
Enemies ---
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12663
A quote...." First it was the 'dead enders,' then it was al-Qaeda in
Iraq, now it's the 'Special Groups' – but when will it end?" --
Never. That's why they call it the hundred
years war, it's also why they keep supporting the....
"other
side", ---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/ussupportofterror-weblist-mpg-090306
---
so they can create endless
numbers of "enemy/friends".
Playing both sides, or supplying both sides against the middle has
ALWAYS been the most profitable method when starting and maintaining
wars. However for the first time, the US is actually fighting
someone (Moqtada al-Sadr) who has never received any money or support
from the US. - mpg
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Activist's
Memoir of the Iraq War: It Goes Back to 1990 ---
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8593
A quote...."After five years of slaughter and destruction at the hands
of the invasion led by the US and Britain (perpetrators of this
"supreme international crime," as defined by the Nuremberg Principles),
Amnesty International has described Iraq as in a state of "carnage and
despair." In modern history, this act of near-unequalled criminality is
in danger of eclipsing earlier wickednesses at the hands of these two
countries."
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Once
again, McCain confuses Sunnis with Shiites ---
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Once_again_McCain_confuses_Sunnis_with_0408.html
A quote...."John McCain isn't quite sure of himself on Iraq. -- Last
month, the Arizona senator got a whisper in his ear from Sen. Joe
Lieberman, after he said that Iran was providing aid to Al Qaeda in
Iraq, a Sunni group. Iran, however, is actually a Shiite nation. On Fox
News Sunday, McCain also got wrong the details of an Iraqi ceasefire."
This article provides
absolute proof that John McCain is going to be selected as this
nation's next president, because he truly does represent the "American"
people. He truly understands, just as the "American" people
do, that everyone in the Middle East is just a bunch of @#$%^&*
"towel heads" so who cares what tribe, sectarian group, or nation they
come from.....just bomb them all. - mpg
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"Whenever the Washington press
corps goes gaga over some government functionary as being a
"widely-respected" "straight-shooter" with tons of "integrity," you can
be sure they're an especially odious political hack. As with Colin
Powell, so with David Petraeus, and many more to come." -- *
A Tiny Revolution*
--- http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/002201.html
For more on this see....Petraeus
is an AKLCS ---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/rapsheetarch/mpgrap-040208-040808#AKLCS
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Petraeus
and Presidential politics - Setting the stage for a war with Iran
--- http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8596
A quote...."From 1964 until 1968, General William Westmoreland
presented a constant stream of shining, buoyant and uplifting
assessments of the potential for American victory in Vietnam.
When
Westmoreland became Commander of US forces in Vietnam, there were a
mere 15,000 troops with boots on the ground. After four years of
Westmoreland’s misguided optimism, 535,000 troops had their boots ankle
deep in the quagmire of the Vietnamese jungles. In an age long
before
the internet, Westmoreland’s positive messaging for increasing
America’s commitment to military intervention in Vietnam received
massive media attention and bolstered public support for what would
become an abysmally depressing war."
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Why is
General Petraeus Helping Iran? ---
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/13934
A quote...."Someone should ask General Petraeus today why he is working
so hard to help Iran. This is not to suggest he is some sort of enemy
of the state. I suppose he is following orders, but why doesn't he
question his wildly counterproductive and conflicting orders?"
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Is David
Petraeus Dirty? Ted Westhusing Said So, and Then He Shot Himself
--- http://www.alternet.org/blogs/waroniraq/81678/
A quote...."Ted Westhusing, was a champion basketball player at Jenks
High School in Tulsa Oklahoma. A driven kid with a strong work ethic,
he would show up at the gym at 7AM to throw 100 practice shots before
school. He was driven academically too, becoming a National Merritt
Scholarship finalist. His career through West Point and straight into
overseas service was sterling, and by 2000 he had enrolled in Emory
University to earn his doctorate in Philosophy."
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Remember:
They Are Liars ---
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040808J.shtml
A quote...."George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul
Wolfowitz, Condoleezza Rice, along with a slew of administration
underlings and a revolving-door cavalcade of brass hats from the
Pentagon, have been making claims regarding Iraq for many years now."
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Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Tuesday round-up - 10 articles - [ Day 15
]
Basra
Battles: What Reporters Omitted, Fabricated
---
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1203758782750&pagename=Zone-English-Muslim_Affairs%2FMAELayout
Must Read - A
quote...."The latest battles in Basra, Iraq's second largest city and a
vital oil port, provide ample examples of misleading and manipulative
practice in corporate journalism today. One commonly used tactic is to
describe events using self-styled or "official" terminology, which
deliberately confuses the reader by giving no real indication or
analysis of what is actually happening." --
See also....Paltry
result of Iraqi
[Nouri al-Maliki's and Cheney's] offensive quiets U.S. withdrawal talk
- A Satirical Edit ---
http://reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/cachedfiles/paltryresultofiraqioffensive-strobel&youssef-mcclatchy-cached-040108
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US
Ignores Iraqis' Views ---
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/shamoo.php?articleid=12660
Must Read - A
quote...."Once again, in reporting to Congress, Gen. David Petraeus and
Ambassador Ryan Crocker highlighted "progress" in Iraq without
discussing the price Iraqis are paying for the occupation of their
country. -- Reports from Iraq indicate that nearly 500 Iraqis died in
the first three days of fighting against the Sadr organization in
Baghdad, Basra, Hilla, Diwaniya, and Kut at the end of March. Hundreds
more have been wounded. U.S. forces are bombing the militia from the
air even in the densely populated area of Sadr City."
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Are
the US and Iran backing the same horse? ---
http://www.therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1313&thisview=item
Must View - Video - A quote...."Raed Jarrar on why
both Iran and the US are supporting the same players in Iraq."
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THE
BATTLE FOR BASRA TIMELINE: Footsteps to U.S. War in Iran?
---
http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2008/04/battle-for-basra-timeline-footsteps-to.html
Special Note - Timeline Resource
- A quote...."The War for oil in Basra appears to be metastasizing into
Cheney’s U.S. War on Iran."
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Sadr
will disarm Mahdi Army if U.S. leaves ---
http://www.therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1312&thisview=item
Video - A quote...."As
Petraeus talks to Congress, families flee Basra and Sadr calls off
million man march"
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Riding
the Tiger - Muqtada al-Sadr and the American Dilemma in Iraq
---
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174916/patrick_cockburn_petraeus_s_ghost
A quote...."Muqtada al-Sadr is the most important and surprising figure
to emerge in Iraq since the U.S. invasion. He is the Messianic leader
of the religious and political movement of the impoverished Shia
underclass whose lives were ruined by a quarter of a century of war,
repression, and sanctions."
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The occupation
has frozen Iraq. All else is tinkering ---
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m42883&s1=h1
A quote...."The British troops encamped outside Basra resemble Davy
Crockett's colleagues in the Alamo. Nobody will come to their rescue.
Their position is hopeless. They cannot win. They cannot escape. Their
boss, the defence secretary Des Browne, has emphasised their political
entombment by reneging on Gordon Brown's pledge to reduce their numbers
by a half this spring. The American general, David Petraeus, yesterday
said the same of his troops. He wants 140,000 of them to remain at the
end of the current surge, dashing hopes that their numbers might come
down. The occupation of Iraq is now officially indefinite. Too many
politicians have too much to lose by contemplating retreat."
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Iraq
Shiite radical leader threatens to end truce ---
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hXje4pIGhkukgeyuZ9lzh0rEajYg
A quote...."NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi Shiite radical leader Moqtada
al-Sadr on Tuesday threatened to end the ceasefire of his feared Mahdi
Army militia which he announced last August. -- Sadr also cancelled a
massive anti-US demonstration he had called in Baghdad for Wednesday,
the fifth anniversary of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime."
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So How Is
Muqtada Al-Sadr Really Doing? ---
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m42885&s1=h1
A quote...."(Political Animal) Iraqi politics is pretty opaque.
That's not because they play
a deeper game than anyone else, just that they play a game that few
Westerners are privy to. This means that there's an awful lot of
guesswork about who's up, who's down, and what's really going on behind
the scenes."
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Iraqi
rogues and a false proxy war ---
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JD09Ak03.html
A quote...."The idea of Iranian-backed "rogue" Shi'ite militia groups
undermining Muqtada's efforts to pursue a more moderate course was
introduced by the US military command in early 2007. These alleged
Iranian proxies were called "special groups" - a term that came not
from Iran or the Shi'ites themselves but from the Bush administration. "
Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Tuesday round-up - [ Day 15
]
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Swiss
reject terror sponsor charge by US Jewish group ---
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8609
Special Note - A
quote...."GENEVA, April 8 (Reuters) - Switzerland rejected accusations
on Tuesday by the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that it could
be financing terrorism after a Swiss company clinched a multi-billion
euro (dollar) deal to buy natural gas from Iran. - The Swiss Foreign
Ministry reiterated that the purchase did not violate U.N. Security
Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear
programme or U.S. domestic law."
For more on this issue see....The
US is After Europe Too! - 03-23-08 - mpg
---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/theusisaftereuropetoo-blog-mpg-032308
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Token
Troops to a Token War ---
http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis104.html
A quote...."PARIS – In one of the more bizarre meetings NATO has ever
held, the military alliance decided this week to approve a US plan to
build an anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic against a
threat that does not exist. Then, in a quid pro quo, the NATO members
turned down US demands to admit the Black Sea nations of Ukraine and
Georgia to the North Atlantic alliance."
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Lessons
for Bush in the Afghan War ---
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2008/04/07/007.html
A quote...."War, goes a Russian joke, is a means by which Americans
learn geography. Funny -- but also very much on target. Having
discovered the location of Afghanistan and Iraq, President George W.
Bush seems eager to learn more about Iran."
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New York Times
Explains Winter Soldier Blackout - Public editor responds to concerns
raised by FAIR ---
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m42890&s1=h1
A quote...."New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt has offered a
response to media activists who wrote to the paper about its
non-coverage of last month's Winter Soldier hearings. Hoyt's
explanation is that reporters at the Times had "not been aware of the
group or its meeting," but likely wouldn't have covered it if they had
been aware of the event."
