Tuesday April 1st 2008
Tomgram:
Howard Zinn, The End of Empire?
A quote...."In Iraq, in Afghanistan, and at home, the position of the
globe's "sole superpower" is visibly fraying. The country that was once
proclaimed an "empire lite" has proven increasingly light-headed. The
country once hailed as a power greater than that of imperial Rome or
imperial Britain, a dominating force beyond anything ever seen on the
planet, now can't seem to make a move in its own interest that isn't a
disaster. The Iraq government's recent offensive in Basra is but the
latest example with -- we can be sure -- more to come."
Bankrupt
And Audacious - posted at Counter
Currents
A quote...."How can a morally bankrupt nation induce the world to
punish a law-abiding state and by so doing, violate not only
international law, that of the nonproliferation treaty (NPT), but the
Geneva Conventions? Sanctions are warfare. It cost Iraq over half a
million innocent lives, a genocide, in preparation for the ‘shock and
awe’ that was to come. America and her co-conspirators violated all
Geneva Conventions when the sanctions were imposed – lives were
snatched -“collateral damage” they called it. This rogue state,
America, in violation of all laws, God’s and man’s, is dictating to the
world, demanding that all countries join it in its march towards more
infamy – total moral bankruptcy, to claim yet more lives."
Understanding
U.S. Global Policies a Must for Understanding U.S. Domestic policies
A quote...."We cannot expect corporations to have a social conscience
when capitalism’s economics compels them to either PROFIT or BUST. It’s
the SYSTEM , not the corporations, that causes our high cost of living
while our wages remain unable to keep up without going into debt. No
social conscience in the economic system of capitalism. We can do
better, as is comprehensively explained at.…http://www.peopleforanewsociety.org/
Opposition
To Treasury's Blueprint Gains Steam
A quote...."Senior Treasury officials identified three immediate
targets yesterday for their plan to overhaul the nation's financial
regulatory structure, including streamlining the approval process for
securities that contributed to the crisis now roiling Wall Street. But
their hopes for a few quick changes are running into mounting
opposition from interest groups and officials elsewhere in the Bush
administration." -- Now
why would officials within the Bush administration be apposed to this
plan? Paulson's proposal is simply following in the footsteps of what
the Bush administration has already done to the entire Federal
Government, massive concentration of power in the hands of a few
individuals with little or no regulation or legal oversight.
Let's all remember these quotes and actions....."I'm the
decider" (Bush), the signing statements, Homeland Security, the "Geneva
Conventions are quaint" (Gonzales), "stop throwing the constitution in
my face" (Bush), "I'm the war president" (Bush), retroactive immunity
for war crimes, retroactive immunity for the Telecoms, no more Habeas
Corpus, no more FISA act, "we don't do torture" (Goss), and the list
goes on and on and on.
Basically, regarding Paulson's proposal, no regulations, laws or
agreements will be honored, power will be vested in his hands, and
he'll become the "financial decider" -- How could any Bush
official
possibly complain about that? - mpg
If
We Go To War With Iran, Who Will You Blame?
War Warning - A
quote...."Who will be blamed if Bush and Cheney suddenly strike Iran,
as the Russian Intelligence Services and other sources are are
implying? The knee-jerk reaction will be to blame Bush and Cheney, who
are to blame, however we must remember that it takes more than two men
to start a war! Who is it that is enabling these warmongers to endanger
every citizen in the United States? The elements of corporate America
and the military that support another war have to be considered, but
ultimately, they can only pull-off another attack if the public is
largely unaware of their plans. It’s time to be realistic and place the
blame squarely where it belongs, on America’s Mainstream News Media!"
Israel
conducts War Games directed against Iran and Syria
War Warning - A
quote...."TEL AVIV — Israel plans to conduct its largest exercise ever
to set contingencies for massive missile attacks by Iran and Syria. The
government has been preparing for a five-day exercise in April that
would simulate conventional and nonconventional missile strikes from
Iran, Lebanon and Syria. Officials said the exercise would test
emergency response as well as evacuation of cities struck by enemy
missiles."
UN
Chief Warned
of Plot to Provoke Dispute over Iranian Islands
War Update - A quote...."
TEHRAN (FNA)- A political geography professor has warned UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-Moon of a renewed plot to provoke a dispute on behalf of
the UAE over Iranian islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa."
Don't
Work For The NSA - (YouTube - 1 min 52 sec - Added:
December 27, 2006)
From the history file - A quote...."In this scene from "Good Will
Hunting", Will describes why he wouldn't work for the NSA." -- For a
transcript click
here.
“Iraq
Has Really Become Somalia…A Collection of Different Militias”—Back from
Baghdad, Journalist Nir Rosen Paints a Picture of a Broken Iraq --
A quote...."Independent journalist Nir Rosen joins us in our firehouse
studio soon after returning from three months in Iraq, his latest visit
since moving to Baghdad to cover the US invasion in 2003. “It’s been
propagated by the right and accepted by the left in the US that the
surge, which is really an escalation of troops […] by 30,000 soldiers,
somehow brought peace to Iraq,” Rosen says. “This is just an absolute
lie. Violence has subsided somewhat in Baghdad, that’s true, but it’s
not the result of the increase in American troops directly. It’s the
result of a few other factors.” [includes rush transcript]" --
|| Real Video Stream || Real Audio Stream || MP3 Download || More…
||
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Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Tuesday round-up - 7 articles - [ Day 8
]
Why
al-Maliki attacked Basra
A quote...."April 1, 2008 | Why did Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki attack the Mahdi army in Basra last week? -- Despite the
cease-fire called Sunday by Shiite leader Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr,
leader of the millions-strong Sadr Movement, last week's battles
between the Mahdi army and the Iraqi army revealed the continued
weakness and instability of al-Maliki's government." -- Of all the afflictions Iraq must suffer,
it must now suffer Maliki, a diseased pustule on the face of that
tortured land, a
sickly little lap dog that resembles a man but is the kept pet of
his
lord and master, Dick Cheney. Maliki has given up all pretensions
of trying to bring democracy to Iraq and has sold his soul so he can
cravenly
cling to power and to the pants leg of his master. His actions
have
already resulted in the deaths of over five hundred Iraqis, and he
intends to kill many, many more. God rot him. - mpg
Badr, Sadr,
let's call the whole thing off
A quote...."I haven't seen a compelling explanation yet for why Prime
Minister al-Maliki and his scircle thought a frontal assault on the
Mahdi Army was a particularly good idea at this time, but it's easy to
see why everybody (including al-Sadr) was quick to back away from the
precipice -- simply put, the mess they had before was a lot preferable
to the one they were getting into."
Surge
Success Runs Into Sadr
A quote...."As the fifth year of U.S. discontent came and went,
presidential candidates jousted with each other about how best to
assuage the fears of ordinary citizens over a war that – in nearly all
estimates – has gone terribly wrong."
McCain:
'Surprised'; Fighting Subsides in Baghdad, Basra; Analysts: Sadr
Strengthened
A quote...."John McCain said he was surprised that Nuri al-Maliki would
abruptly launch an operation against Basra. It seems to me that there
are only two possibilities here. - Either McCain really did not know
and did not anticipate the trouble in Basra, in which case he does not
know much about Iraq and isn't better qualified to deal with it than
anyone else. - Or, he and Cheney helped put al-Maliki up to the whole
thing while he was there, and now is petrified that someone will hang
the fiasco around his neck." -- *Juan
Cole"
Who
won the battle of Basra?
Video - A quote...."Pepe
Escobar: Iran is sufficiently powerful to broker a ceasefire deal"
American embassy
to move into a secret place
A quote...."With this morning attack on the Green Zone claimed by the
“Muslimeen Army” = part of Jihad and Reform Front Sunni resistance
group, contrary to the American claims saying “Mahdi Army”, the group
also claims all the attacks at the last three days, al-Arab reported
that the American ambassador gave his instruction to the embassy staff
since Saturday to move the embassy into a “secret place” at the west of
Baghdad."
Sadr
loyalists warn of end to cease-fire
A quote...."BAGHDAD -- Loyalists of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr today
accused government forces of breaching a cease-fire with continued
raids in the southern city of Basra and threatened a "return to
conflict." -- The warning came just a day after Basra and Baghdad felt
the full effect of the cease-fire, which Sadr called late Sunday
following five days of clashes between Shiite militiamen and Iraqi and
U.S. forces."
END
-- Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Tuesday round-up - [ Day 8
]
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Senator Arlen Specter
Agrees Able Danger Cover-up and Confirms Anthrax Not Work of al Qaeda
Video - Special Note - A
quote...."Questions posed by members of Philly 9/11 Truth to Senator
Arlen Specter about the pre-9/11 military intelligence program Able
Danger and the post-9/11 anthrax attacks were responded to with a fair
degree of candidacy"
Air
Traffic Controllers Do Track Planes Even with Transponders Off
A quote...."Before 9/11, no transponder had ever become inactive, and
so the military and FAA didn't have any experience on how to track
planes with their transponders off. Right?"
Congress,
the Bush Adminstration and Continuity of Government Planning--The
Showdown
A quote...."In August 2007, Congressman Peter DeFazio, a member of the
House Homeland Security Committee, told the House that he and the rest
of his Committee had been barred from reviewing parts of National
Security Presidential Directive 51, the White House supersecret plans
to implement so-called "Continuity of Government" in the event of a
mass terror attack or natural disaster. (1)"
Military
Report: Secretly 'Recruit or Hire Bloggers'
A quote...."A study, written for U.S. Special Operations Command,
suggested "clandestinely recruiting or hiring prominent bloggers." -- For more on this issue see....Fake
Intel
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U.S.
fails to halt Emirates' dangerous trade
A quote...."WASHINGTON: Roadside bombings of American troops in Iraq
were occurring with bloody regularity when military investigators made
a disturbing discovery: American-made computer circuits sold to a
trading company in the United Arab Emirates had turned up in the bomb
detonators. -- OH
MY GAWD, take a look at this!! Iran is shipping bomb equipment to
Iraq, this is going to be on every single TV channel in America, Fox
(Faux) News is going to show this 24/7, all day, every day. Every
single conservative pundit will righteously blast this out over the air
waves, the perfidy of these “towel heads”, oh the humanities, oh the
tragedies.....say what??
