Sunday April 15th 2007

4/14/2007: 9/11 Timeline project update for week of April 7-14 -- US Surveillance of Al Qaeda and more
Must Read - posted at BuzzFlash - A quote...."A number of Paul Thompson’s recent entries relate to the charity Mercy International. In addition to doing charity work, this group is alleged to have had a number of ties with al-Qaeda. But what makes this charity especially interesting is that there are allegations the CIA also worked through the charity. As time goes on, it is becoming clearer and clearer that al-Qaeda was being heavily monitored by US intelligence before 9/11. Many new entries focus on the 1998 African embassy bombings and raise the question why the US did not act when so many participants were under surveillance in the months and even years leading up to the bombings (see, for example, Early 1994-September 27, 1998, May 21, 1996, Late 1996-August 20, 1998, Shortly Before August 21, 1997, August 1997, May 1998, and July 29-August 7, 1998).
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More False Flag Terror Attacks
A quote...."April 12, 2007 -- More false flag terror attacks prior to French presidential elections? Just days prior to the French presidential election which pits anti-North African Muslim conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, supported by the international neo-con clique, against a Socialist and centrist candidate, bombs have gone off in Algeria and Morocco. The attacks have been blamed on "Al Qaeda," the neo-cons' favorite (and likely controlled) bogeyman."

See also....The Redirection
See also....US Sent Pallets of Cash to Baghdad [ 363 tons !! ]
See also....How the US sent $12bn in cash to Iraq. And watched it vanish
See also....Accidentally Arming the Enemy Again - 200,000 AK-47's Lost...
See also....Shady dealers aim to arm Iraq
See also....Constructive Instability
See also....They Hire Other People to do "It" for Them - 03-02-07 - mpg
See also....Viral Neocons - 05-26-05 - mpg
See also....US Soldiers serving as drivers for terrorists
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Sadr's Rising Star to Eclipse Bush's Surge?
A quote...."Public opinion polls are valuable chips to play for those engaged in a debate of national or international consequence. In the end, however, they are abstract numbers. It is popular demonstrations which give them substance, color, and -- above all -- wide media exposure, and make them truly meaningful. This is particularly true when such marches are peaceful and disciplined in a war-ravaged country like Iraq."

Of course a couple of days after this demonstration of anti-occupation Iraqi solidarity we had a series of massive car bombings.....one could say the bombings had been highly "fortuitous" events if one were trying to continue a policy of "divide and conquer".  One could certainly say that.- mpg
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Sadr group to boycott Iraq government
A quote...."The political bloc of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Sunday said it is quitting the Iraqi government, as a wave of bombings left another 43 people dead in Baghdad.  -  "We will announce our withdrawal from the government tomorrow," Saleh Hassan Issa al-Igaili, a lawmaker from the Sadr group, told AFP."

Afghanistan Fight Will Only Get Tougher
A quote...." The death last Sunday of six Canadian soldiers in southern Afghanistan reminds us of Santayana’s famous maxim that those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.  -  The soldiers were killed near Maiwand, a name meaning nothing to most Westerners. But there, on July 27, 1880, during the bloody Second Anglo-Afghan War, the British Empire suffered one of the worst defeats in its colonial history.  -  Two years earlier the Raj (Britain’s Indian Empire) had invaded Afghanistan for a second time. The British put Afghan puppet rulers into power in Kabul and Kandahar."
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Hired Guns in Iraq killing for amusement
A quote...." On the afternoon of July 8, 2006, four private security guards rolled out of Baghdad's Green Zone in an armored SUV. The team leader, Jacob C. Washbourne, rode in the front passenger seat. He seemed in a good mood. His vacation started the next day.  -  "I want to kill somebody today," Washbourne said, according to the three other men in the vehicle, who later recalled it as an offhand remark. Before the day was over, however, the guards had been involved in three shooting incidents. In one, Washbourne allegedly fired into the windshield of a taxi for amusement, according to interviews and statements from the three other guards"

See also the article shown below - posted 04-13-07
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Vets are home and homeless - After fighting in Iraq, some end up on streets
A quote...."Three years ago, when he returned from Iraq and a stint in the U.S. Army, Herold Noel thought he’d be treated as a hero. Instead, he faced a series of degradations, including learning he was ineligible for public-housing assistance.  -  That’s when Noel went back to the red Jeep that had become his home at night. That’s when Noel — fueled by alcohol — took out a gun. That’s when Noel fired the bullet intended to pierce his skull and kill himself instantly.  -  Noel misfired, then passed out. When he woke up, he realized what had happened."