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Moscow
to host Mideast summit soon ---
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=50865§ionid=351020602
A quote...."Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has declared
that Moscow hopes to host a Middle East peace conference in the next
three months."
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Iran
to Install 6,000 more Centrifuges ---
http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8701210488
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has begun installing 6,000 new
centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant, President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad announced on Tuesday."
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Vice
chair of 9/11 panel: We have no record of Mukasey's 'warning'
---
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Vice_chair_of_911_panel_No_0408.html
A quote...."The vice chair of the prominent 9/11 Commission is denying
Attorney General Michael Mukasey's claim that the US received a warning
before the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, Salon reports. -- "I am unfamiliar
with the telephone call that Attorney General Mukasey cited in his
appearance in San Francisco on March 27. The 9/11 Commission did not
receive any information pertaining to its occurrence," said former Rep.
Lee Hamilton in a statement received by Salon's Glenn Greenwald, who
has closely followed the Mukasey revelation.
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The
Assassination of Robert Kennedy ---
http://infowars.net/articles/april2008/080408Assassination.htm
A quote...."Highlights from a History Channel show on RFK's
assassination and Sirhan Sirhan's C.I.A. ties and the F.B.I's
supression of evidence of another gun since Sirhan had a eight shot and
there were many more bullet hole but was never brought out in trial."
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FBI
Data Transfers Via Telecoms Questioned ---
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040808L.shtml
A quote....."Since a 1994 law required telecoms to build electronic
interception capabilities into their systems, the FBI has created a
network of links between the nation's largest telephone and Internet
firms and about 40 FBI offices and Quantico, according to interviews
and documents describing the agency's Digital Collection System. The
documents were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group in San
Francisco that specializes in digital-rights issues."
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FBI Has
Spy Program Tracking IM, Emails, and Cell Phones ---
http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=6168
A quote...."FBI also spies on home soil for military, documents show;
Much information acquired without court order -- The Federal Bureau of
Investigation has been routinely monitoring the e-mails, instant
messages and cell phone calls of suspects across the United States —
and has done so, in many cases, without the approval of a court."
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Musings
on the Fed ---
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_siegfrie_080408_musings_on_the_fed.htm
Must Read - A
quote...."The creation of money does not imply the creation of value.
-- The public is ultimately defrauded of its birthright---a
stable currency, of which the Fed was to be the guarantor. In this
case, however, the American taxpayer is not the only victim. As the
custodian of the world currency, the Fed has an implicit obligation to
all the foreign holders of dollars as well. The casual, unlamented
debauchery of our currency that we are now witnessing proves that there
aren't any rules any more, no standards or points of reference. No
heads are rolling, or even under threat of disgrace. Nothing is left
but for tactics to keep the game going. This does not bode well for the
future when this fraud on the public is finally exposed. It will, of
course, only be discerned clearly in retrospect. On nearly every issue
of national import in recent years, we have a history of avoiding
prudent, prospective, and preventive action."
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Liquidation
is only solution to crisis ---
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JD08Dj01.html
A
quote...."Regrettably, all the best efforts by the Federal Reserve and
Washington politicians to sustain the US bubble economy are doomed to
failure. It’s not that they are necessarily the wrong policies. More to
the point, the basic premise that our economy is sound and growth
sustainable is misguided. We’ve experienced a protracted and historic
credit inflation and it will simply be impossible to keep asset prices,
incomes, corporate cash flows, and spending levitated at current
levels. The type and scope of credit growth required today has become
infeasible. The risk intermediation requirements are too daunting.
Sustaining housing inflation and consumption levels has become
unachievable. And the underpinnings of our currency have turned too
fragile."
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Capitalists
will be Capitalists ---
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/6718/1/328/
A quote...."Opes Prime was what is known as a leverage broking firm,
one based on a high level of debt. Clients of Opes could borrow against
the shares they purchased — the shares would be used as security, in a
somewhat similar fashion to a home loan where the home is used as
security in the event that the borrower fails to make repayments. "
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IMF
to sell gold as it faces budget deficit ---
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=56517
A quote...."WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund's executive
board has approved a broad financial overhaul plan that could lead to
the eventual sale of a little over 400 tons of its substantial gold
supplies." --
Maybe it's
because the IMF (Loan Sharks Inc.) got caught up in that sub-prime
crisis. That would be just great....hopefully those blood sucking
bastards get put out of business. - mpg
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Germany
to warn against intervention in favour of U.S. dollar
--- http://infowars.net/articles/april2008/070408Germany.htm
A quote...."It said interventions on the international capital markets
to back the U.S. dollar could not be financed if they are to reach a
volume that has an impact. The ministry also sees a cut in interest
rates in the euro zone as "highly unlikely" given the current high
levels of inflation in the region."
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U.K.
Consumer Confidence Falls to Lowest Since 2004 (Update3)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aPWHSdKlfaQw&refer=home
A quote...."April 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. consumer confidence fell to the
lowest in almost four years in March as the housing-market downturn
worsened, and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson said the
economy is heading for a recession."
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Pending
home sales index off 1.9% in February: NAR
---
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/index-pending-home-sales-down/story.aspx?
---
guid=%7B0FC1AA34%2D8C53%2D4BC5%2DAAB4%2DE845EFF8084C%7D
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- In a sign that the U.S. housing
market may weaken further, an index of sales contracts on previously
owned homes fell 1.9% in February from the prior month, the National
Association of Realtors reported Tuesday."
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Monday April 7th 2008 - links page
Saving
the American Left - The Case for a New Progressive Creed
--- http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19694.htm
Must Read - A quote...."
07/04/08 "ICH " -- -- The American left is in the throes of an
existential crisis. Some say it's a failure of nerve, others a loss of
belief. It is the latter. Neoliberalism has sucked the oxygen out of
the left by deflating the political sphere to the economic one. The
left must articulate a new creed around three principles: empowerment
(the economic is ancillary to the political); social justice (the
disadvantaged have an unconditional claim upon the collectivity); and
decency (the state may not humiliate anyone). To make its case, the
left must redefine that most exalted form of self-interest, patriotism,
as pride in a society that grants all of its members the means to
belong."
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Channeling
Hoover at Home, Tet Abroad ---
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19693.htm
Must Read - A
quote...." 07/04/08 "ICH" -- - One of the most astonishing facts
about the Bush presidency is simply that it continues to exist.
-- Only a combination of certain critical conditions have kept
the man and his government from suffering the same fate as Mussolini or
Ceaucesceu. A politically naive public, a neutered opposition, a
compliant press, a Constitutionally-fixed term of office, a truckload
of fear, a moderately sufficient economy and a remotely plausible
victory in an unpopular war have all conspired to encourage a surly
public to simply wait out the clock for the demise of the Creature from
Crawford."
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Breaking
Through the News Filter ---
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19696.htm
Must Read - A quote...."
07/04/08 "ICH" -- --- If it is true that the power belongs to the
people in America, and Congress still answers to the people, then what
force prevents the people from rising up to demand that Congress answer
to the people's will? The answer to that question is that the
"silent majority" is only silent because they have been kept in the
dark; they do not know the truth about the dire predicament we are in."
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The
Iraq War, for $100 Month ---
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040708G.shtml
A quote...."Sen. Barack Obama says the war costs each household about
$100 per month. We do the math and find he's right."
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Secret
US plan for military future in Iraq ---
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/08/iraq.usa
A quote...."A confidential draft agreement covering the future of US
forces in Iraq, passed to the Guardian, shows that provision is being
made for an open-ended military presence in the country." --
NO! You’re kidding?!?! You
know what folks... eventually the whole thing just achieves some sort
of blackly macabre form of high parody. -- mpg
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Bush Lied,
People Died ---
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/32524
Video -
Video of various anti-war demonstrations.
- mpg
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Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Monday round-up - 8 articles - [ Day 14
]
Sadr City
assault strains cease-fire ---
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0407/p06s01-wome.html
Must Read - A quote...."A
week after a truce calmed clashes between Moqtada al-Sadr's militia and
Iraqi forces, fighting resumed in his Baghdad stronghold Sunday."
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Crackdown
on Militias May Add to Instability in Iraq ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/world/middleeast/08iraq.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
A quote...."BAGHDAD — A crackdown on the Mahdi Army militia is creating
potentially destabilizing political and military tensions in Iraq,
pitting a stronger government alliance against the force that has won
past showdowns: the street power wielded by the radical cleric Moktada
al-Sadr."
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Religious
leaders tell al-Sadr to keep militia intact ---
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/07/iraq.sadr/index.html
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's top Shiite religious leaders
have told anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr not to disband his Mehdi
Army, an al-Sadr spokesman said Monday amid fresh fighting in the
militia's Baghdad strongholds."
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'Mahdi
Army resists occupiers' ---
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=50726§ionid=351020201
A quote...."Sadr movement, loyal to anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr,
says the Mahdi Army is a force with an aim to resist occupation forces
in Iraq."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iran
signals backing for Iraqi PM in crackdown
---
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSDAH72460620080407?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=401
A quote...."TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran voiced support on Monday for Iraq's
prime minister in a crackdown on a Shi'ite militia but blamed U.S.
forces for civilian deaths in the fighting." --
For those who didn't know (which includes
just about every single "American" who watches that mindless crap
called mass-faux-infotainment in this country), Iran has supported
Maliki since he became Prime Minister....as has Cheney. -- Surprise!! -
mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
==========
========== ====
On eve
of
Petraeus testimony, US launches raids on Baghdad’s Sadr City
--- http://wsws.org/articles/2008/apr2008/iraq-a08.shtml
A quote...."On the eve of congressional testimony by the top US
military commander in Iraq and Washington’s ambassador to the country,
US military forces launched bloody raids in Sadr City, the crowded Shia
slum in northeast Baghdad. At the same time, the Iraqi puppet regime
threatened to bar the Sadrists, the only mass political movement in the
country, from participation in upcoming provincial elections."