They were shipped from the UAE?? Well, we'll just have to blame
it on Iran and the Shi'a anyway
--- For more on this
issue see....Fake
Intel - IED's & EFP's -
Our illustrious presstitutes just keep right on lying, nothing stops
them, nothing ever will, no matter how many times they've been proven
wrong.
More than 2.77
million Iraqis internally displaced: UN
A quote...."The number of internally displaced Iraqis rose to more than
2.77 million people by the end of March, some five years after the
US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, the UN refugee agency said
Tuesday."
Blood
Harvest: The Terror War Bears Horrific Fruit in Somalia
A quote...."The New York Times made one of its periodic jaunts to
Somalia this week, painting a hellish picture of the fruits of the Bush
Administration's third Terror War "regime change" operation. -- To be
sure, reporter Jeffrey Gettleman glosses over the larger context and
immediate causes of Somalia's deterioration into foreign occupation,
brutal civil war and the world's worst humanitarian disaster. The deep
and bloody American involvement is only lightly glanced at;"
Washington
rules out negotiation with the Taliban
Video - A
quote...."Musharraf swears in new cabinet, Pak government wants to
negotiate with Taliban forces"
RIGHTS-COLOMBIA:
Paramilitarism Alive and Well
A quote...."BOGOTA, Apr 1 (IPS) - "If their slogan was land, dignity
and peace, this time it will be terror, murder and hell," said a threat
sent to human rights defenders and trade unionists who took part in a
Mar. 6 march in homage to the victims of Colombia’s far-right
paramilitary groups."
US,
Germany clash over NATO expansion plan
A quote...."In a provocative gesture on the eve of the NATO summit in
Bucharest, Romania, US President George W. Bush flew to Kiev and
appeared with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to press for the
former Soviet republic’s admittance into NATO."
Russia's
parliament approves restrictions on foreign investment
A quote...."MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's lower house of
parliament approved on Wednesday a bill restricting foreign investors'
access to key sectors of the Russian economy."
No
more cheap gas for Ukraine
A quote...."MOSCOW. (Igor Tomberg for RIA Novosti) - U.S. President
George W. Bush, who visited Kiev Monday before attending the NATO
summit in Bucharest, said in an interview with the German newspaper Die
Welt that Ukraine and Georgia should be given a "clear prospect" of
joining NATO."
"Georgia's
NATO membership will be a heavy burden on its relations with Russia"
A quote...."Russia's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to
Georgia Vyacheslav Kovalenko told RIA Novosti about the future of
Russian-Georgian relations, Russia's peacekeeping mission in the
conflict areas, and potential consequences of Georgia's NATO entry."
Russia
opposed to Kosovo full membership in UN-Lavrov
A quote...."MOSCOW, April 2 (Itar-Tass) - Russia cannot accept Kosovo’s
full membership in the United Nations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov said at a hearing in the State Duma lower house of parliament on
Wednesday."
Inside Story
- The Schengen Agreement - 31 Mar 08 - Part 1
Inside Story
- The Schengen Agreement - 31 Mar 08 - Part 2
(YouTube - pt1 7 min / pt2 15 min - Added: April 01, 2008)
A quote...."As nine Eastern European countries end border checks,
Inside Story examines the Schengen agreement and asks what the negative
repercussions of increasingly free trade and movement in Europe may be."
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EXCLUSIVE...Bush's
Law: Eric Lichtblau on Exposing the NSA's Warrantless Wiretapping
Program and How the White House Pressured the New York Times to Kill
the Story -- A quote...."In a national broadcast exclusive, we
speak with New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau about his new book,
Bush’s Law: The Remaking of American Justice. Lichtblau won the
Pulitzer Prize for exposing the Bush administration’s warrantless
wiretapping program in December 2005. He reveals the inside story of
the New York Times’s decision to delay publication of the story for
more than a year after intense lobbying from the White House. [includes
rush transcript]" -- || Real Video Stream || Real Audio Stream || MP3 Download || More…
||
Pentagon
releases memo on harsh tactics
A quote...."The Pentagon on Tuesday made public a now-defunct legal
memo that approved the use of harsh interrogation techniques against
terror suspects, saying that President Bush's wartime authority trumps
any international ban on torture."
Navy demonstrates
world’s most powerful rail gun
Some quotes...."DAHLGREN — The Navy’s Office of Naval Research
successfully conducted a record-setting firing of an electromagnetic
rail gun at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, Jan. 31." -- "Rail
gun technology uses high power electromagnetic energy instead of
explosive chemical propellants to propel a projectile farther and
faster than any preceding gun. At full capability, the rail gun will be
able to fire a projectile more than 200 miles at a muzzle velocity of
Mach 7 and impacting its target at Mach 5. In contrast, the Navy’s
premiere gun, the Mark 45 five-inch gun, has a range of nearly 20
miles. The high velocity projectile will destroy its targets due to its
kinetic energy rather than with conventional explosives."
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U.S.
stocks cheer Lehman's ability to raise capital - DOW up 391 - NASDAQ up 83 - S&P up 47
A quote...."Last update: 4:47 p.m. EDT April 1, 2008 -- NEW
YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Tuesday celebrated the start of a
new quarter, rallying as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s equity offer
drew a warm reception, fueling the Dow to its 8th-biggest point jump
ever. -- For more on this issue
see....What
Ben Bernanke Said - 03-18-08 - mpg
Treas.
details key role in Bear Stearns bailout - Agency involved in all
aspects of transaction, signed off on Fed move
Special Note - A
quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)-- The Bush administration's efforts
to subtly distance itself from the bailout of Bear Stearns Cos. ended
Tuesday as documents were released detailing the extensive role played
by Treasury Department officials."
Fannie
Mae takes another step to ease capital need
Special Note - A
quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fannie Mae, the largest provider of
funding for U.S. residential mortgages, has extended forbearances for
troubled homeowners in a move the company expects to ease stress on its
capital. -- The move allows temporary suspensions or
reduced payments by borrowers for up to six months, up from four
months, said Jason Allnutt, a vice president for credit loss management
for Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) in Dallas."
-- See also....Fannie,
Freddie surplus capital requirement cut
Manipulations
of Capital
A quote...."Let's begin with what serves as the devastating background
to the drama being played out on financial markets in the United States
first of all (but not only!). Every time the Fed lowers its interest
rates, it weakens the dollar still further. Unlike his predecessor (and
intercessor) Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke relies entirely on a cynical
calculation. American monetary authorities' room for maneuver only
appears as large as it does because they've transferred their main
responsibility onto other people: safeguarding the dollar."
Only
the money is cheap
A quote...." The Bear Stearns bailout and the associated calls for
further Federal intervention in the mortgage market have highlighted
once again an eternal economic truth: in an era of excessively cheap
money, only the money is cheap. Everything else - assets, business
ethics, economic stability, support for free markets - becomes either
horrendously expensive or wholly unobtainable."
Sub-prime
crisis costs top Swiss bank 37 billion US dollars
A quote...."Swiss financial giant UBS has
reported
that its write-downs as a result of the sub-prime crisis have more than
doubled to about 37 billion US dollars. It is the largest write-down by
any bank since the credit crunch began."
IMF:
U.S. Economy Will Go Into Recession In 2008
A quote...."The International Monetary Fund will next week forecast
that the US economy will go into recession this year, a German
newspaper reported Tuesday, citing an upcoming report."
U.S.
Retailer Group Cuts Sales Estimate Second Time (Update4)
A quote...."April 1 (Bloomberg) -- A U.S. retailer group cut its March
sales estimate for a second time as shoppers concerned about job
security and the worst housing slump in a quarter century cut apparel
spending."
Double-digit
declines rattle top automakers
A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Ford Motor Co., General
Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday all handed in
double-digit percentage declines in March U.S. sales, capping a first
quarter in which the industry struggled through a brutal sales
environment."
Construction
Spending Falls in February
A quote...."(04-01) 07:32 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Construction spending
fell again in February as home building tumbled for a record 24th
straight month."
US
manufacturing contracts again in March - ISM
A quote...."NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. factory activity
contracted for a second straight month in March, according to a report
on Tuesday that also renewed worries about inflation...."
Inflation
climbs to a 13-year high in the British manufacturing sector
A quote...."Inflation in the UK's manufacturing sector has risen to its
highest since 1995, according to the monthly purchasing managers index,
produced by the Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)."
Japanese
bank lending lifted by global turmoil
A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Japanese banks' outstanding
overseas loans surged to an eight-year high as of Feb. 29, with
money-market turmoil triggered by the U.S. subprime-loan crisis
boosting financing activities, according to a published report."
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Lobbyists
Try to Keep Milk Information From Consumers
A quote...."Missouri lawmakers are about to consider House Bill 2283,
which would ban milk labels that inform consumers that their dairy
products are free of artificial growth hormones. That’s a remarkable
turn of events, and it bucks a well-established national trend toward
more information in food labeling, not less." -- Why is
Missouri going backward while the rest of the country goes forward on
consumer information labels? The answer is St. Louis-based Monsanto
Company, the biotech giant that markets recombinant bovine growth
hormone (rbGH or rbST), a genetically engineered drug used to increase
milk production in cows." -- Monsanto
is evil, pure and simple. - mpg
-- see also....GMO
and Morgellons Disease
Monday March 31st 2008
Can
You Say "PIN-O-CHET"?
A quote...."Can You Say
"PIN-O-CHET"? Those Three Syllables Should Be a Sacred Mantra for
Patriots; Tear Up that Check to PBS, Make It Out to Alternate Media
Instead -- Three recent developments, largely ignored by news media
pundits and political power brokers, offer fragile but encouraging
signs of renewal and progress toward the restoration of the rule of law
in the USA. Furthermore, those involved in alternative media and the
progressive blogosphere should derive a great degree of personal
satisfaction from these fragile and encouraging signs."
Should We
Fight for South Ossetia?
A quote...."Crunch time is coming [in Iraq]. And what is President Bush
doing? -- He is flying to Bucharest, Romania, to persuade Europe to
bring Ukraine and Georgia into NATO, which means a U.S. commitment to
treat any Russian attack on Kiev or Tbilisi like an attack on Kansas or
Texas."
Those
who control oil and water will control the world
A quote...."History may
not repeat itself, but, as Mark Twain observed, it can sometimes rhyme.
