mpgrap-031108-031708

A planetary country club of vampire elites and billions of symbiotic enablers.
Must Read - A quote...."May we say that again? No enablers, no elites. -- Enablers, as in: neighbors, relatives, colleagues at work, fellow church members, medical professionals, etc., etc., etc. -- Yes, yes, we all know there are exceptions, but do we also know these exceptions profoundly prove the rule? -- This planet is basically made up of two power modes: (1.) vampire elites, and (2.) billions of slothful, cowardly enablers of the elites, e.g., TV sitcom heads, religious fanatics, the "don't look at me" slobs, the political duh-brains . . . and a planetary country club of elites who are in control of EVERYTHING and always have been in the control of everything for the last, say, 6,000 years." -- On the other hand, judging from what this editor has seen in Amerika during the last seven years, maybe the enablers deserve their elites, maybe they actually LIKE what's being done to them? Maybe Amerikans are just out and out cowards? This editor for one is running out of excuses for the people in this country. - mpg

When did America become a nation of frightened wimps?
Related article - From the history file - A quote...."When did America become a nation of frightened wimps? When did we cross the line from courage to cowardice? Was it sometime in the 1990s? After the Oklahoma City bombing? After the Columbine shootings? After 911? -- When did we decide to allow the police to smash into private homes without knocking and identifying themselves? Recently, in the suburb I live in, a special police force dressed in black Nazi style uniforms busted into a suburban home without warning and dragged a school teacher out of her house with an automatic weapon at the back of her head."

Bush Clears the Way for More War
A quote...."Bush’s supporters have known it for years, of course, but Admiral Fallon's firing makes it clear to the rest of us: Bush has not been telling us the truth. Dick Cheney is the only "commander on the ground" that he relies on. Clearly, Bush and Cheney are both spiteful about the resentment and outright contempt that a growing number of Americans now harbor against them. With that in mind, as he leaves office, Cheney’s moral compass would have no trouble sticking the country with a war in Iran – to serve his personal agenda, yes, but also to make the next administration look even worse than this one. "History will vindicate us," they crow. -- Perverse? Of course. But Americans now understand that these are today’s zeroes, where there once walked heroes."

Another year, another $300 billion
A quote...."THE SIXTH year of the Iraq war begins this week. The war is now the second-longest in US history - longer than any except Vietnam. So far, 1.6 million US troops have served, more than a third of them for two or more tours of duty. Almost 4,000 US service personnel have been killed, and 60,000 wounded, injured or contracted a serious disease. Many survive with severe multiple injuries ("polytraumas") that in previous wars would have almost certainly ended in death."

Five years of failure
A quote...."If George Bush and Tony Blair had presided as CEOs over deceptive and fraudulent practices in the City comparable to those they are guilty of with regard to Iraq, they would have been immediately and unceremoniously sacked."

Robert Fisk: Silenced by the men in white socks
A quote...."Shut them up. Accuse them. Imprison them. Stop them talking. Why is it that this seems to have become a symbol of the Arab – or Muslim – world? Yes I know about our Western reputation for free speech; from the Roman Empire to the Spanish inquisition, from Henry VIII to Robespierre, from Mussolini and Stalin to Hitler, even – on a pitiable scale – to Mr Anthony Blair. But it's getting hard to avoid the Middle East."

"I Came, I Saw, I Destroyed!"
A quote...." 16/03/08 "ICH" --- WHAT HAPPENED this week is so infuriating, so impertinent, that it stands out even in our familiar landscape of governmental irresponsibility. - On the near horizon, a de facto suspension of hostilities was taking shape. The Egyptians had made great efforts to turn it into an official cease-fire. The flame was already burning visibly lower. The launching of Qassams and Grads from the Gaza Strip into Israel had fallen from dozens a day to two or three."

Annals of Liberation: Buried Truths, Bloody Lies and Our Expert Executioners
A quote...."For a proper perspective on the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, check out Winter Patriot on the Winter Soldier hearings in Washington DC. -- Because you're not going to get this information from the America's media mandarins. The New York Times has not deigned to mention the hearings at all. The Washington Post buried a story on it deep inside the paper on Saturday -- and a very skillful piece of dampening it was, too. Five of the first 11 paragraphs were given over to the handful of "counter-protestors" who showed up to denounce the veterans. It was not until the 19th paragraph that the Post mentioned any specific incident -- a gunship attack on an apartment building in November 2003. No details were given. -- There goes our most famous presstitutes again, the New York Times and the Washington Post, doing their whorish best to betray absolutely everything that was noble about the "fourth estate" in this country. Remember folks, all you need to know about our "mass-media" is how they NEVER talk about PNAC, or how Bush's ENTIRE foreign policy is predicated on, and predicted by, PNAC, or 9/11's inconsistencies, or the Saudi Royals' relationships to our elites, or our elites' relationships to the Military Industrial Oil Complex. - mpg

