MPG'S DAILY RAPSHEET AND BLOTTER  ON THE "GREAT GAME"  --  04-15-09  to 04-21-09 -- 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

As of 08-08-08 a new category of war warning will be included, the above warnings will have the prefix (WWIII) added to them to indicate the possible outbreak of greater hostilities. - mpg
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Tuesday April 21st 2009 - links page

The Pulitzer-winning investigation that dare not be uttered on TV  ---  http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/21/pulitzer/
Must Read - (Must read, for the surprising discovery that good, honest, meticulous, investigative journalism of the highest caliber is sometimes well rewarded)-- A quote...."The New York Times' David Barstow won a richly deserved Pulitzer Prize yesterday for two articles that, despite being featured as major news stories on the front page of The Paper of Record, were completely suppressed by virtually every network and cable news show, which to this day have never informed their viewers about what Barstow uncovered.  Here is how the Pulitzer Committee described Barstow's exposés:"
also posted at ICH   ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22471.htm
& CommonDreams  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/04/21-6
& OpEdNews  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Pulitzer-winning-inves-by-Glenn-Greenwald-090421-777.html
& LewRockwell  ---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/greenwald/greenwald37.html

Sincere congratulations to David Barstow and the New York Times - mpg - For more on this article see....The NYT's Article - Behind TV Analysts, The Pentagon’s Hidden Hand  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/nytarticlethehiddenhand-weblist-mpg-042008
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Harman, AIPAC, NSA: What did I Know, and When Did I Know It?
  ---  http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/spytalk/2009/04/harman-aipac-nsa-what-did-i-kn.html?referrer=js
Special Note - The "Jane - Bimbo From Rand Corp - Harman" saga continues - mpg -- A quote...."The tremendous interest in my story yesterday about a 2005 NSA wiretap picking up California Democratic Rep. Jane Harman conversing with a suspected Israeli agent took me by surprise, frankly. -- It's always gratifying to find so many people paying attention to things like this when Carrie Prejean is only a click away. -- The first thing I want to dispel, though, is the apparently widespread notion that the timing of my story Monday was somehow related to: (1) the upcoming trial of former AIPAC lobbyists Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman; (2) the raging debate over the NSA's warrantless wiretaps, (3) the Justice Department/CIA's torture memos; (4) anything else."
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Harman Admites She Talked to American; Saban said Involved  ---  http://www.juancole.com/2009/04/harman-admites-she-talked-to-american.html
Related Article - A quote...."On being interviewed by Robert Siegel of National Public Radio on Tuesday, Rep. Jane Harman kept denying she knew which conversations had been referred to by the Congressional Quarterly report, even seemed to question the existence of the conversations. - But then Siegel pressed her and she suddenly remembered something about the conversation:"
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Harman Scandal: All about War on Iran  ---  http://www.juancole.com/2009/04/harman-scandal-all-about-war-on-iran.html
Related Article - A quote...."Two things here. It should be remembered that this whole affair has been about getting up a war on Iran. That was the point of Franklin leaking to Rosen and Weissman in the first place. Someone should go back through Harman's statements on Iran. - Second, the transcript should be released and if it is as alleged, Harman must resign. Congress declares wars or implicitly authorizes them. American soldiers have a right to know that the representatives who send them to war are doing so on behalf of US interests. And that congressional intelligence reports are not plants by a foreign intelligence service."
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Were Other Congress People - Besides Harman - Also Blackmailed by the Bush Administration?
  ---  http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/04/were-other-congress-people-besides.html
Related Article - A quote...."We know that Jane Harman was blackmailed by the Bush Administration into supporting illegal spying on Americans. -- But Dave Lindorff asks a really good question: was Harman the only Congress person blackmailed by the Bush Administration? Or were others blackmailed as well?"
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Obama Campaign's Multi-Million Dollar Propaganda Firm Deployed in Iraq to Advise on "New Media"
  ---  http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/137603/obama_campaign%27s_multi-million_dollar_propaganda_firm_
deployed_in_iraq_to_advise_on_%22new_media%22/?page=entire
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The U.S. State Department has announced it is sponsoring a "New Media Technology" delegation to Iraq to "explore new opportunities to support Iraqi government and non-government stakeholders in Iraq's emerging new media industry." Of all of the areas in Iraq in desperate need of attention, its "emerging new media industry" is not the one that pops to mind. Things like clean water, electricity, right of safe return for refugees and an end to the occupation seem more pressing than increasing Nouri al Maliki's Twitter followers. But unfortunately, that's how U.S. priorities in Iraq seem to work." -- also posted at WarInIraq   ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/195244  ---  For more on this sort of issue see....Fake Intel / Propaganda
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/fakeintell-weblist-mpg-090206
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Gen. Petraeus Predicts Worsening Violence in Afghanistan  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/04/21/gen-petraeus-predicts-worsening-violence-in-afghanistan/
A quote...."US Central Command head General David Petraeus said today that he believes that the situation in Afghanistan is “going to get worse before it gets better [even more worse].” -- Well, it's what he would have said if he told the truth.  There are not now, nor will there ever be, any chances of forming Iraqi style "awakening councils" in Afghanistan. - mpg
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Ambush deep in the valley of death  ---  http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KD22Df02.html
A quote...."KALAGUSH, Nuristan province - Sergeant Mike Mathews packed his mortar system into the back of his jeep and bent over to pick up a leftover plastic wrapper as he prepared to saddle up for the three-hour ride back to base. Up the road, amid cackling chickens and amused children, naval commander Caleb Kerr and his lieutenant chuckled and bid farewell to a cheery Afghan police commander."
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Full Text of President Ahmadinejad’s Remarks at U.N. Conference on Racism  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22462.htm
Contains Video - A quote...."This is a rush transcript of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s remarks at the United Nations Durban Review Conference on racism in Geneva, Switzerland, on April 20, 2009. Transcribed from the translation given in the U.N. webcast of the speech."-- also posted at Creative-i  ---  http://www.creative-i.info/?p=6332
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Iran explains how Obama can be true to his word  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=92081&sectionid=351020101
A quote...."Iran says the US has to switch sides on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to bring Obama's promise of change in foreign policy to reality. - "The US must know that the world is not gullible. If there is to be any real change, you must clarify whether you have altered your strategy toward the Palestinians or not," Iranian Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani said in Tehran on Tuesday. - "If you stand by the oppressed people of Gaza and punish Israel, then you will show a true change in tactic," Larijani added, as he delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the Conference of Prosecutors of Islamic States."
also posted at ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22461.htm
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Durban II no-shows won't be missed  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=92025&sectionid=3510303
A quote...."The Durban II conference on racism will most likely be a very interesting event, both for what is said and what is not said. - Recently, a number of countries that are still in denial about their history of racism, namely Israel, the United States, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands, have announced that they will be boycotting the UN anti-racism conference."
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The "New Great Game" in Eurasia is being fought in its "Buffer Zones"  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13140
A quote...."On April 7, 2009 in Moldova's capital Chisinau, supporters of the Liberal Party of Moldova, the Liberal-Democratic Party of Moldova, and the Our Moldova Alliance ignited violent protests in response to the results of Moldova's parliamentary elections. They respectively won 13.14%, 12.43%, and 9.77% of the total vote, while the ruling party, the Communist Party of Moldova won 49.48% of the vote. The Christian-Democratic People's Party of Moldova also won 3.03% of the vote. While international observers have said that no irregularities were seen in the parliamentary elections, the three main opposition parties said that it was rigged and, in an all too familiar modus operandi, started violent protests."
also posted at BLN  ---  http://www.blacklistednews.com/news-3988-0-25-25--.html
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Russia Adds Troops Along South Ossetia-Georgia Border  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/04/21/russia-adds-troops-along-south-ossetia-georgia-border/
Case in point - mpg -- A quote...."As the two sides trade accusations of provocation, the Russian military continues to add to its positions in South Ossetia, putting a significant number of troops just 25 miles from the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi. -- The growing military presence so close to the nation further adds to the pressure on Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has faced weeks of opposition protests calling for his ouster. After enjoying domestic popularity during the brief August war between the two, Saakashvili’s political star crumbled as opposition figures accused him of triggering the conflict, which led to the virtual destruction of the Georgian military and the formal loss of the separatist enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia."
