The Myth of the Surge
Must Read - A quote...."It's a cold, gray day in December, and I'm walking down Sixtieth Street in the Dora district of Baghdad, one of the most violent and fearsome of the city's no-go zones. Devastated by five years of clashes between American forces, Shiite militias, Sunni resistance groups and Al Qaeda, much of Dora is now a ghost town. This is what "victory" looks like in a once upscale neighborhood of Iraq: Lakes of mud and sewage fill the streets. Mountains of trash stagnate in the pungent liquid. Most of the windows in the sand-colored homes are broken, and the wind blows through them, whistling eerily. House after house is deserted, bullet holes pockmarking their walls, their doors open and unguarded, many emptied of furniture."  --  When one tries to conquer a country, one must create the necessary conditions to do so....Walid Charara's "Constructive Instability", Naomi Klein's the "Shock Doctrine", Chalmers Johnson's "The Smash of Civilizations" and Max Fuller's "For Iraq, The Salvador Option" Becomes Reality" are all necessary prerequisites to produce the desired results, a shattered burned out cinder of a country whose population is devastated by constant war and violence....ready to be remade in the shatterer’s image. - Otherwise known as The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg.
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The Assassination of Mughniyeh - A Death in Damascus
Must Read - A quote...."It was another car bomb in the Middle East, the victim this time one of those "notorious terrorists" seemingly generic to the landscape. Hezbollah's Imad Mughniyeh died February 12 in Damascus as he lived most of his forty-five years, in that world of searing blast, mutilation, mayhem, and aftershock of cold fear."

Triumph of the Red-State Fascists
Must Read - A quote...."Every Republican I've spoken to is mystified that John McCain has sewn up the Republican nomination. For his entire career, he has been more statist on both domestic and foreign policy than even the typical Republican. He has been considered a "liberal," and not in a good sense. He doesn't share any of the values that are said to make up the Republican consensus on economics or culture or religion. His personal baggage is heavy and a mile long. He had no dedicated constituency within the party."

US Interventions - US Military and Clandestine Operations in Foreign Countries - 1798-Present
Data Base - Resource - A quote...."Note: This list does not pretend to be definitive or absolutely complete. Nor does it seek to explain or interpret the interventions. Information and interpretation on selected interventions will be later included as links. Note that US operations in World Wars I and II have been excluded."

In "Charlie Wilson's War" Carter's CIA Funding Islamic Terror to Sucker in the Soviets is Left Out
A quote...."Charlie Wilson's War received only one Oscar nomination, best supporting actor, for Philip Seymour Hoffman portraying Gust Avrakotos, a CIA agent. Had there have been an award for Best Public Deception, Charlie Wilson’s War should surely have won an Oscar."

Ex-SAS soldier: 'Britain knew about US torture'
A quote...."A former SAS soldier claimed today that the British secret service had been operating in a covert joint squad with the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 and that UK operatives knew detainees were being tortured by the Americans."

Turkey's offensive comes at a price
Special Note - A quote...."....With a sense of deja vu, Iraqi Kurd leaders began realizing that Bush has done a Kissingerian trick on them and the ground has shifted beneath their feet. Since November, they have been resigned to the inevitability of Turkish military operations inside northern Iraq. More important, they have assessed that with the u-turn in US policy, the odds are heavily stacked against them. The Kurds know from long experience it is futile to be defiant of a superpower, especially when it bonds with a strong regional power - at least for the time being." -- What is this, the third time the Kurds have been betrayed by the US, or is it the fourth time?  Washington's "u-turn" could not possibly have come as a surprise to the Kurds, not after all the previous u-turns by Washington.  So the Kurds have retrenched and are probably just biding their time. - mpg

U.S. expects 140,000 troops in Iraq after surge - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - The United States expects to have 140,000 troops in Iraq in July after withdrawing five combat brigades, leaving a force larger than before it began pouring in troops last year, the Pentagon said on Monday." - bold by website author.

35 KBR Execs and Subcontractors Indicted for War Profiteering - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."Iraq is a sewer. No, I’m not referring to the fact that Baghdad [is literally] 'drowning in sewage' -- that’s a whole ‘nuther story. What I’m talking about is the caustic cesspool of graft, crime and corruption now endemic wherever you find military contractors war-profiteers like KBR working."

AUDIO ARCHIVE: The Global Research News Hour
A quote...."Feb 25 Program: Seeds of Destruction, US Military Bases Around the World, Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza"

Shocking Stories About the Forgotten War in Afghanistan
Interview - Joshua Holland interviews Andy Worthington about his new book "The Guantánamo Files" - A quote...."In his book, The Guantánamo Files, historian and journalist Andy Worthington offers a much-needed corrective to the draft of the Afghanistan conflict that most Americans saw on their nightly newscasts. Worthington is the first to detail the histories of all 774 prisoners who have passed through the Bush administration's "legal black hole" at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. But his history starts in Afghanistan, and makes it abundantly clear that the road to Guantánamo -- not to mention Abu Ghraib -- began in places like Kandahar."

After the War, a New Battle to Become Citizens - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."Despite a 2002 promise from President Bush to put citizenship applications for immigrant members of the military on a fast track, some are finding themselves waiting months, or even years, because of bureaucratic backlogs. One, Sgt. Kendell K. Frederick of the Army, who had tried three times to file for citizenship, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq as he returned from submitting fingerprints for his application."  --  Interesting question....did Rome betray their mercenaries after promising them Roman citizenship? - mpg
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VIDEO: '60 Minutes' Exposé on the Malicious Prosecution of Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman
Video - A quote...."Now including a number of UPDATES at the bottom of the article..."

Important note, at the end of the video you'll here the anchor say "Karl Rove and others at the White House were subpoenaed to testify before Congress, but they refused to appear."  How nice of them to engage in a conspiracy to incarcerate a former Governor of this country, falsely accuse him of crimes he didn't commit, than simply refuse to answer a LAWFUL summons to appear before Congress about the matter.  How did this nation sink so far?

Guess the Governor and his family should be grateful they didn't send him to Gitmo to receive "special treatment" or "interrogation".  Who knows what he would have confessed to, or whether he'd still even be sane and able to defend himself, or whether he'd still be able to recognize his family or not.

Aren't we fortunate that the authorities still lack the confidence to send a former Governor to Gitmo on trumped up charges....yet?  What about those of you reading this blog? - mpg
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Siegelman attorney calls for special prosecutor
Related Article - A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorneys for imprisoned former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman called Monday for the Justice Department to bring in a special prosecutor after a key government witness was quoted as saying that prosecutors made him write out his testimony to get his story straight."

The Welch Whitewash: We Still Don't Know What That Aug. 30 Nuke Incident Was About
A quote...."A new report on the August 30 incident in which six nuclear-armed advanced cruise missiles were effectively "lost" for 36 hours, during which time they were, against all regulations, flown in launch position mounted on a pylon on the wing of a B-52H Stratofortress, from Minot AFB in North Dakota across the continental US to Barksdale AFB in Louisiana, has left unanswered some critical questions about the event."  --  See also....False Flag Ops - Barksdale / B-52 Loose Nukes Incident
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9/11: The Unraveling of the Official Story Continues
Special Note - A quote...."25/02/08 "ICH" -- --    Today in America we are witness to a great unraveling, the likes of which we have never seen before. There are no historical precedents. For many months now the official narrative about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on America has been coming apart, and I mean: at the seams. The official story about that terrible day is disintegrating. The trend shows no sign of abating and in recent weeks it even appears to have accelerated. At the present rate, soon there will be nothing left of the official version of events but a discordant echo and a series of extremely rude after shocks."

