Wednesday March 3rd 2010

Is The Recovery Real?
Must Read - A quote...."March 03, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- Happy news! The government has come up with a 5.9 percent GDP growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2009. The recession is over. -- Or is it? Statistician John Williams has informed us that 69 percent of this growth, or 4.1 percentage points, is the result of inventory accumulation. That leaves a 1.8 percent growth rate, and the 1.8 percent is likely due to the underestimate of inflation and other statistical problems." -- also posted at DProgram

Evolving Economic Catastrophe: Greek Tragedy Comes to America
Must Read - A quote...."We are not going to go into the lured details regarding residential and commercial real estate, but we are going to give you some highlights. We began telling subscribers to sell real estate in June of 2005, long before anyone else. We picked the top just as we did in September 1988 at the top. --  Residential real estate won’t hit bottom until 2013 and who knows how long it will bump along the bottom. At the end of the year we have a whole new generation of sub prime and ALT-A mortgages coming due for reset. In addition there are the pick and pay loans that are in trouble, and 52% of problems lie, if you can believe it, in prime loans. Residential real estate countrywide is off 32% with a number of areas off 50% or more. In the next two years that national figure will show losses of 45% to 50%, and the former 30 hot city markets will be off 50% to 70%. We predicted this in November of 2004. All the savings of America for three generations of Americans will be lost, and these same Americans will be saddled with horrendous amounts of debt spawned by our Wall Street controlled Treasury and the Federal Reserve. These are the bankers who have robbed you and will continue to rob you until you are destitute and enslaved." - also posted at GlobalRsrch

Central Banks Can't Stop Global Unraveling
Must Read - A quote...."This article by the Telegraph's best financial writer, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, is a stunner because it shows us the fallacies of Keynesian economics in real time. The article, when we picked it up initially and decided to analyze it, wasn't getting a lot of play, but then the Drudge Report posted a link as well. But even though we try not to cover articles that are too well disseminated, we can't resist with this one. Does Evans-Pritchard believe what he writes in this article? We suppose it is obligatory if he wishes to keep his job. Mainstream media does not take kindly to free-market Austrian monetary analysis."

Looming Crisis: America's Credit Card Debt Bubble-Burst
Special Note - Related Article - A quote...."If you are one of the millions of Americans locked into long term debt service, your road to debt serfdom was likely paved by a mortgage, home equity loan, credit cards, or a combination of all three. -- When the U.S. economy began to melt down in 2007 and entered a rapid period of decline in 2008, all eyes were fixed on the subprime mortgage crisis. Though the mortgage crisis, triggered by spurious lending practices and unprecedented risky investment bank practices, was undoubtedly the dominant factor affecting the American consumer in 2008, credit card debt and default was also making a contribution to the deteriorating economy and collapsing standard of living. As the subprime mortgage crisis accelerated, the increasing number of people falling behind on payments or defaulting on credit card debt was largely ignored by the media, with only a sporadic story or two being aired or printed by the major news outlets. Stories finally started receiving vastly more media attention in 2009 as the problem became too large to ignore. Credit cards, once a status symbol and the prized possession of the American consumer, had quickly become the bane of the American consumer."

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher Joins the Long List of Those Calling for Giant Banks to Be Broken Up - Special Note - A quote...."As Bloomberg notes...."


"While the international aspect of Fisher's proposal may be unusual, other Fed officials have also called for breaking up the TBTFs, including:"

Economists: Another Financial Crisis on the Way
Special Note - Related Article -- A quote...."Even as many Americans still struggle to recover from the country's worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, another crisis – one that will be even worse than the current one – is looming, according to a new report from a group of leading economists, financiers, and former federal regulators." -- also posted at ICH
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The Road to Dictatorship
Must Read - A quote...."That 56 percent of all Americans "think the federal government’s become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens" isn’t really all that surprising. After all, ever since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the government’s "right" to read our e-mails, seize our property, hold us as "enemy combatants," and otherwise trample on the Constitution has been expanding at an exponential pace. What’s really shocking, however, is that, according to this CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll, released on Feb. 28, most of the people who believe this are overwhelmingly … Republicans. That is, they are self-described supporters of the very same party which impaled the Constitution on the sword of the "war on terrorism." According to the poll, "only 37 percent of Democrats" believe this, as opposed to "63 percent of Independents and nearly 7 in 10 Republicans." --Is it just me, or was it only yesterday that the Democratic base was outraged by "Bushitler," and the "Cheney-PNAC" alleged neo-fascists who were taking over the country and driving dissent underground? How quickly they turn!" -- also posted at SOTT

Congressman Ron Paul : The Assassinations of Americans - Alt - (YouTube - 5 min 10 sec - Feb. 24, 2010)
Must View Video - A quote...." Congressman Paul speaks on the floor about assassinations of Americans by their own government "

The Pentagon’s Runaway Budget
A quote...."With his decision to boost defense spending, President Obama is continuing the process of re-inflating the Pentagon that began in late 1998 — fully three years before the 9/11 attacks on America. The FY 2011 budget marks a milestone, however: The inflation-adjusted rise in spending since 1998 will probably exceed 100 percent in real terms by the end of the fiscal year. Taking the new budget into account, the Defense Department has been granted about $7.2 trillion since 1998, when the post-Cold War decline in defense spending ended." - also posted at AlethoNews

The Bases Are Loaded: US Permanent Military Presence in Iraq - Alt - (AFYuTb 28m 28s June 20, 2007)
Must View AFVideo - From the History File - (And a good call) - June 20, 2007 -- A quote...."Will the U.S. ever leave Iraq? Official policy promises an eventual departure, while warning of the dire consequences of a "premature" withdrawal. But while Washington equivocates, facts on the ground tell another story. Independent journalist Dahr Jamail, and author Chalmers Johnson, are discovering that military bases in Iraq are being consolidated from over a hundred to a handful of "megabases" with lavish amenities. Much of what is taking place is obscured by denials and quibbles over the definition of "permanent." The Bases Are Loaded covers a wide range of topics. Gary Hart, James Goldsborough, Nadia Keilani, Raed Jarrar, Bruce Finley Kam Zarrabi and Mark Rudd all add their observations about the extent and purpose of the bases in Iraq."

U.S. Casualties in Afghan War Soar Toward 15,000 Dead and Injured
Well, it appears some more / Bio-Weapons-Components / Cannon-Fodder / Killer-Unit-Flesh-Packets / are being degraded or permanently disabled.  Guess the government will have to go ahead and purchase some more of them...yawn.  What's the big deal anyway, they're highly inexpensive to maintain, cheap to acquire and incredibly easy to manufacture (although they do take up to eighteen years to assemble).  Besides....all of these BWCs were actually un-educated enough to let the government inject them with all kinds of unknown, untested and highly dangerous vaccines, drugs and other chemicals for years.  Or let themselves be exposed to deadly depleted uranium.  So what the heck, since they don't appear to have any built-in self-preservation instincts whatsoever and since as a result they're probably going to wear-out or cease functioning anyway, instead of letting them be a burden to society while they continue to uselessly use their VA benefits, or try to rehabilitate themselves while they all slowly and inevitably deteriorate, why not just use them up in the US-NRE's various occupations?  After all, it would be the "capitalist" thing to do. - mpg -- For more on this issue see....The Bidding War - 10-14-09 - mpg

Army sees sharp rise in unfit soldiers
These BWC's are becoming more undependable every day.  Don't they know that the profits of many of this nation's corporations are dependent on them performing their duties, that they owe it to the share holders of this nation to kill as many brown, black, yellow and even white people as possible? - mpg -- A quote.... "WASHINGTON — The percentage of soldiers who are unavailable for combat has risen sharply during the past two years from 11 percent of each brigade in 2007 to 16 percent last year, Army records show."

General Hamid Gol Blames US for Provoking Unrests in Iran
A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- Former Director of Pakistan's Military Intelligence Organization General Hamid Gol blamed the US for creating and training different extremist and terrorist groups in the region, saying Washington is seeking to destabilize the region, specially Iran, through the measure."

Brazil rebuffs US, says it will go own way on Iran - Hip Hip Hooray for Brazil. - mpg
A quote...."BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil rebuffed a U.S. appeal for new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, vowing during a visit from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton not to "bow down" to gathering international pressure." - also posted at WarInIraq

Iran, Seven faces of civilization - (GoglVid - 1h3m32s - 1 year ago)
Video - A quote...."More info: http://www.parstimes.com/film/director/farzin_rezaeian/ A documentary revealing the gems of Iranian Civilizations."

Why Iran? Give Iran a break!
Special Note - A quote...."MELBOURNE, Aust. -- Iran has not attacked another country militarily. The track records of the US, Israel, the UK and France are very different. - These so-called “democracies” have a bloody history of invading other countries on flimsy excuses. - There are parallels, between the Western media rhetoric about Iraq’s nuclear threat prior to the US invasion and the rhetoric about Iran’s nuclear programme today. In repeatedly misinterpreting the statements of Iran’s Ahmadinejad, the US-Israel media paints him as the Hitler of the Middle East. There was no reality check before Iraq and there is no reality check now. - Iran has been a consistent supporter of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and called for a nuclear weapons free Middle East."

Muslim woman barred from flight for refusing ‘naked’ scan
Just WAIT till the US-NRE's perverted goons start cavity searching everyone....Welcome to the New Roman Empire folks.  Next time, don't vote for a DemoRepub, the privacy and dignity you'll save someday might very well be your own.  - mpg -- A quote...."A MUSLIM woman was barred from boarding a flight to Pakistan after refusing to go through a new ‘naked’ full-body scanner at Manchester Airport on religious grounds." - also posted at PrisonPlanet

Gordon Brown to stop courts issuing arrest warrants for foreign officials
Well, there they go, Britain's finally giving up on their treaty obligations along with that "quaint" old "rule of law" thing, just as the US-NRE did almost a decade ago....and for the very same reasons. Both countries did so at the behest of five million Jews living in the state of Israel, in order that these Jews can continue murdering Palestinians and stealing their lands with impunity.  What a proud day for the Brits, using their own Magna Carta (originally issued in the year of our Lord 1215)  for toilet paper.  They say sometimes Empires end with a whimper instead of a bang.....but with the sound of a toilet flushing? To watch a once proud people casually throw aside centuries of sacred judicial and civil traditions and obsequiously prostrate themselves before a bunch of murderous, racist, thugs from a foreign country is simply to painful to witness. It's degrading and it's disgusting. - mpg

Families of dead troops ask Chilcot to confront Brown
A quote...."The families of troops who were killed in poorly protected Land Rovers have urged the Iraq inquiry to challenge Gordon Brown tomorrow on his funding of frontline forces. - They want answers because no one in Government has ever explained why the Snatch Land Rover was not replaced in Iraq and Afghanistan once it became clear that it was vulnerable to roadside bombs."