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Russia warns U.S. stepping up shield plans - agency  ---  http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/04/21/russia-warns-us-stepping-up-shield-plans-agency/
Another case in point. - mpg -- A quote...."MOSCOW, April 21 (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday accused the United States of stepping up plans to install an anti-missile system in Europe, according to Interfax news agency."
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Russia to send more warplanes to Kyrgyzstan  ---  http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090420/wl_afp/kyrgyzstanrussiausafghanistanmilitarydiplomacy
And another. - mpg -- A quote...."BISHKEK (AFP) – Moscow will increase the number of warplanes it has stationed in Kyrgyzstan, a Russian general said Monday, following the expulsion of a key US military base from the former Soviet republic."
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Obama’s adviser in Trinidad: the real face of “change”  ---  http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/apr2009/side-a21.shtml
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."One telling measure of the real nature of the “change” that Obama is bringing to US-Latin American relations is the selection of his chief adviser for the Trinidad summit, Jeffrey Davidow. - A career foreign service officer, Davidow was assigned in 1971 to the US embassy in Chile as a political officer, a post often occupied by covert CIA agents. He remained in the country until 1974. This covered the period of the preparation of the US-backed military coup against the elected government of President Salvador Allende in September 1973 and the consolidation of General Augusto Pinochet’s junta through bloody political repression." -- also posted at AmericanEveryman
  ---  http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/obama%E2%80%99s-adviser-in-trinidad-the-real-face-of-%E2%80%9Cchange%E2%80%9D/
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EXCLUSIVE: Senator's husband's firm cashes in on crisis  ---  http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/21/senate-husbands-firm-cashes-in-on-crisis/
Special Note - A quote...."On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husband's real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms. -- Mrs. Feinstein's intervention on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was unusual: the California Democrat isn't a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with jurisdiction over FDIC; and the agency is supposed to operate from money it raises from bank-paid insurance payments - not direct federal dollars." - underline by website editor. -- also posted at AmericanEveryman
  ---  http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/exclusive-senators-husband-cashes-in-on-crisis/
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When the Deal Goes Down: Obama Signals Move to Save Bush Bigwigs on Torture
  ---  http://chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/3/1745-when-the-deal-goes-down-obama-signals-move-to-save-bush-bigwigs-on-torture.html
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."There has been much throwing about of brains on the matter of Barack Obama's ballyhooed "turnaround" on the torture prosecution issue. As usual, there is much less to the Beltway puffery than meets the eye -- although a key aspect of the burgeoning Torturegate affair can be found buried deep in the New York Times story on the subject." -- also posted at Uruknet  ---  http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m53605&s1=h1
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Revealing the Secrets in Room 101  ---  http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/04/hbc-90004803
Must Read - A quote...."On Thursday the spirit of George Orwell visited America, three times. -- The first visit can be found in four memoranda prepared by Bush Administration lawyers which gave the actual go-ahead for the use of specific torture techniques on specific individuals, thus demolishing forever the absurd contention that the torture lawyers were ever only engaged in some abstract exercise without any direct application to incidents of torture. Here, we discover that Room 101 of the Ministry of Love (Miniluv) has been faithfully recreated by the Bush Team. In Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Room 101 contained whatever a prisoner feared most, which would be let loose against him in an act calculated to inspire pure terror in the victim, to break him as an individual and to produce human material suitable for reconditioning. As a reminder, here’s the way the disclosure of Room 101 is realized in the excellent film version directed by Michael Radford (it begins at roughly 3:20 in the clip):" -- also posted at ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22473.htm
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Rule of law vetoed by President Obama - posted at Online Journal  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4422.shtml
  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4616.shtml
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."There are no headlines or pontificating pundits, but the real news that has become crystal clear to any but the most delusional and distracted Americans is that President Obama has no commitment to applying the rule of law where it counts. Certainly, not applying it to the large number of rich and powerful people that have violated our Constitution and plunged the nation into economic disaster. - Again and again, we hear the flimsy argument from Obama and his top advisors that he wants to look forward and not backward. This is tortured logic when it comes to delivering justice in a nation supposedly cherishing the rule of law."
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CIA Watchdog Report Says Detainees Died During Interrogations  ---  http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m53601&s1=h1
Must Read - (For the outrage) - A quote...."According to New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer, Helgerson concluded that some detainees were allegedly killed during interrogations."
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Senator: Government Used Communist Torture Techniques Aimed at Extracting FALSE Confessions
  ---  http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/04/senate-report-government-used-communist.html
Must Read - (For the outrage) - A quote...."Senator Levin, in commenting on the Senate Armed Services Committee report on torture declassified today, drops the following bombshell: -- "In SERE training, U.S. troops are briefly exposed, in a highly controlled setting, to abusive interrogation techniques used by enemies that refuse to follow the Geneva Conventions. The techniques are based on tactics used by Chinese Communists against American soldiers during the Korean War for the purpose of eliciting false confessions for propaganda purposes." -- For more on this issue see....The Convenient Silence of Guantanamo Bay - 05-31-08 - mpg  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/theconvenientsilenceofgitmo-blog-mpg-053108
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Connecting CIA Torture to Abu Ghraib  ---  http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/042009.html
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."By blurring the lines between terrorism and combat – and by linking the 9/11 rationale to groups only tangentially connected to al-Qaeda – the Bush administration spread the policy of harsh interrogations far beyond terror suspects who worked directly for Osama bin Laden, newly released Justice Department memos reveal."
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Obama's Tortured Stance on Torture  ---  http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/042109b.html
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Although Barack Obama should be applauded for stopping torture by the U.S. government and pledging to close the infamous Guantanamo and worldwide CIA secret prisons, he is nevertheless playing politics with the issue to get the best of both worlds."
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Spanish judge keeps Guantanamo probe alive  ---  http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE53G3V620090418
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish judge considering possible criminal action against six former Bush administration officials for torture at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay defied pressure to drop the case Friday."
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Torture case lawyers may face jail for letter  ---  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/19/BA68172JDM.DTL
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."A former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who accused a Bay Area company of flying him to foreign torture chambers for the CIA is at the center of a bizarre new case, in which his lawyers face possible jail sentences for writing a letter that asked President Obama to disclose how brutally he was treated."
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Special Prosecutor Demand Growing  ---  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41885
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."With every other organization already on board and with Axelrod, Emanuel, and Obama suggesting we "move on" from enforcing our laws, the activist group Moveon.org has now joined the call for a special prosecutor."
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Jonathan Turley: Torture Memos - What's Next?  ---  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41919
Video - Obama™ Update
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UN Meeting Adopts Anti-Racism Declaration - posted at the Palestine Chronicle  ---  http://www.palestinechronicle.com/fund_raisers.php?id=14
  ---  http://www.palestinechronicle.com/news.php?id=de05320c616ea6c331ea78a736a85853&mode=details#de05320c616ea6c331ea78a736a85853
Special Note - A quote...."Te UN's first global racism conference in eight years adopted on Tuesday, April 20, a final declaration against racism, xenophobia and intolerance. - "Ladies and gentlemen, you have taken a momentous decision to adopt the document," Amos Wako, the attorney general of Kenya and the president of the meeting, told participants."
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Norwegian lawyers to accuse Israeli leaders of war crimes  ---  http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090421/twl-norwegian-lawyers-to-accuse-israeli-3cd7efd.html
Israel's former prime minister Ehud Olmert and other top officials could face legal action in Norway over the Gaza offensive after six Norwegian lawyers said Tuesday they would accuse them of war crimes. - The lawyers, who plan to file their complaint with Norway's chief prosecutor on Wednesday, said they will call for the arrest and extradition of Olmert as well as former foreign affairs minister Tzipi Livni, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and seven senior Israeli army officers."