Why The Truth About 9/11 Is Censored By The Media
A quote...."If the government's account of 9/11 is not accurate, wouldn't the media have been "all over it"?  --  Isn't the fact that most mainstream media sources don't spend much time covering these issues show that there's nothing there?  --  No."

The Reflecting Pool: Investigative drama challenges official version of 9/11
Interview - A quote...."Interview with Jarek Kupsc, Writer/Director, "The Reflecting Pool" (YuTb 4m31s 081007)  --  New feature film “The Reflecting Pool” may just be the “All the President’s Men” of our time. No, it doesn’t have Hoffman and Redford. But it is a chilling and important fact-based investigative drama."

Mayor Willie Brown Contradicts Earlier Statements About 9/11 No Fly Warning
A quote...." The former Mayor of San Francisco has made comments that contradict his own previous claims regarding a warning he received on September 10th 2001 not to fly the following day.  --  Willie Brown, the incumbent mayor of San Francisco at the time, was questioned earlier this month by members of the Philadelphia 9/11 Truth group during a public engagement."

Gray Lady [NY Times] hushes up SS breakdown in Dallas
A quote...."the SS's "order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security." Obama's federal bodyguards let people stream unchecked into Reunion Stadium "for more than an hour."  --  That news will also come as a surprise--if at all--to the readers of the New York Times, which evidently sees that "lapse" as news not fit to print (unless, of course, Zeleny hadn't heard about it). And so, while we join Media Bloodhound in asking why NBC slighted this big story (below), we also have to ask what made America's Newspaper of Record black it out entirely."  --  One wonders what the New York Times "hushed up" prior to 9/11" - mpg

Kristol: ‘I Recommend The Politics Of Fear’
A quote...."This morning on Fox News Sunday, New York Times columnist Bill Kristol recommended that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) employ the “politics of fear” to attack Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL):"
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The Subprime Hangover - Here Comes The $739 Billion Taxpayer Bailout
A quote...."  25/02/08 "ICH" -- - “The SEC probe of the securitization of subprime mortgages into collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), announced last summer, has yielded no official enforcement cases....SEC chief, Christopher Cox, along with other top-level administration officials, has cautioned against quick-fire regulatory or enforcement responses to the worsening credit crisis, noting that the market instead should be left to work it out.” Nicholas Rummel, “SEC Drift Said to Prevent Action on Credit Crunch”, Financial Week

Greenspan tells Gulf States to drop dollar
Special Note - Some quotes...."Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the US central bank, or Fed, has said that inflation rates in Gulf states, which are reaching near record levels, would fall "significantly" if oil producers dropped their US dollar pegs."  --  "Levels have hit seven per cent in Saudi Arabia, the highest in 27 years and a 19-year peak of 9.3 per cent in the United Arab Emirates in 2006."  - bold by website editor.

As China's inflation soars, world fears knock-on effects
A quote...."Shanghai - As China's factory floors feel the pressure from spiralling costs, there is growing nervousness in the rest of the world that the Asian giant's next big export could be inflation."

Inflation in Argentina “around 20%” says ex minister Lavagna
A quote...."Argentina’s former economy minister Roberto Lavagna claimed that inflation is “round 20%” departing from the government line that puts the index of rising prices at 8.5% for 2007."  --  Sounds sort of like the creative numbers our own Fed is giving out.  - mpg
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Prozac, used by 40m people, does not work say scientists
A quote...."Prozac, the bestselling antidepressant taken by 40 million people worldwide, does not work and nor do similar drugs in the same class, according to a major review released today." -- "We've all heard about snake-oil salesmen selling their "magical elixirs".  Even though this is the twenty first century....they're still with us". - mpg

Catch of the day: Cocaine
A quote...."At first glance, Bluefields in Nicaragua looks like any other rum-soaked, Rastafarian-packed, hammock-infested Caribbean paradise. But Bluefields has a secret. - People here don't have to work. Every week, sometimes every day, 35kg sacks of cocaine drift in from the sea. The economy of this entire town of 50,000 tranquil souls is addicted to cocaine." -- Anybody want to move there? - mpg

Sartorial Politics
A fun one from Jaun Cole. - mpg

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early
Must View - Video - It's not that funny when you think about it, but the video sure is.  It is FLAWLESSLY done.  If it was on your TV you'd think it was a conventional, faux-news, broadcast until what they were saying actually started to register. - mpg


Empire and Burlesque: Permanent Bases Rise While Public Gawks at Geeks
Must Read - A quote...."....on that Nashville night, Dylan – loquacious, and probably libated – was doing a lot of his old tunes, including the surreal send-up of conventional wisdom, "Ballad of a Thin Man."  In that song, the hapless, clueless "hero" – the now iconic Mister Jones – is shown at one point handing in his ticket "to go see the geek." Even back in 1978, I was old enough to know what a geek really was, but Dylan obviously thought that most of the audience wouldn't get the reference; the word was fast losing its specificity, and was by then mostly used as a vague synonym for "nerd" or some other socially awkward person."  --  Absolutely ferocious. - mpg

Pushing Missile Defense in Europe
A quote...."Even many in the peace movement don’t know that Washington has proposed to install 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar military base in the Czech Republic. The missiles and radar taken together constitute an anti-missile system purportedly meant to defend against Iran and other “rogue” states. In fact, they represent a new expansion of U.S. global military power and an escalation of the arms race with Russia."

The Imperial Presidency is Here to Stay - And Obama, Clinton and McCain seem fine with that - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."After the United States won its independence from Britain, some soldiers had the idea that America should have a king of its own—namely George Washington, their commander. Washington promptly scotched the idea. But if he were to see some of the powers asserted by his successors, he might wonder why he bothered."

The Extinction of Political Debate
A quote...."It was sad, watching the two remaining contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination engage in a civil little sparring match in Austin on Thursday night. Because it was hard not to note, once again, the long slow decline of political debate in this country since Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas thought out and fought out the great issues of their day. Those were real debates, not joint press conferences."

The three trillion dollar war - The cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts have grown to staggering proportions
Special Note - A quote...."The Bush Administration was wrong about the benefits of the war and it was wrong about the costs of the war. The president and his advisers expected a quick, inexpensive conflict. Instead, we have a war that is costing more than anyone could have imagined.  --  The cost of direct US military operations - not even including long-term costs such as taking care of wounded veterans - already exceeds the cost of the 12-year war in Vietnam and is more than double the cost of the Korean War."

Scott Horton Interviews Gareth Porter
Audio Interview - A quote...."Independent historian and journalist, Gareth Porter, discusses relations between Shi’ite factions in Iraq, their relations with Iran, accusations that the Iranians are supplying weapons to those killing Americans in Iraq, the State Department’s insistence that Iran “admit” to the accusation in the recent NIE that they used to have a nuclear weapons program, the complicity of the mainstream media in promoting the government’s propaganda and the consequences of American intervention in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

Why Hillary Clinton’s Iraq Vote Does Matter
A quote...."In response to a series of articles in recent months regarding the foreign policy positions of Senator Hillary Clinton - in which, among other things, I have emphasized her October 2002 vote authorizing the U.S. invasion of Iraq - I have received comments such as the following: - “The only mistake Hillary made was to believe what the President told her and that Dubya would not lie about such a national matter involving the military. She chose to believe what he said and the intel presented to her -as did so many others on both sides of the political aisle…. GET OVER IT! It is water under the bridge…” -- "Get over it" is exactly what they'll say when they start their next war....no matter what it costs us as a nation. - mpg

IRAQ: In Tatters Beneath a Surge of Claims
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Feb 22 (IPS) - What the U.S. has been calling the success of a "surge", many Iraqis see as evidence of catastrophe. Where U.S. forces point to peace and calm, local Iraqis find an eerie silence."
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Pilgrims killed as al-Qa'ida resume Iraq attacks
A quote..."A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt in a tent filled with Shia pilgrims walking to one of their holiest shrines south of Baghdad, killing at least 40 of them and wounding 60."  --  If al Qa'ida had a problem with the Shia death squads (many of them inbeded with Iraq's government forces) killing and targeting Sunnis, why don't they go after the leaders of these and the chain of command for these death squads.  Instead it would appear to any reasonable observer that they are attacking innocent cilvians in an effort to inflame civil strife in Iraq."