More Torture Reports Leaking Out of Bush Dungeons
A quote...."A guard held a shotgun to my head. ‘You are a terrorist!’ he screamed. ‘What kind of dumb stuff did you write about your treatment here?’ My hands and feet were bound, and someone kicked me from behind.“ - That’s just a sliver of the testimony of Murat Kurnaz, a 19-year-old Muslim from Bremen, Germany, abducted while traveling in Pakistan in the company of missionaries a few months after 9/11."

Five Years of My Life
Interview - Related article - Amensty International interviews Murat Kurnaz - A quote...."When he was 19, Murat Kurnaz quit moonlighting as a nightclub bouncer in his hometown of Bremen, Germany, began attending a nearby mosque and asked his parents to arrange his marriage. After his wedding in Turkey in 2001, he departed for Pakistan to study Islam. Worried that his parents would try to stop him from going, he left without saying goodbye."

Inside Iraq - Iraq: Five years on - 14 Mar 08 Pt. 1 - (YouTube - 11 min 31 sec - March 15, 2008)
Inside Iraq - Iraq: Five years on - 14 Mar 08 Pt. 2 - (YouTube - 12 min 29 sec - March 15, 2008)
Must View - Videos - A quote...."Al Jazerra - With the advent of the sixth year of the US occupation, we look at Iraq's future." -- Don't forget to check out Al Jazerra's YouTube Website. -- The US Embassy's spokeswoman throughout the interview basically expressed the opinion that since "security is improving", (actually the jury's still out on that.) everything is a-ok. Let's speak bluntly again, this is as if someone broke into your home and after the inevitable altercation with the legal residents who lived there, killed the husband, the eldest son, forced the younger son to run off screaming into the night never to be seen again, beat up the wife, raped the daughter and than was surprised and delighted after he received no further resistance to his occupation of the home from those who were still left alive. This attitude is what now passes for US foreign policy. - mpg

A city is redrawn by the death squads, bombs and beheadings - Sectarian bloodshed has torn Baghdad into a patchwork of ghettos -- A quote...."The Iraqi grew accustomed to seeing at least one dead body in the street every morning when he left his Baghdad flat for work. - His neighbourhood, known as Saddam District before the invasion and, ironically, Peace District afterwards, had become the site of gunfights, kidnappings and public executions as an avalanche of sectarian violence hit the city. - "There was heavy gunfire at night. The shops were shut. Rubbish and sewage was everywhere. The compound was a war zone," said Omer Nouri, a Sunni Arab who fled to northern Iraq in February last year with his wife and two-year-old son." -- For more on this issue see....The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg

My Lai Probe Hid Policy that Led to Massacre
Some quotes...."For decades, it has been generally accepted that the My Lai massacre of as many as 400 Vietnamese civilians by U.S. Army troops on Mar. 16, 1968 was a violation of official policy directives on the treatment of civilians in South Vietnam." -- "Documentary evidence from U.S. army archives shows, however, that the Peers report misrepresented a key directive from the top commander in Vietnam, Gen. William C. Westmoreland...."

Sadr City raids target civilians
Must View - Video - A quote...."We show this segment courtesy of http://www.aliveinbaghdad.org Alive in Baghdad employs Iraqi journalists to produce video packages each week about a variety of topics on daily life in Iraq. Through the work of a team of Americans and Iraqi correspondents on the ground, Alive in Baghdad shows the conflict through the voices of Iraqis. Alive in Baghdad brings testimonies from individual Iraqis, footage of daily life in Iraq, and short news segments from Iraq to you. Alive in Baghdad is a project of Small World News Ltd. Co. They have three production teams, in Iraq, Syria, and Mexico, for their two news programs, Alive in Baghdad and Alive in Mexico."

Winter Soldier: An Iraqi perspective
Video - Real News Network - Sunday March 16th, 2008 - A quote...."Iraqi journalist Salam Talib describes the divide between the American and Iraqi perspective of the war - Salam Talib is an Iraqi citizen. He worked as a translator for US journalists after the war and started reporting from Iraq himself in 2005. He recently moved to California to study computer engineering at Berkley."