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Switzerland deplores Israel's "excessive" reaction to Iran talks  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/21/content_11228756.htm
A quote...."GENEVA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The Swiss foreign ministry has summoned the Israeli representative to Bern in response to "excessive" criticism by Israeli officials of a Swiss-Iranian presidential meeting, the official Swissinfo news website reported Tuesday."
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AIPAC Hitman, Alan Dershowitz, Calls Bishop Desmond Tutu a Racist and a Bigot
  ---  http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/aipac-defender-alan-dershowitz-calls-bishop-desmond-tutu-a-racist-and-a-bigot/
A quote...."… and for simply telling the truth about the illegal occupation of Palestine, “Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel said the Iranian president should ‘be arrested and charged with incitement for genocide, which is a crime against humanity.’"
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Nobel laureate accuses Israel of 'ethnic cleansing'  ---  http://www.smh.com.au/world/nobel-laureate-accuses-israel-of-ethnic-cleansing-20090422-ae7x.html
A quote...."Nobel peace laureate Mairead Maguire on Tuesday accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" policies in annexed east Jerusalem, where the municipality plans to tear down almost 90 Arab homes. - "I believe the Israeli government is carrying out a policy of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians here in east Jerusalem," said Maguire, who won the 1976 Nobel prize for her efforts at reaching a peaceful solution to the violence in Northern Ireland."
also posted at WarInIraq  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/195304
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Israel Reinstates Punitive House Demolitions  ---  http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m53603&s1=h1
A quote...."The Israeli government has been demolishing houses in East Jerusalem and across the West Bank and Gaza Strip since it commenced its belligerent occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967. There are three main types of house demolitions: operation, administrative and punitive. The last type is not only the most barbaric from a moral point of view but more importantly, from a legal perspective, constitutes collective punishment in the form of property destruction and generates some of the gravest violations of international humanitarian law, constituting a war crime when amounting to intentional and systematic "wanton destruction."
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Mashaal: Hamas won't allow foreign interventions to disrupt reconciliation
  ---  http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7iEu7siKHie3MOkZYP7Ou99u53
bSsvSAy6LoVJtQjm%2fF%2b6R%2fumPvPjRsjXj7dVTrE0FJnaWu4tg2Fm3BXZLMSgl%2bPomeVkdnWBELe5MKiyW8%3d
A quote...."DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Khaled Mashaal, the head of the Hamas political bureau, stated Monday that his Movement would not allow the disruption of the inter-Palestinian reconciliation because of the external interventions, highlighting that all Palestinian parties must not use the foreign interference as a key factor in judging the reconciliation."
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UK Blocks Gaza War Investigators - posted at the Palestine Chronicle  ---  http://www.palestinechronicle.com/fund_raisers.php?id=14
  ---  http://www.palestinechronicle.com/news.php?id=d5d95017de822c01a8bbac1d8aacb87e&mode=details#d5d95017de822c01a8bbac1d8aacb87e
A quote...."The British government is being accused of hindering attempts by human rights lawyers to access to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip to document Israel’s war crimes by refusing to provide the needed entry letters."
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Gaza's Underground Economy  ---  http://www.countercurrents.org/sobeh210409.htm
A quote...."It has been approximately three years since Hamas won the second Palestinian legislative election on which the majority of the Palestinians pinned great hopes. These hopes have now given way to a frustration and despair daily exacerbated by the restrictions on the movement of workers and goods which has isolated the population of approximately one and a half million Gazans, and led to skyrocketing levels of unemployment and government deficit."
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Birmingham donates four trucks full of medical aid to "Hope for Gaza" convoy
  ---  http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7QRbTnHEZPQwbujN0dAFKuM
JmkELuoZINwraNxrLFtKsEeqPALfAYHGfjhy85FZVOyWSshyY9ZqWyHAF%2f6xgogHD%2bIXe%2bNmgyAPWwFYSukHw%3d
A quote...."BRUSSELS, (PIC)-- The British city of Birmingham donated four trucks loaded with medical equipment and humanitarian aid to the European "Hope for Gaza" convoy due to be heading towards the besieged Gaza Strip in early May."
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Housing Bubble Smackdown: Bigger Crash Ahead   ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13283
& The Housing Bust Takes Center-stage  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22465.htm
Must Read - A quote from the first article...."Due to the lifting of the foreclosure moratorium at the end of March, the downward slide in housing is gaining speed. The moratorium was initiated in January to give Obama's anti-foreclosure program---which is a combination of mortgage modifications and refinancing---a chance to succeed. The goal of the plan was to keep up to 9 million struggling homeowners in their homes, but it's clear now that the program will fall well-short of its objective. -- In March, housing prices accelerated on the downside indicating bigger adjustments dead-ahead. Trend-lines are steeper now than ever before--nearly perpendicular. Housing prices are not falling, they're crashing and crashing hard. Now that the foreclosure moratorium has ended, Notices of Default (NOD) have spiked to an all-time high. These Notices will turn into foreclosures in 4 to 5 months time creating another cascade of foreclosures. Market analysts predict there will be 5 MILLION MORE FORECLOSURES BETWEEN NOW AND 2011. It's a disaster bigger than Katrina. Soaring unemployment and rising foreclosures ensure that hundreds of banks and financial institutions will be forced into bankruptcy. 40 percent of delinquent homeowners have already vacated their homes. There's nothing Obama can do to make them stay. Worse still, only 30 percent of foreclosures have been relisted for sale suggesting more hanky-panky at the banks. Where have the houses gone? Have they simply vanished?"
also posted at CounterPunch  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney04202009.html
 & OnlineJournal  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4618.shtml
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Big bank profits are bogus! Massive public deception!  ---  http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/big-bank-profits-are-bogus-massive-public-deception-33228
Must Read - Charts - A quote...."How can our trusted authorities be so blatantly deceptive and still keep their jobs? Perhaps you should ask Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Not long ago, for example, he declared that the total losses from the debt crisis would not exceed $100 billion, while conveying the hope that most of those losses could be soon written off. Also around that time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated the losses would be $1 trillion, with only a small percentage written off. -- The IMF’s latest estimate: $4 trillion in losses, with only one-third of those written off so far. Bernanke’s error factor: He was 4,000 percent off the mark, in a world where 50 percent errors can be lethal. -- Meanwhile, based on fourth quarter Fed data, we find that, among the nation’s megabanks, six are at risk of failure in our opinion (seven if you count Wachovia and Wells Fargo as separate institutions)."
also posted at ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22468.htm
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Economics in a bubble  ---  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/apr/20/banks-bail-out-bubble-economy
A quote...."It is often said that the there are few forces as destructive as the power of bad economics. Rarely has this been more clearly demonstrated than in the current crisis." -- also posted at CommonDreams  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/04/21-8
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UK retail inflation turns negative  ---  http://english.aljazeera.net/business/2009/04/200942193149946812.html
Financial Alert - Deflation Alert - A quote...."Britain's annual retail price inflation rate has given its first negative reading in almost 50 years, official figures have revealed, sparking fears of deflation in the recession-hit country. - The retail price index (RPI), which includes the cost of mortgages, fell to -0.4 per cent in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said." - bold/underline by website editor
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Credit losses could hit $4 trillion, IMF says
  ---  http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Credit-losses-could-hit-4/story.aspx?guid=%7BD72369E4-C54E-418F-8839-BEEE12979186%7D
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The global economy is still imperiled by the dysfunctional financial system, with total losses from bad credit now estimated at more than $4 trillion, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday."
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General Motors accelerates job cuts as bankruptcy deadline approaches  ---  http://wsws.org/articles/2009/apr2009/auto-a21.shtml
A quote...."General Motors has begun to implement its plans to slash tens of thousands of jobs before the June 1 deadline the Obama administration has imposed for the company to drastically reduce its size and labor costs or face bankruptcy. The job cuts took place as GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson told reporters that a government-supervised bankruptcy—which would lead to the abrogation of labor contracts and the carve-up of the century-old industrial giant—was now looking “more probable.”
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‘Superweed’ explosion threatens Monsanto heartlands
  ---  http://www.france24.com/en/20090418-superweed-explosion-threatens-monsanto-heartlands-genetically-modified-US-crops
Special Note - Hah! Hah! Haaaaaaa! - One does not lightly fool with Mother Nature. - mpg - A quote...."“Superweeds” are plaguing high-tech Monsanto crops in southern US states, driving farmers to use more herbicides, return to conventional crops or even abandon their farms."
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Monday April 20th 2009 - links page