Some people would say this action is a classic guerilla tactic to destabilize a country.  To those people this editor would say....that's not true.

In Vietnam it was the US government that divided the country and killed millions of people to keep it divided, it was the US government that paid one half of the population to kill off the other half, it was the US government that didn't want the country united.

In Iraq It's the US military that came up with a map dividing all of the Middle East into sectarian groups, it's the US senate that voted to divide Iraq along sectarian lines, it's the US government that has supported Maliki's ethic cleansing operations in Baghdad, and it's the US government that adapted Israel's "separation walls".

It's interesting to witness how al Qa'ida, a group indirectly given billions of dollars over the years by the US government, has always managed to consistently support on going US policies in Iraq.  It must be one of those coinsidences. - Like the fact that there was no al Qa'ida in Iraq....until the US got there. – mpg
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World-Wide Protests Against Blockade of Gaza Strip
A quote...."In more than 30 Arab and foreign countries several protesting activities against the Gaza Strip siege, began this Saturday.Demonstrations are organized in several countries all over the world, against the Israeli imposed blockade on Gaza Strip.The shops in Gaza Strip has closed its doors since Saturday morning.A memorial stone will be erected to commemorate the victims of the siege."

Iran says work plan closed, U.S. intelligence fake
A quote...."VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday it had cleared up all past outstanding issues over its nuclear program with the United Nations nuclear watchdog and accused the United States of providing intelligence that was fake."

Caspian Sea Oil Reserves: Iran's Alborz drilling rig inauguration - Brazil's Petrobras may be partner
A quote...."The Iran-Alborz semi-floating drilling rig will soon be commissioned, said the oil minister here Friday.  - 
Gholamhossein Nozari added that President Ahmadinejad plans to attend the inauguration ceremony and that the exploration of oil and gas reserves in the Caspian Sea will start straight away."

Iran's proud but discreet Jews
A quote...."Although Iran and Israel are bitter enemies, few know that Iran is home to the largest number of Jews anywhere in the Middle East outside Israel."

Iran ready to open embassy in Brunei
A quote...." TEHRAN (Press TV) -- Iran’s Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki has expressed his country’s readiness to open an embassy in the capital of Brunei, Darussalam."
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Romania Base Suspected CIA Prisoner Site - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."Three times in 2004, and twice more in 2005, a jet landed and the black bus drove out to meet it. Large, mysterious parcels were exchanged that, according to a Romanian official who says he witnessed it, looked like bundled-up terror suspects."

Renditions row after CIA plane lands in UK
A quote...."A fresh row erupted over the use of British air bases by US authorities as it emerged a plane used by the CIA has landed at an RAF airstrip in the past week. - A Gulfstream IV jet, identified by Amnesty International as a plane linked to the US intelligence agency, landed at RAF Northolt in west London. - The jet, registration N134BR, which flew from Morristown, New Jersey, to Britain, landed on Wednesday and returned on Friday. It was also seen at Luton airport in January."  -- underline by website editor --  To the US elites it isn't "mi casa es su casa"  (my house is your house)....it's "su casa es mi casa", and it always has been. - mpg

The Omissions of the Commission - An Interview with Phillip Shenon on the Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation  --  Special Note - Interview - Wajahat Alli interviews Phillip Shenon on his book "The Commission" ** - A quote...."In 2004, the 9-11 Commission issued what it deemed as the most complete, final, and authoritative report examining the events and history of that fateful day. However, according to the new, controversial best selling book, "The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9-11 Investigation," the report suffers from drastic omissions and oversights that distort the reality of the tragedy and protect powerful individuals in the White House Administration from facing accountability for their negligent actions. I recently spoke with the author, veteran New York Times investigative journalist Phillip Shenon, for an exclusive interview regarding his explosive discoveries." -- ** link added by website editor."

Former Congressman Hamburg Joins 9/11 Commissioners, Military Leaders and Other Highly-Credible People Who Question 9/11  --  A quote...."The co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission (Thomas Keane and Lee Hamilton) said that the CIA (and likely the White House) "obstructed our investigation"."

Canada, U.S. agree to use each other's troops in civil emergencies
A quote...."Canada and the U.S. have signed an agreement that paves the way for the militaries from either nation to send troops across each other's borders during an emergency, but some are questioning why the Harper government has kept silent on the deal."

Turkish forces push deeper into Kurdish northern Iraq
A quote...."In defiance of demands by the Iraqi government and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) that Turkey end its invasion, Ankara is continuing to deploy men and equipment into Kurdish northern Iraq. Turkish troops have pushed at least 30 kilometres inside Iraqi territory since the invasion was launched on Thursday night on the pretext of destroying the mountain bases of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)."

Latin America nuclear pact signed
A quote...."Argentina and Brazil have agreed to build a joint nuclear reactor to address looming energy shortages. -
The agreement came as part of a plan by South America's two biggest economies to extend defence and energy projects."

Germany polls: Merkel's party suffers blow
A quote...."German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives lost their absolute majority in Hamburg state elections on Monday, exit polls showed, confirming a voter swing to the left ahead of national elections in 2009."

Stealth Bomber Crashes in Guam
Some quotes...."HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — A B-2 stealth bomber crashed Saturday shortly after taking off from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam." -- "Each B-2 bomber costs about $1.2 billion. All are based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, but the Air Force has been rotating several through Guam since 2004, along with B-1 and B-52 bombers."

Parts of "60 Minutes" Broadcast Blocked in Alabama...
A quote...."If you do not yet know who Don Siegelman is or what has happened in this country, then let me ask you to please read the following articles and visit the following websites, before I tell you what the latest developments are:" -- The presstitutes lie by commission (direct lies), deception (indirect lies - spinning, shaping, framing, etc.) and distraction (stories that don't matter, won't matter, and will disappear almost instantly from your memory after the presstitutes have stopped endlessly repeating them).  Of course the most common way the presstitutes lie is by omission (they don't print or broadcast the story at all) - mpg

Bush: no compromise on phone immunity in spy bill
A quote...."ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Thursday he would not compromise with the Democratic-led Congress on his demand that phone companies that took part in his warrantless domestic spying program be shielded from lawsuits." -- Proof positive that Bush doesn't care about protecting Americans, all he cares about is protecting the large telecoms. - mpg
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Speculative Onslaught. Crisis of the World Financial System: The Financial Predators had a Ball
A quote...."The multi-trillion dollar US-centered securitization debacle began to unravel in June 2007 with the liquidity crisis in two hedge funds owned by Bear Stearns, one of the world’s largest and most successful investment banks. The funds were heavily invested in sub-prime mortgage securities. The damage soon spread across the Atlantic to a little-known German state-owned bank, IKB. In July 2007, IKB’s wholly-owned conduit, Rhineland Funding, had approximately €20 billion of Asset Backed Commercial Paper (ABCP). In mid-July, investors refused to rollover part of Rhineland Funding’s ABCP. That forced the European Central Bank to inject record volumes of liquidity into the market to keep the banking system liquid."

Bank of America Secretly Asking Congress for a Banking Industry Bailout
A quote...."$739 Billion Worth of Toxic Waste Subprime Loans Threaten Entire System -  WASHINGTON — Over the last two decades, few industries have lobbied more ferociously or effectively than banks to get the government out of its business and to obtain freer rein for “financial innovation.” - But as losses from bad mortgages and mortgage-backed securities climb past $200 billion, talk among banking executives for an epic government rescue plan is suddenly coming into fashion."