Violence on Eve of Iraq Vote
A quote...."Iraqis go to the polls this Sunday, March 7, and it's not looking good. -- A rumble of violence is spreading across Iraq, and while it's nothing like the generalized warfare that plagued the country three years ago, it's a worrying sign that a wrong turn after the elections could lead to an explosion -- especially if the vote is rigged, or if the politically disenfranchised outsiders, such as the many Sunnis, secularists, and nationalists, feel that the deck was stacked against them." - also posted at Uruknet

Iraq tensions rise after Kurds threaten to arrest Arab governor
A quote...."SALAHADIN, Iraq — In a sign of heightened Arab-Kurd tension along a disputed boundary just days from Iraq elections, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan says the governor of the adjoining Arab-majority province will be arrested if he enters Kurdish-controlled areas." - also posted at Uruknet

Sliding Backwards on Iraq?
A quote...."Last week, President Obama’s out-of-control military brass once again leaked a statement contrary to the president’s position. This time the statement came from Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who officially requested to keep a combat brigade in the northern part of the country beyond the August 2010 deadline."

Houthis can form political party: Sana'a
A quote...."Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has called on the country's Houthi fighters to enter into the county's political arena by forming a party. - Hailing an early February ceasefire reached with the Shia fighters based in the beleaguered north, Saleh said the group could play a role in the country's politics as a political party."

Stalemate in China-US Relations - Collapse of the G-2 Myth
Special Note - Geo-Politicla Analysis -- A quote...."This winter has been a cold one for China-US relations. So many serious disagreements between the two countries have not surfaced simultaneously for decades: the US is exerting unprecedented pressure on China to revalue the Yuan, a cyber war erupted between Google and the Chinese administration, Washington intends to sell weapons worth $6.4 bn to Taiwan, China dumped US bonds worth $34.2 bn, both sides threaten to introduce punitive import tariffs, and US President B. Obama received 14thDalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso in the White House. In the past China and the US avoided taking harsh measures against each other serially, but evidently things have changed beyond recognition over the past several months."

Tymoshenko's government ousted in Ukraine
A quote...."KIEV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian parliament ousted the government of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a no-confidence vote on Wednesday, dealing a final blow to the leadership of the pro-Western Orange Revolution and leaving her to lead the opposition in parliament."

Germany's Fear of Finkelstein
A quote...."Norman Finkelstein, an internationally renowned scholar of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, was due to talk about the state of the decades-old conflict and the situation in Gaza one year after the Israeli assault last week in Munich and Berlin. As part of a European speaking tour which would have led him to Germany for the first time since 2002, Finkelstein has been invited to speak in Prague at a number of prestigious institutions, such as the Institute of International Relations Prague, the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, and the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts at Charles University in Prague." - also posted at ICH

Turkmenistan: We don’t want ex-Mossad man as ambassador
A quote...."For four months now Turkmenistan has been delaying the ratification of the appointment of Reuven Dinel, a close associate of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, as Israel’s first ambassador to that country. Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have said this is an unusual diplomatic hint to the effect that Turkmenistan is not interested in the appointment, because Dinel formerly worked at the Mossad. “They are hoping we will get the hint and appoint someone else to the position,” said a top person at the ministry." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Did they know? Israel-U.S. startup linked to Dubai hit
Special Note - It's funny how Israeli companies ALWAYS seem to be involved in "terrorist" incidents like 9/11, 7/7 and the recent "fizzle-pants" episode, where they provided "security" or other sorts of services, along with assassinations and other forms of mayhem and murder world wide. Most governments would investigate why Israeli firms always seem to be involved with these sorts of incidents and in cases such as providing "security", why they "just" "somehow" always seem to be falling down on the job (pun intended).  Amazing ain't it folks?  Must be another one of "dem dare coincidences", ain't that right folks?- mpg -- A quote...."Employees at the Payoneer are still trying to understand what hit them: the Israeli startup company has faced a wave of unwanted publicity after Dubai police claimed that suspects in the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh used its credit card technology. "

Dubai seeks Netanyahu's arrest over killing of Hamas man
A quote....."Dubai's police chief plans to seek the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of the Mossad over the killing of a Hamas leader in the emirate, Al Jazeera television reported on Wednesday. - Dahi Khalfan Tamim "said he would ask the Dubai prosecutor to issue arrest warrants for ... Netanyahu and the head of Mossad," the television said. It did not give details." -- also posted at ICH  

Mossad Comes to America:  Death Squads by Invitation
A quote...."March 03, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- The principle propaganda mouthpiece of the Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (PMAJO), the Daily Alert (DA), has come out in full support for Israel’s practice of extra-judicial, extra-territorial assassination. -- In the face of world-wide governmental condemnation (except from the Zionist-occupied White House and US Congress), the PMAJO slavishly backs any brutal murder committed by the Israeli secret police anywhere in the world and at anytime. The recent assassination of Hamas leader, Mahmoud Mabhouh, in Dubai is a case in point. The PMAJO has defended all of Mossad’s criminal actions leading up to the murder, including extensive identity theft and the stealing or falsification of passports and official documents from several European countries, presumably allied to the Zionist state. Among the Mossad agents who entered Dubai to kill Mabhouh, twelve agents used stolen or forged British passports, three Australian, three French, one German and six Irish. These agents assumed the identity of European citizens in order to commit murder in a sovereign nation." -- also posted at DProgram

Mordechai Vanunu’s Nobel Stand
Special Note - Some quotes...."It was revealed last week that in a letter to the Committee, Mordechai Vanunu had asked for his candidacy to be rescinded. It was unusual enough for Geir Lundestad to acknowledge that a nomination had even been received, let alone publicly disclose Vanunu’s request. But for Vanunu—a man who should have been awarded the Peace Prize long ago—it was in full keeping with the dignity, integrity and uncompromising nature of one to whom the world owes a great debt."


Well, if Simon Peres had injured the Nobel Peace Prize, and Kissinger had killed it, Obama buried its stinking, rotting, corpse and gave it its last rites during his speech in Stockholm last December.  All this website editor can say is the Noble Committee did irreparable damage to the Noble Peace Prize by awarding it to Obama, Kissinger and Perez, they've made a mockery of the prize along with their own reputations and the entire concept of peace.  The ONLY way they can restore even a part of the prize's faded glory, along with what little remains of their sullied reputations, is to revoke the prize for the individuals who have so besmirched it and the ideas it was supposed to represent.  It's their choice. - mpg

From South Africa to Israel: personal stories of apartheid
A quote...."I grew up in an anti-apartheid household in Toronto. My parents met while my father was touring southern Africa as part of a Canadian anti-apartheid organisation, building links with postcolonial African socialist states and the South African liberation movement. On long car journeys, our family would mix Nelson Mandela’s autobiography with Just William children’s story tapes, and my parents would occasionally hire a babysitter so they could attend organising meetings for the international boycott campaign against South Africa." - also posted at AlethoNews

What it means to go to Ben Gurion airport with an Arab friend
A quote...."I’m too distracted to fall asleep. Everyone is quietly snoring. The sun rises ever so slowly and the wings of the plane rudely cut through the calmness of the clouds. It’s hard to believe that the intensity of the sun repeats itself with this beauty every day. That it’s not for this special day that led me to be on this flight, on my way to Barcelona. I guess my mind makes it negligible just to maintain every-day continuity. Can’t comprehend all of chaos theory at once." - also posted at AlethoNews

Why all this media manipulation being directed against Hugo Chavez?
A quote...."VHeadline commentarist Carlos M. Pietri writes: Yesterday's news headlined Spanish judge accuses Venezuela of supporting ETA and FARC -- published in the vast majority of the Venezuelan and Spanish neo-liberal media -- is nothing more than an impressive though well-planned media drive against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.." - also posted at AlethoNews & WarInIraq
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Architects for 9/11 inquiry: Fire couldn’t demolish WTC in 11 seconds - Alt - (RTYuTb - 4m36s - March 02, 2010)
RTVideo - A quote...."The question isn’t who or why anymore so much as how. How could 200 thousand tonnes of steel have dropped to the ground in under 11 seconds because of a fire? Over a thousand engineers and architects say it simlpy couldn’t, not the way it happened on September 11, and now they want a new investigation. Tim King has been following this issue in quite some time."

NSA threatened Qwest CEO with repercussions if he didn’t cut a surveillance deal
Police State Alert - A quote...."(WMR) -- WMR has learned from sources who worked in senior positions for the telecommunications company Qwest that its former chairman and CEO, Joseph Nacchio, was threatened with retaliation after he refused to participate in an unconstitutional and illegal National Security Agency (NSA) wiretapping program after he met with NSA officials on February 27, 2001, some six months before the 9/11 attacks. Nacchio refused to turn over customer records without a court order -- something NSA did not possess at the time it made its request."

Senate Burglary:  CIA Domestic Black-Op Team Arested
Police State Alert - A quote...."Last week’s breakin at Senator Mary Landrieu’s office in the New Orleans Federal Building was more than it seemed, much more.  All of the 4 arrested had been trained by the CIA and, possibly, Israel.  One arrested, Stan Dai, is listed as an Operations Officer of the Department of Defense Irregular Warfare Program and  a known expert and lecturer on, not only surveillance but explosives training, assassinations and “false flag operations.”  If you wanted a plane to crash, an enemy to get sick and die or a building to blow up, Dai would be the man to know how to make it happen.  Problem is, his skills were being used as part of a criminal conspiracy inside the United States against members of our own government."