Process Philosophy: Immorality and Imbecility in the Torture Memo Mess
  ---  http://chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/3/1744-process-philosophy-immorality-and-imbecility-in-the-torture-memo-mess.html
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Let's do something we rarely do around these parts. Let's do a "process story," looking at an issue from the standpoint of how it plays out in the political game. As a rule, we prefer to focus much less on political kibitzing in the imperial courts, and more on the actual products of imperial policy: i.e., corpses, chaos and corruption. But just for a moment, let's "processize" Barack Obama's bold, progressive, morality-restoring decision not to prosecute anyone at all for the filthy, KGB-derived torture system installed by the very highest officials of the Bush Administration, even as he releases memos showing clearly that practices which are high crimes under U.S. law were explicitly authorized by the White House. -- (And make no mistake; Obama has not only decided to let the actual, ground-level waterboarders, wall-slammers and child torturers get off scot-free; he is also going to let the gilded creators and framers of the system live on untroubled in peace, prosperity and privilege. Obama's chief gatekeeper and hatchet man, Rahm Emanuel, made this clear over the weekend, telling Beltway waterboy George Stephanopoulos: "But those who devised the [torture] policies – [Obama] believes that they were — should not be prosecuted either.")"
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Obama’s First 100 Days: Worse Than Even We Predicted  ---  http://www.prisonplanet.com/obamas-first-100-days-worse-than-even-we-predicted.html
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."From protecting Bush officials who ordered torture from prosecution, to maintaining and expanding the American empire, to warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, all have remained and intensified under Obama. -- As President Barack Obama approaches his first 100 days in office, the corporate media prepares a new round of fawning idolatry about the Obama administration’s “achievements,” yet a summary glance at what Obama has actually done in that short time with regard to expanding the Bush police state and the Neo-Con empire is worse than even we predicted."
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Sources: Wiretap Recorded Rep. Harman Promising to Intervene for AIPAC
  ---  http://static.cqpolitics.com/harman-3098436-page1.html?docID=hsnews-000003098436&cpage=1
Special Note – “Jane - The Bimbo From Rand Corp. – Harman”, the constitution destroying moron who sponsored H.R. 1955,
  ---  http://www.truthnews.us/?p=941  ---  (the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007)
  ---  http://www.truthout.org/article/robert-weitzel-homegrown-terrorism-prevention-act-a-tutorial-orwellian-newspeak  ---  got caught in of all things, an NSA wiretap....isn't life sweet? – mpg --  of A quote...."Rep. Jane Harman , the California Democrat with a longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington."
also posted at ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22454.htm
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Harman Scandal: All about War on Iran  ---  http://www.juancole.com/2009/04/harman-scandal-all-about-war-on-iran.html
Related Article - A quote...."Let us just stop and review what is being alleged, and to underline what it means for US security and policy. -- The US is spied on, and a classified Pentagon document is passed to the Israeli embassy by AIPAC officials. They are caught because the FBI had them under surveillance. Apparently the FBI is one of the few US government institutions that is not corrupt on the issue of foreign influence on US institutions and policy. Then when the two AIPAC spies are indicted, a Mossad agent attempts to derail the prosecution by suborning a member of Congress and promising her the chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee."
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Major scandal erupts involving Rep. Jane Harman, Alberto Gonzales and AIPAC  ---  http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/20/harman/index.html
Related Article - A quote...."Other obligations prevent me from writing until later today -- and I intend to focus on Rahm Emanuel's war-crimes-protecting proclamation  ---  http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/politics/2009/04/19/impeach_bybee/index.html  ---  that Obama's desire for immunity extends beyond CIA officers perpetrating torture to the "policy makers" who ordered it (watch today as the hardest-core Obama loyalists start explaining how the UN doesn't matter,
 ---  http://undispatch.com/node/8093  ---  international treaties are irrelevant,  ---  http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/17/treaties/index.html  ---   and war criminals need not be held accountable) -- but, until then, I wanted to highlight this extremely important and well-reported story from CQ's Jeff Stein,  ---
 http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=hsnews-000003098436&cpage=1  ---  which involves allegations of major corruption and serious criminal activity on the part of Democratic Rep. Jane Harman.  Here's one crucial prong of the story:"
also posted at CommonDreams   ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/04/20
& ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22456.htm
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Harman Is A Poster Child For What Has Been Wrong With Congress For The Last 8 Years
  ---  http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/04/is-there-more-to-harman-story-than.html
Related Article - A quote...."In a stunning development, powerful Democratic congresswoman Jane Harman has been busted via wiretap for promising the AIPAC lobbying group that she would get a couple of spies off the hook."
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Obama "Love Letter" to CIA Distorts Historical Truth  ---  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41879
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."One can only wonder what prompted the incredible absurdities written by President Obama in his April 16th love letter to the employees of the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA). It not only absolves CIA torturers from prosecution on the grounds that they were only following orders, (the same defense employed by Nazi hoodlums at the Nuremburg war crimes trials after World War Two,) but his laudatory statements about The Agency fly in the face of the historical record. Obama’s letter surely will go down in history as one of the most disingenuous documents ever to appear under the presidential seal. Worse, it strongly hints the American public has elected another in that long line of imperial presidents stretching back to William McKinley."
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Is waterboarding effective? CIA did it 266 times on two prisoners  ---  http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0420/p99s01-duts.html
A quote...."The ongoing debate over the ethics and usefulness of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding received new fuel on Sunday night, with a New York Times report that two Al Qaeda suspects were subject to the method, which simulates drowning, a combined 266 times. -- That number is higher than previously reported, and will no doubt cast a long shadow over President Obama's first scheduled visit to CIA headquarters today, where he will publicly address employees."
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The 'lost files' that suggest MI5 did collude in CIA interrogation
  ---  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1172184/The-lost-files-suggest-MI5-did-collude-CIA-interrogation.html
Special Note - A quote...."The [British] Government has been forced to issue a humiliating apology for failing to give several crucial intelligence documents to police investigating torture allegations against British spies.- The 13 'lost' documents are said to contain evidence that MI5 agents colluded in the torture of former Guantanamo Bay inmate Binyam Mohamed."
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Binyam Mohamed: MI5 officer gave false evidence in Guantánamo detainee case
  ---  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/21/binyam-mohamed-m15-false-evidence
Related Article - A quote...."Lawyers for the government have admitted that a senior MI5 officer gave false evidence to the high court in the case of former Guantánamo Bay prisoner Binyam Mohamed."
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Ahmadinejad snubs Kouchner threats: Durban II  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22453.htm
Video - A quote...."April 20, 2009 "Press TV" -- -Addressing a UN anti-racism confab Iran's president minces no words in calling Israel 'a totally racist government' formed on the back of 'military aggression'. - Snubbing Monday warnings by the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the post-World War II military invasions on Palestine which preceded the propping up of the entity, were explained by 'Jewish suffering'."
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RIGHTS:  UN Protects Israel From Racism Charges  ---  http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46524
A quote...."BETHLEHEM, Occupied West Bank, Apr 16 (IPS) - As the wreckage from Israel's recent siege on Gaza continues to smoulder, international civil society organisations are assembling this week in Switzerland to address Israel's crimes of military occupation and racism."
also posted at ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22458.htm
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Iran orders probe of jailed US journalist's case  ---  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_iran_us_journalist
A quote...."TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's judiciary ordered a full investigation Monday into the case of an American journalist imprisoned for allegedly spying for the U.S. and allowed the woman's parents to visit her for the first time since she was sentenced to eight years in prison."
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Amnesty International condemns boycott of UN racism summit  ---  http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37251
A quote...."Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Amnesty International condemned a decision by powerful nations to boycott the UN Durban Review Conference in Geneva on Monday."
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Vatican in New Rift With Jews on Racism Conference  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/195164
A quote...."The United States and many of its allies, including Italy, a country which often sees eye-to-eye with the Vatican, are boycotting. The Newest Articles - Pope Benedict's decision to send a Vatican delegation to a United Nations conference on racism has opened a new rift in relations with Jewish groups, who fear it will be used as a platform to attack Israel. "By participating, the Vatican has given its endorsement to what is being prepared there (against Israel)," Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, told the Italian newspaper La Stampa." - Amen - mpg
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Expert takes aim at heart of US foreign policy  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=92062&sectionid=3510203
A quote...."Foreign policy expert Christopher Preble expounds on how Washington's military power has turned the US into a "hated symbol of arrogance". -- In his book titled The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous and Less Free, [GoglSrch]  ---  Preble criticizes the post-Cold War mindset that has encouraged Washington to seek military control over the world."
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Kazakhstan refuses to take part in NATO drills in Georgia  ---  http://en.rian.ru/world/20090421/121220658.html
A quote...."ASTANA, April 20 (RIA Novosti) - Kazakhstan will not take part in NATO-led military exercises in Georgia in May, the Kazakh defense minister said on Tuesday. - Kazakhstan was earlier scheduled to take part in the Cooperative Longbow/Cooperative Lancer-2009 command-and-staff exercise, which Russia has criticized as unhelpful in the wake of last summer's armed conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia."
also posted at WarInIraq  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/195232
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Russia to dominate LatAm arms market  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/195175
A quote...."Russia's recent success in a recent arms show reportedly points to a pending surge in the country's exports of weaponry to Latin America. Buoyed by the satisfactory presentation of the Russian-manufactured arms at a recent weapons exhibition in Brazil, the country's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport forecast an increase in the volume of arms trade with the Latin American states."
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Obama's Real Plan in Latin America  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13281
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."At first glance Obama seems to have softened U.S. policy toward Latin America, especially when compared to his predecessor.  There has been no shortage of editorials praising Obama’s conciliatory approach while comparing it to FDR’s ”Good Neighbor” Latin American policy. - It’s important to remember, however, that FDR’s vision of being neighborly meant that the U.S. would merely stop direct military interventions in Latin America, while reserving the right to create and prop up dictators, arm and train unpopular regional militaries, promote economic dominance through free trade and bank loans, conspire with right-wing groups, etc… - And although Obama’s policy towards Latin America has a similar subversive feeling to it, many of FDR’s methods of dominance are closed to him.  Decades of U.S. “good neighbor” policy in Latin America resulted in a continuous string of U.S. backed military coups, broken-debtor economies, and consequently, a hemisphere-wide revolt."
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Hamas: Palestinian gov't works hard to enforce law and order in Gaza
  ---  http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7CnJoODjqBvQtEoSQpdt
PwaoqAXc8FyICsmJRdm9C0MG0qHcxwhlWOpNX%2b2nICFVAcZGYhdk5pKAcKYpjBJPOuD9mLw5fePUqeOoHm0kWecU%3d
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement stated Monday that the Palestinian government and the interior ministry in Gaza work hard to enforce law and order and prosecute all those found involved in criminal offenses regardless of their affiliations, stressing that no one is above the law."
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[Isreali] Settlers uproot trees from Palestinian lands in Hebron  ---  http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37249
A quote...."Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli troops and settlers continued their assaults against Palestinians living in Beit Kur, Khirbet Safa and At-Tuwani, all in the vicinity of Hebron, on Monday."
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Palestinians get four times less water than Israelis: World Bank
  ---  http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C04%5C21%5Cstory_21-4-2009_pg4_2
A quote...."JERUSALEM: Israelis have access to more than four times more water than do Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the World Bank said in a report on Monday." -- also posted at WarInIraq  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/195199
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A List of Non-government Zionist organizations that control with money  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/195191
Special Note - Data Base -- For more on this issue see....Judeo-Christian C/C & US - The Money
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/judeochristianconflictcontrolwithinus-weblist-mpg-010409#THEMONEY
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Why We Should Banish Larry Summers from Public Life  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/04/20-8
A quoite...."I vote to banish Larry Summers. Not from the planet. That wouldn't be nice. Just from public life.- The criticisms of President Obama's chief economic adviser are well known. He's too close to Wall Street. And he's a frightful bully, of both people and countries. Still, we're told we shouldn't care about such minor infractions. Why? Because Summers is brilliant, and the world needs his big brain. - And this brings us to a central and often overlooked cause of the global financial crisis: Brain Bubbles. This is the process wherein the intelligence of an inarguably intelligent person is inflated and valued beyond all reason, creating a dangerous accumulation of unhedged risk. Larry Summers is the biggest Brain Bubble we've got."
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Bailout Indignation - How about a test of your injustice barometer?  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/04/18
A quote...."by Ralph Nader -- You might think that the reckless, avaricious, giant corporations, having shrunk the economy, cost millions of jobs and then demanded that taxpayers be dunned for years into the future for multi-trillion dollar bailouts, would show contrition, regret, or self-restraint of their power over Washington." -- also posted at ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22457.htm
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Why a 50% Drop in Housing Is Not the Bottom  ---  http://www.prisonplanet.com/why-a-50-drop-in-housing-is-not-the-bottom.html
Special Note - Charts - A quote...."I recently saw a few minutes of a Nightly Business Report program on PBS in which a Florida broker was observing that homes which once commanded $350,000 at the bubble top were selling briskly now at $169,000 to investors from every part of the globe. -- In other words: “These homes are half off! They’re screaming bargains! They can’t get any cheaper than this!” -- The psychology behind this euphoria is accessible to us all. It’s easy to forget where housing prices were before the bubble and focus instead on how much they’ve dropped from the bubble peak. The same is true in any bubble, be it collectables, real estate, stocks, or tulip bulbs. -- But valuation realities have no relation to bubble top pricing. Thus we should ground our analysis of housing valuations and what constitutes a “bottom” in metrics other than “it’s 50% off it’s top price.” 
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Bank Lending Keeps Dropping  ---  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124019360346233883.html
Financial Alert - Chart - A quote...."Lending at the biggest U.S. banks has fallen more sharply than realized, despite government efforts to pump billions of dollars into the financial sector. -- According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Treasury Department data, the biggest recipients of taxpayer aid made or refinanced 23% less in new loans in February, the latest available data, than in October, the month the Treasury kicked off the Troubled Asset Relief Program."
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Leading economic indicators dip more than expected
  ---  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jsanM66tszKz1zFq0LOG4XvWS7zAD97MBLGG0
Chart - A quote...."NEW YORK (AP) — A private sector group's index of leading economic indicators fell more than expected in March, but the forecast called for the recession's intensity to ease this summer. - The Conference Board said Monday that its monthly forecast of economic activity fell 0.3 percent in March and has not risen in nine months. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a 0.2 percent decline."
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Sunday April 19th 2009