Singapore's January CPI records biggest jump in 25 years
A quote...."HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Singapore's inflation rate hit a 25-year high of 6.6% in January from a year earlier, accelerating from a 4.4% rise in December, driven by surging costs for housing, transport and food. Gains in the consumer price index - a measure of changes in prices of a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by a majority of households - were the fastest since March 1982."

Food prices continue to rise worldwide
A quote...."Recent developments in grain markets point to prolonged international supply shortages and price spikes, exposing billions of people to hunger and malnutrition."  --  A.k.a. the wealthy elite’s "centennial population cull." - mpg

Argentine economy breaks production and job records
A quote...."Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner administration might have mid term energy problems incubating but the latest data indicates that the Argentine economy keeps steaming ahead with increased employment and record industrial production. Trade surplus in January was also unexpectedly high."


Causes and Consequences of Our Foreign Policy in the Middle East and What It Means for Americans
Must read - A quote...."The following is the text of a speech given at Virginia Tech on February 12, 2008. -- I want to thank the Libertarians at Virginia Tech, the Political Science Club and the Institute for Humane Studies for the kind invitation to speak to you tonight." -- Anybody got the video of this speech? - mpg
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The Year of the Insurgents - Barack Obama, Ron Paul, and the new politics of protest - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."Back in December, I said this election year would be characterized by the collapse of the alleged "front-runners" – i.e. presidential candidates favored by the pundits and the Beltway know-it-alls – and so it has come to pass. Barack Obama has upended the supposedly inevitable Hillary, and the GOP electorate, too, has humbled those formerly exalted as "major" candidates. What explains this inversion of expectations, as I put it last year, is the rise of a new politics in this country:"

Many Blacks Worry About Obama's Safety
A quote...."For many black Americans, it's a conversation they find hard to avoid, revisiting old fears in the light of bright new hopes. -- They watch with wonder as Barack Obama moves ever closer to becoming America's first black president. And they ask themselves, their family, their friends: Is he at risk? Will he be safe?"  --  They will NOT kill him because he's "black"....they'll kill him if he doesn't do what the MIOC elites tell him to do - more wars and more Empire. - mpg

Secret Service Leaves Obama at Risk / Raises Grave Concerns
A quote...."The U.S. Secret Service ordered Dallas police not to screen for weapons an hour before a recent Dallas Obama rally not only putting Barack at unnecessary risk but raising grave concerns about his safety ~ as his populist movement continues to gain momentum:"

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Rigged Gitmo Trials Prove 9/11 Official Story Wrong
Special Note - A quote...."Four prosecutors In the Guantánamo Bay case assert that the trials are rigged and that convictions are already assured despite the fact that there is scant evidence to link Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his cohorts with 9/11, proving that the official story is a fable and the real perpetrators are being protected."

And so the 9/11 cover-up continues, this time with the direct cooperation of the US military.

Perhaps it should be made clear to US Military personnel at Gitmo what they're attempting to do....faking or destroying evidence, coercing false testimony through torture, and conducting a "show trial" is not just "getting a couple of ‘towel headed’ 'sand-nigg--s killed'" i.e. murder, what it is, and let's be utterly blunt about this.....what they'd be doing is making themselves an accessory after the fact in the murder of almost 3,000 Americans, they would be making themselves direct participants in its attempted cover-up, they would be participants after the fact in the terror attack that took place on 9/11.

They would be committing treason. - mpg
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Guantanamo Bay ex-prosecutor to testify for Hamdan defense
Related article - A quote...."[JURIST] Former Guantanamo Bay chief military prosecutor Col. Morris Davis [official profile, PDF] told AP Thursday that he has agreed to appear as a defense witness in the military commission trial of Guantanamo detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan [DOD materials; JURIST news archive]. In October 2007, Davis resigned [JURIST report; JURIST op-ed] from his position at Guantanamo Bay, saying that politics were interfering with the prosecutions process."

FBI Says Barbara Olsen Did Not Call Ted Olsen. Bush Solicitor General Lied
Special Note - A quote...."Another day, another fabrication in the "official" 9/11 narrative  --  Personally, I thought it was odd at the time that a man would decide to hold a press conference minutes after hearing of his own wife’s death, when it happened on 9/11. If my own wife had just died, the last thing I’d want to do would be to talk to anyone, let alone call a press conference. It didn’t “smell” right.  --  Now we know why it didn’t smell right. It was a lie. The FBI has reported that no such call between Barbara Olsen and Ted Olsen ever took place on 9/11/2001."
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Hands Off Pakistan
From the History File - A quote....“The assassination of Benazir Bhutto was not an attack on this brave woman alone; it was an attack upon democracy, freedom and the United States.” This statement by Asa Hutchinson, former undersecretary of homeland security, was typical of the reaction of the American political and media establishments."

Limited options for US in Pakistan
A quote...."The George W Bush administration lost no time reiterating its support of President Pervez Musharraf following the February 18 parliamentary elections. There is bipartisan consensus in Washington that in the given circumstances, the United States has very little leeway other than depending on Musharraf and the Pakistani military."

Uncertainty on terror's 'central front'
A quote...."WASHINGTON - Forty-eight hours after Pakistani voters overwhelmingly repudiated the Bush administration's "man in Islamabad", President Pervez Musharraf, Washington seemed uncertain about whether the election results marked a setback to US strategic interests or an advance."
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Iraq: US occupation faces crisis of its own making
A quote...."The much-touted successes of the Bush administration’s deployment of 30,000 American additional troops to Iraq last year rest on unstable and rapidly eroding foundations. The unstated fear in the Pentagon debate over how many American troops can be withdrawn this year is that the policies associated with the surge have created potential triggers for a return to wide-spread resistance."

British troops executed 20 captives in southern Iraq, say lawyers
A quote...."British troops may have executed up to 20 captives in southern Iraq in 2004, human rights lawyers claimed today. -- A dossier of evidence from men taken captive after a gun battle near the Iraqi town of Majat-al-Kabir in May 2004 also suggested soldiers tortured and mutilated captives."  --  What's wrong with the Brits?  If they'd done it the good'ol American way, using our vaunted "El Salvador Option", they could have gotten the Iraqis to do all those bad things for them.  As Mr. Reficul would say....it's so much more "satisfying" when you can make people do it to their own.  - mpg
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Shami Chakrabarti: The excuse that America didn't tell us doesn't wash
A quote...."Nearly three years and three foreign secretaries on from Liberty's first call for an investigation into UK involvement in extraordinary rendition flights, the Government has admitted that US rendition flights did stop on UK territory."

Official apology after CIA 'torture' jets used UK base
A quote...."A British territory in the Indian Ocean was used for American "torture" flights, despite categorical denials of Britain's involvement from both Tony Blair and Jack Straw, the Government admitted yesterday."