What the cyberecurity bill is really about
Web Censorship Alert - A quote...."....the Wizards of Oz had an epiphany. -- It dawned on them that to further their agenda -- controlling the globe’s food, fiber, water, minerals, money, land, information, people, jobs, hope, and their planned world government they’d been maneuvering towards -- in the secret manner they’ve been accustomed to lo these many decades, they were going to have to somehow take control of what was being fed onto the Internet and failing that, the Internet itself." - For more on this issue see..... Attempts to Control the Internet
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Truth and Consequences in the Gaza Invasion
Must Read - A quote...."Public outrage at the Gaza invasion did not come out of the blue but rather marked the nadir of a curve plotting a steady decline in support for Israel. As polling data of Americans and Europeans, both Gentiles and Jews, suggest, the public has become increasingly critical of Israeli policy over the past decade. The horrific images of death and destruction broadcast around the world during and after the invasion accelerated this development. “The increased and brutal frequency of war in this volatile region has shifted international opinion,” the British Financial Times editorialized one year later, “reminding Israel it is not above the law. Israel can no longer dictate the terms of debate." - also posted at Uruknet - This is an extract from Norman Finkelstein’s new book about the Gaza conflict, “This Time We Went Too Far” published by OR Books." (only available at OR Books) - mpg

RACHEL CORRIE THE TERRORIST
Special Note - A quote...."Israel never ceases to amaze. I have just read the most delusional piece of Israeli fantasy ever printed, and that’s saying something! The upcoming trail regarding the murder of Rachel Corrie has the Zionist Religious Fanatic Nut jobs in a dither, they are dragging out the smear brush to demonize Rachel and her Family, whilst polishing the “Chosen Ones Halo” (or should I say Horns!) of the IDF killer who ruthlessly murdered her."

House Demolitions in the Occupied City of Jerusalem during the month of January 2010
Related Article - Month in and month out.  Think if it was your neighborhood and your neighbors folks, what would YOU do? - mpg -- A quote...."'No-permit', the Justification used whenever the Israeli Occupation Authorities conduct a certain structure demolition process through the Jerusalem Municipality. During the first month of the current year, the Israeli Occupation Authorities demolished 6 Palestinian houses (3 in Jaba', 1 in Silwan, 1 in At Tur, and another one in the Old City)."

IOF soldiers raid southern Gaza, cut trees and round up 19 in WB
A quote...."KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided agricultural areas east of Khan Younis to the south of the Gaza Strip at an early hour on Tuesday, local sources said. -- They told the PIC reporter that a number of IOF tanks escorted huge bulldozers that advanced 200 meters into the area east of Qarara and damaged Palestinian land and property." - also posted at Uruknet

[Israeli] Judge tries to hide his shame while extending child's detention pending trial
A quote...."The trial of a child turned into a farce when, to laughter from those assembled in the courtroom, the lawyer Leah Tsiml took a balloon out of her purse and gave it to Hassan, aged 12, to play with during his trial. This move prompted the judge to lower his head and hide his shame behind a computer screen." - also posted at Uruknet

Native Indian Genocide: Parallels in Palestine
A quote...."The United States of America, of course, voted against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Only a country that denies the rights of its own Native Indians could object to the right of self-determination for other indigenous peoples. - Likewise, only a country that had itself executed genocide on its own native peoples on a massive scale could be such an ardent supporter of the Zionist regime, which is currently engaged in a native Palestinian genocide." - also posted at Uruknet

Picking pebbles to live somehow
Special Note - A quote...."They come by the hundreds every day to sand dunes and rubble sites to sift for pebbles, stones and sand that can be used in making concrete blocks. They lean into trash bins across the Strip, and wade through piles of rubbish scavenging for plastics, metals, and any bits worth reselling." - also posted at Uruknet

Episode 2 of Sleepless in Gaza and Jerusalem - Alt - (YouTube - 24min 50sec - March 02, 2010)
Click here - For episode 1 - Alt - (YouTube - 25min 32sec - March 01, 2010)

Refusal to surrender: "My Father was a Freedom Fighter" reviewed
Book Review - A quote...."Palestinian-American author, journalist and editor of the Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud's latest book "My Father was a Freedom Fighter" [GoglBkSrch]* is an antidote to the US, European and Israeli media's decontextualization and dehumanization of Palestinians. It's also an instant classic, one of the very best books to have examined the Palestinian tragedy." - *links added
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Mass Layoffs Increase in January
A quote...."The number of people let go in mass layoffs rose in January after four straight months of declines. -- Employers laid-off 182,261 workers, seasonally adjusted, in 1,761 mass layoff events last month, the Labor Department said Tuesday. A mass layoff is when a single employer terminates at least 50 people."

More consumers file for bankruptcy protection
A quote...."The economic recovery effort has not slowed consumer bankruptcy filings. They surged 14% in February compared with a year earlier, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. -- The 111,693 cases filed last month also represented a 9% increase from January, the report said."

Tuesday March 2nd 2010

"In practice, a dual-standard system of international criminal justice has come about in which a justice "made to measure" for the major world powers and their victorious leaders operates alongside a separate justice for the defeated and downtrodden. In particular, international crimes of jus in bello, which are normally considered less serious than the crime of aggression, have been prosecuted relentlessly and in some cases punished with great harshness, in particular by the Hague Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. At the same time, aggressive war, a crime predominantly committed by the political and military authorities of the major powers, has been systematically ignored. (pp. 30–31)"

One would have to ask....hasn't the New York Times helped kill enough Americans yet?  Haven't they helped murder enough people in the Middle East yet?  Haven't they helped betray their country enough yet?  Isn't the twenty four trillion dollars (as part of the war cycle) they helped funnel to their rich Bankster friends on Wall Street enough yet?

Just how many more wars do they intend to start?

Let's make this perfectly clear....there are about five million Jews in the United States and another five million in Israel proper.  That's a total of ten million people. There are three hundred million other people who live here in the United States and about 1.5 billion Muslims world wide.

The owners of the New York Times are emphatically NOT the world's newest aristocracy.  Its owners are NOT our new feudal lords and ladies.

The people in this country are not completely stupid (no matter how it may seem at the moment) -- and this isn't going to be another  "Fistfull of Dollars" "Pro-Iraq-War propaganda-fest" re-run!

This is NOT going to be the Iran-Syria-Lebanon sequel!

Got IT!?!?

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY!!  - mpg - posted 02-06-10

"The Federal Reserve also has the option of redeeming or selling securities as a means of applying monetary restraint. A reduction in securities holdings would have the effect of further reducing the quantity of reserves in the banking system as well as reducing the overall size of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet."

"Fifteen years ago, the combined assets of our six biggest banks totaled 17 percent of our GDP. By 2006, that number was 55 percent. Right now, it stands at 63 percent. -- "The big four have half of the market for mortgages and two-thirds of the market for credit cards. Five banks have over 95 percent of the market for over-the-counter derivatives. Three U.S. banks have over 40 percent of the global market for stock underwriting." - bold by website editor

Monday March 1st 2010

Disrupter Unleashed
Must Read - Quote of the Day...."[W]e suggest a distinctive tactic for breaking up the hard core of extremists who supply conspiracy theories: cognitive infiltration of extremist groups, whereby government agents or their allies (acting either virtually or in real space, and either openly or anonymously) will undermine the crippled epistemology of believers by planting doubts about the theories and stylized facts that circulate within such groups, thereby introducing beneficial cognitive diversity." -- *Cass Sunstein*,  (Page 219.) Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Muslims Are Their Own Worst Enemy - Just go ask the Saudi Royals....mpg
Must Read - Geo-Political Analysis -- A quote...."Muslims are numerous but powerless. Divisions among Muslims, especially between Sunni and Shi’ites, have consigned the Muslim Middle East to almost a century of Western control. Muslims cannot even play together. The Islamic Solidarity Games, a regional version of the Olympics, which were to be held in April in Iran, have been cancelled, because the Iranians and the Arabs cannot agree on whether to call the body of water that separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula the Persian Gulf or the Arabian Gulf." - also posted at ICH - For more on this sort of issue see....The True Axis of Evil - 10-10-08 - mpg & The Kingdom of Leprosy - 10-07-08 - mpg

America and world Economic Meltdown
Must Read - Geo-Political Analysis -- A quote...."Christopher King argues that “a situation exists in which it may be in the interests of the United States to seek a ‘cold war’ situation with Russia and China as a pretext for defaulting on its external debt, attacking Iran, taking direct control of all Middle Eastern oilfields and effective control of Europe”. -- also posted at WarInIraq

Ralph Nader Was Right About Barack Obama
Must Read - A quote...."We owe Ralph Nader and  Cynthia McKinney an apology. They were right about Barack Obama. They were right about the corporate state. They had the courage of their convictions and they stood fast despite wholesale defections and ridicule by liberals and progressives. -- Obama lies as cravenly, if not as crudely, as George W. Bush. He promised us that the transfer of $12.8 trillion in taxpayer money to Wall Street would open up credit and lending to the average consumer. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), however, admitted last week that banks have reduced lending at the sharpest pace since 1942. As a senator, Obama promised he would filibuster amendments to the FISA Reform Act that retroactively made legal the wiretapping and monitoring of millions of American citizens without warrant; instead he supported passage of the loathsome legislation. He told us he would withdraw American troops from Iraq, close the detention facility at Guantánamo, end torture, restore civil liberties such as habeas corpus and create new jobs. None of this has happened." - also posted at ICH

The War on Terror Is Anti-Conservative
Must Read - A quote...."Benjamin Franklin once observed that those who would trade their liberties for security will wind up losing both. James Madison stated that no nation can preserve freedom in the midst of perpetual warfare. Few can question that America's Founding Fathers epitomize true conservatism. There is something seriously wrong in America today precisely because the elites from both political parties have forgotten about Franklin and Madison and ignored their wise counsel."

Obama’s Problems — and Ours
Must Read - A quote...."We inherited the worst situation since the Great Depression. -- That is the reflexive response of President Obama to the troubles from which he has been unable to extract his country. -- Even before the inauguration, he says, there were projections of a $1.2 trillion deficit for 2009. That deficit is not my deficit. -- Presidents are usually blamed for deficits run while they are in office. But, in fact, presidents do not write budgets. Congress does. Presidents sign them. And the mammoth deficits of 2008 and 2009 came from budgets approved by a Congress run by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Did Sen. Barack Obama vote against those budgets?"

We Murdered Our Children
Must Read - A quote...."March 01, 20101 "Information Clearing House" -- Dear Our General McCrystal and Dear Our President Obama, We ask you both to forgive us for not stopping you from committing yet another series of immeasurably costly acts of insanity. We who are so many millions of men and women stronger than the two of you in our employ are a million times more responsible and stand as first accused before the thousands of our Afghani brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers grieving the loss of so many of their dearest children and countrymen and women of all ages."