Spying on Americans: "Business as Usual" under Obama
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."New evidence that the National Security Agency (NSA) continues to systematically spy on Americans emerged on Thursday. In an explosive report, The New York Times revealed that the agency "intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year." According to investigative journalists Eric Lichtblau and James Risen, "several intelligence officials" told the paper that the ultra-spooky NSA "had been engaged in 'overcollection' of domestic communications of Americans."

Sick To My Stomach, I Have A Duty To Report On the Torture of Children
A quote...."As I wrote almost a year ago, the United States has apparently been torturing children. - Thinking about this, let alone writing about it, makes me sick to my stomach. But it is my moral duty to help expose this monstrous truth so that it is less likely to happen again."

West's access to Iraqi oil in doubt
A quote...." EXPECTATIONS that foreign companies can cash in on Iraq's oil riches are in doubt after a key parliamentary body in Baghdad pledged to "push Shell out" and halt a forthcoming licensing round. -- The warning from the secretary of the Iraqi parliament's oil and gas committee, Jabir Khalifa Jabir, was seen by financial analysts yesterday as a serious threat to Western investment opportunities in a country that holds the second-largest oil reserves in the world."  --  It's the Iraqis' oil and it belongs to them, they have the perfect legal right to sell their oil to the highest bidder whoever that may be and keep the revenues themeselves. - After all isn't that why the US-NRE invaded Iraq, to promote "Capitalism" and the "Free Market"? - mpg

Saudi senior Al-Qaeda figure arrested in Iraq
This has to be some sort of typo, after all the Saudi Royals, who our elites like to call "our friends", bona fide members of the "true axis of evil", have faithfully supported on behalf of - and along with - the US-NRE, Britain and Israel, almost every single Salafist, Whahhabist, Fundamentalist terrorist group out there for the last eight years since 9/11 (and for thirty years prior) in order to destabilize and eliminate any nascent nation building, populist or nationalist movements that would threaten US-NRE, UK or Israeli hegemony over the Middle East while also providing endless excuses for constant military interventions within that region.... so surely this headline must be some sort of mistake? - mpg -- A quote...."BAGHDAD (AFP) – A Saudi accused of being a senior Al-Qaeda leader in southern Iraq has been arrested in the port city of Basra along with three of his aides, an Iraqi army official told AFP on Saturday."

Scenario for 2009 Israeli Strike on Iran
War Update - A quote...."This week, Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu both warned that if Hillary’s “diplomacy” failed to halt “Iran’s nuclear activities,” Israel would be left with “no option” but to attack and destroy them."

U.S.: Palestinians need not recognize Israel as Jewish state before talks
A quote...."Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people as a condition for renewing peace talks is unacceptable to the United States, the State Department said during special envoy George Mitchell's visits over the weekend to Ramallah and Cairo."

Israeli troops kill apartheid wall protester - link posted at ICH
A quote...."Israeli forces have shot dead a demonstrator in clashes with Palestinians who were protesting the separation barrier in the West Bank. Palestinian medics reported Bassam Ibrahim, 30, sustained serious wounds after Israeli troops fired at him during a Friday demonstration in Bil'in and later died at a hospital in Ramallah. According to Ma'an news agency, the man had previously been listed in serious condition following a direct shot to the stomach from an Israeli fired tear-gas canister. Witnesses said the projectile was labeled as "40 mm bullet, special/long range" in Hebrew, the same type of weapon that critically injured a foreign activist in Ni'lin on 13 March. Tristan Anderson -- an American national -- was shot in the head from a distance of 60 meters."