This all seems so eerily familiar, one wonders when we as a nation have experienced this sort of thing before....you know about thirty years ago....in a country which has it's name start with the letter "V".

Let's make this clear to everyone reading this blog, as the economy starts to head down hill over the next two to three years what we're seeing now is just going to be the tip of the iceberg.

One question for all you Bush supporting "New Roman Empire" citizens out there....are you going to repeat this same stupidity again for a third time twenty five years from now?  Are you 'all going to arrange another "fortuitous" event to set it off?

This author, the rest of the country and no doubt the rest of the world would really like to know just how many more people you're going to murder next time.  Please tell us....better yet why don't all you "Neo-Romans" just go move to Antarctica and save everyone throughout the world a whole lot ‘a pain and grief. - mpg
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U.S. report: Marines Killed Unarmed Civilians
A quote...."04/15/07 "Washington Post" -- -- A preliminary U.S. military investigation indicates that more than 40 Afghans killed or wounded by Marines after a suicide bombing in a village near Jalalabad last month were civilians, the U.S. commander who ordered the probe said yesterday."

This is a quote from the Washington Post article regarding the incident...."The swift U.S. military response to the Afghanistan incident and Kearney's candor about the investigation contrasts with the much slower and more guarded response to other cases involving alleged killings of civilians by U.S. troops, such as the one in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005." - italics/bold by website author.

Totally and utterly wrong....again.  See article below.  To the Washington Post et. al. - the reason hundreds of thousands of people have died in the last five years is because of your staff's constant and consistent inability to tell the truth and get their facts straight.  Your newspaper has deliberately and maliciously encouraged this policy to support the thugs that currently inhabit the White House and their plans to enrich themselves.

Considering all those who have already died or suffered terrible  injuries due to your horrendous record of malfeasance, it would be taken as a great kindness and the LEAST YOU COULD DO if the paragon of deliberately inaccurate mediocrity that your paper represents WOULD STOP LYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!

Thank you very much. - mpg

'Deletion' of Images in Afghanistan: Attempt to Cover Up Civilian Killings?
Must Read - Related article - Some quotes...."NEW YORK In the past day, there has been wide media coverage of an official report on the slaying of Afghan civilians by U.S. forces early last month...."....Gaining much less coverage are the report's comments on a nearly-forgotten aftermath of the apparent crimes, carried by E&P and other media outlets at the time: the U.S. military's forced "deletion" of images taken by Associated Press cameramen and others. A freelance photographer working for The AP and a cameraman working for AP Television News said then a U.S. soldier deleted their photos and video showing a four-wheel drive vehicle in which three people were shot to death about 100 yards from the suicide bombing. The AP lodged a protest with the American military."
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Aid and Comfort for Torturers:
A quote...."On January 24, 2003, National Guardsman Sean Baker, stationed as a military policeman at Guantánamo detention center, volunteered to be a mock prisoner, donning an orange suit and refusing to leave his cell as part of a training exercise. As planned, an Immediate Reaction Force team of MPs attempted to extract him from the cell. When he uttered the code word, "Red," indicating that this was a drill and that he'd had enough, one of the MPs "forced my head down against the steel floor and was sort of just grinding it into the floor. The individual then, when I picked up my head and said, 'Red,' slammed my head down against the floor," says Baker. "I was so afraid, I groaned out, 'I'm a U.S. soldier.' And when I said that, he slammed my head again, one more time against the floor. And I groaned out one more time, I said, 'I'm a U.S. soldier.' And I heard them say, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa.'" Even though, unlike if Baker had been a real prisoner, the "extraction" was called off part-way through, he was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and was left with permanent injuries, including frequent epileptic-style seizures."