The crises and conflicts of the past recur, recognisably similar even
when altered by new conditions. At present, a race for the world's
resources is underway that resembles the Great Game that was played in
the decades leading up to the First World War. Now, as then, the most
coveted prize is oil and the risk is that as the contest heats up it
will not always be peaceful. But this is no simple rerun of the late
19th and early 20th centuries. Today, there are powerful new players
and it is not only oil that is at stake." -- Check out the comments - mpg --
Also posted at ICH
The Power Elite
Playbook, Beating the Oil War Drums: Part XII
A quote...."March 17, 2008 -- Oil greed generates war! International
banksters, in London and New York, had quickly recognized that control
of petroleum was essential to power and profit. After Britain’s
Rothschild-orchestrated depression of 1873 (coincided with the U.S.
stock market crash of September 18, 1873), a growing divergence existed
“between the depressed economy of the British Empire and the emerging
industrial economies of Continental Europe,” especially the very
proficient German Reich. [i] Crashes, depressions, recessions,
deflations or inflations (elastic dollars) are all contrived cash
manipulations that allow the banksters to subtly seize public and
private resources at fire-sale prices."
The
Decline And Coming Fall Of US Hegemony
A quote...." 31/03/06 "ICH" -- - When I went back to Ankara in late
1992 to head the Indian Embassy, many of my friends from the Turkish
Foreign Office from my 1969-73 tenure as First Secretary, were going
out as ambassadors to newly independent states in Central Asia and the
Baltic, following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Looking at the
creation of so many new missions, a cheeky young Turkish diplomat in
the Foreign Ministry said rather mischievously than hopefully, that
only if United States of America broke up into 50 independent states,
could he ever hope to head like them a Turkish Embassy, in north
America. Turkish diplomats trace their traditions and archives to six
centuries of Ottoman rule over an empire from which more than two dozen
nations have emerged."
Bush
forced into embarrassing crow-eating
A quote...."GEORGE W.Bush's first appearance with Kevin Rudd as
Australian Prime Minister was almost embarrassing to watch as the US
President ate political dirt and performed tortuous linguistic
contortions in the name of the alliance." -- Reading this article was immensely
enjoyable. - mpg
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Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Monday round-up - 13 articles - [ Day 7
]
Nouri
al-Maliki humiliated as gamble to crush Shia militias fail
Must Read - A
quote...."The soldiers guarding the entrance to Sadr City were jumpy,
despite a ceasefire announced by al-Mahdi Army Shia militia. And with
good reason: a huge boom rolled across the militia stronghold as a
roadside bomb struck a passing vehicle. American armoured vehicles sped
off to the aid of stricken comrades." -- Nouri
al-Maliki has proven to the whole world that he's Cheney's lap
dog....his political career is over, hopefully he'll realize this fact,
resign, and leave Iraq as quickly as possible to spare his countryman
any further death and destruction. - mpg
Embarrassed US
Starts to Disown Basra Operation
Must Read - Special Note
- A quote...."As it became clear last week that the Operation Knights
Assault in Basra was in serious trouble, the George W. Bush
administration began to claim in off-the-record statements to
journalists that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had launched the
operation without consulting Washington." -- To Late!! Everybody knows that the
US, specifically Cheney, planned
it with Maliki. - mpg
US-backed
assault on Basra ends in humiliation for Maliki government
A quote...."Relative calm returned—at least temporarily—to the southern
Iraqi city of Basra on Monday after a week of fierce fighting was ended
by an Iranian-brokered ceasefire declared by the nationalist Shia
cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr."
Iraq
ruling elite needs US troops to stay in power
Video - A quote...."Sabah
al Nasseri: Gov. attack on Sadr movement meant to prevent their
election victory"
Truce calms
Iraq, weakens prime minister
A quote...."The peace deal between al-Sadr and Iraqi government forces
— said to have been brokered in Iran — calmed the violence but left the
cleric's Mahdi Army intact and Iraq's U.S.-backed prime minister
politically battered and humbled within his own Shiite power base."
ANALYSIS-Iraqi
crackdown backfires, strengthens Sadrists
A quote...."BAGHDAD, March 31 (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki's crackdown on militias in the southern oil port of Basra
appears to have backfired, exposing the weakness of his army and
strengthening his political foes ahead of elections."
The
Lessons of Basra - posted at the Nation
A quote...."At the start of the military offensive launched last week
into Basra by US-trained Iraqi army forces, President Bush called the
action by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "a bold decision." He added:
"I would say this is a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq."
- Also posted at CommonDreams
Iran
Brokers Call for Ceasefire; Bush reduced to Irrelevancy in Iraq;
Fighting Continues
A quote...."regarding the fight between the Iraqi government and the
Mahdi Army. A parliamentary delegation from Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki's own coalition (mainly now the Da`wa Party and the Islamic
Supreme Council of Iraq) defied him by going off to the holy seminary
city of Qom in Iran and negotiating directly with Sayyid Muqtada
al-Sadr and with the leader of the Quds Brigades of the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards, Brig. Gen. Qasim Sulaymani." - Also posted at ICH
Iranian
general played key role in Iraq cease-fire
A quote...."BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers traveled to the Iranian holy city
of Qom over the weekend to win the support of the commander of Iran's
Qods brigades in persuading Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr to order his
followers to stop military operations, members of the Iraqi parliament
said"
Failure
of the US Sponsored Assault: Learn The Lessons of Basra
A quote...."If it is true, that political forces in Iran did contribute
to preventing the explosive conflict in Basra from careening totally
out of control, then that means that prevailing attitudes and
preconceptions in Washington have been shown to be totally bankrupt. If
cooler heads exist in Washington, especially among the military, they
must draw the lessons from the last week's events, and seek to finally
introduce an element of rationality into U.S. foreign policy for the
region."
No
peace in Basra despite Sadr call
A quote...."HOPES for a ceasefire in Iraq's developing Shia civil war
were swiftly undermined yesterday when the Government said it would not
stop attacking outlaw militia members, despite an offer from militia
leaders to freeze the conflict."
Thousands
of police officers who refused to fight Sadr are given the sack
A quote...."Interior Minister Jawad Boulani has ordered the dismissal
of thousands of police members and officers who allegedly refused
orders to take part in the fight against the militiamen of cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr. -- The decision covers most of the police force
in the predominantly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and also several
cities in the southern Iraq including Basra where most of the recent
fighting took place."
Iraq in
the Balance
A quote...."I scanned the Sunday talk shows and was amazed, even by the
normally lowbrow standards of these programs, at the infantile level of
discussion about Iraq. In concept, the Sunday shows offer a chance to
drill down a bit deeper into the facts behind the news—to reach a level
of detail that cannot be reached in the daily news broadcasts. For many
decades they served that purpose, more or less. Today they have
degenerated into extended opportunities for political sound bites, in
which even the most idiotic statements rarely go challenged, and in the
worst of which (generally on Fox), the punditry whip themselves into a
cappuccino froth of distortions and idiocies."
END
-- Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Monday round-up - [ Day 7
]
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Americans Say
Iraqis Unappreciative of Favors
A quote...."Five years crammed with devastation, destruction and
vagrancy. Trees burning, and breathing the Uranium-loaded air, flowing
from north to south, spreading slow death all over, not distinguishing
between race, gender or religion."
Hope
Abandoned: Obama Stands Up for Murder and Plunder
A quote...."Well, it doesn't really get much plainer than this, does
it?" -- From AP: "Obama
Aligns Foreign Policy with GOP -- Sen. Barack Obama said Friday he
would return the country to the more "traditional" foreign policy
efforts of past presidents, such as George H.W. Bush, John F. Kennedy
and Ronald Reagan."
Winter
Soldier - posted at the Nation
A quote...."While on tank patrol through the narrow streets of Abu
Ghraib, just west of Baghdad, Pfc. Clifton Hicks was given an order.
Abu Ghraib had become a "free-fire zone," Hicks was told, and no
"friendlies" or civilians remained in the area. "Game on. All weapons
free," his captain said. Upon that command, Hicks's unit opened a
furious fusillade, firing wildly into cars, at people scurrying for
cover, at anything that moved. Sent in to survey the damage, Hicks
found the area littered with human and animal corpses, including women
and children, but he saw no military gear or weapons of any kind near
the bodies. In the aftermath of the massacre, Hicks was told that his
unit had killed 700-800 "enemy combatants." But he knew the dead were
not terrorists or insurgents; they were innocent Iraqis."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Pentagon
Plans Expansion Of Special Forces
A quote...."Since the start of the Global War on Terrorism, the
Pentagon has taken steps to expand the role of the United States
Special Operations Command and its forces. In response, the Command has
transformed its headquarters to coordinate counterterrorism activities,
while the Defense Department has increased funding and the number of
special operations forces positions. " -- The endlessly growing Military Industrial
Complex. - mpg
False
Flag Watch: Is Iran Close to Being Attacked?
A quote...."The ducks for an attack on Iran are being lined up. Time to
heighten awareness and speak out forcefully against allowing another
vicious war crime to be implemented in our name."
Dangerous
wheat-killing fungus detected in Iran – UN
A quote...."5 March 2008 –A dangerous new fungus with the ability to
destroy entire wheat fields has been detected in Iran, the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today."
Departing Putin
seeks to stop NATO gains
A quote...."This week's NATO summit in Romania will be Vladimir Putin's
last appearance at a top-level international forum before he steps down
as Russian president, still pushing to halt NATO's expansion into the
stomping grounds of the former Soviet Union."
Thousands
of Ukrainians rally against Bush visit, NATO bid
A quote...."KIEV, March 31 (RIA Novosti) - Thousands of people gathered
on Kiev's main square on Monday to protest against the U.S. president's
visit, and the Ukrainian leadership's drive for NATO membership."
Poland
says no decision on U.S. missile shield yet
A quote...."WARSAW, March 31 (RIA Novosti) - Poland's foreign minister
denied on Monday rumors that Warsaw had decided to allow the placement
of a U.S. missile interceptor base on its territory."