========== ==========
========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Petraeus
Testimony Next Week Will Signal Iran Attack ---
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19684.htm
A quote...."06/04/08 "ICH' -- - April 5, 2008. Today the London
Telegraph reported that “British officials gave warning yesterday that
America’s commander in Iraq will declare that Iran is waging war
against the US-backed Baghdad government. A strong statement from
General David Petraeus about Iran’s intervention in Iraq could set the
stage for a US attack on Iranian militiary facilities, according to a
Whitehall assessment.” --
Petraeus's testimony next week has already
been classified as a "Red War
Warning". - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Spin
One for the Gipper ---
http://www.atlargely.com/2008/04/spin-one-for-th.html#more
A quote...."It was not too long after Dick Cheney’s surprise visit to
Baghdad on March 17 that Maliki launched his offensive against the
Mahdi Army in Baghdad and in the southern city of Basra. The big media
were strangely silent about the implications of the timing of the two
events. Sadr’s people responded to Maliki’s push with a rocket and
mortar attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad."
For more on this issue see....Petraeus
is an AKLCS ---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mpgrapsheet-blogpg-mpg-012707#AKLCS
Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Monday round-up - [ Day 14
]
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iraqi
leader wants answers for Blackwater 'massacre' -
see article below - mpg
---
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/07/iraq.main/
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
blasted the U.S. State Department for renewing its contract with the
Blackwater security firm, saying the company has yet to answer for what
he called a "massacre" last year." --
Cheney's
little pet dog, Maliki, is barking again, pretending that Iraq has some
national sovereignty when it comes to anything being done about
Blackwater's snuffing out a few dozen "rag heads" who used to
live there. And even more laughably, trying to make people
believe he'll force one of his master's friends out of Iraq....who does
Maliki think he's kidding. Nobody believes him anymore, not after
he launched his unprovoked and unwarranted attacks against the cities
of Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City under Cheney's orders.
========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
==========
========== ====
US
defends decision to renew Blackwater deal in Iraq ---
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_defends_decision_to_renew_Blackw_04072008.html
Hey all you Iraqis out
there....here's your "answer" from the US State Department - learn how
to run faster. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Blackwater
Bulks Up Air Power Using Little-Known Company ---
http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=6158
A quote...."Private security contractor Blackwater Worldwide has
purchased a light attack counterinsurgency aircraft, and over two dozen
other aircraft, under the name of a little-known aviation company."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
A Hopeful
Time - America Must Respect Pakistan's Democracy ---
http://www.counterpunch.org/khan04072008.html
A quote...."The result of the 2008 Pakistani election flies in the face
of both Zakaria and Kissinger's rationale. The over-exaggerated threat
that if democracy were to flourish in Pakistan, the influence of
Islamic radicals would strengthen has been proven conclusively false.
In fact, in Pakistan's history, the only time the Islamic parties
gained any significant votes was in the rigged election of 2002, when
Musharraf ensured their victory in large numbers by taking measures to
facilitate their candidatures. The religious alliance, for their part,
ensured Musharraf of their tacit support in passing constitutional
amendments to greatly strengthen Musharraf's powers as President.
Simultaneously, the victory of the religious party also sent a
convenient signal to the outside world that Musharraf is the west's
best bet against the growing tide of extremism."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Musharraf's
worst fear: US will strike if I quit
---
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Pakistan/Musharrafs_worst_fear_US_will_strike_if_I_quit/rssarticleshow/2933295.cms
A quote...." ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf believes that if he
steps down, the US will launch direct military attacks on Pakistan's
restive tribal areas and take away disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan
for interrogation about his proliferation activities, a daily reported
on Monday."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Egypt
votes as blocked Brotherhood boycotts ---
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/04/08/48005.html
A quote...."Egyptians vote Tuesday in a lackluster municipal poll
boycotted by the main opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood following
a stifling government crackdown on political dissent." --
"[only] 21 of 4,000 Islamist candidates allowed to run."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
No
international support for attack on Iran ---
http://www.therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1303&thisview=item
Video - A quote...."Aijaz
Ahmad: Iran stands firm on nuclear issue, brokered peace agreement in
Iraq"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iran
proposes missile shield against U.S., Israel ---
http://en.rian.ru/world/20080407/103957109.html
A quote...."TEHRAN, April 7 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's defense minister
said on Monday the world needs a missile shield to protect against
threats from Israel and the United States. -- Tehran has joined Russia
in opposing U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system
in Central Europe to counter possible strikes from "rogue states,"
specifically Iran."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iran
Receives Official US Request on Iraq Talks ---
http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8701190759
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran said on Monday it was considering a
"request" it had recently received from the United States for a new
round of talks on ways to improve security in Iraq."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
New
Zealand breaks ground signing free trade pact with China
---
http://mercopress.handsoft.com.uy/vernoticia.do?id=13095&formato=HTML
A quote...."New Zealand became on Monday the first developed nation to
sign a free-trade agreement with China. Prime Minister Helen Clark and
her Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao, witnessed the signing of the pact
in Beijing's Great Hall of the People."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The US
Corporate Role - Ensuring the Success of Fascism in Spain
--- http://www.counterpunch.org/krales04072008.html
A quote...."As part of my upbringing, I was taught that the men and
women who fought against the fascists in the Spanish Civil War were
giants. As a child eating in Ratner's restaurant on New York's Lower
East Side, I remember being told in reverential tones that a person I
just met had fought in Spain with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
George
Bush empty-handed as last summit with Vladimir Putin ends in failure
---
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/07/wsummit107.xml
A quote...."President George W Bush's last ever summit with Vladimir
Putin ended in failure last night when the Russian president stood firm
in his opposition to Washington's controversial missile defence shield.
-- Mr Bush left the Black Sea resort of Sochi empty-handed and the two
men glossed over their failure to achieve a breakthrough by exchanging
words of personal flattery."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Don Siegelman
and the 'New Assassins' - posted at
The Smirking Chimp
--- http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/13910
--- http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/13910
A quote...."There was an article I saw in the last couple of days, The
New Assassins Don't Use Guns. It's a remarkable article only in that it
touches on something really important - character assassination - but
stays mired in the whole Democratic candidate thing. -- In
it there was no mention of Don Siegelman but he's a fabulous example of
character assassination and plain old-fashioned judicial railroading."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
A
Conversation With Dennis Kucinich ---
http://www.truthdig.com/interview/item/20080106_a_conversation_with_dennis_kucinich/
Interview - Chris Hedges interviews Dennis Kucinich - A quote...."
Chris Hedges: Why has the
Democratic Party not done what it should do? ---
Rep. Dennis Kucinich: Lack of
commitment to Democratic principles. No understanding of the period of
history we’re in. Failure to appreciate the necessity of the coequality
of Congress. Unwillingness to assert Congressional authority in key
areas which makes the people’s House paramount to protecting democracy.
The institutionalized influence of corporate America through the
Democratic leadership council. Those are just a few."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Boom,
Bust, Dust ---
http://www.lewrockwell.com/french/french84.html
A quote...."Boom, bust and dust: That was the story of what my parents
always referred to as the "dirty thirties," or the Dust Bowl. The Great
American Dust Bowl steeled the resolve of a generation of
Midwesterners. The hard-earned lessons they learned have been passed on
to their baby-boomer prodigy but have been forgotten. Unlike the New
Orleans floods, there was no FEMA to house the victims in trailer
cities: only days on end of coating ones nostrils with Vaseline to
filter the dust and try to breathe. "
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Grains
Gone Wild ---
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040708N.shtml
A quote...."These days you hear a lot about the world financial crisis.
But there's another world crisis under way - and it's hurting a lot
more people. -- I'm talking about the food crisis.
Over the past few years the prices of wheat, corn, rice and other basic
foodstuffs have doubled or tripled, with much of the increase taking
place just in the last few months. High food prices dismay even
relatively well-off Americans - but they're truly devastating in poor
countries, where food often accounts for more than half a family's
spending."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Batten
down the hatches: this is the big one ---
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/07/economics.banking
A quote...."Whole cities of pain. A continent of pain," said the great,
if eccentric, Wall Street money dealer Jim Cramer recently. He was
talking about the economic pain spreading across the United States, of
course. - Until recently, the pain of the US housing market had not
spread to our own fair land. Much of the economic data here has been,
if anything, surprisingly healthy. But such figures are generally
backward-looking and often look fine until suddenly they don't"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Buddy,
Can You Spare a Billion? ---
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040303984_pf.html
A quote...."As the chief executive of Bear Stearns, he's getting rather
more public assistance than your typical welfare mom -- specifically,
$30 billion in federal loan guarantees to help J.P. Morgan Chase take
over his firm. But then, Schwartz has had rather more than his share of
suffering of late. -- As his firm collapsed, he was forced to forgo his
entire 2007 bonus, leaving his compensation for the past five years at
a paltry $141 million, according to Business Week. Things have become
so bad that, the Wall Street Journal discovered, Schwartz has had to
rent out his 7,850-square-foot home on the ninth green of a suburban
New York golf course -- leaving the poor fellow with only his 17-room,
seven-acre home in Greenwich, his condo in Colorado and the athletic
center he built for Duke University."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Food
riots fear after rice price hits a high ---
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=56391
A quote...."A global rice shortage that has seen prices of one of the
world's most important staple foods increase by 50 per cent in the past
two weeks alone is triggering an international crisis, with countries
banning export and threatening serious punishment for hoarders."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Egyptian
workers riot over rising prices - Egypt's Workers Battle Police Amid
Rising Economic Discontent
---
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Egyptian_workers_riot_over_rising_p_04062008.html
A quote...."Thousands of demonstrators angry about rising prices and
stagnant salaries torched buildings, looted shops and hurled bricks at
police who responded with tear gas Sunday in a northern industrial town
as Egyptians staged a nationwide strike."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Gasoline
prices add to record gains ---
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080407/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices;_ylt=Au4cMz1RgjVTRZFtlSWsud2s0NUE
A quote...."NEW YORK - Gas prices rose further into record territory
Monday, pulled higher by resurgent oil futures and a growing belief
that gasoline supplies are falling as the summer driving season
approaches."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Sunday April 6th 2008 - links page
Bush
Arms Buildup Rivals Hitler and Stalin ---
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_sherwood_080406_bush_arms_buildup_ri.htm
A quote...."The relentless increases in Pentagon spending President
Bush has pushed through since taking office recall the actions of
Hitler and Stalin prior to the outbreak of World War Two.