Verifying Winter Soldier
Video - Real News Network - Sunday March 16th, 2008 - A quote...."Jose Vasquez talks about the process of verifying the stories of those testifying" -- Don't forget to see the many other videos at Real News Networks

Bush’s Mid-East Policy Is Driven by War, Not Peace
Must Read - A quote...."They say that the Bush administration has achieved what it has aimed to do, spreading chaos in the region and creating large fissures and divisions between the individual states and their societies. This is true. However, it failed to carry out its second aim, failing to stay at the helm of the spreading tide of chaos, which, had it maintained control, would have worked for American strategic interests and then on to Israeli interests. It is delusion for anyone to believe for a moment that America came to the defense of freedom and democratic rights in the region...."

Pope: Enough with slaughters in Iraq
A quote...."At the same time, I make an appeal to the Iraqi people, who for the past five years have borne the consequences of a war that provoked the breakup of their civil and social life," Benedict said. - He urged them to raise their heads and reconstruct their life through "reconciliation, forgiveness, justice and coexistence among tribal, ethnic and religious groups." - The Vatican strongly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In its aftermath, Benedict has frequently criticized attacks against Iraqi Christians by Islamic extremists. Last year, he urged President Bush to keep the safety of Iraqi Christians in mind."

Over 70% of Iraqis: US forces out!
A quote...."An opinion poll suggests that more than two-thirds of Iraqis believe US-led coalition forces should leave the war-torn country. "

Red Crescent warns of a new wave of Iraqi refugees
A quote...."The Iraqi Red Crescent Society is warning of a massive exodus if U.S. and Iraqi troops go ahead with plans to attack Mosul, the country’s second largest city with nearly 3.8 million people."

Samantha Power and Democratic evasion on Iraq
A quote...."There is a passage in Samantha Power's "A Problem from Hell," her Pulitzer Prize And-the-Winner-Is-Them-Again -winning book on how the United States dealt with genocide throughout the 20th century, worth pondering for what it says about hypocrisy in the formulation of foreign policy. "

London: 50000 join anti-war protest (Update)
A quote...."Thousands of people have joined demonstrations in London and Glasgow, to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. - Demonstrators called for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan and for Gaza's borders to be re-opened. - Organisers said 40,000 people took part in London but police said 10,000. A Stop the War spokesman said Iraq had made the world a more dangerous place." -- Don't forget to check out the PHOTOS of the protest. - mpg
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Sarkozy suffers setback in French local polls: projections
A quote...."President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing party suffered losses in French local elections Sunday that were the first major test of his popularity since he took office, projections from polling firms showed. - Sarkozy's opinion poll ratings have plummeted since his triumphant presidential victory last May and these elections, while fought mostly on local issues, were seen as a referendum on his achievements." -- Bush's newest "pet poodle" takes a bath. - mpg

Latin America Rejects Bush Doctrine
A quote...."Reeling from the blow that it received in the aftermath of the Colombian military’s illegal incursion on March 1 into Ecuador — which resulted in the brutal massacre of a number of civilians and members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), including its chief negotiator Raul Reyes — US imperialism has once again raised the ante in its struggle to undermine the growing process of Latin American integration."

Wiretapping's true danger - BuzzFlash
A quote...."As the battle over reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act rages in Congress, civil libertarians warn that legislation sought by the White House could enable spying on "ordinary Americans." Others, like Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), counter that only those with an "irrational fear of government" believe that "our country's intelligence analysts are more concerned with random innocent Americans than foreign terrorists overseas."
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Three Easy Pieces: The Dollar, Paulson, and Carlyle Capital
Must Read - A quote...."16/03/08 "ICH' -- - So far, so bad. On Wednesday, crude-futures topped $110 for the first time, the dollar slipped to $1.55 per euro, and gold zoomed to a new high of $1,000 per ounce. Yikes. The dollar has been shoved off a cliff and no one knows where it will land. Last week, the G-7 nations announced that if “irrational” prices movements persisted, they would “collectively take suitable measures to calm the financial markets.” Their statement was taken to mean that foreign central banks will secretly intervene in the currency markets to stop the dollar from crashing. But can they do it? Only the Fed can raise interest rates and the market is betting that Bernanke will slash another 75 basis points at its next meeting. That ought to send the sinking greenback to Davey Jones Locker in a hurry."

Virtual Paper, Part 1
Must Read - Some quotes..."Woozy and boozy in the waning days of the second four year term of the idiot son of an idiot father, that is to say George W. Bush as sired by Ronald Reagan, US capitalism staggered across the stage of global finance, looking and sounding like Britney Spears at the MTV music awards-- bumping into everything, knocking over food and drink, spraying blood and filth on those conga-lined up to feast, and swap more than spit, at the pig's trough called leverage....." -- "Reeling under its weightless cargo of strips, tips, tranches, zeros, coupons, CDSs, CMOs, CDOs, CLOs, ABCPs, ARMs, SIVs -- in one word junk, but junk packaged in an infinite variety of ways, the bankers carioced their way through that wacked out Minny Mouseketeer's repertoire, beginning and ending the show with their favorite lyric: "Oops, I did it again."