Veterans -
Soviets in Afghanistan - March 31 - Pt 1
Veterans -
Soviets in Afghanistan - March 31 - Pt 2
Video - (YouTube - aprox
11 to 12 min each - March 31, 2008)
A quote...."As part of its series on veterans from some of the world's
most brutal and forgotten conflicts Al Jazeera travelled to Russia. --
Despite being the Soviet Union's largest military operation since the
second world war, the decade-long war in Afghanistan is regarded by
many as a humiliation and the Soviet 'Vietnam'. -- However many
veterans are still physically and psychologically damaged by their time
in Afghanistan and say they do not receive adequate support upon their
return." -- Watching these videos
all you'd have to do to bring them up to date is just imagine it's
Americans speaking instead of the Russians. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Holy
Name 6 Face Death Threats, Need Letters of Support
Action Alert - A
quote...."Remember
when this happened a week ago? -- Peace Activists Stage "Die-In",
Interrupt Easter Mass -- In the broad
context of the antiwar movement, this was an action that
greatly energized the movement to end the war in Iraq. People came
together quickly to show solidarity and contribute money to bail the
Holy Name 6 out of jail."
Legal threat over
UK 42-day detentions bill (Update: bill to be debated today)
A quote...."Plans to extend the limit on detaining terror suspects
without charge to 42 days could face an Equality and Human Rights
Commission court challenge. -- They say plans to increase the limit
from 28 days could contravene the law."
Comcast
to Stop Slowing Peer-to-Peer Traffic
Special Note - A
quote...."Faced with pressure from the Federal Communications
Commission, cable company Comcast said Thursday it will end its
practice of slowing traffic to peer-to-peer sites." -- This is a win for Net Neutrality -
mpg
Update
on the Alabama blackout of 60 Minutes...
A quote...."First, if you are new to the Don Siegelman saga, see here. Now
for the news, the Washington
Independent has more: -- "Last month, as 10.5 million Americans
were watching a "60 Minutes" episode
implicating the Bush administration in an alleged conspiracy to
prosecute political opponents, television viewers in Huntsville, Ala.,
found something different: a black screen."
Bush
calls on Congress to pass key legislation
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush called on
Congress Monday to pass "vital" pending legislation, including looser
domestic wire-tap rules and a
free trade pact with Colombia." -- Well of course, Bush's stash is starting
to run low. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Less
regulation, More Power to the Fed
Must Read - A quote...."
31/03/08 "ICH" -- -It is being billed as a “massive
shakeup of US financial market regulation”, but don't be deceived.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's proposals for broad market reform
are neither “timely” nor “thoughtful” (Reuters) In fact, its all just
more of the same free market “we can police ourselves” mumbo jumbo that
got us into this mess in the first place. The real objective of
Paulson's so called reforms is to decapitate the SEC and increase the
powers of the Federal Reserve. Same wine, different bottle. Paulson's
real motive is to preempt the regulatory sledgehammer that is set to
descend on the entire financial industry following the 2008 election.
There's growing fear that a President Obama may tote his firehose down
to Wall Street and flush out some of the debris that has collected in
the market's dark corners."
Loretta
Napoleoni on “Rogue Economics: Capitalism’s New Reality”
A quote...."Italian economist, journalist and author Loretta Napoleoni
argues that recent events on Wall Street indicate a much larger
upheaval and could “signal the end of the ‘Roaring Nineties,’ nearly
two decades of easy money, cheap credit, and soaring global debt.” It’s
an argument Napoleoni develops in her latest book called Rogue
Economics: Capitalism’s New Reality. * [includes rush
transcript]" -- || Real Video Stream || Real Audio Stream || MP3 Download || More…
|| -- *link added by website editor.
Bad
Times Coming
A quote...."People in New York and Washington who know a great deal
more than I do about high finance are apparently scared. Like
passengers on an airplane, when the pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer
get scared, it's time for us to do likewise."
The Federal
Reserve under Fire, Part Two
A quote...."President Eisenhower, in the face of the relatively mild
recession of 1958, resisted the harangue of Republicans in Congress to
cut taxes and, in so doing, was able to oversee a government that had
several years of balanced budgets. He argued that the huge tax cuts of
1954 had been enough in the way of fiscal stimulus, and he was proud to
point out that the majority of the money from that round of tax cuts
had gone to people of more modest means. The fiscal discipline he
imposed as chief executive officer of the United States would prove
exceptional, particularly in light of the howl from his own Republican
Party as it obsessively paraded its pandering wares for the low-taxes
crowd of that day."
UBS
plans $19 bln write-down, capital injection
A quote...."LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Swiss banking giant UBS on Tuesday
revealed a further $19 billion hit from the credit crisis, doubling its
write-downs so far, and said it will have to issue around 15 billion
Swiss francs ($15.1 billion) in new shares to shore up its capital
base." -- And the hits keep
coming....two trillion more to go. - mpg
Sunday March 30th 2008
A
third American war crime in the making
Must Read - A
quote...."The US Congress, the US media, the American people, and the
United Nations, are looking the other way as Cheney prepares his attack
on Iran. -- If only America had an independent media and an opposition
party. If there were a shred of integrity left in American political
life, perhaps a third act of naked aggression -- a third war crime
under the Nuremberg standard -- by the Bush Regime could be prevented."
The Great American
Disconnect
Must Read - A
quote...."The failing economy, the decaying infrastructure, the
apparent indifference that Americans seem to feel about their kid’s
futures are accepted as a matter of course. The war that consumes their
sons and daughters as cannon fodder is just another slap in the face
that Americans have resigned themselves to. The once, good paying jobs
that included health care and other benefits are gone, replaced with
low paying jobs without benefits or security. Americans have had to
adjust to a diminished standard of living. They’ve become jaded,
cynically indifferent, and many pause to wonder what they’ve traded for
a 30 year mortgage, an undependable income, and their ever growing
debt."
"Those who would give up
Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, [or a
Wealthier
Life Style] deserve neither Liberty nor Safety [nor Wealth]." -- *Benjamin Franklin* -- mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Our
Learned Helplessness
A quote...."Yes, V is right. There is something terribly wrong with
this country - and this could be referring to almost any country on the
globe, since Pathocracy has taken global control. It actually makes
sense for psychopaths to act as they do as such is their nature. But
what about the rest of us? How is it that "fear got the best of us",
and why is it that a paralyzing fear descends upon us when we consider
resisting? Why is it that thoughts of "them" coming for us and locking
us away, overshadow our truest human desires for Freedom, Love, Truth?"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
He Stood on Top of the Mound
03-30-08
mpg
VIDEO:
Bush booed as he throws inaugural pitch at Nationals home opener
Video - A
quote...."President Bush met with a mixed reception this evening as
he threw the 2008 inaugural pitch at the new Nationals Park, built for
the Washington Nationals baseball team."
It was really fun to hear the
announcer try to ameliorate the boooos Bush was receiving by reminding
the audience how Bush didn't just go up to the front of the mound like
other presidents, no, instead
he stood on top just like he did after September 11 2001, isn't
that sooooo sweet? The mass-media...always plugging for the man
who wasn't legally elected in the last two elections and whose entire
family and most of his "friends" are heavily implicated in what can
only be described as a highly suspicious and prejudicial chain of
events leading up to 9/11.
Remember this is the man who dragged his feet for a whole year and who
was forced to set up the commission by the families of the 9/11
victims. This is the man that refused to testify under oath, refused to
testify for more than one hour and refused to testify without being
accompaynied by Dick Cheney.
This is the man who refused to
extend the commission’s mandate to investigates 9/11 or even give
additional funding for the commission to continue its
investigation.....to
quote "Bush's obstruction of the investigation began coming into focus
last March when Time Magazine reported that the White House brushed off
a request made by the 9-11 Commission Chairman Tom Kean, the Republican
former governor of New Jersey, to boost his budget by $11
million." and “The panel has until the end of May 2004 to
complete its work, but it will spend the $3 million it was originally
allotted by around August 2003" - (they eventually, after
kicking and screaming, got a total of 15 million)
MY GAWD!! Three whole
million dollars!!! Think of that America!! What a
terrible burden that would have been for this country to have spent one
penny more?? WOW !!! This editor had absolutely no idea it
was that much. Jesus Christ you mean they wasted a whole three
million dollars on the 9/11 investigation....what's this country coming
too??
For GOD’S sake the whole bloody
freaking war based on Bush’s constant repetition of 9/11 only cost
three million dollars....or is this editor missing a few zeros?
To every true American out
there, think about just how dumb that announcer made this entire
country look, think about just how stupid we appear to the entire world.
Think about it.
Ohhhhh, Ahhaaaa.....he stood on top of the mound,
that’s the important thing. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
9/11 - From The History
File...Bush
Stonewalled 9/11 Commission from the Beginning
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Sunday round-up - ten articles [ Day 6
]
Al-Sadr
pulls fighters off streets
A quote...."BAGHDAD - In a possible turning point in the recent upsurge
in violence, Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his Shiite militiamen off the
streets Sunday but called on the government to stop its raids against
his followers."
Sadrists and
Iraqi government reached an agreement in Basra…update…Mahdi Army keeps
the arms
A quote...."Press conference on Iraqi TV right now by the Sadrists,
they insist that Mahdi Army still keeps its arms and will not turn over
the weapons to the government. [when he said this TV cuts the
broadcast] -- The Iraqi government sent a delegation [from Badr
Brigade, Al-Adib and Al-Amri] to Qom - Iran to negotiate Al-Sadr before
the truce declaration, notice the Al-Sadr demands are the same and the
government accepted them. [even before the violence started their
demands are to stop the raids, to end the arrests of the Sadrists]."
Profile:
The Mahdi Army
A quote...."The Mahdi Army is an armed group loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr,
a Shia leader from a dynasty of revered clerics persecuted under Saddam
Hussein, Iraq's former president."
War
with Iran May Have Begun with Offensive in Iraq
Must Read - Special Note
- War Warning - A quote...."
The United States military offensive against Iran may have begun with a
swiftly escalating series of operations directed against the Mahdi
Army, a Shiite militia led by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which had been
observing a six month old cease-fire."
U.S.
says special forces fight in Basra
A quote...."BAGHDAD, March 30 (Reuters) - The United States confirmed
on Sunday that U.S. special forces units were operating alongside Iraqi
government troops in Basra, where the government is battling militants
loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr."
Iraqi Shia fighters
refuse to surrender arms - 30 March 08 - (YuTb - 2 min 28 sec
- Added: March 30, 2008)
Must View - Video - A
quote...."Officials have indefinitely extended a curfew on the capital
Baghdad that was due to expire on Sunday. - Battles are still raging in
several areas of the country and US and British troops are playing an
increasing role in helping Iraqi security forces with their offensive
against militias. - James Bays reports from Baghdad."