-- Both
European dictators escalated their war machines and both dictators
showed little concern when their domestic economies and workers’
incomes suffered as a result."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Ninety-Five
Years to Go ---
http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance139.html
A quote...."Although U.S. troops have been in Iraq for five years now,
we have only just begun. We can expect the great grandchildren of the
current U.S. soldiers in Iraq to be there as well – if John McCain has
his way. This assumes, of course, that these soldiers make it back to
the United States breathing and in one piece so that they can have
children."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
$3
trillion may be too low ---
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/joseph_stiglitz_and_linda_bilmes/2008/04/3_trillion_may_be_too_low.html
A quote...."Notwithstanding President Bush's response, our original
estimate of the cost of the Iraq war was too conservative: in reality,
it will be much higher. -- President Bush has tried to give
the impression that the $3 trillion dollar estimate of the total cost
of the war that we provide in our new book may be exaggerated.
-- We believe that it is, in fact, conservative. Even the
president would have to admit that the $50 to $60 billion estimate
given by the administration before the war was wildly off the mark;
there is little reason to have confidence in their arithmetic. They
admit to a cost so far of $600 billion."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Sunday round-up - 8 articles - [ Day 13
]
Tomgram:
Ira Chernus, The General and the Trap ---
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174915/ira_chernus_the_general_and_the_trap
A quote...."They came, they saw, they… deserted. -- That, in short
form, is the story of the Iraqi government "offensive" in Basra (and
Baghdad). It took a few days, but the headlines on stories out of Iraq
("Can Iraq's Soldiers Fight?") are now telling a grim tale and the
information in them is worse yet. Stephen Farrell and James Glanz of
the New York Times estimate that at least 1,000 Iraqi soldiers and
policemen, or more than 4% of the force sent into Basra, "abandoned
their posts" during the fighting, including "dozens of officers" and
"at least two senior field commanders."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Heavy
Fighting in Sadr City Kills 22, Wounds 78; Blockade Threatens
Humanitarian Crisis
---
http://www.juancole.com/2008/04/5-us-troops-die-in-iraq-heavy-fighting.html
A quote...."The US military attacked the Mahdi Army militia in Sadr
City on Sunday, alongside Iraqi Army troops. The fighting left 22 dead
and 78 wounded, at least. It was not clear what the purpose of the
attack was, since the US clearly cannot intensively occupy the
labyrinthine Shiite slum and therefore cannot actually disarm the Mahdi
Army. Were they attempting to impress on the Sadrists that rocket
attacks on the Green Zone (see below) would bring retaliation?"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
IRAQ:
Shia Battles Spread to Baquba ---
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41883
A quote...."BAQUBA, Apr 7 (IPS) - Battles between rival Shia groups
have spread from Basra in the south to Baquba in the north. -- Clashes
between the Mehdi Army of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Badr
Organisation militia of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) have
been reported in the predominantly Shia district of Hwaider in Baquba,
the capital city of Diyala province located 40 km northeast of Baghdad."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
3
US troops killed, 31 wounded in Iraq clashes with Shi'ite militia
---
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/07/wiraq107.xml
A quote...."Suspected Shiite militants lobbed rockets and mortar shells
into the U.S.-protected Green Zone and a military base elsewhere in
Baghdad on Sunday, killing three American troops and wounding 31,
officials said. The attacks occured as United States forces fought
Shi'ite militiamen yesterday in Baghdad's Sadr City, as fierce fighting
claimed at least 20 lives."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
British
troops go back into Basra ---
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/06/wbasra106.xml
A quote...."British troops have been sent back into Basra just months
after control of the southern city was placed in the hands of the
Iraqis, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. - Up to 150 British soldiers
are now "embedded" with Iraqi army units in Basra, fighting insurgent
groups which now hold power in large areas of the city."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iraq's
Maliki threatens to bar Sadr from vote ---
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL0434078820080407?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
A quote...."BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister raised the stakes
in his showdown with followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr,
saying in an interview broadcast on Monday
they would be barred from elections unless
their militia disbands." - bold by website author. --
Well
that didn't take very long at all,
just thirteen days. For several months Maliki schemed with Cheney
on how to eliminate Moqtada al-Sadr as a political force in Iraq,
Cheney visits him and finally gives the go-ahead and a few days
later without any "arranged pretexts" (very unusual for Cheney and
shows
he's either slipping or he's simply panicking for some reason.
Probably because
he's running out of time) Maliki attacks ONLY al-Sadr's militia.
The whole thing's pathetic, Cheney and Maliki have made it way to
obvious to the ENTIRE WORLD that they cooked this fiasco up between
them. They should quit while they're behind, but they won't, and
as a result Iraq's going to be in for a long bloody couple of months. –
mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Fire erupts in
Sadr-City because of the fights, Iran ignores the U.S. talk offer
--- http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/161111
A quote...."....at a meeting of a parliamentary committee (Political
Council on National Security), the Green Zone parties (except for the
Sadrists) backed Maliki's "crime-fighting" initiatives and approved the
continuation of "operations under special laws", in effect giving him
the green light to carry on against the Sadrists. (See the prior post
here). Maliki stressed, implicitly or explicitly, the idea that the
Basra "outlaw" groups represent a clear and present Iranian threat in
Iraq. The Sadrist representative said this was a political attack on
the Sadrists, and he said the US presence in the Green Zone, with
night-time raids and mass arrests, constitutes collective punishment
for having defended themselves (and naturally for opposing the US
occupation). "
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Fighting
erupts in Baghdad after week of calm
---
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2008-04-06T211214Z_01_L0576028_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ.xml
A quote...."BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces
battled gunmen in Baghdad's Sadr City on Sunday, a return to heavy
fighting in the capital after Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr pulled his
militiamen off the streets a week ago." -- "
U.S. and Iraqi forces have imposed a
blockade on vehicle traffic in and out of Sadr City for two weeks.
Residents of the besieged district describe skyrocketing food prices,
rubbish piling up and claustrophobia from being trapped indoors." --
bold/underline by website editor --
Heck
why don't we all just call Sadr City "Gaza Strip #2" - mpg
Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Sunday round-up - [ Day 13
]
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Speaking of which....
MIDEAST:
Gaza Running on Near Empty ---
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41874
A quote...."GAZA CITY, Apr 5 (IPS) - Ayman Eid stands as motionless as
his orange Hyundai taxi. Never mind taking a passenger somewhere, Ayman
has no idea how he will ever get home. -- The queue at the petrol
station seems endless. Drivers have run out of petrol even to queue up
in their cars; they just queue up themselves, empty cans in hand. Only
the lucky leave with a full can by the end of a day."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iran
joined militias in battle for Basra ---
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3690010.ece
War Warning - Presstitute Alert
- A quote...."IRANIAN forces were involved in the recent battle for
Basra, General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, is expected to
tell Congress this week. -- Military and intelligence sources believe
Iranians were operating at a tactical command level with the Shi’ite
militias fighting Iraqi security forces; some were directing operations
on the ground, they think." --
Their
lies just keep getting bigger and bigger....and no one seems to care.
-
mpg --
For more on this issue see....Petraeus
is an AKLCS ---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mpgrapsheet-blogpg-mpg-012707#AKLCS
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Fed
Up: Bernanke joins G-7 to Stem Global Financial Meltdown
--- http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19683.htm
War Warning - Special Note
- A quote...."Bernanke's myriad auction facilities (four, so far) are
ostensibly designed to remove these mortgage-backed stinkers from the
banks' balance sheets so they can start lending again. But there's
another reason, too. The Fed thinks they can simply put these MBSs in
cold-storage for a while and then re-thaw them when the market bounces
back. But the market for MBSs won't bounce back. This is biggest
housing bust in US history and prices have a long way to go. Who is
going to invest in mortgage-backed bonds when the underlying asset is
losing value every day?"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Ahmadinejad
offers OPEC bank ---
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=165638
Red War
Warning -
Attack on the
Dollar - A quote...." TEHRAN – Iranian President Mahmud
Ahmadinejad on Sunday proposed launching a bank for the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries and urged OPEC states to adopt a single
currency in oil deals. -- “OPEC should prepare a clear plan to fully
exercise the rights of petroleum exporting countries… OPEC members
should set up a common bank and adopt a single currency,” Ahmadinejad
told visiting OPEC Secretary General Abdullah Salem al-Badri on Sunday."
Why are the three articles
shown
above War Warnings? -- See....Standard
Disclaimer
---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/disclaimer-blog-mpg-070207
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Stagflationary
Abyssal Part II - More Evidence and Suggestions for What to Do
---
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_steven_l_080406_stagflationary_abyss.htm
A quote...."Little in journalism evokes more critical or sarcastic
responses than dire economic predictions. I expected no less when I
wrote my article “It's not a Recession or even a Depression that is
coming, it is a Stagflationary Abyssal”
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_steven_l_080402_it_s_not_a_recession.htm.