Tomgram: Hiro, Can Sadr and Sistani Handle Bush?
A quote...."Mortar attacks on the Green Zone, the American controlled and massively fortified citadel in the heart of Baghdad, were already on the rise when, late last week, a suicide bomber managed to penetrate the Parliament building inside the Zone and kill at least one legislator, while wounding others, in its cafeteria. Some parliamentary representatives were soon declaring the still unfolding American "surge" plan in the capital a dismal failure."
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Bush administration pushes for expansion and deepening of police state  -  article #1
A quote...."The George W. Bush administration seized the White House in 2000 by way of an openly stolen election, then cemented its criminal power into place with the unprecedented 9/11 mass murder, and its two resulting abominations: the fabricated “war on terrorism” (the pretext for endless global war), and the USA Patriot Act (the full-scale destruction of the Constitution, and the militarization of the US homeland)."

Bush asks Congress to alter 1978 eavesdropping law  -  article #2
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration asked Congress on Friday to expand the number of people it can subject to electronic surveillance in the United States."

The Governor's Database  -  article #3
A quote...."Texas is amassing an unprecedented amount of information on its citizens  -  Piece by piece, Gov. Rick Perry’s homeland security office is gathering massive amounts of information about Texas residents and merging it to create the most exhaustive centralized database in state history. Warehoused far from Texas on servers housed at a private company in Louisville, Kentucky, the Texas Data Exchange—TDEx to those in the loop—is designed to be an all-encompassing intelligence database."

Lawyers: Bush staff can eject dissenters  -  article #4
A quote...."DENVER — Lawyers for two men charged with illegally ejecting two people from a speech by President Bush in 2005 are arguing the president's staff can lawfully remove anyone who expresses points of view different from his."

ANOTHER Political Prosecution From A Scandal-Tainted US Attorney?  -  article #5
A quote...."This looks like it might be yet another political prosecution. This time it isn't a US Attorney engaging in a political prosecution in order to keep the job -- instead it involves one of those NEW, Rove-approved US Attorneys who replaced those US Attorneys fired for failing to engage in political prosecutions. This prosecution shows us what to expect from now on. This one is prosecuting a guy entirely for political and not legal reasons, AFTER the courts threw out the case AND after the judge said they should drop the charges."

Domenici Sought Iglesias Ouster  -  article #6
Some quotes...."    Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias was fired after Sen. Pete Domenici, who had been unhappy with Iglesias for some time, made a personal appeal to the White House, the Journal has learned.  -  Domenici had complained about Iglesias before, at one point going to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before taking his request to the president as a last resort.

And...."In the spring of 2006, Domenici told Gonzales he wanted Iglesias out.  -  Gonzales refused. He told Domenici he would fire Iglesias only on orders from the president. -  At some point after the election last Nov. 6, Domenici called Bush's senior political adviser, Karl Rove, and told him he wanted Iglesias out and asked Rove to take his request directly to the president.  -  Domenici and Bush subsequently had a telephone conversation about the issue." - italics/bold by website author. - Note: articles #4, #5 & #6 posted at BuzzFlash

Looks like Bushy was directly involved in the firings.  Either Congress deals with this immediately or they will quickly become irrelevant to the running of this government.  We are all only a few short months from living under, for all intents and purposes, what is effectively a dictatorship. - mpg

Regarding the six articles shown above see also.... Thirty Acts to Restore Americans' Rights 11-10-06 - mpg
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The FBI's terrorism trade-off
A quote...."Focus on national security after 9/11 means that the agency has turned its back on thousands of white-collar crimes  -  Thousands of white-collar criminals across the country are no longer being prosecuted in federal court -- and, in many cases, not at all -- leaving a trail of frustrated victims and potentially billions of dollars in fraud and theft losses."