Shiite
Militias Cling to Swaths of Basra and Stage Raids
A quote...."BAGHDAD — Shiite militiamen in Basra openly controlled wide
swaths of the city on Saturday and staged increasingly bold raids on
Iraqi government forces sent five days ago to wrest control from the
gunmen, witnesses said, as Iraqi political leaders grew increasingly
critical of the stalled assault."
Iran
urges end to Iraq fighting, says helps U.S.
A quote...."TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran called on Saturday for an end to
fighting between Iraqi government forces and Shi'ite Muslim militants
to remove any "pretext" for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq. - Iraqi Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki, himself a Shi'ite, launched a crackdown
against the Mehdi Army militia in the southern Iraqi city of Basra this
week. Fighting has spread and exposed a deep rift within Iraq's
majority Shi'ites."
Iranians help
reach Iraq cease-fire
A quote...."BAGHDAD — Iranian officials helped broker a cease-fire
agreement Sunday between Iraq's government and radical Shiite cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr, according to Iraqi lawmakers."
Debunking
Muqtada Al-Sadr
A quote...."I am not pleased at all with the English version of the
Muqtada interview on English Al-Jazeerah. It is short, inaccurate, and
doesn't give the English speaking reader the full picture. -- However
-- I did watch the 60 mn interview in Arabic on that same channel. I
watched it after having dinner -- not a very good idea. My stomach is
still churning ever since..." -- From a Sunni Arab perspective, posted as a
reminder to everyone that Muqtada al-Sadr has a lot more work to do on
his community outreach program for the Sunnis in Iraq. - mpg
END
- Cheney's
and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Sunday round-up - [ Day 6 ]
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Russia
challenges US in the Islamic world
A quote...."When US President George W Bush named Karachi-born
Pakistani American Sada Cumber as the first US envoy to the
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), the White House announcement
of February 27 almost passed off as pork-barrel politics on the part of
a lame-duck administration. Cumber is a Texan entrepreneur - and so was
Bush. "
Arab
peace offer 'under review'
A quote...."Arab leaders meeting in Damascus have said that they will
review a peace offer extended to Israel in 2002 unless it changes its
behaviour. - The warning was made on Sunday at the end a two-day Arab
summit marred by divisions over the political crisis in Lebanon."
Gaddafi
Calls for Strong Arab Alliance with Iran
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi urged fellow
Arab leaders on Saturday to form a strong alliance with Iran, stressing
that such a move would best serve the interests of the Arab world."
Iran,
Russia, Azerbaijan Sign Agreement to Build Rail Line
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- Heads of railways of Iran, Russia and
Azerbaijan signed a trilateral memorandum on mutual understanding on
Saturday on the conditions for building the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara rail
line, which is part of the International North-South Transport Corridor
(INSTC)."
US demands to
see Swiss-Iran contract
A quote...."The U.S. has demanded to see a Swiss contract for natural
gas supplies from Iran to see whether it violates an American sanctions
law against Tehran, the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland said Sunday." -- For more on this issue see....The
US is After Europe Too! - 03-23-08 - mpg
Hamas
chief invites Abbas to Gaza for talks
A quote...."Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal invited Palestinian president
Mahmoud Abbas to Gaza for unconditional talks on the two factions'
divisions, in a television interview Monday."
Syria
says ready in case of US military action
A quote...."DAMASCUS (AFP) Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said
on Sunday that Damascus was prepared for all scenarios in its worsening
relationship with Washington, including the use of US military force."
Colombian
Troops Kill Farmers, Pass Off Bodies as Rebels’
A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO, Colombia — All Cruz Elena González
saw when the soldiers came past her house was a corpse, wrapped in a
tarp and strapped to a mule. A guerrilla killed in combat, soldiers
muttered, as they trudged past her meek home in this town in
northwestern Colombia."
Telecom
Immunity: Playing the "9/11 Card" ... Again
A quote....The Bush administration, never known for its veracity on any
issue, once again is playing the "9/11 card" in an desperate attempt to
continue violating the Fourth Amendment rights of the American people."
Police
Arrest Anti-War Protester, 80, At Mall
A quote...."An 80-year-old church deacon was removed from the Smith
Haven Mall yesterday in a wheelchair and arrested by police for
refusing to remove a T-shirt protesting the Iraq War."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Pakistan
warned of possible 'economic collapse' - 30 Mar 08- (YouTube - 2
min 29 sec - Added: March 30, 2008)
Video - A
quote...."Pakistan appears to be enjoying economic prosperity and hopes
of political stability. The Karachi stock exchange has enjoyed record
gains. - However, the World Bank warns that the country could be on the
verge of economic collapse. - The Bank says the new government needs to
act quickly to counter sustained global economic pressure. - And, as
Kamal Hyder reports, many Pakistanis are already feeling the
squeeze." -- Pakistan
should decouple itself from the dollar, kick the US "advisors"
(bringers of death and destruction) out of their country, fulfill their
energy needs from Iran, start trading with Iran, Russia, China, and
(gasp!) India. If they did these things their problems might be
reduced
to a more manageable level. If they continue to be the Neocon's
PNAC'ing go-fer boy in Central Asia, they'll soon wind up looking
like Iraq or Afghanistan. - mpg
[Indian]
Inflation shock, Tata Motors' ratings in focus
A quote...."HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Investors in interest
rate-sensitive sectors such as automobile, financial services and
real-estate firms are unlikely to breathe easy this week as India's
inflation threatens to run out of control, dashing earlier hopes that
the monetary policy could be eased some time this year to lift slowing
economic growth."
Your
number's up
A quote...."It was no big surprise that Total Fed Credit was up a
whopping US$9.6 billion last week as the Fed continued creating money
and credit to bail out its nasty little friends on Wall Street to
prevent the boom, that resulted from decades of the Federal Reserve
stupidly creating too much money and credit, from turning into the bust
that is, alas, inevitable. - And to help fund it all, the Fed's
account, known as "US Government Securities owned outright", was down
by $32.2 billion last week! Wow! This is about 5% of the bonds it owns!
In one shot!
Nationalization
and dislocation
A quote...."As long-time readers are all too familiar, I have been a
persistent critic of government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs -
notably mortgage finance agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These
behemoths of historic credit excess - instigators of the mortgage
finance and housing bubbles - liquidity backstops for the ballooning
leveraged speculating community - and instrumental agents for an
unparalleled misallocation of financial and economic resources - are
proving themselves the Freddie Krueger of systemic distortions and
policy failures. "
Investors
pull $100bn out of equity funds
A quote...."Investors worldwide pulled close to $100bn (€63.3bn) out of
equity funds in the first three months of this year – a record shift
that accelerates a longer-term trend away from US and western European
stock markets. - Equity funds suffered outflows of $98bn in the quarter
ending March 28, according to Emerging Portfolio Fund Research, which
tracks retail and institutional flows. The funds had inflows of $19bn
during the same period last year and inflows of $49bn in the same
period for 2006."
Paulson's
regulation plan won't fix current economic crisis
A quote...."WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson makes public
on Monday a new blueprint for regulation of the turbulent financial
markets, one that has plenty to do with the future and little to fix
what ails the economy right now."
Third
of [Britains] financial services firms to cut jobs as profits fall
A quote...."Britain's financial services companies have been so
seriously affected by the credit crunch that job numbers and
profitability are now falling at their fastest rate for five years, a
survey from the CBI and PricewaterhouseCoopers will say today."
Credit
crunch puts hurt on U.K. borrowers, lenders
A quote...."LONDON (MarketWatch) - In the United Kingdom, pain from the
global credit crunch is beginning to be felt beyond the big financial
institutions of the City of London and Canary Wharf, as mortgage rates
rise and banks tighten lending standards."
Filing:
Countrywide CEO to get $10M
A quote...."Countrywide Financial Corp.'s chief executive and president
will receive a combined $19 million in stock next week as part of the
company's pending takeover by Bank of America Corp., according to a
regulatory filing."
Saturday March 29th 2008
Year
Six of the Occupation
Must Read - A
quote...."Year six of the occupation began inauspiciously with a
suicide bombing on Wall Street which killed 56 people. The initial
exuberance occasioned by the relative ease of the Alien's invasion of
the United States had through five years of violence, chaos, and
destruction turned high hopes into near universal despair (those Aliens
responsible for the invasion still expressed optimistic assessments
whenever engaging in on-site inspections of their handiwork)."
-- This is not a work of
fiction, for all you'd have to do to make it reality is just change a
few names. - mpg
The Mystery
of American Foreign Policy
A quote...." Why are we propping up the pro-Iranian Maliki faction in
Iraq? -- The recent increase in fighting around Basra, which is rapidly
spreading to Baghdad, has the punditariat in a lather. Their sacred
Surge has turned into a mere splurge – of resources, lives, and
misplaced hope. Well, I could have told you that, and, indeed, I did.
But never mind the chattering classes, their delusions of American
omnipotence, and my own unfortunate penchant for self-congratulation.
What's really fascinating about this story is how it underscores the
central mystery of our Iraq war policy: why in the name of all that's
holy are we supporting the pro-Iranian parties and factions in the
Iraqi government, whilst Our Glorious Leader is coupling Tehran and
al-Qaeda as "twin" evils to be fought and defeated in Iraq?"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Saturday round-up - twelve articles - [Day 5 ]
Iraqi
soldiers rehearsed crackdown
Must Read - Special Note
- A quote...."BASRA, Iraq • Iraqi soldiers dash across a Basra street
towards a multi-storey building as masked men fire off volleys of
gunshots. No one gets hit, no one gets wounded and -- nobody dies. --
That is because it was just a rehearsal for the real thing now
unfolding daily in the southern oil hub...." -- Maliki, the US and the
British have been planning this whole thing for months. There was
Moqtada al-Sadr still agreeing to the cease fire just a couple of weeks
ago and yet he was being set-up the whole time by the US and
Britain....he had to have known. - mpg
Iraq
government envoy rebuffed by Sadr
A quote...."BAGHDAD - After failing to break the resistance of Shiite
militias in the five-day siege of oil rich Basra, Iraqi Prime Minister
Nouri al Maliki sent a top general to hold talks with his Shiite rival,
Muqtada al Sadr, Saturday night only to be rebuffed by the firebrand
cleric, an Iraqi official close to the negotiations said."