Much to be sorry for
A quote...."The allegations could not have been much more serious. The official reassurances could hardly have been more authoritative; nor could they have been more emphatically repeated. Jack Straw, the then foreign secretary, was the first senior minister to make them. At the end of 2005 he told MPs that no cases had been discovered in which British territory or airspace had been used by the United States to transport prisoners between jurisdictions where torture or other illegal forms of detention or treatment might be practised on them. A few weeks later Mr Straw repeated his assurance that no such "renditions" had happened under the Bush administration. Early last year Tony Blair added his weight to the accumulating denials. The US had not rendered any individual through the UK or its overseas territories in the period since 9/11, the then prime minister told the intelligence and security committee. The committee duly accepted these high-level assurances." -- Guess what....the "officials" lied again, just as they did about Iraq's WMDs, just as they continue to do about their ongoing occupations and their plans for additional wars, and just as they did with 9/11.  They are congenital, unrepentant, unredeemed, serial liars....and so is the mass-media which has for seven straight uninterrupted years repeated their lies. - mpg

INTERVIEW-EU assembly must reopen "rendition" inquiry
Related article - A quote...."ROME, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The European Parliament must reopen its inquiry into secret CIA transfers of terrorism suspects in Europe after Britain's admission that the United States used its territory in the so-called renditions, an EU lawmaker said."
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UK 'suppressed' mention of Israeli nuclear arsenal in Iraq arms dossier
A quote...."LONDON: An early draft of a pre-war British weapons dossier on Iraq included concerns over Israel's nuclear capability, but the government fought to suppress the reference before publication, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday. The daily said the Foreign Office convinced a tribunal to keep secret the handwritten mention of Israel in the margin of the dossier, which was drawn up to support the decision to go  to war in Iraq." - italics/underline by website editor.

More On IAEA Iran Report
A quote...."Andy Grotto at The Arms Control Wonk has kindly provided a link to a PDF copy of the IAEA report. Andy's take is worth a read, as are the comments to his post."

Gorbachev: US is also targetting Russia - To put it bluntly, the US elites are targeting everybody. - mpg
A quote...."BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Wednesday that he viewed a U.S. plan to deploy a missile defense shield in Central Europe as targeting Russia, not Iran. - "(On Tuesday) Milos Zeman, the former Czech prime minister, said, ‘What kind of Iran threat do you see? This is a system that is being created against Russia,'" Gorbachev said. "I don't think Zeman is alone in seeing this. We see this as well as he sees it."

Militarizing Africa (Again)
Must Read - A quote...."In February 2007, President Bush announced that the United States would create a new military command for Africa, to be known as the Africa Command or AFRICOM, to protect U.S. national security interests on the African continent. Previously, control over U.S. military operations in Africa was divided between three different commands: European Command, which oversaw North Africa and most of sub-Saharan Africa; Central Command, which had responsibility for Egypt and the Horn of Africa; and Pacific Command, which administered the Indian Ocean and Madagascar."

The Enduring Trap in Iraq
A quote...."A showdown is brewing between Republicans and Democrats over the Iraq War once again. The Bush administration is stirring the pot once again by negotiating an agreement with the "sovereign" Iraqi government to place U.S. military troops and bases permanently on Iraqi soil despite strong objections from many Democrats."  --  Oh the Demo part of the DemoRepubs "object" alright, they stand around wringing their hands in outright agitation all the while making pitiful mewling noises.  Whether they or Obama (if elected) will ever actually do anything about this country's Military Industrial Complex is a completely different story. - mpg

PJB: Does Balkanization Beckon Anew?
A quote...."When the Great War comes, said old Bismarck, it will come out of “some damn fool thing in the Balkans.” - On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip shot the archduke and heir to the Austrian throne, Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo, setting in motion the train of events that led to the first world war."

Why Bush visit poses a threat to African nations
A quote...."February 19, 2008: I wish I had the power to stop George Bush from coming. The hassles of hosting a US president are bad enough. They take over your whole country. They make our normally inefficient states go into over-drive and our egregious First Ladies and their husbands go into overkill to show their hospitality."

With Fidel Castro gone, U.S. hawks will look north
A quote...."Fidel Castro's resignation will probably not cause any abrupt change in Cuba.  --  But it could prompt the Bush administration to seek new ways to apply pressure for change – including by pushing Canada to abandon its long-standing policy of diplomatic and economic engagement with the socialist island-state."

Turkish troops enter the north Iraq
A quote...."Turkish television channel NTV reportedly said that as many as 10,000 soldiers have crossed the border into Iraq." -- And the US will do absolutely nothing of course, unless there's the slightest hint that Turkey may stay....for the oil.  If that happens the US elites will go completely out of their collective minds. - mpg

In Case You Missed These Stories
A quote...."Editor’s Note: One shortcoming in our effort to publish more and more articles is that some special stories fly by without getting the attention they deserve. So, periodically, we’ll publish this “in case you missed it” feature with links to stories that we feel fall into this category." -- Some of these weren't posted, check them out. - mpg
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Extreme Capitalism: Commodities Trading in Human Organs
A quote...."In what may be the first time this editor has ever supported anything advanced by a member of the Bush administration, Samuel Crowe, a senior policy analyst with the President's Council on Bioethics, stressing that he was speaking for himself, said "humans cannot be sold and traded" and any suggestion that human parts could be commodities "degrades human society."

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Why the Mainstream Media Never Saw It Coming
Must Read - A quote...."Do a search on Google: "No recession in 2008"  --  This article is typical: "Wall Street Gurus Say No Recession in 2008."  --  Now do a search for: recession in 2008"  --  There are 200 times more hits. But when you click on half a dozen, you will find that they, too, report that opinion in 2007 was that there will be no recession in 2008. The words "avoid" and "not" predominate.  --  You can find one repeated article: Goldman Sachs predicted a recession in 2008 . . . in January, 2008. That's very late in the process. But it is significant.  --  This month, the number of forecasts of a recession in 2008 is increasing, but it is nowhere near a majority status."  - italics by website editor.

Florida Schools, California Convert Auction-Rate Debt (Update5)
A quote...."Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- California, Florida schools and the owner of John F. Kennedy International Airport joined a growing list of municipal borrowers exiting the U.S. auction-rate bond market as record failures push taxpayer costs higher."

Mass. foreclosures rise 128% in January
A quote...."“It might have seemed like 2007 was one of the worst years for foreclosures in Massachusetts, but the rising number of petitions to foreclose suggest that 2008, at least until midyear, won’t be much better,” Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group, said in a statement."

No End in Sight: Iraq's Descent into Chaos - Readings in the Age of Empire
Book Review - "No End in Sight: Iraq's Descent into Chaos" - Charles H. Ferguson - PublicAffairs, 2008 - 640 pp. - A quote...."As is typical in Washington, the administration has solved the crisis in Iraq by redefining success. No longer is the goal a liberal, multi-ethnic nation ready to lead the rest of the Middle East towards democracy, enlightenment, and the American Way. Now the objective is preserving a nominal country in which the various sectarian groups minimize violence by living apart and ignoring the inefficient, ineffective, corrupt, and largely irrelevant central government. A situation that in 2003 would have been considered a grotesque failure is now treated as victory, a product of the far-sighted "surge," advanced by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is ready to initiate as many new wars as necessary to continue promoting democracy, enlightenment, and the American Way. Bombs Away!"


The Water Cure - Annals Of American History
A quote...."Many Americans were puzzled by the news, in 1902, that United States soldiers were torturing Filipinos with water. The United States, throughout its emergence as a world power, had spoken the language of liberation, rescue, and freedom. This was the language that, when coupled with expanding military and commercial ambitions, had helped launch two very different wars. The first had been in 1898, against Spain, whose remaining empire was crumbling in the face of popular revolts in two of its colonies, Cuba and the Philippines. The brief campaign was pitched to the American public in terms of freedom and national honor (the U.S.S. Maine had blown up mysteriously in Havana Harbor), rather than of sugar and naval bases, and resulted in a formally independent Cuba."

When the Terrorists Were 'Our Guys' - They still are - mpg
Special Note - A quote...."In 1976, when George H.W. Bush was CIA director, the U.S. government tolerated right-wing terrorist cells inside the United States and mostly looked the other way when these killers topped even Palestinian terrorists in spilling blood, including a lethal car bombing in Washington, D.C., according to newly obtained internal government documents."