Does this surprise anyone?  Not only is the White House firing federal prosecutors who do their jobs, not only are they hiring the ones who don't (article #5 above), they're having the FBI back off thousand of white-collar criminal investigations....no doubt because most of them are friends of those in the White House? - mpg
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9/11 - From The History File...FBI claims Bin Laden inquiry was frustrated
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RNC lawyer admits at least four years of Rove emails missing
A quote...."At least four years of emails * sent by White House adviser Karl Rove have gone missing, a lawyer for the Republican National Committee informed congressional staff members Thursday, a front page article in today's Washington Post reports."

FOUR YEARS WORTH !!  Are they kidding?  They're not treating Congress with contempt anymore; they're way beyond that at this point.  Rove and the Bush administration are actually making fun of Congress, they're basically saying at this point nah-nah, nah-nah, ....go ahead and make us turn over those e-mails to you…you sissies.

Is this anyway to run a country? - mpg

* bold/italics by website author
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US national command authority in disarray?
More on the "war czar" idea. - mpg

Why deficit? Follow the money trail, Mr. Watson
Some quotes...."Cartoonist Scott Adams coined the word "confusopoly" to describe an economic transaction made intentionally confusing to discourage detailed examination....."....Is there an easier way to understand where our tax money is actually going? Indeed, there is - and it is a well-established method for cracking cases in law enforcement. You simply follow the money, Mr. Watson."

Vermont newspaper calls Bush worst president in U.S. history, calls for impeachment
A quote...."On Friday the 13th, April 2007, the Brattleboro Reformer, the third largest newspaper in Vermont that dates to 1876, joined the chorus of people calling Bush the worst president in U.S. history and for his impeachment ."

Moon Waning in Washington  -  Reverend Moon and the Bush Family
A quote...."Over the years, Bush 41 -- and family -- have benefited from both the Rev. Moon's political and financial support:  -  * In 1996, Bush 41 was the featured speaker at a Moon-sponsored Buenos Aires banquet, for which he may have received as much as $100,000 according to the Washington Post, to launch Moon's Latin American publication "Tiempos del Mundo" (Times of the World). "A lot of my friends in South America don't know about the Washington Times but it is an independent voice," the former president said. "The editors of the Washington Times tell me that never once has the man with the vision interfered with the running of the paper, a paper that in my view brings sanity to Washington DC."

Crude awakening, part one
A quote...."For decades, the oil-rich delta of the Niger river has been plundered by western companies and rampant political corruption. But now a small group of ruthless Ijaw tribesmen are threatening to sabotage production unless their demands for compensation are met. Sebastian Junger heads into the secretive mangrove swamps to meet the waterborne warriors who are prepared to trigger a global meltdown"

Bonded at Birth
A quote...."I am a child of the coup d'état, born in Iran a few days after the CIA helped overthrow the popular, democratic government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953."

Iran to Build 2 Nuclear Power Plants
A quote...." TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran said Sunday it is seeking bids for the building of two more nuclear power plants, despite international pressures to curb its controversial program."

This fugitive billionaire has exposed his violent agenda
A quote...."There can now be no doubt about the motivations of those behind the long and sustained campaign to blacken Russia's image and destabilise the Russian government from afar over the last few years. In the clearest possible terms, Boris Berezovsky told the world last week that he wants to foment a violent revolution in Russia against a democratically elected president. "I am calling for revolution and revolution is always violent," he says, confirming ominously that "there are practical steps" which he is taking."

A Whistleblower on Why Whistleblowing Matters, and Why You Should Be One...No Matter the Price...
A quote...."The truest act of patriotism is to protect the public from a corrupt and wasteful government."
-- TheFirstWhistleblower.org

"The United States government and American corporations are counting on you to keep your mouth shut.  -  According to Transparency International's Peter Eigen, the World Bank estimates that every year corruption costs one trillion dollars. Here in the United States, billions of our tax dollars are stolen every year due to corruption, bribery, fraud, willful malfeasance and misfeasance, and plain old greed. And if you come across evidence of this fraud and corruption, you are expected to keep quiet about it."
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A 9/11 "Smoking Gun" Hidden In Plain Sight
A quote...."Let's face it, if the 9/11 attacks were "legitimate", they would have been accompanied by "legitimate" statements and claims of responsibility.  -  You don't pull off the most spectacular "terrorist" attack in history, especially against largely symbolic targets, and then hide."