Sadr
urges support for 'resistance'
A quote...."Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia leader, has called on Arab
countries to support his militia's battle against "US occupation", with
clashes between Shia groups and Iraqi government troops entering their
fifth day." -- To comment goto to ICH
Al-Sadr
calls for support of Arab states - 29 Mar 08 - (YouTube - 1 min 53
sec - Added: March 29, 2008)
Video - Interview - A quote...."Ihe battle
for control of southern Iraq is continuing for a fifth day. - In one of
the latest offensives, eight people died, including two women and a
child, in an air raid. - Meanwhile a witness in Baghdad has told Al
Jazeera he saw up to 40 Iraqi army and police surrendering their
weapons to supporters of the Mahdi Army. - Its leader, Muqtada Al-Sadr,
is calling on Arab nations to support his fight against US forces in
Iraq. - James Bays reports from Baghdad." -- To comment goto to ICH
US
warplanes widen airstrikes in Iraq - Iraq: US Widens Bombing in Basra;
Some 40 Iraqi Police Officers Surrender Arms to Militants -- A
quote...."U.S. jets widened the bombing of Basra on Saturday, dropping
two precision-guided bombs on a suspected militia stronghold north of
the city, British officials said. - Maj. Tom Holloway, a British
military spokesman, said U.S. jets dropped the two bombs on a militia
position in Qarmat Ali shortly before 12:30 p.m."
Sadr
orders militia to reject PM's call to surrender arms
A quote...."NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) - Radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on
Saturday ordered his followers to reject Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki's call to surrender their arms as clashes with troops raged
for a fifth straight day."
Five
Things You Need to Know to Understand the Latest Violence in Iraq
A quote...."Heavy fighting has spread across Shia-dominated enclaves in
Iraq over the past two days. The U.S.-backed regime of Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki has ordered 50,000 Iraqi troops to "crack down" -- with
coalition air support -- on Shiite militias in the oil-rich and
strategically important city of Basra, U.S. forces have surrounded
Baghdad's Sadr City and fighting has been reported in the southern
cities of Kut, Diwaniya, Karbala and Hilla. Basra's main bridge and an
oil pipeline connecting it to Amara were destroyed Wednesday. Six
cities are under curfew, and acts of civil disobedience have shut down
dozens of neighborhoods across the country. Civilian casualties have
reportedly overwhelmed poorly equipped medical centers in Baghdad and
Basra."
Police
Mutiny, Refuse to attack Sadrists; Clashes continue in Basra; Sadrists
open New fronts throughout Shiite South
A quote...."Friday between Iraqi government forces and the Mahdi Army
in Baghdad and the provinces of the middle Euphrates and the south,
causing hundreds of casualties, including among women, children and the
elderly. The fighting also did damage to Iraq's infrastructure, as well
as to oil facilities and pipelines, damage that might run into the
billions of dollars. -- The US got drawn [eagerly lept] into the
fighting on Friday. US planes bombed alleged Mahdi Army positions both
in Basra and in Sadr City in Baghdad (as well as in Kadhimiya)....."
Update
on the Civil War Surge in Iraq
A quote...."Yesterday we saw the complete unravelling of the lie that
the assault on Basra is strictly an all-Iraqi operation, with the
Baghdad government imposing its authority on "criminal gangs" in the
port city. American
warplanes joined in the attack yesterday, dive-bombing residential
areas. Nor were these U.S. operations confined to Basra; American
planes struck several cities throughout the country, with a heavy
concentration in the Sadr City quadrants of Baghdad. (For more, see the
earlier post, Operation
Permanent Presence: The Civil War "Surge" in Iraq.)"
The
sieges of Basra and Sadr City: another US war crime in Iraq
A quote...."US fighter planes and helicopter gunships struck the
southern Iraqi city of Basra and the teaming slums of Baghdad’s Sadr
City with bombs and missiles Friday as the offensive launched by Iraqi
puppet troops against the Mahdi Army, the Shia militia loyal to Muqtada
al Sadr, faltered badly."
Under
siege in Baghdad's Mahdi army stronghold
A quote...."The gunfire built to a steady rhythm. American soldiers in
a Stryker armoured vehicle fired from one end of the block. At the
other end, two groups of Shia militiamen pounded back with machine guns
and rocket-propelled grenades. US helicopters circled above in the blue
afternoon sky."
Iraq:
New restrictions on US Embassy - US State Department Tightens
Restrictions on Embassy in Baghdad Amid Rocket Attacks -- A
quote...."The U.S. State Department on Saturday tightened restrictions
on embassy staff in Baghdad, ordering all employees to sleep inside
reinforced structures and to use only armored vehicles when traveling
in the Green Zone due to incoming rocket fire."
END
-- Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Saturday round-up - [ Day 5 ]
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Russian
intelligence sees U.S. military buildup on Iran border
Red War
Warning - A quote...."MOSCOW, March 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian
military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by
U.S. Armed Forces near Iran's borders, a high-ranking security source
said Tuesday. -- "The latest military intelligence data point to
heightened U.S. military preparations for both an air and ground
operation against Iran," the official said, adding that the Pentagon
has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be
launched." -- To comment goto to ICH
- This is the fifth Red War Warning
in the last thirty days -
mpg
Saudi
Newspaper: Prepare for radioactive fallout from US nuclear attack on
Iran
Red War
Warning - A quote...."The Saudi government is now preparing
plans to deal with "any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards" that
may arise from an attack on Iran's nuclear reactors. This was
reported by a top Saudi newspaper, Okaz, and relayed by a leading
German news service, DPA -- one day after Dick Cheney paid a visit to
the kingdom. " - This is the sixth
Red War Warning in the last
thirty days - mpg
Murdering
Iranians
Red War
Warning - A quote...." 29/03/08 "Lew Rockwell" -- - Terrible
rumors from Russia
continue to swirl around the Middle East that the Cheney-Bush junta has
decided to bomb Iran on April 4th or 6th, targeting not only
nuclear-power research facilities but ships, planes, antiaircraft
installations, and the Iranian pentagon. Apparently the nuclear-power
reactor being built by Russian companies will be spared, but not much
else." -- This is the seventh Red
War Warning in the last thirty days - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
'Your
Turn Is Next,' -- Gadhafi warns Arab leaders after US toppling of Saddam
A quote...." 29/03/08 "AP" -- - DAMASCUS, Syria: Libyan leader Moammar
Gadhafi poured contempt on fellow Arab leaders at a summit Saturday and
warned that they might be overthrown like former Iraqi president Saddam
Hussein. -- Gadhafi's rambling, off-the-cuff speech to the opening of
the Arab summit both bewildered and brought reluctant smiles to the
faces of the other leaders." -- For more on this issue see....The
Black Bull died today
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
AFGHANISTAN:
Disappointed With Karzai, NATO
A quote...."KABUL, Mar 28 (IPS) - The Shahr-e-now park in the centre of
Kabul has seen better days. "It used to be really beautiful," Kabul
resident Torialay says, "back during the early-90s. But after the
Mujahiddin war (a civil war between warlords and commanders in the
mid-90s that destroyed much of the city) it has never been restored."
ANP gets in
touch with local Taliban
A quote...."PESHAWAR, March 29: The Awami National Party and the local
Taliban have formally made contacts to negotiate peace and find a
solution to the growing militancy in the NWFP and tribal areas. -- The
ANP has already expressed its desire of bringing all hostile quarters
to the negotiating table to work out a lasting solution to the war-like
situation along the Durand Line and in some settled districts of the
province. The local Taliban had welcomed the ANP’s move, sources told
Dawn."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The
Decriminalization of Corporate Crime
A quote...."With our economic and financial crises deepening,
government insiders reportedly are debating whether we need to restore
some regulation—or not. Given the state of things, we can expect
further woes and no regulation. - Why have regulation when JPMorgan can
gobble up Bear Stearns for peanuts, with the backstage encouragement
and acquiescence of the Federal Reserve Board?"
When
They Pick Up the Phone at 3 AM, What Will They Say?
A quote...."America's tragedy is that we have three neoliberals left in
the presidential race, at a time when, as Martin Wolf correctly pointed
out in Wednesday's Financial Times, neoliberalism has collapsed. The
bailout by the Fed of Bear Stearns sounded the death knell for 30 years
of deregulation."
Friday March 28th 2008
When a
Great Power Goes Mad
Must Read - A
quote...."With the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War and the grim
milestone of 4,000 U.S. dead, the nation has been awash with news
retrospectives on the war and speeches by politicians, mostly offering
sanitized versions of what's transpired. -- With a few exceptions,
these media/political reflections have had the feel of
self-rationalizations, more than self-criticisms. They’ve conveyed a
sense that the U.S. system is doing just fine, thank you, although a
few mistakes were made." -- See
also....Frontline's
Fall From Grace - 03-26-08 - mpg
From
Worship To War
Must See - Video - A
quote...."We [the United States] want revenge, we want payback and we
don't care who gets hurt "
Network - Money
speech - (YouTube - 4 min 19 sec - Added: August 26,
2007)
Must See - Video - From
the movie "Network"
- 1976 satire - Here, made known to
you lowly mortals as inscribed in the Great Book of Lex Duodecim
Tabularum, contained within the secret Thirteenth Table “Amor
Nummi”, is written the sacred prayer of the Neo-Liberals --
Praise the Almighty Corporation!! For I have seen the coming of His
glory, the shining of His guiding light. He is here to punish the
unbelievers who doubt His powers, He is here to show His infinite
strength of arms against those who are wicked, those who do not worship
the blessed token He has placed here on Earth to serve His needs, the
Mighty Dollar. Behold as He unleashes His righteous wrath against those
who trespass against His bottom line, as He spares not the rod, the
Mighty Military Industrial Complex, against all those who are led
astray from the true path of endless profit by their lack of
faith.
Watch in wonder as His blessings rain down upon this world bringing
fire and death to those Corporatless heathens who still occupy His
lands. Witness their terrible downfall for their retched failure
to
recognize His Holiness and pay proper tribute. Tremble in Awe and
Rapture
as thee Almighty Corporation rightly assumes complete dominion over
this
earthly plane....Hallelujah!! Hallelujah!!....praise thy Corporation
for His Kingdom has come and we are finally saved
my brothers and sisters...we are all finally saved!! -
mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Cheney's and
Maliki's new war in Iraq - Friday round-up - 8 articles - [Day 4]
Areas
of Baghdad fall to militias as Iraqi Army falters in Basra
A quote...."Iraq’s Prime Minister was staring into the abyss today
after his operation to crush militia strongholds in Basra stalled,
members of his own security forces defected and district after district
of his own capital fell to Shia militia gunmen. -- With the threat of a
civil war looming in the south, Nouri al-Maliki’s police chief in Basra
narrowly escaped assassination in the crucial port city, while in
Baghdad, the spokesman for the Iraqi side of the US military surge was
kidnapped by gunmen and his house burnt to the ground.