Iraq : Are there any Tears Left?
A quote...."In the Inquisition-scale horrors, inflicted upon Iraq, since a month short of five years ago, the ghosts of the Western-imposed human cull over the previous thirteen years - from life's dawn, to those in its twilight - sometimes, very temporarily, briefly flicker and fade slightly, in the light of another immediate atrocity of enormity. They always return, as they must, in a sight, a scent, a phrase, a 'phone call. Reminders of sins of overwhelming enormity in high places, as Washington and Whitehall bleat about their infantile 'war on terror' and 'rogue states'."

Iraq Unemployment Too Becomes an Epidemic  - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."For a few, salaries have soared. For the rest, unemployment has. - Many Iraqi workers enjoyed huge salary increases following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. But unemployment rose more sharply under policies introduced by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)."

US Foreign Policy Failures Thrust Into Spotlight
A quote...."This week brought two failures of American foreign policy into sharp focus - in Cuba and Pakistan. -
The Cuban catastrophe is familiar. Isolating Fidel Castro only helped consolidate his iron grip. Political and trade sanctions hurt the Cuban people more than his regime. - Washington has been so trapped and so much of a hostage to right-wing Cuban exiles in the United States that it wouldn’t even take advantage of the end of the Cold War to change course. - A contemporary parallel can be seen in the U.S. approach to Iran."

A Landscape of Washington Intervention - Undermining Bolivia
A quote...."A thick fence, surveillance cameras, and armed guards protect the U.S. Embassy in La Paz. The embassy is a tall, white building with narrow slits of windows that make it look like a military bunker. After passing through a security checkpoint, I sit down with U.S. Embassy spokesman Eric Watnik and ask if the embassy is working against the socialist government of Evo Morales. "Our cooperation in Bolivia is apolitical, transparent, and given directly to assist in the development of the country," Watnik tells me. "It is given to benefit those who need it most."

Cluster Bomb Victims: Real-life stories
A quote...."Like many children, Zahra, 11, was attracted by the small size and curious shape of the cluster bomblet that injured her. The UN estimates that up to one million cluster bomblets, including those with self-destruct mechanisms, remained unexploded on the ground in Southern Lebanon after conflict ended in 2006. CREDIT: Alison Locke"  --  Israel did this deliberately....never forget that.  They carpeted civilian areas in southern Lebanon with over three million cluster bomblets during the last seventy two hours of their campaign, when they knew they were going to withdraw their forces.  With complete malice aforethought they deliberately targeted civilians for collective punishment.  What they did was blatantly obvious, it was vicious, it was cruel and it was totally uncalled for.  There is absolutely no excuse for what they did. None whatsoever. - mpg
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How sick of it are you?
A quote...."We have screamed at the heavens and cried bitter tears. We’ve marched and picketed and gone to jail. And we are sick. Sick of the corruption . . . sick of the liars . . . sick of this war!"

1ST LEAD: Rioting Serbs torch US embassy, loot downtown Belgrade - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."Belgrade (dpa) - Some 200,000 Serbs gathered in Belgrade Thursday to rally against Kosovo's independence and the supportive West, with the demonstration turning into an orgy of vandalism and robbery."

U.S. Embassy in Belgrade Overrun - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."MOSCOW, Feb. 22 -- A rampaging crowd of several hundred Serb demonstrators, incensed by the U.S. recognition of Kosovo's independence, overran and burned part of the American Embassy in the Serbian capital of Belgrade on Thursday. The assault drew fierce protests from Washington and illustrated the rage in Serbia over the loss of its historic province."

Iraqi official says troop shortage delaying Mosul offensive - posted at AntiWar
Special Note - A quote...." A lack of forces has delayed the start of what Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed will be a "decisive battle" against Al-Qaeda in the war-torn city of Mosul, an official said on Thursday.  --  The operation, which two weeks ago officials said would start within "days" is now only likely to be launched in the coming weeks, said Khorso Korane, deputy governor of northern Nineveh province of which Mosul is the capital."

Report: Saudi sent arms to Lebanon
A quote...."Saudi Arabia has reportedly sent an arms shipment to Lebanon amid an ongoing political crisis and a looming civil conflict in the country. - The Syrian daily al-Watan reported that a Saudi Royal Guard plane carrying arms, ammunition and explosives had landed in Beirut few days ago." -- Editor's note – the reference to "nerve gas" in the article probably refers to CX gas, a sort of super duper tear gas. - mpg

‘US floats NATO troop plan for West Bank’
Special Note - A quote...."JERUSALEM: The United States is floating an idea to temporarily deploy NATO troops in the West Bank after Israeli troops eventually withdraw, a newspaper said on Wednesday, quoting Israeli defence officials." -- They have got to be kidding! - mpg

Rendition flights landed on British turf
A quote...."REFUELLING of US "extraordinary rendition" flights on a British overseas territory was a very serious issue, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said. - The United States has "expressed regret" at the incidents, he told a press conference in Brussels. - Two such flights, each with one suspected extremist on board, refuelled on the British overseas territory of Diego Garcia in 2002, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said earlier Thursday."

UK apology over rendition flights (Update: hundreds of flights alleged, not two, and Diego Garcia was the destination)
Related article - A quote...."David Miliband has admitted two US 'extraordinary rendition' flights landed on UK territory in 2002. The foreign secretary said in both cases US planes refuelled on the UK dependent territory of Diego Garcia.  --  He said he was "very sorry" to have to say that previous denials made in "good faith" were now having to be corrected."
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Former Congressman Warns Of Martial Law Camps In America
A quote...."An article co-written by a former Congressman and carried by the  San Francisco Chronicle [Rule by Fear or Rule by Law?] has gained much attention recently as it shines light on a coordinated federal government program to build detention camps at undisclosed locations within the United States."

Kucinich to Investigate 9/11 Insider Trading
A quote...."Congressman Dennis Kucinich revealed that he is initiating an investigation the insider trading that took place leading up to 9/11, particularly in regards to put options placed on American Airlines and United Airlines stock."

Is it time for more drastic action on behalf of 9/11 truth?
A quote...."Although the U.S. government's 911 lies continue to unravel, with regard to the imposed "subjective reality" and the associated practical consequences, the "official story" still stands. If we (and the rest of the world for that matter) are to benefit from the truth, more aggressive action may need to be taken."
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Net Neutrality Is a Civil Rights Issue
A quote...."You might not know it, but there’s a crucial debate happening now in Washington about the future of the Internet. Decisions made by Congress and the Federal Communications Commission in the next few years — if not sooner — will determine whether we protect free speech online, close the digital divide, and bring a greater diversity of voices to this transformative medium."

Internet Bill a Blow to the Gatekeepers
Special Note - Action Alert - Related article - A quote...."Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) today launched the latest salvo in the struggle to keep the Internet free from gatekeepers with the introduction of the “Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008” (HR 5353).  --  The bipartisan bill protects Net Neutrality under the Communications Act and calls for a nationwide conversation to set policy about the future of the Internet."

Army Blocks Public's Access to Documents in Web-Based Library
A quote...."The Army has shut down public access to the largest online collection of its doctrinal publications, a move criticized by open-government advocates as unnecessary secrecy by a runaway bureaucracy."
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The Long Run-Up
The inside dirt on that whole - New York Times / McCain / Vicki Iseman - ménage à trois thing. - mpg
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Will China and India conquer the world?
Must Read - Multiple Graphics - A quote...."The continued rise of the emerging economies, particularly India and China, is never far from the headlines. What impact these economies will have on the twenty-first century is the subject of much debate, with the possibility of a shift in global political power a recurring theme. It is often assumed that the emerging economies are following the same path to development that the established economic powers did - but this assumption is worth questioning."