A Letter from Nelson Mandela to Thomas Friedman - link posted at ICH
Special Note - From the History File -- March 30, 2001 -- A quote...." You seem to be surprised to hear that there are still problems of 1948 to be solved, the most important component of which is the right to return of Palestinian refugees. -- The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not just an issue of military occupation and Israel is not a country that was established "normally" and happened to occupy another country in 1967. Palestinians are not struggling for a "state" but for freedom, liberation and equality, just like we were struggling for freedom in South Africa. -- In the last few years, and especially during the reign of the Labour Party, Israel showed that it was not even willing to return what it occupied in 1967; that settlements remain, Jerusalem would be under exclusive Israeli sovereignty, and Palestinians would not have an independent state, but would be under Israeli economic domination with Israeli control of borders, land, air, water and sea."
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Bank Profits Mask Peril Still Lurking
A quote....""We don't see the light at the end of the tunnel," Edward "Ned" Kelly, Citigroup's chief financial officer, said in an interview, referring to the state of the economy. His company, the most troubled of the large banks, reported that defaults increased during the first quarter on nearly every kind of consumer loan. -- J.P. Morgan Chase also announced strong earnings this week. The company's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, also did not see in those results evidence of recovery. -- Asked about loan losses in a call with analysts, he said: "Eventually they will peak, but they've been going up consistently. We've shown you here that they're going to go up even more. They're going to continue going up in all the home lending areas, mortgage and home equity and credit cards." -- Large banks have profited despite their problems because of accounting maneuvers and earnings from investment banking."

All the "earnings" announced in the last four weeks by the financial industry are due to the new "accounting rules" changes which basically allow the banks to make up figures and guesstimate what their "assets" (toxic waste) are "supposed to be worth" and like magic allow them to pull "profits" out of a hat.  These same "rules" will allow the banks to pass the upcoming "stress tests", they do not reflect reality (transparency), the ability of anyone to pay (solvency) nor the principal of mark-to-market (the willingness of anyone to pay for this crud). In other words ladies and gentlemen we as a nation have gone right back to square one!  This crisis was caused by creating a 1.3 to 1.5 quadrillion market for bogus securities based on nothing but hot air from the ratings agancies and securities issuers, and now they're doing the same damn thing all over again!  It's simply ridiculous. – mpg

It Is Time to Dissolve All Central Banks
As previously noted, the Federal Reserve has failed on its own terms. Specifically, it has failed to provide the counter-cyclical influence on the economy which is its very justification for existing in the first place. - Moreover, prominent Wall Street economist Henry Kaufman says that the Federal Reserve is primarily to blame for the financial crisis:"

Saturday April 18th 2009

No posts. - mpg

Friday April 17th 2009

Thin Ice From Here to the Horizon
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."On any rational assessment the popular new president is skating on thin ice. Pollyanna bulletins about the economy puff up from the White House and Federal Reserve, like auguries of a new Pope through the  Vatican chimney. “Habemus spem.” We have hope. We’ve just heard it from President Obama: "We are starting to see glimmers of hope across the economy." From Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who’s so far unleashed $12 trillion in booster money, we get the always sinister reassurance, like Death giving the Appointee in Samarra a friendly tap on the shoulder, "the foundations of our economy are strong".

Home of the Barricaded, Land of the ‘Fraid - posted at ICH
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."April 17, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- There are few statistics as stunning as the following simple, single number:  The United States spends two times more on its military than all the other countries of the world, combined.  -- Yes, that's right.  All 200 or so of them.  Combined. -- According to GlobalSecurity.org, last year, the US dropped about $625 billion in taxpayer dollars on its military, while all the rest of the world together spent $500 billion. (The aggregate global figures come from 2004, but have been steady over the prior decade.)  However, if you also add in nuclear weapons costs handled separately by the Energy Department, Veterans Affairs, interest on money borrowed to fund previous wars, and the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the total rises to a jaw-dropping one trillion dollars per year. -- Think of how astonishing that is."

A Lexicon of Disappointment - Article also posted at ICH
Special Note - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."All is not well in Obamafanland. It's not clear exactly what accounts for the change of mood. Maybe it was the rancid smell emanating from Treasury's latest bank bailout. Or the news that the president's chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, earned millions from the very Wall Street banks and hedge funds he is protecting from reregulation now. Or perhaps it began earlier, with Obama's silence during Israel's Gaza attack. -- Whatever the last straw, a growing number of Obama enthusiasts are starting to entertain the possibility that their man is not, in fact, going to save the world if we all just hope really hard." -- also posted at CommonDreams & AmericanEveryman
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UN expert criticizes US torture decision
Obama™ Update -- Full quote...."VIENNA (AP) — An Austrian newspaper quotes the U.N.'s top torture investigator as saying President Barack Obama's decision not to prosecute CIA operatives who used questionable interrogation practices violates international law. Manfred Nowak is quoted in Der Standard as saying the United States has committed itself under the U.N. Convention against Torture to make torture a crime and to prosecute those suspected of engaging in it. Obama assured CIA operatives on Thursday they would not be prosecuted for their rough interrogation tactics of terror suspects under the former Bush administration. Nowak also says in the newspaper interview published Saturday that a comprehensive independent investigation is needed, and that it is important to compensate victims."

Wrong Again, Mr. Obama
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."

“Mr Obama gave an assurance that “those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice… will not be subject to prosecution” -- *BBC*

“The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.“ -- *Nuremberg Principle IV*

"We all know by now that torture does not produce actionable intelligence of any kind.   We know that now but they knew that… then.  So the question is; why did they do it? Why did they risk prosecution, imprisonment, the loss of their careers… why did they torture people in the first place, if it wasn’t to gain intel?  What does torture really accomplish that was worth the risk?"

Obama accused of "condoning torture"
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."US President Barack Obama has been accused of "condoning torture" following his announcement that CIA agents who used harsh interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects will not be prosecuted. - Amnesty International has called on the US administration to initiate criminal investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for carrying out acts of torture, including waterboarding, in its "war on terror".

New NSA domestic spying exposed as Obama stonewalls court challenges
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The National Security Agency carried out “significant and systemic” spying on Americans in recent months, intercepting their private e-mail messages and phone calls, according to intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to the New York Times."

Head of Obama’s auto task force linked to investment fraud
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Steven Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration’s auto task force, was one of the executives involved in an alleged kickback scheme with New York State’s pension fund, according to a source cited in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal."
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Psychologists Helped Guide Interrogations - Extent of Health Professionals' Role at CIA Prisons Draws Fresh Outrage From Ethicists -- A quote...."When the CIA began what it called an "increased pressure phase" with captured terrorism suspect Abu Zubaida in the summer of 2002, its first step was to limit the detainee's human contact to just two people. One was the CIA interrogator, the other a psychologist."

Tax Day - 94 Years of Serfdom
A quote...."This April 15 is the 94th year that Americans have had to file an income tax. For most Americans, the day is a non-event. The federal and state governments have already collected the taxes due by withholding from each paycheck over the course of the calendar year. Most Americans never saw the money and have no real idea that they earned it."

US Threatens to Invade Eritrea
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The United States has reportedly threatened to invade Eritrea and subject it to “the same fate as Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks” for providing support to the al-Shabaab resistance movement in Somalia, which the US has since attempted to link with al-Qaeda. The Daily Telegraph quotes one source as saying". -- also posted at WarInIraq

Lebanon's Hezbollah Says Helped in Arresting Spy - posted at Palestine Chronicle
A quote...."Hezbollah actively coordinated with Lebanon's security services on the arrest of a retired general suspected of spying for Israel, the Shiite movement's deputy chief said on Wednesday. -- "Security forces monitored the movements of Adib al-Aalam and asked Hezbollah for information on him," Sheikh Naim Qassem told AFP in an interview.'

Hezbollah sees signs of acceptance from West
A quote...."BEIRUT | The West can no longer ignore Hezbollah and has given assurances it will deal with the militant group if it wins upcoming elections in Lebanon, the Shi'ite movement's deputy chief says."

Iran Sentences American Journalist to 8 Years in Prison
A quote...."TEHRAN, April 18 — A revolutionary court has sentenced an Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi, to eight years in prison after convicting her of spying for the United States, her lawyer said Saturday."