War is Peace: Robert Gates edition
A quote...."For Orwellian Government Statement of the Month, allow me to nominate this gem from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who warned that "the demilitarization of Europe -- where large swaths of the general public and political class are averse to military force and the risks that go with it [is] . . . an impediment to achieving real security and lasting peace in the 21st." So according to our Secretary of Defense -- itself an Orwellian title at this point -- the greatest danger to peace (not to mention America's ability to rule the world through mass invasions and occupations) is a desire on the part of Europeans to avoid war."

Extradition of Taliban From Pakistan Blocked
Special Note - A quote...."Following today's decision, Khalid Khawaja, a campaigner who has opposed Pakistan's support of the U.S. in hunting down Islamic militants and who filed the petition to the Lahore high court, told CBS News, "This is a great day for me. The government has finally been told in categorical terms that these people cannot be sent outside Pakistan for now." -- In addition to Baradar, other prominent Taliban militants in custody named in the petition were Mullah Abdul Salam, Mullah Kabir, Mullah Mohammad, and Mullah Amir Muawiya. -- Western diplomats said the court's intervention also highlighted the increasingly robust character of Pakistan's civil society and the country's judicial system. Last year, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, was restored to his position following significant public protests, two years after he was dismissed by former President Pervez Musharraf, a staunch ally of former U.S. President George W. Bush."

Germany's Left Party expelled from Bundestag
A quote...."GERMANY’S LEFT Party was expelled from the Bundestag yesterday after its members held up signs bearing the names of Afghan civilians killed in a German-ordered airstrike last September. -- The protest came in the middle of a parliamentary debate on extending Germany’s nine-year military mission to Afghanistan by a further year."

Ahmadinejad once again fails to call for the annihilation of Israel  - Despite what other people say he said....mpg
A quote...."I saw Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN Friday afternoon. Oren said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had called for the annihilation of Israel, and was therefore speaking of genocide. -- It is dreary to see this constant drumbeat of dishonest propaganda. Whatever one thinks of Ahmadinejad or the Iranian regime, one should not misrepresent their statements, since that will lead to bad policy-making."

Iran reminds IAEA of West's broken promises
A quote...."Iran has called on the UN nuclear watchdog to bear in mind the West's past breaches of atomic fuel exchange deals with Tehran while reviewing Iran's nuclear program -- In a letter to the UN body, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), cited three instances on which Western countries failed to meet their commitments and provide Iran with nuclear fuel." - bold by website editor - also psoted at AlethoNews & WarInIraq -- For more on this issue see the quote shown below....


Protests Sweep Southern Yemen
A quote...."As international donors were meeting in Riyadh this weekend to decide how to spend the nearly $6-billion recently pledged to Yemen for development and counter-terrorism, protesters staged rallies in every province of southern Yemen, according to separatist leaders.  The protests are intended to convince donors not to sink international aid into what they call a corrupt and inefficient regime."

Russia launches Proton-M carrier rocket with 3 Glonass satellites
A quote....""A Proton-M carrier rocket with three Glonass satellites was successfully launched from a launching pad at the Baikonur space center on March 2 at 0:19 Moscow time [22:19 GMT, March 1], Alexei Zolotukhin said. -- Glonass - the Global Navigation Satellite System - is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users to determine their positions to within a few meters." - also posted at WarInIraq
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Obama and the Patriot Act: “Yes We Can” Kill the Bill of Rights
Police State Alert - A quote...."Obama waited until Saturday night to renew the Bill of Rights busting Patriot Act. It was set to expire today. Both the Senate and the House signed off on the extension last week. So called “privacy protections” were dumped when Senate Democrats failed to raise a 60-vote supermajority to pass them. Cast aside were restrictions and greater scrutiny on the government’s authority to spy on Americans and seize their records, the Associated Press reports." -- also posted at DProgram

Cryptome’s John Young on Alex Jones TV – The Internet is a Police State Surveillance Grid
Police State Alert - Videos - Alt(1/3) - Alt(2/3) - Alt(3/3) - A quote...."Alex talks with John Young, webmaster of Cryptome, a website that covers news on freedom of speech, cryptography, spying, and surveillance. The ISP Network Solutions shuttered Young’s site earlier in the week after he posted a document summarizing Microsoft’s dealings with law enforcement agencies."

U.S.:  Senate Torture Probe Uncovers Missing Emails
A quote...."NEW YORK, Feb 27, 2010 (IPS) - The Justice Department investigation into whether the authors of the George W. Bush-era "torture memos" were guilty of professional misconduct did not have full access to the emails used by those lawyers and by other key figures in the investigation, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft and former counsel to the Vice President David Addington."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

A few selected videos that have been removed from YouTube, at one time or another....

Palestinian Children Cry to The World (Banned from.. - (DailyMotion - 12/05/08) - Removed by YouTube
Must View Video - A quote...."Hi, I made this short movie to show how much Palestinian Children Suffer :
However, the JDIF removed the video form YouTube "

Rain of Fire: Israel's Unlawful Use of White Phosphorous in Gaza - (6m11s - 03/26/09) - Still up on YouTube
Must View Video - A quote...."During Israel's 22-day military operations in Gaza, from December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009, the IDF repeatedly exploded white phosphorus munitions in the air over populated areas, killing and injuring civilians, and damaging civilian structures, including a school, a market, a humanitarian aid warehouse and a hospital. Senior Military Analyst Marc Garlasco discusses Human Rights Watch's on the ground investigation and findings. For more"

Sami Yusuf - Forever Palestine - (VodPod - 3 min 52 sec - Sep 17, 2009) -- Removed by YouTube
Video - A quote...."First collected by manaf_ghani  Sep 17, 2009  from youtube.com"

Gaza Massacre Feb 2008 - (Daily Motion - 1 min 40 sec - Uploaded 02/28/08) -- Removed by YouTube
Video - A quote...."By sabbahblog -- In less than 24 hours between Feb 27 & 28, 2008, Israel killed 30 Palestinians, 10 of them are babies and children."

Dispatches: The Killing Zone - (Google Vid - 49:22 - 3 years ago) - Removed by YouTube
Video - British report on Israeli violence in Gaza against not only Palestinian civilians, but international aid volunteers and foreign reporters as well.

If Americans Knew What Israel Is Doing! VIDEO WAS CENSORED! - (3m23s  062407) - Still up on YouTube
Video - A quote...."Posted by representativepress - Those who want to suppress the facts have dishonestly contacted YouTube and claimed that the video "If Americans Knew What Israel Is Doing!" was a Terms of Service Violation. The video is clearly NOT a TOS violation. You can see why they don't want you to see it."

YouTube WIPES "Gaza Massacre" video from records!
Related Article - A quote...."The reasons are obvious. This video got enormous number of visits within no time and the effect of it reflected on the supportive comments received by almost everyone watched it there. Zionist didn't like what they saw and decided to complain. They must have invented some reasons and asked YouTube to remove it, and because YouTube are so nice people, they removed it without hesitation!"

END: 0f a few selected videos that have been removed from YouTube, at one time or another....

Zionist "Fail" [in] Mission to Ireland
Special Note - Action Update - A quote...."The [Israeli] ambassador was met by a protest of over thirty locals and was confronted by local representatives including Sinn Fein Cllr. Carthy and his colleague, Noel Keelan who is the Deputy Mayor of Carrickmacross. Also in attendance was the Mayor of Monaghan Town Council, Seán Conlon and the former Workers Party Mayor of Carrickmacross, Francie O’Donoghue.

Land Day to be marked with Global BDS Day of Action
Action Alert -- Boycott, Divest and Sanction - Because everytime anyone buys something from the state of Israel, or from any of the companies that do business with Israel, they're killing innocent men, women, and children.  please help stop the killing....Boycott, divest and sanction the state of Israel. - mpg - A quote...."The BDS National Committee (BNC) is calling on you to unite in your different capacities and struggles for a Global BDS Day of Action on 30 March 2010 in solidarity with the Palestinian people and for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel." -- For more on how to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg

Protest Continues In Beit Sahour
Action Update - A quote...."Once again, a peaceful demonstration in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, ended with army brutality. Around 80 people marched on Sunday in Oush Grab, in protest of the re-opening of a former military base. Israeli Army fired sound grenades, tear-gas canisters and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. All photos were taken by FLV."

The Musa’ab Yousuf Story: a classic example of Israeli disinformation
A quote...."In addition to its protracted war of terror against the Palestinian people, Israel has long waged an unrelenting campaign of psychological warfare against the Palestinian will, aimed at debilitating the domestic front across the occupied territories. The Israeli media, which often operates in sync with the Israeli occupation army and intelligence agencies, readily and routinely parrot the carefully concocted lies coming out of the Disinformation Department at the Israeli Defence Ministry headquarters at Hakirya in Tel Aviv."

We Must Never Forget Gaza
A quote...."Despite a slight improvement in the general humanitarian situation, the Gaza Strip remains a disaster area. In fact, in terms of the sheer destruction of homes and infrastructure, the coastal enclave can be compared to quake-stricken Haiti, with the main difference lying in the fact that while the Caribbean island’s calamity was a natural disaster, the Gaza disaster was inflicted by the criminal Israeli regime." -- also posted at BLN

39 army raids, 28 arrests: Just another day in the West Bank
A quote...."The year 2009 was the quietest for Israelis from the security point of view and the most violent for the Palestinians from the point of view of attacks by settlers in the West Bank.” Just as he was saying this – as an example of one of the absurdities that characterize the political situation – Palestinian Agriculture Minister Ismail Daiq received a phone call from the Jenin district to inform him that five artesian wells in the village of Daan had been destroyed that morning. One person was shot and wounded in the abdomen when he tried to lift the pump to save it from damage. This was not an attack by settlers but a raid by the army." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Israeli army tanks open fire on Gazans
A quote...."Israeli army tanks opened fire on northern Gaza Strip, killing a Palestinian and wounding another near the town of Beit Lahia, Palestinian sources say."