It's Time to Dump the Federal Reserve
A quote...."21/02/08 "ICH" -- -- The credit storm which began in July when two Bear Stearns hedge funds were forced to liquidate, has continued to intensify and roil the markets. Last week the noose tightened around auction-rate securities,a little-known part of the market that requires short-term funding to set rates for long-term municipal bonds. The $330 billion ARS market has dried up overnight pushing up rates as high as 20% on some bonds---a new benchmark for short term debt. Auction-rate securities are now headed for extinction just like the other previously-vital parts of the structured finance paradigm. The $2 trillion market for collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), the multi-trillion dollar mortgage-backed securities market (MBSs) and the $1.3 [trillion] asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) market have all shut down draining a small ocean of capital from the financial system and pushing many of the banks and hedge funds closer to default."

Philly Fed continues to weaken in Feb.
Special Note - A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Factory activity in the Philadelphia region continued to weaken in February, and the outlook for future activity hit its lowest level in 28 years, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said Thursday."

U.S. economic indicators off 0.1% in January
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The index of leading U.S. economic indicators dipped by 0.1% in January, as weaker stock prices and housing data drove the gauge to a fourth consecutive monthly decline, the Conference Board reported Thursday."

California city mulls filing for bankruptcy
A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Vallejo, California, a former Navy town northeast of San Francisco, may file for bankruptcy because its employee costs are rising too much as its revenues slow, a City Council member said on Thursday."

Brace yourself-- your grocery bill is going up - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."Shoppers will soon pay more for groceries, the nation's consumer goods companies told those who most closely watch the industry Tuesday."

Worldwide shortage of rice shoots prices soaring - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...." As the price of rice climbs across South Asia, farmers and millers in Thailand are sitting on stocks and waiting for it to rise even further, said a top rice exporter in Bangkok. - The exporter, who requested anonymity, told The Straits Times: 'In my 25 years of trading, I have never seen such a bad position.' There is a rice shortage in Bangladesh and China too, among other countries, while there is a wheat shortage in Afghanistan.

Euro zone forecast: less growth and higher inflation
A quote...."Economic growth across the Euro zone will be lower in 2008 than estimated, while inflation will stay high, the European Commission has said. Brussels expects growth of 1.8% this year in the 15-nation Euro zone which is lower than its November estimate of 2.2%, and below the growth rate of 2.7% recorded in 2007."


STILL UNANSWERED 9/11 MIRACLES
Must Read - A quote...."Eventually, hopefully during our lifetime, Pandora's Box will be fully opened regarding the 9/11 cover-up and the world will reel in shock and awe ~ when the monstrous truth is known to one and all : Allen L Roland"

Oil Profits and War: Just Coincidence?
Must Read - Graphics - A quote...."This is for all the chart junkies out there, especially the conspiracy theorists. (Remember, just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you!). - Whenever the oil companies’ profits wane, an “energy conflict” emerges on cue to restore them to giddy heights:" --  See also....

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Cages of Conquest - Hear No Evil, See No Evil - posted at ICH
A quote...." 20/02/08 "ICH" -- -- - Americans’ ever-enduring, catatonic sleepwalk through the Empire’s vast array of bread and circus, as always produced by the Ministry of Truth and the Department of Propaganda, better known as the corporatist media, has succeeded in the creation of an ignorant, incurious and dumbed down populace completely bereft of knowledge of what is done in its name. With no concern for or understanding of geography, cultures, history, alien societies, the outside world and of the imperial aspirations of the Empire, Americans have proved easy targets to the manipulations and deceptions of the corporatist world. Seemingly unwilling to gain knowledge of anything outside American Idol or the weekly NASCAR rat race, the soldier ants and worker bees of the Empire are content to circumvent the horrors of war and the myriad crimes against humanity committed in their name in order to maintain their beautiful minds at peace."

The Great Global Power Shift: It's Already Here
A quote...." The American disinformation regime - a hermetically sealed "bubble" - convinces its citizens that the U.S. is and forever will be supreme on the planet. Ignorance may be bliss, but cannot alter the facts of rapid U.S. decline, a spiral that is the inevitable "blowback" of 60 years of undeserved, coerced, and artificially constructed dominance. The tools and traps that were designed to ensnare the planet in the U.S. corporate/military web, have instead led to American shrinkage in all things except military might. But weapons of war cannot replace a bulldozed manufacturing base, or reinvigorate a service sector whose services are increasingly unwanted, or repair a U.S.-led financial system that is terminally choked with worthless paper "instruments." The West-East, North-South shift is well underway - whether Americans know it or not."

Tomgram: Making Iraq Disappear -- The Million Year War - How Never to Withdraw from Iraq
A quote...."Think of the top officials of the Bush administration as magicians when it comes to Iraq. Their top hats and tails may be worn and their act fraying, but it doesn't seem to matter. Their latest "abracadabra," the President's "surge strategy" of 2007, has still worked like a charm. They waved their magic wands, paid off and armed a bunch of former Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda terrorists (about 80,000 "concerned citizens," as the President likes to call them), and magically lowered "violence" in Iraq. Even more miraculously, they made a country that they had already turned into a cesspool and a slagheap -- its capital now has a "lake" of sewage so large that it can be viewed "as a big black spot on Google Earth" -- almost entirely disappear from view in the U.S."

McCain's Holiday from History in Pakistan; -- Will any Old Military Dictator Do?; -- Lies about Obama
A quote...."Barack Obama's spectacular win in Wisconsin has the GOP frightened. The Democratic turnout was much, much better than the Republican. The Democrats and independents are energized." -- This is not just about American politics, Juan Cole covers a lot of ground in this piece. - mpg
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Disinformation flies as US raises Iran bar
A quote...."A new report on Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is about to be released and US "pre-emptive" diplomacy, aimed at preventing an IAEA "clean bill of health" that could derail Washington's effort for a new round of UN sanctions on Iran, is at full throttle - with the timely help of disinformation."

What would it take to launch a war with Iran? - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."Iraq should have cured President George W. Bush of any further itch for starting a war. And yet there comes a rumble for an attack on Iran. Opposing this, the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation sends out emissaries, several of whom visited The Seattle Times."

ElBaradei 'to declare Iran clean'
A quote...."Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei is to release 'a positive report' on Iran's nuclear activities. The IAEA Chief's report on Iran's nuclear program would be positive and it would rule out the possibility that Iran may running a clandestine nuclear arms program [using uranium enrichment], informed sources familiar with the UN nuclear watchdog's issues said on Wednesday."

Nuclear energy, Iran's undeniable right
A quote...."The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the nation would accept no threats on the path of its peaceful nuclear activities.  --  Addressing a huge gathering of people in the southern city of Bandar Abbas Wednesday, he added that the Iranian nation has an undeniable right to access peaceful nuclear energy and has no fear of powers. The united people of Iran are determined to develop the country." --  As EVERYONE already knows, according to the NPT treaty Ahmadinejad is absolutely correct....Iran has the unalienable right to enrich uranium under the NPT. - mpg
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Al-Sadr Threatens to End Cease-Fire - posted at ICH
A quote...."BAGHDAD (AP) — Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr may let a six-month cease-fire expire as soon as Saturday, a move that could send his Shiite militia fighters back out on the streets and jeopardize recent security gains that have led to a sharp decline in violence."