I was surprised that I received almost no dismissive or pedantic
responses. While I was pondering the mystery of this, the New York
Times/CBS poll came out that showed that “81% of Americans believe that
the US is on the wrong track” [1], mystery solved. -- More
Evidence"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Wall
St banks 'hooked on emergency funds scheme' ---
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/06/useconomy.usa
A quote...."Fears are mounting that Wall Street banks are relying too
heavily on tens of billions of dollars in loans made available by the
US Federal Reserve. Their borrowing levels have rocketed by almost 200
per cent to $38bn (£19bn) a day in just three weeks. -- The
latest loan data released by the Fed shows that Wall Street banks and
investment firms borrowed an average of $38.4bn every day last week, a
big jump from the $32.9bn borrowed the week before, but almost three
times the $13.4bn borrowed when the emergency scheme was launched on 17
March."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Chile
cuts taxes to [help people cope with]
fight
highest inflation in decade --- -
Editor’s
note - cutting taxes results in more spending (although it might be
more "efficient" spending) and usually higher government deficits and
therefore, eventually
higher inflation. - mpg
-- A quote...."Chile’s consumer price index rose 0.8% in
March, up from 0.4% in February, according to the latest release from
the country’s National Statistics Institute (INE). The March figure
pushed 12-month inflation to 8.5%, up from the February 8.1%."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Video
Review: 9/11 Contradictions ---
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20080406173055326
A quote...."David Ray Griffin provides more food for thought with the
release of his 5th single-author book on the events of September the
11th... 9/11 Contradictions."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
WTC
7 Not Mentioned in Official 9-11 Report ---
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_gene_cap_080406_wtc_7_not_mentioned_.htm
A quote...."Please carefully consider that WTC 7 was not hit by an
aircraft on 9-11, was not attacked by terrorists, and only small fires
that were not spreading and were contained on only one side of
the building on the 12th floor were observed, yet the entire 47 story
tall concrete and steel skyscraper building "buckled" in the center,
penthouse first, then came straight down very quickly in a mere 6.5
seconds at free fall, not impeded in any manner whatsoever by any of
the numerous floors below, imploding from within precisely into it's
own footprints, the concrete pulverized and vaporized into toxic dust
and powder, resulting in huge, billowing, pyroclastic clouds, and the
massive steel core columns (18) cut and hurled horizontally, a truly
perfect, classic example of a building brought down with deliberate
purpose, and with a very high degree of advanced professional skills
and substantial expert experience in a controlled fashion." --
The really interesting thing to note is
that the fires were on the twelfth floor in WTC7, and unlike the twin
towers which collapsed on the floors with the fires, the videos seem to
show WTC7's collapse appeared to have started in the basement…. twelve
floors below the fires. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Did
the Elites Want MLK Dead--If So, Why? ---
http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn04052008.html
A quote...."I believe Oswald killed JFK and Sirhan killed Bobby. Lone
gunmen both. With MLK, it could be a different matter. And with the
infinitely more radical Malcom X it certainly was. The Kennedys were no
threat to ruling power. They were part of the ruling power. Whatever
his actual function--and King was given a hard time as an Uncle Tom by
radicals in the later Sixties--the ruling power construed him as a
threat."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
John
F Kennedy Assassination Secret Service Stand Down - (Google Video -
2 min 55 sec - Mar 31, 2006)
---
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5770984395481454022
From the history file - A quote...."This video shows showing the Secret
Service officer ordering JFK’s bodyguards away from JFK before entering
the Grassy Knolls area when he gets shot."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Saturday April 5th 2008 - links
page
Robert
Fisk: The fearful lives in a land of the free --
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/fisk/robert-fisk-the-fearful-lives-in-a-land-of-the-free-804914.html
Must Read - A quote...."I
was given the chance to talk to 600 Muslim Canadians a
few days ago. The dinner was in an Ottawa banqueting room and the
guests also included the imam of the Ottawa mosque, the Ottawa chief of
police and sundry uniformed Canadian army officers."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Through
Iraqi Eyes - More Clips of "Liberation" ---
http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/2008/04/through-iraqi-eyes-more-clips-of.html
Must Read -
Video - A
quote...."Did I ever tell you about my trip to the USA ? But that was
ages ago... That was when I still considered you somewhat (and do
underline somewhat) of human beings...of course that has changed
drastically, since..." --
This piece
is quite emotional, but it's also an accurate observation of a good
portion of this society's less savory aspects. The author calls
those she observes
"Americans", this website editor would emphatically disagree with that
term....for these people are
not "Americans", they are and have always been Neo-Romans. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Permissible
Assaults Cited in Graphic Detail ---
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/05/AR2008040502099_pf.html
A quote...."Having 81 pages of legal analysis with its footnotes and
respectable-sounding language makes the reader lose sight of what this
is all about," said Dawn Johnsen, an OLC chief during the Clinton
administration who is now a law professor at Indiana University. "He is
saying that poking people's eyes out and pouring acid on them is beyond
Congress's ability to limit a president. It is an unconscionable
document."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Torturing
the Geneva Convention
---
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/editorial/2008/April/editorial_April14.xml§ion=editorial&col=
A quote...."THERE must be a growing chill in the US Congress as the
recent release of the full text of a March 14, 2003 memo confirms that
the assault on prized US principles, international humanitarian laws
and the Geneva Convention found sanction from the highest echelons of
the neocon White House."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Evidence
Grows of Drug Use on Detainees ---
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=hsnews-000002697912
A quote...."There can be little doubt now that the government has used
drugs on terrorist suspects that are designed to weaken their
resistance to interrogation. All that’s missing is the syringes and
videotapes."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
[British]
Army faces new torture claims over arrest of Shia leader
---
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/army-faces-new-torture-claims-over-arrest-of-shia-leader-805237.html
A quote...."The testament of a respected Shia elder, aged 70, suggests
brutal treatment of civilians is still continuing, writes Robert
Verkaik" -- "The British Army faces new allegations of torture and
abuse over the arrest and detention of a Shia tribal leader and his
family who claim they were hooded and beaten by soldiers based at Basra
airport last year."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
George
Bush rules out further Iraq troop cuts ---
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/05/wbush105.xml
A quote...."President George W. Bush will signal next week that he will
pull no more troops out of Iraq while he is president, once his troop
surge ends in the summer. - His senior Iraq commander General David
Petraeus will use his testimony to congress on Tuesday and Wednesday to
argue for continuing political support for the tactics of the surge
strategy even after a planned drawdown of troops." --
They will never leave, they're there
forever, and that will be Bush's enduring legacy. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Saturday round-up - 3 articles[ Day 12
]
Maliki
Gives Up the Fight ---
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20080404_maliki_gives_up_the_fight/
A quote...."Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, just a day after some
tough talk, has caved on his promise to disarm militant Iraqis. The
news that the Iraqi government would no longer pursue “people who carry
weapons” comes on the heels of an Iran-backed truce with rival Shiite
leader Moqtada al-Sadr."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Sadrists allege
collective punishment by the American forces against the residents of
Sadr City ---
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m42789&s1=h1
A quote...." The official spokesman for the Sadrist bloc (in
parliament), Saleh alAkili told AlHayat, "The announcement issued by
Maliki about stopping the [arbitrary] searches and arrests was an
attempt to throw sand in our eyes", explaining: "The arrests have not
stopped, in spite of Maliki's announcement to that effect. And the
American forces continue to spread terror among the people of Sadr
City, stationing themselves in force at the entrances of local streets,
carrying out nighttime raids, arresting hundreds of Sadr City youths,
without warrants."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
IRAQ WRAPUP
2-Iraqi leaders call for militias to disband ---
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=116455
A quote...."BAGHDAD, April 5 (Reuters) - Iraq's political leadership on
Saturday called on all parties to disband their militias before
provincial elections this year, an apparent attempt to isolate the
populist Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr." --
Exactly what is Iraq's "political council
of national security" going to do with the eighty five thousand strong
Awakening Councils? The Badra Brigade? The Kurdish militia?
This could all get really interesting. - mpg
END
-- Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Saturday round-up - [ Day 12 ]
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Lebanon,
Hezbollah on full alert ---
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=50362§ionid=351020203
War Warning - A
quote...."Lebanon's army and resistance movement of Hezbollah are on
high alert in southern Lebanon to be ready for any Israeli hostile
moves. - The Lebanese army Commander Michel Suleiman put all military
units in southern Lebanon on full alert, Lebanese daily as-Safir
reported. - "Suleiman ordered the army to be ready to prevent any
possible violation of the Lebanese coastal waters and targeting
civilians by the Israeli army," the paper quoted informed sources
speaking on condition of anonymity."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Israel:
Full-scale War-Drill on April 6-10, 2008 ---
http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/160997
War Warning - A
quote...."A drill-siren will be heard across the country as part of a
national home-front exercise at 10:00 am, Tuesday, April 8, 2008. - The
siren will be part of a national drill taking place involving all of
the national emergency services, the IDF Home-Front Command, the Israel
Police, Magen David Adom, Israel Fire Department, government offices
and local authorities. - immediately after the drill-siren, a special
home-front broadcast will be shown on channel 33 during which
explanatory videos will be broadcasted guiding the general public on
safeguard areas as well as special explanatory videos for children."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
US
defence chief meets Oman's ruler ---
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_defence_chief_meets_Oman_s_ruler_04052008.html
War Alert - A
quote...."US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Saturday held talks with
Oman's Sultan Qaboos, the ruler of the key Gulf Arab state which faces
Iran across the strategic Strait of Hormuz."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Rice
misses the obvious in peace-making ---
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=90500
A quote...."Rice said in Amman Monday that, "Settlement activity should
stop, and expansion should stop; it is not consistent with road map
obligations ... My strong view is that the best thing we can do is
focus on getting this agreement," she said, referring to Abbas-Olmert
negotiations to achieve a broad framework for peace by the end of this
year. She argued that "it's all moving in the right direction." --
Well, yes, like the man who was walking down the street unaware of the
refrigerator that was about to land on him from the skyscraper. It is
difficult to understand why an otherwise sensible and learned American
secretary of state can live in a fantasy world when it comes to
understanding the real significance of Israeli settlements built on
occupied Palestinian land. Soft rhetorical criticism of the settlements
simply does no good to anyone." --
"Calamity
Condi" does it again, wherever she goes she leaves a trail
of dead
bodies in her wake....see the three articles shown above.
- mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The U.S.
establishment media in a nutshell ---
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
A quote...."Here are the number of times, according to NEXIS, that
various topics have been mentioned in the media over the past thirty
days:
"Yoo and torture" - 102
"Mukasey and 9/11" -- 73
"Yoo and Fourth Amendment" -- 16
"Obama and bowling" -- 1,043
"Obama and Wright" -- More than 3,000 (too many to be counted)
"Obama and patriotism" - 1,607
"Clinton and Lewinsky" -- 1,079
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
When
Media Spread 'Lie' About Jessica Lynch Rescue ---
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003785690
A quote...."NEW YORK Precisely five years ago the U.S. media were
transfixed on the heroic rescue of a captured U.S. Army Pfc. named
Jessica Lynch, who supposedly had emerged from her hellhole in Iraq,
guns blazing, in a daring operation to save her. The invasion of Iraq
had just started to run into some difficulties – amid signs that
Americans might not be greeted with flowers after all – and the Lynch
rescue helped rally the country and had significant propaganda value. "
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
First....Admiral:
Iraq has troops, Afghanistan waits ---
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/02/mullen.iraq.afghanistan/index.html?iref=topnews
A quote...."updated 8:05 p.m. EDT,
Wed April 2, 2008 -- There
are force requirements there [in Afghanistan] that we can't currently
meet," Adm. Mike Mullen said. "Having forces in Iraq at the level
they're at doesn't allow us to fill the need that we have in
Afghanistan."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
And
second....Bush
pledges to send more troops to Afghanistan ---
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bush5apr05,0,3870395.story
A quote...."ZAGREB, CROATIA --
Fri April 5, 2008 --
President Bush told a NATO summit that the United States would increase
its number of troops in Afghanistan, administration officials said
Friday, as the president sought to assure partners of Washington's
long-term commitment to the campaign."
Either Bush is lying to his
allies, doesn't care about what his Admiral said (boy that sounds so
familiar) or he's too stupid to know better. -- It's probably all three
- mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
NATO
Summit Fails to Heal Deep Divisions ---
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,545491,00.html
Special Note - A
quote...."The smiles in Bucharest were little more than show.
Politically, the NATO summit was a fiasco. The Western alliance remains
deeply divided and faces an identity crisis -- with Russian relations
just one of the alliance's many points of dispute." --
Thank God they're not going to make a
second mistake like Afghanistan is all this editor can say. -
mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Does
NATO Want Out of Afghanistan? ---
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,545348,00.html
Special Note - A
quote...."In public, NATO is demanding that all allies contribute their
fair share to the ongoing effort in Afghanistan. But behind closed
doors, a paper has been circulated that may provide the beginnings of
an exit strategy. Germany is pushing the plan." --
NATO should have seen this coming from a
mile away but they didn't, they went ahead and choose to believe Bush
and commit their forces. Goes to show you these highly educated,
highly paid, cream of Europe's political class are about as bright as a
bunch of wooden posts. They also obviously don't read their history
either.
- mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Nato
fails on Afghan troops plea ---
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5341654.stm
Now how could that happen? -- A
quote from the article....."Speaking in Canada, she [Condi Rice]
explained that the US should learn its lessons from Afghanistan."If you
allow that kind of vacuum, if you allow a failed state in that
strategic location, you're going to pay for it," she said. -- Last
month, Nato commanders took over from US-led coalition forces but
there has been a resurgence of Taleban attacks, above all in the south"
-- When Rice states "If you
allow that kind of vacuum," is she referring to Bushy's decision to
take many of the U.S.'s best troops out of Afghanistan before the
country had been stabilized and send them off to go invade Iraq? -- Or
is
she referring to the U.S.'s
complete abandonment of Afghanistan
last month? Statements from this administration's officials are
just so confusing. -- Hey
instead of putting more NATO troops in Afghanistan or planning to leave
half a billion
dollars of small arms in that country
---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/afghandeal-blog-mpg-052206
--- as was considered by the
U.S,
why not leave a billion
dollars worth, why not two? - mpg --
posted 09-16-2006
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Nato
names Afghan expansion date ---
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5401626.stm
Yep, give the whole mess Bushy
& Co. have created to NATO so they
can be blamed for this fiasco. See "Afghan
Deal"
---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/afghandeal-blog-mpg-052206
--- You poor Europeans, I guess you're not that bright after all.
-
mpg -
posted 10-03-2006
========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
==========
========== ====
Insurgent
activity rising in Afghanistan ---
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061112/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan
Luckily the "pacification" of
Afghanistan has been turned over to NATO
and the Europeans who were actually dumb enough to except
responsibility for it. -- So this lets Bush off the hook? He's
only responsible for
the disaster called Iraq? Nah...he took the troops out of
Afghanistan before the US had established control so he and his Texas
Cabal cronies could make a ton'ol money
in Iraq and take their oil. So he's got two catastrophes he's
responsible
for, three if you count Lebanon, four if you blame him for winking at
the Israelis when they went after the Palestinians and five if this
moronic jerk and his friends decide to go after Iran. -- And he gets
paid over $200,000.00 a year for this? He's way
overpaid. - mpg --
posted
11-12-2006
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iraqis
angered by renewal of Blackwater contract ---
http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSL05597609
A quote...."BAGHDAD, April 5 (Reuters) - Iraqis expressed anger on
Saturday at news the United States had renewed the contract of
Blackwater, a private security firm blamed for killing up to 17 people
in a shooting incident last year." --
As
Cheney would say....So?
Or more specifically as he would say, "what, they still think it's
their
country"? - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
How
the other fifth lives ---
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=56303
A quote...."WHETHER you call it Shafa Amr, as the residents do, or
Shfaram, its name in Hebrew, is already a political statement. This
sleepy, hilly Arab town of 33,000 people in northern Israel was where a
19-year-old Jewish soldier, Eden Natan-Zada, boarded a bus in August
2005 and shot dead four people before being overpowered and lynched."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Riyadh:
Pressure Israel to sign NPT ---
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=50376§ionid=351020205
A quote...."Saudi Arabia has called for international pressure to
compel Israel to accept the international monitoring over its nuclear
activities."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iran
Lashes at British Nuke Hypocrisy ---
http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8701170586
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran accused Britain of being a major
violator of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) while urging
others to strictly observe the same world treaty."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Russia
to Continue N[uke] Cooperation with Iran ---
http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8701170602
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- Russian President Vladimir Putin said that
Russia would honor all its contractual commitments to develop peaceful
nuclear programs in Iran."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iran
Dismisses N[uke] Concession ---
http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8701170623
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian official said here on
Saturday that the country would not trade its rights [under the NPT] in
return for a package of incentives offered by the West, reiterating
that Tehran would press ahead with plans to expand its nuclear program."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Package
proposes clipping [Pakistan's] president’s powers ---
http://www.dawn.com/2008/04/06/top3.htm
Some quotes...."LAHORE, April 5: The new constitutional package to be
introduced during the next session of the National Assembly will take
away many crucial powers of the president, smoothen the functioning of
the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and ensure that autonomy granted
to provinces by the basic law is not violated by anyone on any ground."
-- "The sources said the power of the president to dissolve the
National Assembly under Article 58(2)-b of the Constitution, appoint
provincial governors and services chiefs, impose governor’s rule in any
province or declare a state of emergency would be withdrawn."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The
Russophobia Card ---
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2008/04/03/006.html
From the Russian point of view
- A quote...."The U.S. presidential candidates are increasingly playing
the Russophobia card in their campaigns. In addressing Russia, Senators
John McCain and Hillary Clinton have resorted to insulting President
Vladimir Putin as a KGB spy who has no soul. Russophobia is truly back
into fashion, as Senator Joseph Biden admitted last week in a comment
published in The Wall Street Journal."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Divide
and Rule: Driving a Wedge Between Brazil and Venezuela
--- http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3325
Some quotes...."When you can't stamp out progressive social change, the
next step is to try to desperately derail it or otherwise water it
down. That's exactly the kind of strategy being pursued right now by
the likes of Condoleezza Rice, who recently concluded a South American
tour designed to ostracize the bad countries, namely Venezuela,
Bolivia, and increasingly Argentina, and to cultivate ties with the
good countries such as Brazil and Chile." -- "The vehicle for closer
integration could well be Mercosur, a trading bloc of South American
countries. At present the bloc's members include Brazil, Argentina,
Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela is in the process of joining the bloc,
and a number of countries including Bolivia and Chile are associate
members. Mercosur nations have declared their intention of forming a
South American Community of Nations modeled after the European Union."
South America must immediately
join and integrate, they can argue about the mix of economic structures
later, but if they don't join they won't be able to compete on the
world stage, especially with that thug-o-cratic, extortionist,
loan-shark collection of whacked-out psychos called the United
States*. They'll be toast, and the US will literally eat their
lunch.
*PS some readers may think the
above statement is "anti-US", let's stop being childish folks and get
real, you don't count, your opinion doesn’t count, your vote doesn't
count, everything you see in the mass-media has already been proven to
be
lies, this isn't a country, this isn't even the "United States" anymore
and it hasn't been for at least sixty years.
This is a shell corporation
which operates like the mafia and happens to be completely controlled,
and run, by ten to twenty thousand people tops. End of story.
- mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Civil
Liberties Destroyed Well Before Previously Thought ---
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20080404220532505
A quote...."Three rather unsettling news pieces from today, the
anniversary of Dr. King's assassination . . . wow."
1) "Exactly what domestic
military action was covered by the October memo is unclear" . . .
(Remember when the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 was still in force?)
2) "The October 2001 memo arguing for unregulated military searches on
U.S. soil has not been formally withdrawn and remains a secret but
unclassified document."