Cash-rich China courts the Caspian - Article also posted at ICH
Special Note - A quote..."The global downturn is spreading to Central Asia. It may lead to a marked shift of fortune in the Great Game for control of Caspian energy reserves. On the surface, the intensity of the rivalries may appear to have subsided, as the principal protagonists - Russia and the West - brood over the precarious state of their own finances and prioritize fixing their domestic economies."

Russian president slams NATO exercises in Georgia
A quote...."Russia's president on Friday denounced NATO's plan to hold military exercises in Georgia, calling it a dangerous move that could threaten efforts to improve relations between Moscow and the Western alliance."

Obama's reality check
A quote...."Barack Obama needs to face up to the fact that existing US policies have caused havoc throughout South America."
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More Mideast Doors Closing Than Opening
A quote...."JERUSALEM — Israel is digging in its heels. Government officials said Wednesday that Israel does not intend to cooperate with the upcoming United Nations investigation into whether Israel and Hamas both committed war crimes during the recent Gaza war."

Israel Wants Recognition as 'Jewish State' - posted at Palestine Chronicle
A quote...."Israel's prime minister has told a visiting US envoy that the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a "Jewish state" before it will discuss establishing an independent Palestinian state.-- Benjamin Netanyahu made the remarks as he met George Mitchell, the US special envoy for the Middle East, in Tel Aviv on Thursday."

Voices Rise from under the Rubble in Gaza
A quote...."Last Monday, 13th of April 2009, was supposed to be a good day for Ahmad, a nine year old Palestinian boy from Gaza who became widely known for appearing on Aljazeera Channel speaking about the horrors he witnessed during the Israeli war on the strip and how life has become utterly unbearable under the siege."

Besieged Gazans resorting to Internet to communicate with outside world
A quote...."Living in the besieged Gaza, a strip of land about 45 km long and 8 km wide means that you are isolated from the outside world. To allay that sense of isolation Gazans have resorted to the internet, to be in touch with their loved ones from whom they have been separated for over two years, due to the ongoing Israeli blockade and closure of Rafah border crossing policed by Egypt."

Preparations for "Hope" convoy to Gaza accelerating
A quote...."BRUSSELS, (PIC)-- The preparations for the European "Hope" convoy due to arrive early May from Italy in the besieged Gaza Strip are going on at a rapid pace in the framework of efforts undertaken by pro-Palestine organizations in Europe to break the Israeli siege imposed on the Strip."
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[A Very British] Death of the traditional family
A quote...."Women are more likely to give birth before they turn 25 than get married, according to official statistics that illustrate how British family life has been transformed in a generation."

The Profiteers of Suffering - The Top 10 Enemies of Single-Payer
A quote...."Most people, when they arrive in Washington, D.C., see it for what it is – a cesspool of corruption. Two reasonable reactions to the cesspool. One, run away screaming in fear. Two, stay and fight back and bring to justice those who have corrupted our democracy. Unfortunately, many choose a third way – stay and be transformed. Instead of seeing a cesspool, they begin seeing a hot tub. The result – profits and wealth for the corporate elite – death, disease and destruction for the American people. Nowhere does this corrupt, calculating transformation do more damage than in the area of health care."
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Fed Shrouding $2 Trillion in Bank Loans in ‘Secrecy,’ Suit Says
A quote...."April 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. taxpayers need to know the risks behind the Federal Reserve’s $2 trillion in lending to financial institutions because the public is now an “involuntary investor” in the nation’s banks, according to a court filing by Bloomberg LP." -- also posted at RogueGov

Job Creation/Loss Since Jan. 2007
Must View Charts -- A quote...."Slate put up this great interactive map showing specific counties job numbers by month compared to the previous year, for the past 2 years.  It runs a little slow on my computer, so I took a sampling of the months and made screen-shots out of them.  If you want to know what economic terrorism looks like, consider.. it took just two years to go….]"

Venture investing hits lowest level in over a decade
A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Venture capitalists, who make it their business to seed successive generations of companies, retreated during the first quarter of this year to their lowest level of investment since 1997, according to a report published early Saturday."

A 'Copper Standard' for the world's currency system?
Special Note - More likely a commodity standard.  After sixty years of watching the US-NRE crapping all over the entire world with its Dollar whenever it choose to do so, China has decided to take out some insurance to protect itself if the Fed/Bankster/Obama administration can't - or more likely won't - support the dollar when things begin to get tough. - mpg --A quote...."Hard money enthusiasts have long watched for signs that China is switching its foreign reserves from US Treasury bonds into gold bullion. They may have been eyeing the wrong metal." -- also posted at BLN

Thursday April 16th 2009

Tortured Logic: Obama Writes Off Old Crimes While Promoting New Outrages
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."I have little to say at the moment on details of the Bush torture memos released by the Obama Administration, beyond what I have been saying for many years now about these sickening practices, and what they say about America's bipartisan, imperial elite, which countenanced them, and often openly championed them. (I think my first piece on America's torture system was written in early spring 2002 -- a column printed in the Moscow Times, drawn from readily available stories in the mainstream press. America's willing practice of torture as an official policy has been open knowledge for almost the entire decade. But I will admit the bit about using putting insects into the torture box of a wounded, deranged captive was new.) " -- also posted at ADS

Keith Olbermann: "President Obama, You Are Wrong" - (YouTube - 4 min 59 sec - April 16, 2009)
Must View Video - A quote...."MSNBC's Keith Olbermann's "Special Comment" Takes on President Obama's decision not to prosecute CIA Interrogators for torture - 04/16/09"

Obama v. Nuremberg
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."I have heard very little in the mainstream media about the most compelling rejection of the Obama administration’s decision to grant immunity from prosecution to torturers, which arose out of Nuremberg trials. At Nuremberg, the defense that one was just following orders was rejected as a war crimes defense or a shield to prosecution, and was relevant, if at all, only to sentencing. Nuremberg Principle IV states:

"The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him."

ACLU fears Obama Administration may destroy evidence at CIA 'black sites' - link posted at ICH
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The Bush Administration's legacy of torture interrogation may dip further into obscurity if the Obama Administration's vow to decommission overseas detention black sites means evidence of torture would be destroyed." -- That's obstruction of justice, tampering with the evidence of a crime and possibly making anyone who does so an acessory after the fact in regards to 9/11 - mpg -- For more on this issue see....The Convenient Silence of Guantanamo Bay - 05-31-08 - mpg

Obama: CIA interrogators won't be prosecuted
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."US President Barack Obama says that those CIA officers who used harsh interrogation techniques on terror suspects would not be prosecuted. The US administration also said that it released four memos, with sections blacked out, which were written by the former Bush administration's officials to justify harsh CIA interrogations of terror suspects."

Rights groups criticize CIA immunity on interrogations
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Human rights organizations reacted angrily Thursday to the Obama administration's announcement that CIA officials would not be prosecuted for past waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics."

Spanish AG: No torture probe of US officials 16 Apr 2009 Spain's attorney general has rejected opening an investigation into whether six Bush regime officials sanctioned torture against terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, saying Thursday a U.S. courtroom would be the proper forum. Candido Conde-Pumpido's remarks severely dampen the chance of a case moving forward against the Americans, including former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. [Looks like Obusha got to them.] - Paragraph quoted from CLG

Go Garzon! Spanish Judge Wants to Keep Hope for the Rule of Law Alive
Looks like "Obusha" didn't get to the Judge. - mpg -- Special Note - Breaking News - Related Article - Posted 04-16-09 1:19 pm EST - A quote...."MADRID, Spain (CNN) — A Spanish judge moved Friday to keep alive an investigation into six former Bush administration officials for alleged torture of prisoners at the U.S. detention camp for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay. Cuba. -- He acted just hours after prosecutors urged the case to be dropped, according to a court document."

Justice Department Releases Bush Administration Torture Memos (4/16/2009)
A quote...."NEW YORK – In response to litigation filed by the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Justice Department today released four secret memos used by the Bush administration to justify torture. The memos, produced by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), provided the legal framework for the CIA's use of waterboarding and other illegal interrogation methods that violate domestic and international law."

Abu Ghraib Victims Can Sue Interrogators
A quote...."In a ruling that could have widespread implications for government contractors overseas, a federal court has concluded that four former Abu Ghraib detainees, who were tortured and later released without charge, can sue the U.S. military contractor who was involved in conducting prisoner interrogations for the Pentagon in Iraq."