Risk of cholera multiplied by sewage collapse in Baghdad
A quote...."With the northern summer approaching, fears have been voiced that the dysfunctional state of the Iraqi sewerage system will cause a major outbreak of cholera or other water-borne diseases in Iraq’s desperately poor working class districts. Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration and can lead to death if untreated. The disease spreads by the ingestion of water or food that has been contaminated by the waste of infected people." -- For more on this see....Child Abuse

Chief says Australia's combat job done. Defense Chief Says Australian Combat Troops in Iraq Should Be Withdrawn
posted at AntiWar - A quote...."Australia's 550 combat troops based in southern Iraq have helped to make the area more secure and should now be withdrawn, the defense chief said Wednesday. - Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston told a Senate panel that planning was under way to withdraw the 550 soldiers based in Dhi Qar Province as well as 65 army trainers."
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Rigged Trials at Gitmo
A quote...."Secret evidence. Denial of habeas corpus. Evidence obtained by waterboarding. Indefinite detention. The litany of complaints about the legal treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay is long, disturbing and by now familiar. Nonetheless, a new wave of shock and criticism greeted the Pentagon's announcement on February 11 that it was charging six Guantánamo detainees, including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, with war crimes--and seeking the death penalty for all of them."

Pakistan Victors Want Dialogue With Militants - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The winners of Pakistan’s parliamentary elections said Tuesday that they would take a new approach to fighting Islamic militants by pursuing more dialogue than military confrontation, and that they would undo the crackdown on the media and restore independence to the judiciary."

Israel fears Europe will break boycott of Hamas
A quote...."Ran Koriel, Israel's European Union ambassador, recently warned the Foreign Ministry of a change in EU policy on Hamas, amid mounting international pressure on Israel over its handling of the situation in the Gaza Strip.  -- 
The government has recently been getting strong signals that both the U.S. and Europe are deeply frustrated by lack of progress in negotiations with the Palestinians." -- Good for the Europeans, it’s great to see them finally coming to their senses. - mpg

Castro and the Colossus
A quote...."The resignation of Fidel Castro is more promising for the burnishing of his legacy than the mostly septuagenarian Cuban hard-liners in Miami and their fawning allies in the Bush administration would like to believe. After all, Mao Tse-tung is still honored in communist China, the fastest-growing capitalist power in the world, and former KGB agent Vladimir Putin is, at least for now, a very popular elected Russian leader."

US warns Bolivia that growing ties to Iran could put trade deal at risk - posted at ICH
A quote...."LA PAZ, Bolivia: A U.S. congressional delegation arrived Tuesday to smooth tensions between the two countries, but warned that Bolivia's growing ties to Iran could cost it a key U.S. trade agreement." -- For more on this issue see....We'll make them an offer they can't refuse. - 09-06-06 - mpg

Lavalin gets $597M US job in Chavez's Venezuela - posted at ICH
A quote...."The government of Hugo Chavez, a populist with oil money to spend, has hired Montreal's SNC-Lavalin Group to build an irrigation system and three new towns in Venezuela's central plains at a cost of $597 million US."
-- Just can't imagine why Chavez didn't give the contract to a US firm. See article above - mpg

Morales makes good on land reform promises
A quote...."SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia - One of President Evo Morales' campaign promises to indigenous peoples was to give back part of what was stolen. On Jan. 28, the Aymara president of Bolivia delivered 923,318 acres of land to some Guarani people who, for thousands of years, have resided in the regions of what are now parts of Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. In a separate action, Bolivian officials also announced the future delivery of another 445,000 acres to 12,000 Guranis in the same area."

U.S. shifts on Africom base plans
Special Note - A quote..."The US military has decided to keep the base of its new Africa Command in Germany for now, after only one African nation, Liberia, offered to host it." -- Looks like everybody out their knows what the US "Game Plan" is for Africa....and they don't want any part of it. - mpg

US involved in bird flu conspiracy: Indonesia
A quote...."PETER CAVE: Indonesia’s Health Minister has suggested that the United States may be involved in a conspiracy to use the bird flu virus to develop biological weapons.  --  The extraordinary allegation is included in a new book, endorsed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, which describes Indonesia’s fight to assert its ownership of its virulent strains of avian influenza." --  Don't believe it?  Type in Rumsfeld and Bird Flu on any search engine. - mpg

Military Tribunals and You - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."I have just returned from five days in Egypt. To me, visiting foreign countries is so enlightening as an American who grew up as parochial and nationalistic as the next. However, since my son was killed in Iraq, I have had a crash course in foreign "relations" and cultures that came with a too steep price."

Second Restraining Order against Wikileaks - does this also ban Bank Julius Baer's private customer internet access ?
A quote...."Judge Jeffery S.White's approval of the first Restraining Order against WikiLeakS and the Domain Name Registrar Dynadot LLC was bad enough.  --  His second one, a Proposed Amended Temporary Restraining Order, is even wider in scope and is remarkable for several features, which seem to betray an unfamiliarity and incompetence with the Internet, which is astonishing for someone who works in the internet savvy city of San Francisco."
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US Supreme Court refuses to hear case against warrantless wiretapping
A quote...."The program, the full details of which are still not known, included domestic spying in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the US Constitution."

Bush's Life of Constitutional Crime - Lies and Spies
A quote...."President George W. Bush and his director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, are telling the American people that an unaccountable executive branch is necessary for their protection. Without the Protect America Act, Bush and McConnell claim, the executive branch will not be able to spy on terrorists, and we will all be blown up. Terrorists can only be stopped, Bush says, if Bush has the right to spy on everyone without any oversight by courts."

Republicans Would Kill Americans for Profit
A quote...."So let me get this straight- not passing the [Protect America] bill will kill Americans, yet the President was happy to forgo an extension to ensure big American corporations wouldn't be liable for damages due to warrantless searches. - Thus, as stated in the spectacular headline above, Republicans will allow American deaths to save big conglomerates some legal bills. - Regardless [of] your political persuasion, the argument is flawed. Kevin Drum put it perfectly......"


"'Nuff said."
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George Bush's Approval Rating Plummets to Just 19%
A quote...."The latest American Research Group polling of how George W. Bush is conducting himself as President, in the eyes of the America people, is an historic, if not an abysmal low, at just 19% overall. An astounding 77% of those surveyed disapprove of Bush’s job performance. A full 79% of those sampled from February 16-19, were critical of how the President was handling the retreating economy."

Obama Crushes Hillary in WI and HI
A quote...."Obama beat Clinton by 17 percentage points in Wisconsin and 53 percentage points in Hawaii.  --  Clinton had hoped to pull off a win in Wisconsin. Instead, she lost ground on virtually every demographic, even white women, and actually lost to Obama among most major demographic groups except women."
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THE ROAD TO HYPERINFLATION, Part 3 - Inflation targeting
Some quotes...."Bernanke wrote in 1983 that debt-deflation generates wide-spread bankruptcy, impairing the process of credit intermediation. The resultant credit contraction depresses aggregate demand."  --  "In a debt bubble, an escalating rate of inflation to devalue the accumulated debt is needed to sustain the bubble. Thus conventional wisdom moves toward the view that the overriding purpose of monetary policy is to keep market expectations of price inflation anchored at a relatively benign rate to ward off hyperinflation. This approach is known in policy circles as inflation targeting, on which Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is an acknowledged academic authority and for which he had been a forceful advocate before coming to the Fed." - bold/italics/underline by webstie author. -- They don't call him "helicopter Ben" for nothing. - mpg

Data show inflation remains hot in January - Energy, food as well as many underlying core prices rise
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Inflation remained hot in January even as the economy cooled, the government reported Wednesday. --  The report was especially troubling because of an increase of a host of underlying core prices, including apparel and hotel costs.  --  "This was a disturbing report that points to inflation slowly seeping more broadly into the economy. That has to be driving the inflation hawks at the Fed nuts," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors."

Fed slashes growth forecast for US economy
A quote...."The Federal Reserve on Wednesday slashed its 2008 US economic growth forecast by a half percentage point, citing a housing slump, tight credit and higher oil prices."

OECD GDP growth slips from 0.9% to 0.5% in last quarter
A quote...."Global economic growth is going to be lower than the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and many other forecasting organizations were predicting just a few months ago, OECD chief Angel Gurria said on Wednesday."