3) 2003 Justice Department memo justifies torture, presidential
dictatorship
"Thanks to Lori Price of Citizens for Legitimate Government for
bringing these items to our attention. Almost seems important enough
the corporate media would cover it, too, eh?!"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Analysts
now anxiously await first-quarter results from US regional banks
---
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/analysts-now-anxiously-await-firstquarter-results-from-us-regional-banks-805085.html
A quote...."Matt Kelley, analyst at stockbrokers Sterne Agee in Maine,
said investors will focus on which banks – and how many – might be at
risk. "Investors will immediately go right to the balance sheet, to the
capital ratios, to the write-downs. It's about capital and credit this
quarter."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Chertkow,
Once a Dollar Bull, Sees Long-Term Decline ---
http://infowars.net/articles/april2008/040408Chertkow.htm
A quote...."The dollar will fall in coming years as the U.S. seeks a
weak currency to boost exports and cut its trade and current-account
deficits, said Paul Chertkow, the former head of currency strategy at
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd." --
Website
Editor's caution: obviously Bernanke has received his marching
orders from the MIOC elites and he'll try to hold interest rates down
while hiding the severity of this nation’s increasing inflation till
after the elections, at which point sooner, rather than later, the Fed
will have to do something about inflation in this country.- mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Friday April 4th 2008 - links page
Toward
Monarchy ---
http://www.antiwar.com/bock/?articleid=12636
A quote...."As if we didn't already know, we have yet another piece of
evidence that one of the major "accomplishments" of the Bush
administration (and you didn't think there were any) has been a
relentless push for more executive power."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
America
is Headed Downhill ---
http://watchingamerica.com/News/640/america-is-headed-downhill/
A quote...."With all due skepticism about pollsters: if 81% of polled
Americans believe their nation is fundamentally headed in the wrong
direction, this is more significant than just an internal domestic
problem. We in Europe should also be concerned. Washington appears to
be more and more divorced from reality. Just as the War in Iraq was
based on lies and faked documents, just as the dimensions of the
Katrina disaster were underestimated and the response poorly managed,
now the US mortgage crisis, which has global repercussions, is based on
irrational and delusional assumptions. A world power has been deceiving
itself for years – driven by fear of terror, a culture of greed and
consumption and fantasies of saving the world."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Hersh:
children raped at Abu Ghraib, Pentagon has videos ---
http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=6107
A quote...."From Daily Kos' partial transcript of a video (link to REAL
stream) of Seymour Hersh speaking at an ACLU event. He says the US
government has videotapes of children being raped at Abu Ghraib prison
in Iraq." --
And don't kid
yourselves, there are millions of Neo-Romans living in this country who
like this sort of stuff. Even the Wall Street Journal said so.
- mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Didn't
They Already Get Saddam? - Was Killing Iraqi Children Worth It?
--- http://www.counterpunch.org/hornberger04042008.html
A quote...."A snapshot of the opening scene in the U.S. invasion
of Iraq provides an excellent insight into the immorality and horror of
the entire operation, from start to whenever it finally finishes."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Israel's
Tehran connection ---
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_silverstein/2008/04/israels_tehran_connection.html
Special Note - Some
quotes...."If you've ever wondered about the definition of hypocrisy
you'll find the answer right here." -- "Israel imports Iranian oil on a
large scale even though contacts with Iran and purchasing of its
products are officially boycotted by Israel. Israel gets around the
boycott by having the oil delivered via Europe. A reliable Israeli
energy newsletter, EnergiaNews, reported this last week [March 18] ...
" --
Ha, ha, ha, haaaaaa, it's
all just so hilarious! -- To all you Americans out there (the real
Americans, not those Neo-Romans) you've been duped, and you've
sacrificed your sons and daughters for a bunch of MIOC elites, PNAC'ing
Likud's from Israel and AIPAC....it's all just sooooo funny.
For more on this see issue....The
US is After Europe Too! - 03-23-08 - mpg
---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/theusisaftereuropetoo-blog-mpg-032308
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Al
Qaeda #2: We'll Attack Iran ---
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/04/al-qaeda-2-well.html
A quote...."Recently, Senator John McCain has repeatedly indicated that
Iran and al-Qaeda are in cahoots. The terror group's number two,
Ayman al-Zawahiri, would beg to differ. In a long-promised online
Q&A session, Zawahiri says it would be "in the interest" of
Al-Qaeda to see Iran "sap[ped]" by a fight with the United
States. Moreover, he seems to promise that the extremist
collective will "battle" whoever wins that U.S.-Iran struggle."
--
Let's put it this way, the
US has given absolutely NO
money to Iran. On the other hand the US has given directly, or
encouraged others to give indirectly on behalf of the US, BILLIONS of dollars to al Qaeda.
Does everyone get the point....or is it too obvious?? - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
British
fear US commander is beating the drum for Iran strikes
---
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/05/wiran105.xml
Red War
Warning
-- A quote...."A strong statement from General David Petraeus about
Iran's intervention in Iraq could set the stage for a US attack on
Iranian military facilities, according to a Whitehall assessment. In
closely watched testimony in Washington next week, Gen Petraeus will
state that the Iranian threat has risen as Tehran has supplied and
directed attacks by militia fighters against the Iraqi state and its US
allies."
OH MY GAWD.....what a bunch of
little, whining, crying, snot-nosed, chicken-hawk, frat-boy,
babies. Whaugh, Whaugh....Muqtada al-Sadr showed the whole world
how stupid we are.....Whaugh, Whaugh, sniffle, sniffle....well we'll
show them, we're gonna start World War III, that'll teach them.
Petraeus should get it through
his sick, twisted, tiny, pin-sized head that....IT'S THE IRAQIS' OIL,
IT
BELONGS TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE, NOT TO HIM, OR CHENEY, OR THE US OIL
COMPANIES.!!
What is it that Admiral Wiliam
Fallon once said about Petraeus....oh that's right -- to quote the
Admiral - Petraeus is an "ass-kissing little chicken sh-t.".
Never were truer words spoken.
- mpg
For more on this issue see....Go
Build Your Neo-Roman Empire - Just Leave Us Out Of It - 10-14-07 - mpg
---
http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/gobuildyournre-mpg-blog-101407
See also....Paltry
result of Iraqi
[Nouri al-Maliki's and Cheney's] offensive quiets U.S. withdrawal talk
- A Satirical Edit
---
http://reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/cachedfiles/paltryresultofiraqioffensive-strobel&youssef-mcclatchy-cached-040108
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Friday round-up - 9 articles - [ Day 11
]
Green
Zone Defeat? 'Handed Over' to a Government Called Sadr
--- http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8535
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Apr 2 (IPS) - Despite the huge media campaign led
by U.S. officials and a complicit corporate-controlled media to
convince the world of U.S. success in Iraq, emerging facts on the
ground show massive failure."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Al-Maliki
Freezes anti-Militia Operations; Al-Sadr Calls Million Man March
---
http://www.juancole.com/2008/04/al-maliki-freezes-anti-militia.html
A quote...."Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki suddenly reversed himself on
Friday, pledging a freeze on attacks on militias. Just a day before he
had been saying that he would send the Iraqi military in after the
Mahdi Army in Baghdad. Given what happened to the army in Basra, where
the Sadr Movement isn't all that strong, I wouldn't have advised him to
do that. Apparently someone with some sense got al-Maliki's ear." -- *
Juan Cole*
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iraq's
Maliki breaks off deadly offensive ---
http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/04/04/iraqs_maliki_breaks_off_deadly_offensive/2266/
A quote...."AMMAN - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has broken off
a nationwide military offensive against armed militiamen that left
hundreds of people dead in fierce fighting after serious cracks
appeared in the ranks of his freshly-trained government forces with as
many as 1,000 desertions."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Thousands
protest Iraqi government raids ---
http://www.therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1289&thisview=item
Video - A quote...."Pepe
Escobar: Sadr calls for massive demonstrations against occupation on
April 9th"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Massive
Shiite protest planned in Iraq; more battles possible
--- http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/32641.html
A quote...."BAGHDAD — Firebrand Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr on
Thursday called for a massive demonstration against the "occupation" of
Iraq on April 9, which would coincide with the fifth anniversary of the
fall of Baghdad and come just after U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus and
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are to testify to Congress about progress
in Iraq."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Levin:
Bush backs 'corrupt and incompetent' Iraqi government
---
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/METRO/804040437/1020/rss09
A quote...."The Bush administration is backing a corrupt and
incompetent government in Iraq, Sen. Carl Levin told reporters Friday,
setting a tough tone for next week's hearings with the top U.S.
commander in Iraq. -- Leveling harsh new charges at Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri al Maliki, Levin said he will make questions about last
week's failed Iraqi military offensive a major part of the hearings.
"The Bush administration has put all of our eggs in Maliki's basket,"
Levin said in a conference call with reporters. "And he's shown himself
to be a political leader who is excessively sectarian, who's
incompetent and who runs a corrupt administration."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Attrition
Rates ---
http://www.atlargely.com/2008/04/attrition-rates.html
A quote...."Via Kevin Drum, I see that there are reports of
considerable Iraqi Army desertion problems during the recent
politically-motivated assault in Basra. The New York Times says a
"senior American military official said that he understood that 1,000
to 1,500 Iraqi forces had deserted or underperformed" while the WaPo
puts the figure even higher - "A senior official in Iraq's Defense
Ministry...said he estimated that 30 percent of the Iraqi troops
abandoned the fight before a cease-fire was reached."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
UN
says 700 killed in Iraq Shi'ite clashes ---
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m42765&s1=h1
A quote...."A UN official says an estimated 700 people were killed in
the fighting between Iraqi government forces and Shi'ite militiamen
last week."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Muqtada
out of step in Shi'ite dance ---
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JD05Ak02.html
A quote...."DAMASCUS - Two years ago, Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr was interviewed by La Republica, explaining his relationship
with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Then, the two men were firmly
allied in a friendship that was frowned on by almost everybody; the
Americans, the Iranians, Arab states and Iraqi Sunnis. Muqtada's
supporters were critical, claiming that by working with Maliki, their
boss was legitimizing a US-backed prime minister."
END
-- Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Friday round-up - [ Day 11]
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
US
renews Blackwater contract in Iraq ---
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/04/05/47884.html
A quote...."Despite the fact that investigations of the incident in
which the company’s guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians are still
underway, the U.S. State Department said it is extending its diplomat
protection contract for private security firm Blackwater USA"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Suez
Canal Affair: Bush Apologizes to Egypt ---
http://watchingamerica.com/News/647/the-suez-canal-affair-bush-apologizes-to-egypt/
A quote...."Washington had initially denied that shots had been fired,
later admitting that they had been fired into the water. The Egyptian
foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, criticized the behavior of the
Americans, noting that the shots were unacceptable and that ports are
not open for firing on people, according to his remarks in the national
newspaper Al-Ahram."
Just remember this one very
important, salient fact when reading about anything the US government
has to
say. Every single incident of malfeasance perpatrated by the US
government uncovered so far, has always been preceded by an
attempted cover-up.
Every single incident has been preceded by lies. -- Every single one.
-- Never every forget that fact. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Bush
Lies About 911: A Primer ---
http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/2008/04/bush-lies-about-911-primer.html
Must Read - A
quote...."As FBI Director Robert Mueller had said, there is no evidence
to connect the 'said' 19 'hijackers' with the events of 911. That's
'no' as in 'none', 'nada' and 'zip'! And there is STILL no evidence to
connect the 'Arab hijackers' with the crime of mass murder called
'911'. Those who assert must prove. Bush asserted a theory in which the
19 hijackers crashed US buildings and all died. Show me the bodies!