Stop murdering Palestinians, Spanish kids say
A quote...."The Israeli Embassy in Madrid has recently received hundreds of schoolchildren's letters protesting against Tel Aviv's conduct toward the Palestinians. -- One letter directed at Israel's ambassador in Madrid, Rafael Shotz, asked, "How many Palestinians have you murdered today?" -- also posted at WarInIraq

Tariq Shadid – Palestine is full of heroes - Yes, but they all keep getting assassinated by Israel. - mpg
A quote...."Although people in our modern times have been educated to believe that having the 'right' ideas, methods or ideologies is what causes revolutions, history teaches us that drastic changes usually happen when the majority of the people rally behind a certain leader, more than behind an ideology. While Palestinian society continues to be torn apart by factional strife, and people increasingly see each other as adversaries based on differences of opinion or conviction, what they really need is not a new philosophy, but simply a truly charismatic leader." - also posted at Uruknet -- Perhaps, but if one is found, he, or she, better have A LOT of body guards. - mpg

SMH: Australia abandons Israel in UN vote
A quote...."Canberra.  Australia has softened its traditionally staunch support for Israel in the United Nations but denied it was linked to tensions over the country's apparent use of forged Australian passports in an assassination in Dubai, The Sydney Morning Herald reads. At a vote in the UN General Assembly - where Australia has been one of Israel's strongest supporters - the government abstained from a resolution demanding that Israel and the Palestinians investigate possible war crimes during the assault on Gaza that Israel began in December 2008.Three months ago, Australia voted against a similar resolution which sought to endorse the Goldstone report."

Palestinian Authority ignores court, jails journalist
Press Imprisonment Alert  - A quote...."A four-person special military court in Nablus sentenced Abu Zaid, a correspondent who reported on camera for Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV, to 18 months in prison on February 16 on charges of "undermining the status of the authority, and resisting the public policy of the Palestinian Authority," his lawyer, Bassam Karajeh, told CPJ. Karajeh said authorities have not responded to demands that they explain why the journalist was tried in a military court. Abu Zaid has been held at Al-Junied prison in Nablus since he was first arrested in August 2009."

Growth that Palestine can believe in
A quote...."A serious misconception is being propagated by the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah. Media, international organisations, foreign governments and Palestinians-at-large are being coaxed into believing that the flurry of economic activity in the West Bank is economic development towards statehood. The facts on the ground rip this argument to pieces, just as Israel continues to micromanage the economic pieces of the intended future state of Palestine towards systemic stagnation."
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On the Edge with Max Keiser – Ellen Brown - Vid(1/3) - Vid(2/3) - Vid(3/3) - (MKYuTb - 5-9m - 02/26/10)
Must View Videos - A quote...."Max Keiser talks to Stacy Herbert [and Ellen Brown] about the financial headlines."

Face-to-Face With Marc Faber
Must View Videos - Alt - (Note: the videos auto-load) -- A quote...."Marc Faber, editor of the Gloom, Boom and Doom Report, sits down with Ben McLannahan, Asia Lex Writer of the Financial Times, to discuss a variety of pertinent economic and investment topics. In short, he suggests investors should make 2010 the year of “capital preservation."

Naked Credit Default Swaps Are "Like Buying Fire Insurance On Your Neighbor’s House — You Create An Incentive To Burn Down The House” -- A quote....""I have repeatedly argued that naked credit default swaps should be banned. See this and this. -- Savvy commentators like Wolfgang Munchau and Yves Smith are saying the same thing.  -- As I wrote last July...."


A Titanic Budget in an Ocean of Icebergs
A quote...."A serious look at this budget document reveals some “leaks” -- two in actual spending practices and two in the basic assumptions that undergird the budget itself. Ship-shape as it may look on the surface, this is a budget perilously close to an iceberg, and it’s not clear whether the captain of the ship will heed the obvious warning signs." -- also posted at Uruknet

True Fiscal Insanity: Creating Money to Buy Government Debt
A quote...."02/26/10 Tampa Bay, Florida – I knew that something was amiss when I woke up and the house was quiet. Having the benefit of seeing a lot of movies where things were “too quiet”, I instantly knew that things being “too quiet!” meant that Indians were going to be attacking, or the Japanese attacking, or the Germans attacking, sometimes government goons rushing the place, or zombies, or the police. I dunno who, but you get the point." - also posted at BLN

Economic Recovery? Not So Fast - Alt - (RTYuTb - 4 min 38 sec - February 26, 2010)
Video - A quote...."While United States President Barack Obama and members of his cabinet are talking about the first signs of economic recovery, not all economists are sure that the world economy is on the way back up. -- Andrew Gavin Marshall of the Center for Research on Globalization (CRG) says the debit crisis will be coming to the United States soon, and that we have a financial crisis coupled with a fiscal crisis."

Want to Fix Housing? Listen to the Gipper
Special Note - A quote...."February 26, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- There is a remedy for the housing crisis. And it doesn't involve an agonizing decade of uncertainty while supply adjusts to demand. All Obama needs to do is to stop artificially propping up the market and let the chips fall where they may. That means the Fed should stop buying mortgage-backed securities to keep long-term interest rates low. That means the congress should not renew the $8,000 first-time homebuyers subsidy. That means the FHA should modify its lending standards so that mortgage applicants have to meet normal criteria for securing a mortgage. -- When government stops meddling in the market, housing prices will return to long-term trend and sales will resume."

Short Selling Restrictions "A Great Indicator of Imminent Market Crashes"
A quote...."Inquiring minds are investigating Fannie Mae's stunning $72 billion loss for 2009 as well as new short selling curbs. The two are actually related. Let's take a look." - bold by website editor

Grading Free Market Capitalism and "The Invisible Hand"
A quote...."Free market capitalism is based on the idea that "the invisible hand" of the market will create the best possible outcome for the most people. -- But as I noted a couple of weeks ago, the man who came up with idea of the invisible hand did not believe in unrestrained free market capitalism...."


Big Players Get Out Of Risk And In To Gold
A quote...."A quote...."We ask, who on earth will now buy our bonds as our multi-trillion dollar Obama-ordained deficits run America into a state of bankruptcy?  Certainly not the Chinese, who are no longer buying our "worthless paper."  They are now buying Canadian bonds and gold.  Certainly not the Russians, because they know exactly where the dollar and America are headed (i.e. where Russia was not too long ago - in total collapse).  Certainly not the US lapdog Japan, at least not since the Obama administration and the largely US government-owned car companies orchestrated a wildly exaggerated attack on Japanese auto quality.  And certainly not the Middle East, who are already swimming in treasuries and who want to start their own currency so they can finally break the dollar pegs that are driving them into inflationary hell.  Who does that leave then, you might ask?"

U.S. construction outlays down 0.6% in January
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Spending on U.S. construction projects fell at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.6% in January, the Commerce Department estimated Monday."

Consumer spending rises 0.3% in January - Savings rate falls to 15-month low of 3.3%; modest reading for inflation
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Real consumer spending increased a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in January to the highest level since May 2008 while after-tax incomes fell, the government reported Monday, a further sign that the economic recovery remains timid."

Jobless benefits cut off for a million US workers
A quote...."Inaction by the US Senate last week will result in the cutoff of extended unemployment benefits and COBRA health care coverage to more than one million workers. The cutoff, which began to take effect Sunday night, demonstrates the unbridgeable social gulf between the working class and the denizens of Capitol Hill, both Democrats and Republicans." -- also posted at AmericanEveryman

HSBC hands top banker £9 million bonus
A quote...."One of the biggest bonuses seen this year for any London-based banker was revealed today as HSBC announced it had given Stuart Gulliver, its head of investment banking, a £9.8 million package."

Goldman's Rehab - Cranks Up P.R. Engine to Turn Sinners Into Saints
A quote...."Turning to outside consultants to gauge a firm's "perception in the marketplace" is unusual for the 140-year-old firm. But that's what you do, even if you are Masters of the Universe, when the national and international media accuse you of engineering and profiting from a back-door rescue of AIG, of using cash from a taxpayer bailout and cheap Federal Reserve financing to help finance lavish bonuses, and taking down the entire Greek economy."
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Sunday February 28th 2010

No posts. - mpg

Saturday February 27th 2010

The Axis of Greed: The Nature and Structure of the Economic Elite
Must Read - Quote of the Day...."The money powers prey upon the nation in times of peace and conspire against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than a monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, and more selfish than bureaucracy. It denounces as public enemies, all who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes… As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money powers of the country will endeavor to prolong it’s reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed." -- *Abraham Lincoln*

Prognosis 2012: Towards a New World Social Order
Must Read - A quote...."Unlike aristocrats, capitalists are not tied to a place, or to the maintenance of a place. Capital is disloyal and mobile – it flows to where the most growth can be found, as it flowed from Holland to Britain, then from Britain to the USA, and most recently from everywhere to China. Just as a copper mine might be exploited and then abandoned, so under capitalism a whole nation can be exploited and then abandoned, as we see in the rusting industrial areas of America and Britain. --  This detachment from place leads to a different kind of geopolitics under capitalism, as compared to aristocracy. A king goes to war when he sees an advantage to his nation in doing so. Historians can 'explain' the wars of pre-capitalist days, in terms of the aggrandizement of monarchs and nations. -- A capitalist stirs up a war in order to make profits, and in fact our elite banking families have financed both sides of most military conflicts since at least World War 1. Hence historians have a hard time 'explaining' World War 1 in terms of national motivations and objectives." -- For more on this sort of issue see....The International : Scene with Umberto Calvini - Transcript - 02-20-10 - mpg

Federal Reserve Coven Gathers to Discuss Monetary Policy
Full quote...."Bernanke tells Congress he won't print up any more funny money to pay back the funny money the US has already borrowed -- You can read and try to understand Bernanke's gobbledygook, or let me break it down to plain English: Slash Social Security, gut Medicare and get rid of Medicaid, since that money is needed to finance the 'Wars for Wall Street and Israel.' -- How much of our wealth have we paid to the noxious Fed in the last 97 years? Money that we pay as interest all for the privilege of borrowing our own money. -- Is there a bigger scam in the history of the world? -- When the sold out shills, stooges and thieves in the Congress talk about cutting back on Social Security and Medicare, to bring down the debt, why not talk about shutting down the Fed and save our country 250 billion a year that we pay to the private banking families that own the Fed?"