Saturday April 14th 2007

Iraq: Erasing History
A quote...."Who is erasing Iraq's history? A visitor only has to be in the country minute's before someone informs them: 'We are the cradle of civilization' and launches in to the pride and passion of historical jewels and archeological wonders stretching back seemingly beyond time. They are not Sunni, Shia, Christian, Turkoman, Yazidi jewels, they are Mesopotamia's and have been proudly nurtured since the mists of time."

"Suicide Bombings" - The Cover Story For US Military Ops In Iraq
A quote....""Suicide bombings" are a daily occurrence in Iraq, and are the major propaganda tool used by the US government and its mainstream media to convince the world that there is still some "freedom and Democracy" work to be done by US troops in Iraq. But what if they are a cover for something else?"

See also....The Smash of Civilizations
See also...."For Iraq, "The Salvador Option" Becomes Reality
See also....Salvador Option Surfaces Again
See also....Whatever Happened to the Salvador Option?
See also...."Remember the Native Americans - 02-07-07 - mpg
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Terror War III: U.S. Forces Capture, Render Refugees From Somali "Regime Change"
A quote...."Here's how George W. Bush treats refugees fleeing from the carnage wrought by his "War on Terror": he has them captured at gunpoint and "rendered" to torturers in his pay, where they are chained, blindfolded, beaten, stuffed into cages then "disappeared" into secret prisons notorious for their vile abuses. These captures of people trying to escape from the terrors of "regime change," from the ravages of foreign armies invading their homes, include women and children, as attested by the story of 17-year-old Safia Benaouda, a pregnant Swedish woman who was grabbed – by American troops – as she fled from the bloodbath following the Bush-backed Ethiopian assault on Somalia, AP reports."
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Their Arms and Their Man: Musharraf Gives and Takes For Bush-Cheney
A quote...."In a report released March 27, 2007, it was disclosed that Pakistan has been rewarded for its warm friendship with Mr. Bush by being made the most favored beneficiary of a new post-9/11 program that the Defense Department informally refers to as the Coalition Support Funds (CSF). CSF sends money to those countries that have helped in the fight against terrorism. According to the report, in the three years that preceded 9/11, Pakistan received $9.1 million in military aid. In the three years after 9/11 it received $4.2 billion in military aid. Only Israel and Egypt received more aid. Before 9/11 Pakistan received less military aid than Estonia or Panama. Since 9/11 Pakistan has received more than $10 billion in overall aid including military aid."

Pakistan through the ISI has supplied or funneled to the Taliban and al Qaeda MORE MONEY THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, including Saudi Arabia since the Saudis sent most of their money through Pakistan. Naturally Bush's Neocons have rewarded Musharraf for his support of al Qaeda.

Let’s repeat that shall we....Naturally Bush's Neocons have rewarded Musharraf for his support of al Qaeda.

Do you get it yet America?  Has it penetrated yet? - mpg
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The Apostles of Deception
A quote...." 04/15/07 "ICH" -- -- What passes for Christianity among the people, like so many things American, is not the genuine article. The sermons that rise from many of the pulpits of the churches of America are, I suspect, as counterfeit as a six dollar bill; as phony as the people running the country. But those whose faith is blind are incapable of seeing truth. That is the trouble with blind faith. It does not, it cannot, see. I have always been wary of organized religion."