Show me a valid and verifiable autopsy report."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
9/11
Contradictions: Bush in the Classroom ---
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8555
A quote...."The official story of 9/11 is riddled with internal
contradictions. One of these contradictions involves the question of
how long President Bush remained in classroom in Sarasota, Florida, on
the morning of 9/11."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
911
Truth Gets Media Boost ---
http://www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_david_wa_080403_time_is_short_21__ther.htm
A quote...."Time is short. The next 9/11 (American Hiroshima? -- read
about it!) is on its way. George Bush, the next 9/11 will make the
first 9/11 "pale by comparison" (11-11/07 & 2-13/08) and "wreak
havoc through death." (08-03/07) Hint: Just like the first 9/11, the
next 9/11 WILL NOT be carried out by al Qaeda. It will again come from
the "inside."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The
DOJ comments on the Mukasey controversy ---
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/04/04/doj/index.html
A quote...."In response to the growing controversy over plainly
misleading comments by Attorney General Michael Mukasey last week in
San Francisco, and in response to the questions I submitted, the DOJ's
Peter Carr, its Principal Deputy Director of Public Affairs, sent me
the following email:"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Hagel:
McCain Facing Electoral Buzzsaw Over Iraq ---
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/03/hagel-mccain-facing-elect_n_94934.html
A quote....""I am concerned about the [party still holding on to Iraq
as an issue]," said Hagel. "If for no other reason than the political
factors here are quite obvious. This country has made a decision on
Iraq, and as you see now in any poll, even a minimum of 25 percent of
the registered Republicans cannot support the president's policy in
Iraq. You take that with the independents and Democrats and you have
anywhere between 60 and 70 percent who want out." --
Totally and utterly NOT TRUE. All
you'll need is one nice, fat, juicy, false flag incident, like an
American city being nuked, and presto!! All them dumb, drooling,
morons out there will vote Republican. It's as simple as that. -
mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Somalia:
The Open Secret Horror Show Continues ---
http://winterpatriot.blogspot.com/2008/04/somalia-open-secret-horror-show.html
A quote...."In other words, we started out fighting "terrorists of
global reach", or the Taliban, or Afghanistan, or Islam, or Islamists,
or the rest of the world, or something, because of the alleged "act of
war" that was "declared against the United States" on September 11,
2001. -- Never mind that the official story of 9/11 and all its
official variants have been packs of lies. The "news" media were never
going to expose the fiction -- not after 50 years of being secretly
groomed to produce fiction -- and a huge propaganda army could be
mobilized against anyone who dared to raise any questions."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
(The
Late) M.L. King Still Silenced ---
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_jeff_coh_080404__28the_late_29_m_l__king.htm
A quote...."Soon after Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday became a
federal holiday in 1986, I began prodding mainstream media to cover the
dramatic story of King’s last year as he campaigned militantly against
U.S. foreign and economic policy."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Rabbi
Eliyahu: Life of one yeshiva boy worth more than 1,000 Arabs
---
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3527410,00.html
A quote...."The Talmud states that if gentiles rob Israel of silver
they will pay it back in gold, and all that is taken will be paid back
in folds, but in cases like these there is nothing to pay back, since
as I said – the life of one yeshiva boy is worth more than the lives of
1,000 Arabs," added Rabbi Eliyahu."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
No
Checkpoints in Heaven ---
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8560
Must Read - A quote...."I
still vividly remember my father’s face - wrinkled, apprehensive, warm
- as he last wished me farewell fourteen years ago. He stood outside
the rusty door of my family’s home in a Gaza refugee camp wearing old
yellow pyjamas and a seemingly ancient robe. As I hauled my one small
suitcase into a taxi that would take me to an Israeli airport an hour
away, my father stood still. I wished he would go back inside; it was
cold and the soldiers could pop up at any moment."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Should
the U.S. End Aid to Israel? - Funding Our Decline ---
http://www.counterpunch.org/weir04042008.html
A quote...."April 1st I participated in a debate in San Francisco that
raised the question of US aid to Israel. -- It was highly appropriate
that this debate was held two weeks before tax day, since in Israel's
sixty years of existence, it has received more US tax money than any
other nation on earth."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
New
study shows US lawmakers have as much as $196 million invested in
defense companies ---
http://www.countercurrents.org/ap040408.htm
If you include their off-shore
accounts, it'll probably run into the billions. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Bad
Samaritans – The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism
--- http://www.countercurrents.org/miles040408.htm
Book Review - A
quote...."Every now and then a ‘prize’ of a book comes along that
includes all the elements of good writing. "
Bad
Samaritans"* ---
http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Samaritans-Secret-History-Capitalism/dp/1596913991
--- is one of them." -- "The main underlying position that
demolishes the myth of capitalist free trade and its supposed successes
with globalization is that all the current wealthy countries achieved
their wealth not through free trade, but through the use of highly
protective tariffs and effective use of subsidies and laws that
regulated foreign business within their own country. He
starts with his own country, Korea...." -- *link added by websit author.
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Chavez
nationalises cement industry ---
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/78BD5E2C-6A4B-4787-BAF7-7F764A8BF7A0.htm
A quote...."Venezuela's president has announced that he has ordered the
nationalisation of cement companies operating in the country, in a
nationally televised address."
Chavez is getting a case of the
stupids, big time. Well
controlled and well regulated free markets within a nation
state.
(something the US does NOT have) almost always work better than
governments at running consumer demand-driven services.
Governments that are actually
controlled by the "people" (i.e. transparent, democratic, law abiding and not corrupt) are good
at delivering only a few basic services; divvying up the benefits
from fixed resources - land, rivers, oil and gas. Setting up national
grid systems, because their capital costs and outputs are well known,
long term
and are easily calculated -- roads, dams, water, canals, harbors,
air
ports, electricity.
Establishing systems that work best when
delivered to everyone equally - educational systems and also risk
systems
like health insurance and retirement insurance. And finally, delivering
services which should never
ever be privatized - police, courts, prisons, parks and national
defense.
That's about it. If you
try to deliver any other type of service through the government, you
are
just asking for trouble. Governments, i.e. command
structures do not work very well when they attempt to deliver consumer
demand-driven services. Even if these services involve the heavy,
capital intensive, sectors of the economy.
Chavez is going down the wrong
road. It's going to be very expensive for him and Venezuela and
not just in terms of money, but in terms of national pride and lost
opportunity.
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Is an
International Financial Conspiracy Driving World Events?
--- http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=25077
Special Note - A
quote...."Was Alan Greenspan really as dumb as he looks in creating the
late housing bubble that threatens to bring the entire Western
debt-based economy crashing down?"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Diversified
markets have cut Brazil’s exposure to US crisis ---
http://mercopress.handsoft.com.uy/vernoticia.do?id=13060&formato=HTML
Special Note - A
quote....Brazil’s Foreign Secretary Celso Amorim said that
those countries which have signed
free trade agreement with United States are the most vulnerable to the
consequences of the US housing and banking crisis, contrary to
Brazil that has “diversified markets”." --
There's still time for all those other
countries
out there, they should de-couple themselves from the US economy
immeadiatly, or they will suffer the economic consequences for their
lack of foresight. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Fed's
interest rate games could destroy the dollar ---
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/OPINION01/804040313/1008
A quote...."Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has reduced the key
federal funds rate six times in as many months -- reducing the cost for
major borrowers significantly. This combines with providing $270
million in funding, plus $30 billion in additional guarantees, for JP
Morgan Chase to buy Bear Stearns Cos."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Wall
Street brokerages borrowing $38.1 billion a day from Federal Reserve
---
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/BUSINESS07/80403058
Special Note - A
quote...."The Federal Reserve reports Thursday that those firms
averaged $38.1 billion in daily borrowing over the past week from the
new lending program. That compared with $32.9 billion in the previous
week and $13.4 billion in the first week the lending facility opened."
--
Here that sound folks? That
roaring, rumbling, thumping sound is the sound of Bernanke's money
helicopter, tossing bales of green stuff out the door....you're not
going to get any though, you're just going to get the bill. -
mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Perils
in The Price Of Rice ---
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=56249
A quote...."You may have missed the front-page article in the New York
Times last Saturday, with the one-column headline written in clipped
newspaperese: "High Rice Cost Creating Fears of Asia Unrest." But this
little story could be an early warning of another big economic problem
that's sneaking up on us. -- The new danger is global
inflation -- most worryingly in food prices, but also in prices for
commodities, raw materials and products that require petroleum energy,
which includes almost everything. Prices for these goods have been
skyrocketing in international markets -- at the same time the Federal
Reserve and other central banks have been hosing the world with new
money in their efforts to avoid a financial crisis. "
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Corn
Hits $6 a Bushel on Tight Supplies ---
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/03/financial/f130351D82.DTL&feed=rss.business
A quote...."Corn prices jumped to a record $6 a bushel Thursday, driven
up by an expected supply shortfall that will only add to Americans'
growing grocery bill and further squeeze struggling ethanol producers.
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Home
farm foreclosure rate goes up ---
http://www.therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1286&thisview=item
Video - A quote...."AP:
Merced,
California faces among the highest foreclosure rates in the
country"
--
If they've got all these
foreclosures now with food prices screaming upwards.....what the heck
is going to happen when this country goes into a deep recession?? -
mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Gas
Prices Rise to New National Record ---
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8VBE1600&show_article=1
A quote...." NEW YORK (AP) - The cost of filling up
the family car
climbed to a record high Tuesday, adding to the challenges consumers
already face with falling home values and rising food prices."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
March
U.S. nonfarm payrolls down 80,000, jobless rate up to 5.1%+
---
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8VR2DJ80&show_article=1
A quote...."AP - The U.S. economy lost 80,000 nonfarm jobs in
March for the third straight monthly fall, and the unemployment rate
crept up to 5.1 percent, the worst in about two and a half years, the
Labor Department said Friday."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====