US soldiers kill Iraqi tribal chief's son
What the heck...."It's just another rag-head".  - mpg -- A quote...."AQUBA: US soldiers killed an Iraqi tribal chief's son and wounded his wife in what the Americans on Saturday called a tragic accident, although local accounts of the incident differed." - Remember folks, after they declare martial law in this country, that's what these gung-ho, trigger-happy, psychos are gonna to say when they gun down your wife and kids...."a tragic accident" -- remember that. - mpg -- also posted at Uruknet

Calculating Life for a Dying Empire
Related Article - A quote...."$2000 per dead child! That's the amount of compensation offered by the Pentagon for the "collateral damage" which it has caused in Afghanistan. As the war escalates and more innocent victims of Washington's aggressive actions accumulate in number, the US military calculates what it will take to placate grieving Afghan parents." -- also posted at Uruknet

"Extraordinary Sanctions"...
A quote...."Listen folks, it's well past 8 am here and am still sitting behind this bloody pc reporting crimes - Your crimes on Iraq...  Not that am expecting you to give me a medal for it or anything like that -- but seeing the SILENCE around the biggest crime of the 20th/21st century, staying up without sleep is well worth it...  Not that you really care, God forbid...and surely I don't wish to wake you up in any way...but just in case you happen to wake up from your 20 years of snoozing  --- allow me to tell you that the sanctions on Iraq have been lifted today but only partially so...  Yes you heard me, read me right, if you read me at all...  " -- From ArabWomanBlues
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The Neo-Roman Way of Thinking
(It's Their Nature to Think This Way)
02-27-10
mpg

US to spend $50 million on media in Pakistan
A quote...."The Obama administration plans to spend nearly $50 million on Pakistani media this year to reverse anti-American sentiments and raise awareness of projects aimed at improving quality of life, confirms a Washington insider."

OK,  for all you foreign folks out there reading this blog, here's how it really went down in the Middle East.  The US-NRE along with the Saudi Royals, aided and abetted by Britain and Israel, in a despicable bid to create an "arch of instability" (their phrase) across all of Eurasia as an excuse to attack every country in the region to establish their "new world order" (their phrase again), created and supported almost every single Wahabbist, Salafist, and Jihadist group that has ever existed.

Then the US-NRE, Britain and a few greedy fellow travelers in Europe (who still long nostalgically for the good'ol days of their former colonial empires) proceeded to invade, occupy and bomb the heck out of the very countries they themselves had deliberately disrupted, to stamp out the very groups they had previously supported (some of which they still support to this day, like al-CIA-duh) in an effort to impose a viciously evil "New Roman Empire" (this website editor's phrase) on the free peoples of the Middle East.

After which it appears they're going to begin an advertising campaign informing the peoples of this once proud region of their efforts to "help" them overcome all the destruction and death which they themselves visited upon them during the last last thirty years.

It's as if there's this really nasty, disgusting, crime family, the head thug of which has several really nasty, disgusting, brothers, one of whom he pays another really, nasty, rotten, disgusting, "royal" neighbor he's in cahoots with....to murder.  The head of this family than proceeds to blame several wealthy neighbors down the street for the crime, while also claiming they have weapons which they intend to use against members of his own family.  Than using these completely and obviously false claims as an excuse for his family's long planned depredations, he precedes to have his family break into his neighbors homes, smash everything they own to smithereens, rape, rob and murder various members of these families at will, and finally, after weeks of rampant, sadistic mayhem and wonton destruction, he has several of his brothers move into these families homes to claim squatter's rights, all in an effort to steal as much of these families' valuable farmland, gold, jewelry and other assets they can possibly lay their hands on.

However....in a media gesture, and ONLY a media gesture, to placate some of his less violently atavistic, yet still cravenly fawning, amoral, gang-banging-wannabe admirers, he does have one of his brothers repair some of the holes they blasted into the roofs of these now wrecked, gutted and still smoking homes during their criminal endeavors.

And for this magnificent largess you understand, for this magnanimous act of mercy, for this tender expression of concern, the truly terrified, newly impoverished families, living in the remaining wreckage of what was once their beautiful homes, after having witnessed many members of their families being brutally assaulted, imprisoned, tortured and murdered, are now expected to be grateful that the head of this criminal enterprise, this corporate crime syndicate, has decided to repair a tiny fraction of the damage he and his cohorts caused during their home invasion, robbery and murder spree.

Just call it the Neo-Roman way of thinking.

It's their nature to think this way, it's their nature to be this way, it's their nature to act this way....and they will NEVER change. - mpg
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Arab source: Mitchell wanted to quit over U.S. bias for Israel
A quote...."An Arab political source said Friday that special U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell has requested to resign due to his frustration with the way the Obama administration has been handling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a Nazareth-based daily."

'US Embassy Eavesdropping on All Lebanon'!  -- Nooooo!  You're kidding!  C'mon guys, get real. - mpg
A quote...."According to the daily, the US embassy in Beirut has delivered a letter to the office of the forensic investigation chief in the Internal Security Force headquarters on April 1, 2009. The embassy reportedly requested in the letter that the ISF supply the embassy with information in the shape of printed application forms on cellular network stations and their geographical locations, in addition to accurate technical details pertaining to communications." - also posted at WarInIraq -- Well that was pretty stupid, why not take out a a full page advertisement in the local daily asking for expert assistance on how to tap everyone's phones in Lebanon?  Oh by the way folks....you notice how they're doing the EXACT same thing here in this country?  All at the behest and urging of AIPAC/PNAC supporters of Israel? Some people might consider discarding this nation's constitution to support the nationalistic objectives of a foreign country to be a highly unpatriotic act, some people might even use a much harsher term for it. - mpg

CNN Poll: Majority says government a threat to citizens' rights
A quote...."Washington (CNN) – A majority of Americans think the federal government poses a threat to rights of Americans, according to a new national poll. -- Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government's become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. Forty-four percent of those polled disagree." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Ahmadinejad Won, Get Over It!
Must Read - A quote...."Many in the West may agree that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is an unpleasant politician with a rhetorical tendency to bluster about Iran’s power and to foolishly question the historical accuracy of the Holocaust, but that doesn’t answer the crucial question of whether he was democratically reelected." -- For more on this sort of issue see....It's The Votes That Count - 06-28-09 - mpg

Wahhabi Terrorist Group Arrested in Northwestern Iran
A quote...."Iran's Intelligence Ministry announced on Saturday that its forces have disbanded and arrested a group of radical criminals with Wahhabi tendencies in the country's northwestern province of West Azarbaijan."

India vague on Iran, Pakistan gas pipeline
A quote...."A senior Iranian official has declared that India has not yet presented its official request to join a planned Iran-Pakistan natural gas pipeline. -- Hojatollah Ghanimifard, vice-president for investment affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said that Indian officials had earlier voiced New Delhi's interest to participate in the project but they have made no official request yet."

ElBaradei: Youth can change undemocratic Egypt
A quote...."Former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, a potential candidate for presidency in Egypt, says the country will only change through the young, report says. -- "If Egypt were going to change, it is going to change through the young people," he told Reuters."

Honduran newspaper discovers murder after 3 days - Ahhh, Hideous Hillary must be so pleased! - mpg
A headline in this morning’s edition of the Honduran daily La Tribuna, fervent defender of last year’s coup d’état against President Mel Zelaya, announces the search for the “gang member” that killed the daughter of veteran union organizer and anti-coup resistance figure Pedro Brizuela. The murder of Claudia Larisa Brizuela Rodríguez, which took place on February 24 in the Céleo González neighborhood in the northern city of San Pedro Sula, had not prompted any prior coverage in the mainstream Honduran press despite the papers’ usual predilection for homicide photographs." -- For more on this issue see....Hideous Hillary's New Death Squads

V For 9/11 - Alt/Site - Att/Vid - (YouTube - 7min 16sec - February 25, 2010)
Here's a fun video clip, it's been posted on this site for quite a while, but go ahead and enjoy it again. - mpg
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

IOA exploiting Palestinian prisoners in experimenting new drugs - It's a war crime. - mpg
A quote...."OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Jerusalemite MP Ahmed Atton has called for the formation of a fact-finding committee to look into the Israeli occupation authority's use of Palestinian prisoners to experiment new medicines." -- also posted at Uruknet

IOF shoots 5 Palestinians
A quote...."Sunday, 28 February 2010 13:05 -- West Bank, (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces opened fire on Saturday on a Palestinian car at the entrance of Husan village near Bethlehem, wounding five Palestinians."

Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory - Wednesday, 24 Feb 2010
Every week, week in and week out.  Let's face facts people, if it happened here in this country no one, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, would put up with this crap for a single week, let alone decades. - mpg -- also posted at Uruknet

• 6 Palestinians, including one child, were wounded by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
• IOF launched aerial, naval and land attacks on Palestinian civilian targets in the Gaza Strip.
• IOF used force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest of the construction of the Annexation Wall and settlement activities.
• IOF conducted 21 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and two incursions into the Gaza Strip.
• IOF arrested 21 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, in the West Bank.
• IOF closed two civil associations in Beit Safafa village, south of Jerusalem.
• IOF demolished 3 houses and razed 17 donums[1] of agricultural land in al-Musaddar village in the central Gaza Strip.
• Israel has continued to impose a total siege on the OPT has have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
• IOF troops positioned at military checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 4 Palestinian civilians.
• Israel has continued its settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
• A new settlement plan to build 549 housing units in Sour Baher village south of Jerusalem was proposed.
• The Israeli government decided to include the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and Bilal Ben Rabah Mosque in Bethlehem on the list of Israeli archaeological sites.
• IOF ordered the demolition of a number of houses and civilian facilities in the West Bank.
• Israeli settlers seized a 100-donum area of land near Ramallah, and uprooted 45 olives trees near Nablus.

Gaza's Islamic University is example of Islamic leadership for rest of world
And now for a bit of good news....mpg -- A quote...."Gaza Strip, Feb. 28, 2010 (Pal Telegraph; by Thanassis Cambanis) - Behind the arabesque arches of the five-story university library here, students occupy every available seat, cramming for finals in their humanities classes. Outside, a lucky few nap beneath palm and ficus trees on the cramped urban campus. At lunch, engineering students balance their books upright in the cafeteria and absent-mindedly munch subsidized falafel. This is exam period at the Islamic University of Gaza, charged with the bustle and anxiety of college life."