Iraqi
police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched
sides
A quote...."Abu Iman barely flinched when the Iraqi Government ordered
his unit of special police to move against al-Mahdi Army fighters in
Basra. -- His response, while swift, was not what British and US
military trainers who have spent the past five years schooling the
Iraqi security forces would have hoped for. He and 15 of his comrades
took off their uniforms, kept their government-issued rifles and went
over to the other side without a second thought. -- Naturally, why would they want
to literally kill their brothers and sisters? So
far the American plan of
"divide and conquer" -- (The PNAC & DPG protocols, the "Shock
Doctrine", P2OG, the "El Salvador Option", "Constructive Instability"
and "The
Method") -- first demonstrated when the US "played" Iraq against
Iran, and again when Negroponte brought in all those former experts
from Central America to set-up death squads and play the Shi'a, Sunni
and Kurds against each other, has been an outstanding success at
"reducing" Iraq to its present impoverished, moribund,
"fractured or fractionated" state. A quite deliberate and
methodical process of "politically atomizing" a society so that it can
be better controlled, more easily made to conform and later re-built
into whatever structure is desired. They do it to prisoners, to new
army recruits, as well as whole societies. Tear-down and than
re-build is their motto. But trying to play the sectarian groups
against each other in their own neighborhoods is just a lot more
difficult because they actually know, and are related to each
other....one
would guess to get around these unpleasant realities, the US will
decide
to conduct even more bombings then they already have....or perhaps the
US
could
bring in different sectarian groups from other cities in Iraq, groups
that would have less qualms about murdering their fellow Muslims.
Now wouldn't that be a great idea?? - mpg
Police
refuse to support Iraqi PM's attacks on Mehdi Army
A quote...."US and British forces are increasingly playing a supporting
role in the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's stalled offensive
against the Mehdi Army militia. American aircraft launched air strikes
in Basra yesterday and fought militiamen on the streets in Baghdad
while British advisers have also been assisting Iraqi troops in Basra."
-- And each day it goes
on means more dead and dying Iraqis.... Maliki has committed political
suicide. - mpg
Iraq
battle deadlock
Video - A quote...."US
bombs Baghdad's Sadr City as rockets and mortars hit Green Zone again.
Militants defy curfew in Basra"
Iraqi military
fumbling badly in Basra
A quote...."The Iraqi military push into Basra is not going as well as
US officials had hoped, a closely held US military intelligence
analysis shows. -- The analysis shows that Iraqi security forces
control less than a quarter of the city, said several officials in both
the US and Iraq on Friday, CNN reported. -- It also indicated that
Basra's police units are deeply infiltrated by members of radical
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army."
Iraqi
militia success means Britain must fight – or admit failure
A quote...."The battle for Basra now raging on the streets of Iraq’s
second city shows every sign of turning into a nightmare for the
dwindling British forces based near by."
Mahdi
Army Stands Firm in its Basra Neighborhoods; Demonstrations in Baghdad
against al-Maliki
A quote...."People are
asking me the significance of the fighting going on in Basra and
elsewhere. My reading is that the US faced a dilemma in Iraq. It needed
to have new provincial elections in an attempt to mollify the Sunni
Arabs, especially in Sunni-majority provinces like Diyala, which has
nevertheless been ruled by the Shiite Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.
But if they have provincial elections, their chief ally, the Islamic
Supreme Council, might well lose southern provinces to the Sadr
Movement. In turn, the Sadrists are demanding a timetable for US
withdrawal, whereas ISCI wants US troops to remain. So the setting of
October, 2008, as the date for provincial elections provoked this
crisis. I think Cheney probably told ISCI and Prime Minister al-Maliki
that the way to fix this problem and forestall the Sadrists oming to
power in Iraq, was to destroy the Mahdi Army, the Sadrists'
paramilitary. Without that coercive power, the Sadrists might not
remain so important, is probably their thinking. I believe them to be
wrong, and suspect that if the elections are fair, the Sadrists will
sweep to power and may even get a sympathy vote. It is admittedly a big
'if.'" -- *Juan Cole*
UK/US
backed attack on Basra aims to break popular and trade union resistance
A quote...."The attacking forces now besieging Basra stretched all the
way to the city from Dhi Qar province. Two armoured divisions are
deployed, in addition to thousands of policemen, backed by US and
British planning and air cover. -- They have cut off electricity
supplies, food and water on the city of 1.5 million people. Hundreds
have been killed or injured in a savage, premeditated and unprovoked
attack, now spreading to much of Iraq as the people protest and show
solidarity with Basra’s beleaguered people."
END -- Cheney's
and
Maliki's new war in Iraq - Friday round-up - [Day 4]
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Who is the
Iraqi Army?
Special Note - A quote...."The Bush administration claims the Iraqi
Army is a unified force of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds who fight together
for the centralized government of Iraq. That's complete nonsense. -- In
fact, the different divisions of the army are segregated by sect. The
so-called Iraqi Army fighting in the south right now is mainly the Badr
Corps. This is a rival Shiite militia to Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army."
Mother
Jones: Chart of Abu Ghraib Chain of Command...
A quote...."Hopefully to be charged with war crimes and violations of
the Geneva Conventions, here is the full chain of command responsible
for Abu Ghraib - thanks to the excellent work by Mother Jones:"
Hersh:
Don't trust Washington on Iraq
A quote...."Prominent journalist Seymour Hersh says the US is 'in real
trouble' because news coverage on Iraq is anything but balanced and
unbiased."
Rudd's
troop withdrawal leaves Bush alone on Iraq
A quote...."KEVIN RUDD was to formally tell the US President, George
Bush, yesterday that Australia would withdraw its combat troops from
Iraq and compensate by increasing financial and humanitarian help and
by training Iraqi security forces outside the country."
Damascus
summit destined to fail
A quote...."MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Gayane Seiranyan) - On
Saturday the Arab League summit opens in Damascus, for the first time
in the history of that organization."
A de facto
calm
A quote...."While Israeli officials continue to deny they are engaged
in either direct or indirect talks with Hamas, the uneasy calm along
the Israel-Gaza border has held for a third consecutive week, despite
Israeli provocations."
Israel:
Hezbollah increases rocket range
A quote...."The Lebanese group has acquired new Iranian rockets with a
range of about 185 miles, the officials said Wednesday. That means the
guerrillas can hit anywhere in Israel's heavily populated center and
reach as far south as Dimona, where Israel's nuclear reactor is
located."
Rabbi calls for
hanging Arab children from trees
A quote...."A state that really respects the lives of its citizens
would have hanged the 10 sons of the terrorist on a tree 50 amot [25
meters] tall, so that others would see it and be afraid," wrote Eliahu,
according to the Jerusalem Post."
U.S.
visit to Pakistan shows 'panic,' expert says
A quote...."ISLAMABAD — The visit to Pakistan of top U.S. officials
this week was supposed to cement ties with the country's incoming
government. Instead, it ended up roiling local sensitivities and
inadvertently showing up key policy differences."
Russia
claims Litvinenko win as envoy retires
A quote...."Russia claims it has forced Britain into a humiliating
climb-down after the Foreign Office announced the retirement of Sir
Anthony Brenton, the Moscow ambassador most disliked by the Kremlin."
Politkovskaya's
killer identified, being sought -top prosecutors -2
A quote...."MOSCOW, March 28 (RIA Novosti) - The killer of
investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya has been identified and
placed on the country's 'most wanted' list, the Russian Prosecutor
General's Office said on Friday."
U.S.,
Russia fail to overcome missile shield differences
A quote...."WASHINGTON, March 28 (RIA Novosti) - The United States and
Russia made some progress on a strategic framework agreement, but
failed to settle differences on the disputed missile defense plans for
Europe during two days of talks in Washington."
What
Are We to Expect From the American Elections?
A quote...."If everyone decides upon “containing” and “punishing”
Russia, then more than a few problems will be created as a result."
UN Says
'Network', Not Syria, Killed Hariri
A quote...."A UN commission investigating the death of former Lebanese
PM Rafik Hariri says the evidence suggests a network of people was
responsible for the attack. -- No individuals were named, but the
investigators said what it called the "Hariri Network" might also be
behind other deadly attacks in Lebanon." -- Uh....yeah....networks
usually are the ones to assassinate people, if the UN can't identify
who this network works for because they're free lance. This
editor suggests the UN "follows the money" to find out who paid them. -
mpg
Al Jazeera facing
staff crisis
Special Note - A quote...."English Al Jazeera is reportedly in crisis
as it faces financial cutbacks and big-names are resigning over
concerns about editorial control. - The news channel has been the
subject of speculation in recent months as it had seen financial
cutbacks and that more than 15 staff members had left in recent months,
The Guardian this week reported. - It is reported that management at
the English-language channel's headquarters in Doha, Qatar has
reportedly been struggling to contain a staff revolt."
NPR
News: National Pentagon Radio?
A quote...."While the Iraqi government continued its large-scale
military assault in Basra, the NPR reporter’s voice from Iraq was
unequivocal on the morning of March 27: "There is no doubt that this
operation needed to happen." -- Such flat-out statements, uttered with
journalistic tones and without attribution, are routine for the U.S.
media establishment. In the "War Made Easy" documentary film, I put it
this way: "If you’re pro-war, you’re objective. But if you’re anti-war,
you’re biased. And often, a news anchor will get no flak at all for
making statements that are supportive of a war and wouldn’t dream of
making a statement that’s against a war."
Net
Neutrality’s Quiet Crusader
A quote...."Bearing video cameras, laptops and cellphones, a small army
of young activists flooded into a recent federal meeting in protest. --
Members of public-interest group Free Press weren’t there to support a
presidential candidate or decry global warming. The tech-savvy hundreds
came to the Federal Communications Commission’s hearing at Harvard Law
School last month to push new rules for the Internet."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Undisputed
Facts Point to the Controlled Demolition of WTC 7
A quote...."Response to NIST's Invitation for Written Comments --
Documentation of spoken remarks presented on December 18 conference
call with the NCST Advisory Committee -- Emailed to NIST on January 3,
2008 -- Richard Gage, AIA – Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth
-- Reply: "I'm Richard Gage, AIA, a licensed architect of 20 years. I
represent Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, a fast-growing body
of more than 230 architects and engineers dedicated solely to bringing
out the truth about all three high-rise building collapses on 9/11. We
believe that we have answers to your questions about the puzzling
collapse of World Trade Center 7."