Miller government knew about CIA prisons in Poland?
A quote...."The government under the premiership of Leszek Miller (2001-4) knew about the alleged CIA detention facility in Poland, the existence of which has been denied by successive governments."

NATO Admits to More Afghan Civilian Killings
A quote...."Following a joint investigation, NATO was forced today to admit that Monday’s air strike in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan indeed, as reported, killed six civilians, including a woman and two children. The admission came in the form of a statement released by Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s office."

Congress investigating spy violation by NSA
A quote...."Washington - Congress is investigating a "serious" failure by the National Security Agency to comply with legal limits on its domestic eavesdropping activities, key lawmakers said Thursday."
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Texas Bill Requires You to Identify Yourself At All Times
A quote...."The Texas Senate has approved a bizarre measure which would require citizens to show some sort of identification to any police officer who demands it, at any time, for any reason, 1200 WOAI news reports. "

Baptist pastor beaten + tazed by Border patrol - 11 stitches - Alt - (YouTube - 8 min 43 sec - April 15, 2009)
A quote...."

I told them I was a US citizen.
I told them I was on a business trip.
I told them I had no drugs or humans in the car.

That wasn't enough. They wanted to search the car, and I invoked my 4th amendment rights.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” -- *4th amendment of the US Constitution*

Video Bloggers Fear “You” Being Phased Out Of YouTube
A quote...."Viral videos and individual user channels being obliterated by bland corporate promos as censorship and regulation make popular video website unrecognizable from a few years ago -- A new You Tube video getting a lot of attention highlights concerns that the “You” is being phased out of YouTube, as individual users are sidelined by regulation and censorship in favor of corporate domination of the popular video website, an eventuality that we first warned about years ago."
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Rep Sanchez Tells Italians They Must Accept New US Military Base, and That Convenience for Attacking Africa Is Key -- A quote...."See below an informal trip report on a recent lobbying trip from Vicenza to DC as well as a rough translation of an interview with Rep. Loretta Sanchez appearing yesterday on the Vicenza newspaper. She was apparently in Venice on holiday and met with Dal Molin Special Commissioner Paolo Costa. She talks about the importance of Vicenza for Africom. -- he original is at: http://www.ilgiornaledivicenza.it/stories/Home/199501/"
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One Conflict, Two Billboards; The Marketing of Morality
A quote...."Recently, two billboards have been brought to my attention.  On the surface they represent the two sides of a rather one-sided conflict (”one sided” at least as far as the new Obama/Emanuel administration is concerned) and that is the continuation of U.S. financial and military support of Israel, Obama’s “Beacon of Democracy” in the Middle East.  But I think there is something else going on here. The key is the statement from the  Springfield Jewish Federation’s website about “community-wide programming“.   It is also important to note, that the “pro-Palestinian” billboard is actually put up by an organization run by a man who was a member of AIPAC who got sick of what he was seeing AIPAC get away with on the U.S. taxpayer’s dime; The Coalition to Stop $30 Billion to Israel."

Obama's Bubble of Ignorance - Solving Palestine While Israel Destroys It - Article also posted at ICH
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."To a greater degree than perhaps ever before, Washington today is engulfed in denial about Israel and its stupefying behavior, about its murderous policies toward the Palestinians, about the efforts of Israel and its U.S. defenders to force us to ignore its atrocities.  Blinders have always been part of the attire of U.S. policymakers and politicians with regard to Israel and Israeli actions, but in the wake of the three-week Israeli assault that laid waste to the tiny territory of Gaza -- an assault ended very conveniently just before Barack Obama was inaugurated, so that he has been able to act as though it never occurred -- the perspective from which Washington operates is strikingly more blinkered than ever in the past."

International NGOs in Gaza slam governments for "lip service" policy three months after war
A quote...."Jerusalem – Ma’an - Twenty-three high-profile international NGOs accused much of the world of “standing by” as “Gazans sift through the rubble,” noting that thousands “are still homeless and without basic services such as piped drinking water three months after the 18 January ceasefire.”
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The Year of Cockeyed Optimism - "The foundations of our economy are strong" - posted at ICH
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...." April 16, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- Retail sales fell in March as soaring job losses and tighter credit conditions forced consumers to cut back sharply on discretionary spending. Nearly every sector saw declines including electronics, restaurants, furniture, sporting goods and building materials. Auto sales continued their historic nosedive despite aggressive promotions on new vehicles and $13 billion of aid from the federal  government. The crash in housing, which began in July 2006, accelerated on the downside in March, falling 19 percent year-over-year, signaling more pain ahead. Mortgage defaults are rising and foreclosures in 2009 are estimated to be in the 2.1 million range, an uptick of 400,000 from 2008. Consumer spending is down, housing is in a shambles, and industrial output dropped at an annual rate of 20 percent, the largest quarterly decrease since VE Day. The systemwide contraction continues unabated with with no sign of letting up." -- also posted at CounterPunch & GlobRsrch

The Crisis That Could Bring Down Obama - Article also posted at ICH
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Goldman Sachs reports better-than-expected profits this quarter. Wells Fargo cleared record profits last week. The President, understandably, points to signs of hope and encourages Americans to be optimistic about the economy. But when do we move from healthy confidence to a confidence game? The banks are reporting profits thanks to massive infusions of taxpayer bailout funds. It's simply silly to be lulled by cheery-sounding reports when the institutions are actually insolvent. At some point we have to take a clear-eyed look at the massive failure of our financial system. Ignoring it won't make it go away."

IMF warns recession will be 'unusually long-lasting'
A quote...."More than half of the world's countries have been plunged into recession by the credit crunch, a higher proportion than at any time since 1960, according to the International Monetary Fund, which warns today that the downturn is likely to be "unusually severe and long-lasting", and will starve developing countries of resources."

Consumer prices fall as energy demand slumps
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer prices fell unexpectedly in March and recorded their first annual drop since 1955, government data showed on Wednesday, as slumping demand pushed down energy and food costs."

NY manufacturers still hurt, but less
A quote...."Economic conditions for New York manufacturers deteriorated again in April, but at a slower pace than in previous months."

US industrial production -- in March dropped sharply and significantly more than expected
A quote...."Industrial production in March dropped sharply and significantly more than expected. Overall industrial production fell 1.5 percent, matching the decline in February. The latest contraction was worse than the market forecast for a 0.8 percent drop. The manufacturing component fell 1.7 percent, following a 0.6 percent decrease the month before. Declines were broad-based with the exception of motor vehicles, which advanced slightly."

Initial jobless claims hit lowest level since January
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- First-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level since the end of January last week, even as continuing jobless claims remained at a record high, Labor Department data showed Thursday."

US housing starts fall 10.8 pct in March
A quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - New U.S. housing starts fell more than expected in March after a surprise surge the previous month, government data showed on Thursday, dealing a blow to hopes that housing market stability was on the horizon."

Foreclosures Soar in March, Up 44 Percent Over February’s High - link posted at ICH
A quote...."SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Completed foreclosures hit another monthly record in March as 175,199 homes were lost to foreclosure, up 44 percent from February’s record high, according to the latest U.S. Foreclosure Index released today by ForeclosureS.com, a leading real estate information provider.

General Growth Properties files for bankruptcy
A quote...."NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- After several rounds of waivers from creditors and a long struggle to stay afloat, the nation's second largest mall operator, General Growth Properties, on Thursday filed for bankruptcy protection, saying it couldn't reach an out-of-court consensus on how to restructure its $27 billion of outstanding debt. -- The Chicago-based firm, which operates malls in 44 states, was brought low by an aggressive growth and acquisition strategy funded by debt, and is symbolic of the crisis growing in the commercial real estate market." - bold by website editor -- Everyone out there should remember Thomas Friedman, the world's biggest promulgator of "liberal economics" the man who coined the term it's a "flat world" wherein he described how such an economic paradigm would bring down transactional costs and barriers to "capitalism for everyone".  The man whose wife's ENTIRE fortune consisted of GGP stock which at its height was worth well over three billion dollars....well those who live by the sword die by the sword and the GGP corporation has now experienced Freidman's "flat world"....it, and his wife's former fortune are now "flat broke". – mpg

Crumbling wall of worry - Commentary: Advisers unfazed by sideways market
Market Tech Note - A quote...."Despite the day-to-day volatility since the beginning of April, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stands today essentially where it stood two weeks ago.  You might have predicted that this sideways action would throw at least some cold water on the quickly-building enthusiasm with which many advisers responded to the rally over the previous three weeks. But you would be wrong:"

Wednesday April 15th 2009

No posts. - mpg