Cultivating Resistance: Khirbet Bir al ‘Idd
And some more good news....mpg -- A quote...."Last week, two small, rural outposts were awaiting two payloads from a 4×4 that was snaking its way along the winding, West Bank roads of the South Hebron hills. The first was the material to construct some alternative energy sources for these small communities, the second was an international presence that would aid them in the fight for their legitimacy."
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Is Ben Bernanke The Second Coming Of Rudolf von Havenstein, The Central Banker Responsible For Germany's Hyperinflationary Collapse (And Ostensibly WWII)? - Must Read - Charts - A quote...."SocGen's Dylan Grice provides a gripping account of Germany's hyperinflationary episode, in which he charts the extended parallels between not just the precursor economy that lead to a 16,579,999% inflation in 1923 Weimar Germany, and modern day developed (and highly leveraged) countries, but between Germany's then central banker Rudolf von Havenstein, and the Greenspan-Bernanke duo. And while we know how "der Geld Marschall's" Weimar experiment ended, the future before the U.S., as a result of the Maestro's (both Senior and Junior) almost identical policy response is still open-ended. As the future of America is now exclusively in the hands of insidious economists, the following insight from Grice into the utility of economic models and decision-making should be sufficient to dash the hopes of any optimist for a favorable outcome."

Massive Bank Failures Due, Says Oversight Panel
A quote...."Close to 3,000 banks are currently classified as having a risky concentration of commercial real estate loans, according to a recent report by the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP). All of them are small to mid-sized banks, already weakened by the financial crisis. -- The COP is “deeply concerned” that commercial real estate losses could jeopardize the stability of these banks and the damage will contribute to prolonged weakness throughout the economy, according to chair Elizabeth Warren." - also posted at RogueGov - Oh heck, they'll just "extend and pretend" as they've been doing for the last two years. - mpg

“Auntie Em! Auntie Em! There’s No Place Like Home!”
A quote...."We see the magical incantation, “There’s no place like home!,” in numerous guises. The unemployed–20% of Americans according to a Gallup poll of 20,000 individuals–are more likely to support President Obama than the general public. They still hope against hope that Obama will wave a magic wand and allow them to click their heels and go home. I dubbed him “Obama bin Lottery” in January 2008 after his surprise South Carolina primary victory. With nothing to lose, the unemployed might as well hope:"

Criticising GM crops may land you in jail
Censorship Alert - Frankenfoods Alert - A quote...."BANGALORE: Criticising Genetically Modified (GM) products could land you in jail — if the draconian draft Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill (BRAB) of 2009, which will be tabled in the current session of the parliament by the UPA government, is passed."

It's raining fish ... no really
Odd News - A quote...."WHILE the Top End and Central Australia have been battered by torrential rains, a Territory town has had fish falling from the sky." - also posted at BLN -- Anybody seen the movie "The Seventh Sign"?  Maybe the US-NRE and Israel better stop all that "New Roman Empire" crap they got going across the planet.  That was said half in jest...but only half. - mpg

Friday February 26th 2010

The Road to Armageddon
Must Read - A quote...." There will always be Americans who will believe whatever the government tells them no matter how many times they know the government has lied to them. Despite expensive wars that threaten Social Security and Medicare, wars based on non-existent Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, non-existent Saddam Hussein connections to al Qaida, non-existent Afghan participation in the 9/11 attacks, and the non-existent Iranian nukes that are being hyped as the reason for the next American war of aggression in the Middle East, more than half of the U.S. population still believes the fantastic story that the government has told them about 9/11, a Muslim conspiracy that outwitted the entire Western world." - also posted at GlobalRsrch -- For more on this issue see....Reficultnias's 9/11 Central

Paul Craig Roberts: US pushing for nuclear war; “leadership” treasonous, dupes US into wars
Commentary - (on the article shown above) - A quote...."Paul Craig Roberts is one of the most respected conservative voices in the nation. He is the former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal.  He held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. --  His latest article, “Road to Armageddon,” details the threat that unlawful US foreign policy is rapidly escalating into a climate to initiate World War III. Mr. Roberts explains in the article what he means by, "growing body of experts." For my article providing the pro and counter-government's evidence, click here."

Washington Times Covers 9/11 Controversy
Must Read - A quote...."We have no idea what happened on 9/11. But since 9/11 Commission members have reportedly disavowed the full government's story - and one has written a book claiming the commission was serially lied to by the Bush administration, the FBI, CIA, etc. - we have to conclude that there are elements of the official story that are not entirely accurate. We would think that the US government would want to get to the bottom of such a serious matter, in some way or other. -- Now the Washington Times, a mainstream, beltway newspaper, is seemingly opening up the issue again. There was no need to cover yet another "trufers" story and yet the Times has done so - to the astonishment of the alternative blogosphere. We think, not to make a pun, that this is in fact a sign of the times. The pressure to understand what really happened on 9/11 simply won't go away. It is all over the 'Net and is in fact gaining momentum in our opinion." -- For more on this issue see....Reficultnias's 9/11 Central

Turkey detains 18 more military officers over alleged coup plot
Special Note - Related Article - Why is this a "related article"?  Just read on....mpg -- A quote...."ISTANBUL, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police detained 18 more officers on Friday in an ongoing probe over an alleged coup plot to topple the ruling government. -- The semi-official Anatolia news agency reported that the 18 officers, all on active duty but one, were detained in 13 different provinces. -- Police sources were quoted as saying that the military officers would be transferred to Istanbul for interrogation. -- The report noted the coup plot allegedly drafted in 2003 sought to incite chaos to force a military takeover. -- The plot included bombing of mosques and shooting down of Turkey's own jets, according to the report." - bold by website editor -- Gee Whiz!!  That all just sounds so familiar....don't it folks?  Of course OUR military here in the good ol'US-NRE would never, ever, contemplate such acts. (wink, wink) - mpg  -- For more on this sort of issue see....US-False Flag Ops - Operation Northwoods

Patsy Zazi confesses to NYC subway bomb plot - posted at OnlineJournal
Related Article - A quote...."If I sound pissed off, I am, especially at the effrontery to my intelligence by US intelligence for this, the fourth so-called “terrorist” who targeted US sites, preceded by accused US army base shooter Major Nidal M. Hasan in Fort Hood, Texas’ Nigerian youth Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, plus idiot shoe bomber Richard Reid flying into Miami, using the identical explosive PETN in one in of his shoes, as Farouk did in his shorts, both lacking blasting caps to guarantee failure. -- It’s already been shown that Abdulmutallab was ushered onto a plane without a passport, only a visa, by a large, well-dressed man with an American accent (most probably CIA), who said to the airline desk person, Farouk was a poor Sudanese and this is how we do it, and zap, Farouk was good to go."

Complexity and Collapse
Must Read - A quote...."February 26, 2010 "Foreign Affairs" - March/April 2010 Edition -- There is no better illustration of the life cycle of a great power than The Course of Empire, a series of five paintings by Thomas Cole that hang in the New-York Historical Society. Cole was a founder of the Hudson River School and one of the pioneers of nineteenth-century American landscape painting; in The Course of Empire, he beautifully captured a theory of imperial rise and fall to which most people remain in thrall to this day.  ---  Each of the five imagined scenes depicts the mouth of a great river beneath a rocky outcrop. In the first, The Savage State, a lush wilderness is populated by a handful of hunter-gatherers eking out a primitive existence at the break of a stormy dawn. The second picture, The Arcadian or Pastoral State, is of an agrarian idyll: the inhabitants have cleared the trees, planted fields, and built an elegant Greek temple. The third and largest of the paintings is The Consummation of Empire. Now, the landscape is covered by a magnificent marble entrepôt, and the contented farmer-philosophers of the previous tableau have been replaced by a throng of opulently clad merchants, proconsuls, and citizen-consumers. It is midday in the life cycle. Then comes Destruction. The city is ablaze, its citizens fleeing an invading horde that rapes and pillages beneath a brooding evening sky. Finally, the moon rises over the fifth painting, Desolation. There is not a living soul to be seen, only a few decaying columns and colonnades overgrown by briars and ivy."

A "Good" Terrorist Captured by Iran
Special Note - A quote...."February 26, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- The Iranian government is celebrating the capture of Abdolmalek Rigi, the leader of a violent group called Jundullah (Arabic for Soldiers of God), which Tehran says is a terrorist organization supported by the United States, Great Britain and Israel. -- Jundullah is one of several groups that have been conducting bombings and other violent attacks against Iran’s Islamic regime with the aim of knocking it off balance." - also posted at OpEdNews & ConsortiumNews

Arrested Terrorist Leader Exposes Extensive CIA Connections
A quote...."The leader of a Pakistan based terrorist organisation closely affiliated with Al Qaeda has detailed how his group benefited from extensive political and financial support from the CIA in return for continued attacks against the government, the people and the infrastructure of Iran."

US offered Rigi 'extensive aid' for Iran attacks
A quote...."The captured ringleader of the Jundallah terrorist group, Abdolmalek Rigi, has confessed that the US administration had assured him of unlimited military aid and funding for waging an insurgency against the Islamic Republic of Iran." -- For more on the three articles shown above see....US Support of Terror - The Capture of Rigi -- Updated

Silencer guns kill 67 in one day in Baghdad
A quote...."Last Sunday 67 corpses were brought to Baghdad morgue all shot with silencer guns, medical sources said.  The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said silencer guns have instilled fear and terror in Baghdad and most of the victims were civil servants, former Baathists and army officers.   The latest victim has been a university professor who was shot dead on Monday as he drove home. The sources named the victim as Dr. Thamer Kamel, head of the human rights section at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific research."

The battle for Kirkuk
Contains Video - A quote...."On this week's episode of Fault Lines Josh Rushing travels to Northern Iraq to look at one of the most serious divides the country faces.-- Kurds and Arabs are poising themselves for a face off in the North over land, oil and power."

NPT proven inefficient: Larijani in Japan
The NPT is as dead as a door nail.  The US-NRE in its relentless efforts to implement the PNAC Protocols and by its constant disparate treatment of non-NPT signatory nation states such as India and Israel versus signatory nations such as Iran and many others, has effectively made the NPT into a world wide joke.  An affectation of those in the "nuclear club", a charade, a play-act by the US-NRE -- and a few nations in Europe that should have known better.  Discussion of the treaty as if it has any relevance to nuclear non-proliferation issues after it has been so thoroughly eviscerated by these childish antics is an exercise in total futility.  It would simply be best, considering the US-NRE's obscene efforts for the last ten years and those of Israel and Britain to re-colonize the entire world, if every single country endowed (or cursed) with abundant natural resources obtains nuclear weapons as soon as possible to defend themselves. Because it appears these miscreants' abhorrent behavior is not about to change anytime soon. - mpg -- A quote...."Iran's Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani says the Non-Proliferation Treaty, NPT, has so far proven inefficient in nuclear disarmament - "NPT has no authority to act for nuclear disarmament," Larijani told reporters on Friday, on the fourth day of his visit to Japan. - "The treaty has been unable to get rid of even a single nuclear warhead and it is generally viewed as a failure to the International Atomic Energy Agency," added the Iranian official. - Larijani said that the IAEA has acted under the political influence of certain powers and this is one of its primary shortcomings." - Couldn't agree more. - mpg

Israeli war planes violate Lebanese air space
A quote...."Lebanon military authorities say Israeli jets have violated the country's air space and broke sound barriers over several villages in southern parts of the nation."