Report
Of WTC Collapse Cover-Up Justifies Call For New Inquiry - More on Richard Gage - mpg
Related article - A quote...."Richard Gage AIA, the founder of
Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, and hundreds of other
industry experts' call for a new investigation into the collapse of the
WTC twin towers and Building 7 is gaining strength following
revelations of falsification and cover-up in relation to the
FEMA-funded inquiry into the destruction of the buildings on 9/11."
September
11 was a third-rate operation
A quote...."In late April of 2001, just five months before the
September 11 attack date, Mohamed Atta was stopped for driving
erratically late at night near Ft Lauderdale, Florida. By then, the
pilots all had their licenses, final-phase planning must have been
under way. Yet, here was Osama bin Laden's field commander for the
entire operation, driving a red Pontiac (though 15 years old), with
Arabic stickers, and no driver's license, or at least none he would
show. -- The author of this article
doesn't believe
9/11 was a false flag operation....but after reading his description of
the "suspects" behavior and actions prior to 9/11, a reasonable person,
even if he didn't believe the false flag scenario, might suspect "malign neglect" on the part of
our wealthy elites. (a.k.a. LIHOP as apposed to MIHOP.)
Lawyer:
Gitmo trials pegged to '08 campaign
A quote...."The Navy lawyer for Osama bin Laden's driver argues in a
Guantánamo military commissions motion that senior Pentagon
officials are orchestrating war crimes prosecutions for the 2008
campaign."
========== ==========
========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Economic
Cycles and Political Trends in the United States
Must Read - A
quote...."Sometimes we measure these cycles from bottom to bottom, and
sometimes from top to top. For the 10-year cycle (the Juglar cycle), it
often coincides with normal recurring recessions. In the U.S., there
were recessions, for example, in 1969, in 1973-75, in 1980 and 1981-82,
in 1990-91 and in 2001, most of them within about a 9-10 year interval.
According to this cycle, there could be a somewhat severe recession in
2010-11, possibly following the slowdown or recession expected to occur
this year. -- What is of interest is that the real estate cycle or
housing cycle (the Kuznets cycle) is also scheduled to bottom in this
period. This is a cycle of about 12 years of price increase and of 5 or
6 years of price decline. The previous cycle, from top to top went from
1987 to the spring of 2005. A bottom would therefore be normal in
2010-11 and a future top around 2023." -- For more on this issue see....Effective
Fed Funds Rate 03-24-07 - mpg
Reviving
the R.T.C. - The Next Big Plan From The Bernanke Politburo
Must Read - A quote...."
28/03/08 "ICH' -- - The Federal Reserve is
presently considering an emergency operation that is so risky it could
send the dollar slip-sliding over the cliff. The story appeared in the
Financial Times earlier this week and claimed that the Fed was
examining the feasibility of buying back hundreds of billions of
dollars of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) with public money to
restore investor confidence and clear the struggling banks' balance
sheets. The Fed, of course, denied the allegations, but the rumors
abound."
Das
Phony Capital
A quote...."The Wall Street Journal calls the last ten years a "lost
decade" for stockholders. The S&P is now about where it was in
1999. Stock market investors are ten years older and wiser; but not a
penny richer."
Fed
Offers $100 Billion More to Banks
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve announced Friday it
will auction an additional $100 billion in April to cash-strapped banks
as it continues to combat the effects of a credit crisis. -- The
central bank said it would make $50 billion available at each of two
auctions, on April 7 and April 21."
The
Proof Is in: Third-World Debt Is Erasable
A quote...."A question arises in consequence: why have the banks, which
do not hesitate today to erase doubtful debts in the tens of billions
of dollars, always refused to annul developing countries’ debt? They
are demonstrating that it’s possible and altogether necessary. Let us
remember that criminal dictatorships, corrupt regimes, and leaders
faithful to the great powers obtained the debts the banks presently
claim. The big banks lent sums without count to regimes as disreputable
as those of Mobutu in Zaire, Suharto in Indonesia, the Latin American
dictatorships of the 1970s-1980s, without forgetting the Apartheid
regime in South Africa. -- How can they continue to inflict the yoke of
this debt on the peoples who suffered these dictatorial regimes the
banks themselves financed? -- Because
the "banks" (Loan Sharks Inc.) spent good money bribing all those
unpleasant people to take their ridiculous over-priced loans.-
mpg
Dollar
Posts Biggest Weekly Decline Against Euro Since 2006
A quote...."March 28 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar posted the biggest
weekly drop against the euro in more than two years as traders
increased bets the Federal Reserve will cut borrowing costs further
while the European Central Bank holds rates steady."
Consumer
Spending Weak in February
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) - Consumers, jolted by a credit crisis, job
cuts and soaring energy costs, turned in the weakest spending
performance in 17 months in February, further evidence that the risks
of a recession are increasing."
U.S.
markets seen losing ground to global competitors
Special Note - Some
quotes...."The United States received only 6.9 percent of the funds
raised in global initial public offerings in 2007 and did not
participate in any of the top 20 global IPOs, Harvard Law School
Professor Hal Scott said at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's second
annual capital markets conference." -- "Scott also noted that many
foreign companies in 2007 took advantage of a U.S. regulatory change
that let them delist from U.S. exchanges. About 15 percent of
U.S.-listed foreign companies left the U.S. markets in 2007, about
three times the historical rate, he said."
The conclusion of the
committee...."highlighting the need to streamline regulation and crack
down on excessive securities litigation"....you see the committe's
conclusion in light of the current Banking/Brokerage crisis is we need
even LESS regulation so we can
fob off on the rest of the unsuspecting world even more of those
worthless synthetic securities.
This editor thinks the committee members missed the point, (that’s
putting it mildly), the reason the world doesn't want to do business
here is because to do business with an organized crime syndicate of
murdering, whacked out, psychotic, thugs who've broken or shredded
every international treaty along with their own constitution, can't
even take care of their own currency, and have just sold the world
trillions of dollars of bogus paper....is because it’s likely to get
you both poor and dead.
Outcomes most people generally try to avoid. - mpg
For more on this issue see....The
Green Light 01-16-08 - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Abu
Dhabi and Qatar create 2 billion sovereign global fund
A quote...."The Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi government-owned
International Petroleum Investment Co Ipic and Qatar Investment
Authority (QIA) will invest 2 billion US dollars in a new fund for
global acquisitions."
Uruguay:
Inflation becomes “permanent challenge”
A quote...."Uruguayan Ministry of Economy admitted that inflation has
become a “permanent challenge” demanding an “ongoing monitoring” of
prices. Remarks follow the latest readjustment of fuel (2.4%) and
bakery (14%) prices which have been influenced by the soaring values of
oil and wheat."
Thursday March 27th 2008
Truth
In War Is Always Subversive.
Must Read - A quote...."
27/03/08 "ICH" -- -- I would stroll past the
Hotel Royale in Saigon and look up at the corner balcony on the first
floor and see him there, camera resting on his arm. A greeting in Welsh
might drift down. Or his take-off of an insane American colonel we both
knew. What was he doing? Best to be patient; but this had gone on for
days."
Where
Matters Stand
Must Read - A
quote...."We live at a time in which collective insanity has become the
norm by which human behavior is to be judged. The willingness of men
and women to commit their thinking, their lives, their material wealth,
and the lives of their children and grandchildren to wars, genocides,
torture, police-state brutalities, and the destruction of economies,
reflects the danger in all forms of collective identity. To the union
of fifty states with which we are familiar, has been added another: the
state of non compos mentis, in which most Americans have taken up
residence."
Bush and
Bin Laden's virtual war
Must Read - A
quote...."To contemplate a prewar map of Baghdad - as I do the one
before me, with sectarian neighborhoods traced out in blue and red and
yellow - is to look back on a lost Baghdad, a Baghdad of our dreams. My
map of 2003 is colored mostly a rather neutral yellow, indicating the
"mixed" neighborhoods of the city, predominant just five years ago. --
To take up a contemporary map after this is to be confronted by a riot
of bright color: Shi'ite blue has moved in irrevocably from the east of
the Tigris River; Sunni red has fled before it, as Shi'ite militias
pushed the Sunnis inexorably west toward Abu Ghraib and Anbar province,
and nearly out of the capital itself. And everywhere, it seems, the
pale yellow of those mixed neighborhoods is gone, obliterated in the
months and years of sectarian war. -- a.k.a . The PNAC & DPG protocols, the
"Shock Doctrine", P2OG & the "El Salvador Option"...by any other
name it means death and destruction wherever America (the New Roman
Empire)
goes. - mpg
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Pakistan's
new leaders tell US: We are no longer your killing field
Must Read - A
quote...."The Bush administration is scrambling to engage with
Pakistan's new rulers as power flows from its strong ally, President
Pervez Musharraf, to a powerful civilian government buoyed by
anti-American sentiment. - Top diplomats John Negroponte and Richard
Boucher travelled to a mountain fortress near the Afghan border
yesterday as part of a hastily announced visit that has received a
tepid reception. - On Tuesday, senior coalition partner Nawaz Sharif
gave the visiting Americans a public scolding for using Pakistan as a
"killing field" and relying too much on Musharraf." -- Check
out the comments, they're outstanding !! -- The Pakistanis are
aware of what the Neo-Romans are capable of, and they don't want any
part of it. -- For more on
this issue see....It
Will Happen Every Single Time
This
is not our war: New Pakistani leadership tells US
Related article - A quote...."Alarmed at the expected shift towards a
negotiated and
peaceful handling of the problem of militancy in Pakistan’s tribal
areas along the border with Afghanistan, two senior US officials
arrived in Islamabad on March 24, hours after Makhdoom Yusuf Raza
Gilani was chosen Prime Minister by the newly elected parliament."
Critics upset
over US visit to Pakistan
Related article - A quote...."Anger intensified in Pakistan on Thursday
over the timing of a visit by two U.S. envoys who landed even before
foes