A deluded Wall Street threatens the world economy
A quote...."If you'd been in Volare restaurant in downtown Chicago on Monday night, you would not have thought a US recession was imminent; the place was packed, as, earlier, was most of Michigan Avenue, the principal shopping street, despite the freezing winds. -- But that was before Friday as news spread of the collapse of Bear Stearns, America's fifth largest investment bank...."

The Fed's Desperation Move
A quote...."I do not have a new message here; we have known for a long time that advance preparation and a strong balance sheet are the keys to riding out a financial storm. As I have emphasized before, the Federal Reserve can deal with liquidity pressures but cannot deal with solvency issues. -- *William Poole*, President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (February 29, 2008)"

Fed acts Sunday to prevent global bank run Monday
Fed Action Alert - A quote...."Last update: 10:38 p.m. EDT March 16, 2008 -- WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Acting quickly to prevent a run on major global financial firms, the Federal Reserve cut its discount rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.25% and offered to lend money to a longer list of firms than ever before."

Bearly Alive: Investment Giant Rushed To I.C.U.
A quote...."16/03/08 "ICH" -- - On Friday, Bear Stearns blew up. It was the worst possible news at the worst possible time. A day earlier, the politically-connected Carlyle Capital hedge fund defaulted on $16.6 billion of its debt. Carlyle boasted a $21.7 billion portfolio of AAA-rated residential mortgage-backed securities, but was unable to make a margin call of just $400 million. (Where did the $21.7 billion go?) The news on Bear was the last straw. The stock market started reeling immediately; shedding 300 points in less than an hour. Then, miraculously, the tide shifted and the market began to rebound. If there was ever a time for Paulson's Plunge Protection Team to come to the rescue; this was it...."

Bear Stearns Forced to Sell for $2 per Share.
A quote..."The New York Times is reporting that Bear Stearns has agreed to be bought out by JPMorgan Chase: Bear Stearns, pushed to the brink of bankruptcy by what amounted to a run on the bank, agreed late Sunday to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase for a mere $2 a share, narrowly averting a collapse that threatened to cascade through the financial system. - The price represents a startling 93 percent discount to Bear Stearns' closing stock price on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange." -- Ouch!! - mpg

My Goat Ate the Economy
A quote...."If George W. Bush had read The Pet Goat to his Economic Club of New York audience on Friday, his speech would have been no less infantile. If the first 9/11 was caused by a massive failure of intelligence about terrorism, the second 9/11 -- the slow-motion collapse of the American, and maybe the global, economy -- has been caused by a catastrophic failure of intelligence about Wall Street rapacity. If the now five-year-old Iraq war was the inevitable, tragic consequence of the neoconservatives' Project for the New American Century, then the subprime mortgage quagmire, the Bear Stearns bailout, and the foreclosure fiasco are the foreordained outcome of the Republican ideology which holds that regulation of corporate financial behavior is the domestic equivalent of Islamofascism."

Venezuela opts for oil contracts in euros: report
Special Note - A quote...."CARACAS (AFP) - Venezuelan state oil giant PDVSA has decided to sign some oil contracts in euros in the face of a plummeting dollar, local media reported, citing officials."

Argentina, Brazil to drop U.S. dollar in bilateral commercial transactions
Special Note - A quote...."BUENOS AIRES, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Argentina and Brazil are to scrap bilateral commercial transactions in U.S. dollars and start using their own currencies from August, an official in charge of currency settlement at the Argentine Central Bank said here Saturday."

Dollar plunges on jitters about financial system
A quote...."Last update: 3:33 a.m. EDT March 17, 2008 - LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The dollar remained sharply lower Monday morning but trimmed overnight losses after plunging to a new round of historic lows against major counterparts."

GOP Gags Witnesses on Credit Card Woes
A quote...."Partisan maneuver blocked testimony on fee hikes"

Video: Tent Cities Popping Up In California
Video - A quote...."Tent cities much like we saw during the Great Depression are now popping up in California. Check out this BBC report on the issue."
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Obama Converts to Judaism
Satire - A quote...."Buffeted by criticism of his controversial Christian pastor while continuing to quell rumors that he is a Muslim, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) took a bold step today to settle questions about his religious faith once and for all. -- "I am converting to Judaism, effective immediately," Mr. Obama told reporters at a press conference in Scarsdale, New York, adding that he would change his middle name from "Hussein" to "Murray."