Colombia to enter "post-Uribe" era after court decision - Another one of Washington's lackeys bites the dust.
A quote...."BOGOTA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled on Friday to reject a referendum that will allow President Alvaro Uribe to seek re-election. - The ruling, passed by a 7-2 vote in the court, effectively blocks the popular president from running for a third term in the country's presidential elections in May after serving two consecutive terms. - Uribe, who hasn't yet confirmed his second re-election bid, immediately accepted the ruling. - "I accept and respect the decision of the constitutional court," he told reporters." - bold by website editor

South America to create new EU-type bloc to defy US
A quote...."There was a strong sense that the region's most left-wing, anti-American governments had pioneered the creation of the new organization, which is set to convene for the first time on July 5, 2011, in Caracas, Venezuela. But Werz also suggested that the US's influence on the sub-continent had waned in recent years anyway. "The OAS failed as it tried to take on certain challenges," he said. "Other players have increased their presence in South America, notably China, but also the EU." - also posted at BLN & RogueGov

Brazil, El Salvador to Sign Accords
A quote...."San Salvador, Feb 26 (Prensa Latina) Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and El Salvador's Mauricio Funes will sign on Friday several cooperation agrements to tighten the links between both nations."
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Democrats Pull Provision on Penalizing Intel Personnel for Interrogation Methods
Police State Alert - A quote...."February 26, 2010 "Los Angeles Times" -- The House approved an intelligence agency bill Friday after Democratic leaders hastily removed a provision that would have imposed prison sentences for personnel using “cruel, inhuman and degrading” interrogation techniques."

[British] Government fury as judges attack security services
So much for the Brit's "rule of law" thing, their government officials are as bad as the Yanks. - mpg -- A quote...."The government has launched a co-ordinated counter-attack against three of the country's most senior judges who defied ministerial pressure today to publish a highly critical verdict on secret service involvement in the alleged torture of the Guantánamo detainee Binyam Mohamed."

Cryptome Restored After Microsoft DMCA Takedown
Web Censorship Alert - A quote...."Cryptome.org, a security Web site that was removed from the Web amid a Microsoft-led Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice, has been reactivated, according to the site host, though it will likely take some time for it to show up live throughout the Web." -- also posted at RogueGov

Unplug the Signal: The Truth Will Not Be Televised
A quote...."A flow of information is constantly streaming from the television set; a bombardment of words and pictures.  The speed at which this information is communicated makes it easy for the signal to take control, switching the viewer’s brain to stand-by as information is absorbed without analysis or question. Today the television’s constant signal shapes the conclusions of the masses and produces the collective norm.  The signal prescribes what is news and what is truth through the words of so-called experts and authorities, gelding the consciousness and independent thoughts of those subjected to it. Through television, the masses can be made to accept the most monstrous distortions of reality. The signal is a chill wind of continuous oppression over the minds of the masses. It controls the management of society and culture, creating uniformity across all subjects." -- From Nathan Janes -- For more on this sort of issue see....

How TV Destroys the Mind
Your Brain Waves Change When You Watch TV -Low Alpha Waves Can Lead to "Mind Fog"
The Cause of Internet and TV Addiction?
Television: Opiate of the Masses
BRAINWASHING
Negative Effects Of TV On Kids' Brain
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Hebron Stands Defiant Against New Threats
Photo Gallery - A quote...."For the long-suffering Palestinian community, Netanyahou’s threat to the Ibrahimi mosque represented the latest in a series of attacks from Israeli settlers and security forces. What these pictures reflect, more than the scenes of chaos, is the resilience of a society so accustomed to the indignities of occupation, that the arrival of an army in their streets provokes defiance rather than fear." -- also posted at Uruknet

Israeli soldiers clash with Palestinian protesters
A quote...."For the fifth consecutive day, Israeli soldiers clash with Palestinian protesters over holy shrines in the West Bank city of al-Khalil. -- Clashes erupted after Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, Febuary 21, announced plans to add two West Bank holy sites — the Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) and Bilal Mosque (Rachel's Tomb) — to Israel's so-called Jewish heritage list."

Five hundred Montreal artists speak out against Israeli apartheid
Action Update - A quote...."Today, a broad spectrum of Montreal artists are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and supporting the growing international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli state. Last winter, the Israeli state launched a violent military assault on the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip, leaving over 1,400 Palestinians dead, including over 300 children. Despite the official end of military operations, the blockade continues to this day, with devastating consequences for Gaza's residents."

Freedom Flotilla to add boats from Europe and Indonesia
Action Update - A quote...."Responding to a call from Free Gaza organizers, two more groups have stepped forward to add their boats to the flotilla. When we sent out a call to organizations to join us, we were hoping that one or two would be able to find the funds and come with us to Gaza. We are now delighted to report that boats from organizations in Turkey, Belgium, Greece, Malaysia and Indonesia are coming with us in April." - also posted at Uruknet
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This is one of the biggest Wall Street frauds ever...
A quote..."About three years ago, I saw Goldman Sachs reporting quarter after quarter of unbelievable results when all of the other investment banks were hurting. I spent a lot of time looking at its numbers – which didn't make any sense. It reminded me of Enron. It kept reporting bigger and bigger profits, but lost more money every year in cash. And its debt balances kept growing. -- I wrote a lot about this in The Digest, but I never officially recommended shorting Goldman in my newsletter because I literally couldn't figure out how Goldman Sachs was doing it. I couldn't find the smoking gun... but I knew a giant fraud would be discovered there, eventually. -- In October 2008, I figured out part of the big secret: Goldman had insured all of its subprime exposure via AIG...." -- also posted at ICH

Exposing the Great American Bubble Barons: Join Us in the Investigation
Action Alert - (this is unusual, it's something YOU the reader can do. - mpg) -- Some quotes...."Today's super-rich are not robber barons, but bubble barons: they extract their fortunes from intensifying cycles of imaginary wealth creation and destruction, live at a far remove from their businesses, and evade accountability in the public spotlight. The robber barons stood behind their economic crimes; the bubble barons, for the most part, do not." -- "Beginning today, AlterNet and LittleSis.org are partnering in an investigation of these bubble barons...." -- "To find out [more], we need your help: Click here to sign up with LittleSis.org and join AlterNet's investigation of America's bubble barons." -- "We've identified 67 "bubble barons" (also listed below) to target with this investigation...." -- also posted at ICH

Existing Home Sales Continue Dropping, Hit 5.05 Million In January, Miss Estimate By Nearly 10%, Down From 6.5 Million In November -- Chart - (click on chart to enlarge) -- A quote...."January National Association of Realtors existing home sales came in at consensus busting (to the downside) SAAR of 5.05 million, a 7.2% drop from December's 5.44 million, which in turn was 16% lower than November 6.49 million. January consensus was for 5.5 million." -- For more on this sort of issue see the article shown below....


GDP revised up to 5.9% on slower inventory cuts - WOW!  Sounds good, right? - mpg
Related Article - (You'll see why in a moment.) -- A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. economy grew slightly faster than previously reported in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department estimated Friday...."  But...."Nearly two thirds of the growth in GDP in the fourth quarter was accounted for by changes in inventories, not by final sales. Businesses had been reducing their overstocks at the fastest pace in generations earlier in the year, and then sharply slowed the pace of reductions in the fourth quarter. The slowdown accounted for most of the fourth-quarter growth."  And...."Although GDP grew at the fastest pace in six years, final demand in the economy was tepid, rising 1.9% annualized, revised down from 2.2% earlier. Excluding exports, final sales to U.S. purchasers rose at a 1.6% annual rate."  And...."Consumer spending increased at a 1.7% annual rate, down from 2.8% in the third quarter when the government's cash-for-clunkers program boosted auto sales." - bold by website editor

"Nascent" Recovery or "Nascent" Economic Collapse? - Regarding Janruary's Durable Goods Orders
Chart - Up 3%, good news right?  Not quite. - mpg -- A quote...."

• Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business spending, fell 2.9 percent last month, the biggest drop since April 2009.
• Orders for machinery slumped 9.7 percent in January, the most in a year.
• Orders for motor vehicles and parts dropped 2.2 percent in January after a 5.5 percent gain.
• The big bright spot was Boeing received orders for 59 aircraft two months ago, an increase that wasn't captured in the December data.

And...."During the last 17 years or so, the median value of the ratio of defense-related orders to the overall orders number has been 4.4 percent. However, since the recession began (in December 2007), the average has been 6.6 percent. Last month, it hit 8 percent. As with other areas of the economy where the government appears to be playing an important role, it's worth bearing in mind that the "recovery" may not be all that it seems." - bold by website editor

California is a greater risk than Greece, warns JP Morgan chief
A quote...."Jamie Dimon, chairman of JP Morgan Chase, has warned American investors should be more worried about the risk of default of the state of California than of Greece's current debt woes." - also posted at BLN & RogueGov

Fannie Taps Treasury for $15.3 Billion More After a 10th Loss
A quote...."Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Fannie Mae will seek $15.3 billion in U.S. aid, bringing the total owed under a government lifeline to $76.2 billion, after its 10th consecutive quarterly loss." - also posted at RogueGov

Insurance giant AIG suffers $11 billion yearly loss
A quote...."Insurance giant American International Group said Friday that it lost about $11  billion last year, surprising analysts and showing the long-term risks inherent in the types of large, complex insurance coverage that the company once pioneered."

Lloyds Banking Group reports losses for 2009 - Loyds did a LOT worse. Of course AIG is probably hiding more.
A quote...."Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) announced on Friday that it has run an annual loss of 24 billion pounds [That's 24 billion * (1.52010 dollars) = $36.4824 billion as of today's exchange rate - mpg] due to client defaults. -- The gigantic losses are blamed on commercial property loans made by Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), which Lloyds integrated at the beginning of 2009."

Greek PM warns of national bankruptcy
A quote...."Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:17:29 GMT -- Greek officials say that the country is facing national bankruptcy as German banks reject reports that they may buy Athens' government bonds." - bold by website editor