The Sinking Ship, Slipping Off the Rocks
Related article - A quote...."Washington, DC April 2nd, 2007 -- Around the DC "Political Networking Circuit " it is amazing how quickly the Washington Influencers distance themselves from a losing cause, even when they were instrumental in creating the mess.  -  The Evangelicals, who must take much of the blame for lying and fabricating the War in Iraq to meet their own hallucinatory goals now believe that the Republicans have betrayed their lofty ideals, suitably sanitized of all responsibility for their disastrous lobbying. They have seen the light, been spoken to by a higher lifeform and believe that Bush has followed the wrong path."
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Generals Deserting Bush
A quote...."Those priceless if blood-soaked words—“They don't know where the hell they're going”—are those of retired Marine Gen. John J. Sheehan. He used them to describe the Bush administration’s amateur years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sheehan was one of three top generals the administration asked to become its “war czar,” overseeing Iraq and Afghanistan. All three refused. The Post reports that “The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies.” Besides the fact that generals are being wise enough to decline, Bush’s latest PR ploy raises a question. Why a czar? Isn’t Bush the commander in chief? Hasn’t he reminded us of the fact with incessant arrogance and rash-like Decideredness?"

Top Wolfowitz Postings Went to Iraq War Backers
A quote...."WASHINGTON, Apr 13 (IPS) - Of the top five outside international appointments made by embattled World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz during his nearly two-year tenure, three were senior political appointees of right-wing governments that provided strong backing for U.S. policy in Iraq."

Neocon War Propaganda To Be Investigated
A quote...."A U.S. House committee has announced it will hold hearings to investigate misleading military statements that followed the friendly fire death of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan and the rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch in Iraq."

Report: US Attorney replacements were picked prior to firings
A quote...."Replacements for several of the fired U.S. Attorneys were picked prior to their dismissals, with the White House identifying Bush insiders for the positions, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post."
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Iraqi Kurds play with Turkish fire
A quote...."A controversial interview with Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani by Al-Arabiya television last weekend may convey a superficial impression that events in northern Iraq could be spinning beyond the control of the United States."

Turkish intrusion in North Iraq would mean war - Kurdish MP
Related article - A quote...."ANKARA, April 13 (RIA Novosti) - Turkey's intrusion into the north of Iraq to conduct a military operation against Kurdish separatists based there would be tantamount to a declaration of war, a senior MP in Iraq's Kurdish autonomy said Friday."

Report: Turkish troops kill 4 Kurdish rebels in clash near Iraq border
Related article - A quote...."ISTANBUL, Turkey: Turkish troops killed four armed Kurdish guerrillas who had crossed over the border from northern Iraq, the government-owned Anatolia news agency reported Saturday."
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Chipping at foundations of belief
A quote...."The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center has partnered with the Israeli government to build a new "Museum of Tolerance" in Jerusalem. According to former Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Meron Benvenisti, the museum site encompasses a Muslim cemetery seized by Israel in 1948 and long-since paved over. What does a shrine to tolerance mean when it is constructed -- literally -- over the dead bodies of a Palestinian population that was expelled from its homeland."

Fred Zeidman and the Republican Jewish Coalition
A quote...."There's been a fair amount of attention paid to the Republican Jewish Coalition lately as a result of their sponsorship of an ad swiftboating Nancy Pelosi for her trip to Syria. Most of the analysis I've seen has focused on links between the RJC and the Bush administration -- most notably Sam Fox, recently recess-appointed by Bush as ambassador to Belgium, who headed the RJC until just a few months ago. The current RJC leadership also includes such GOP stalwarts as Ari Fleisher, Ken Mehlman, and the ever-slimy Mel Sembler."

Uranium weapons maker roasted in U.K. parliament
A quote...."This is the text of a speech delivered to the British House of Commons by John LaForge, a freelance writer for Pulse and organizer with Nukewatch. He was invited by the Manchester-based Campaign Against Depleted Uranium (CADU.org/uk) to be part of a panel on uranium weapons. The occasion was CADU’s Parliament Lobby Day, intended to inform British MPs about uranium weapons and the pursuit of an international ban."

Landslide Denied
Must Read - A quote...."Major Miscount in 2006 Election: Were 3 Million Votes "Misplaced"? - Election Defense Alliance, a national election integrity organization, issued an urgent call today for an investigation into the 2006 election results and a moratorium on deployment of all electronic voting equipment after analysis of national exit polling data indicated a major undercount of Democratic votes and an overcount of Republican votes in congressional races across the country. These findings are an alarming indictment of the American election system in which 80% of voters used electronic voting equipment."

Everyone knew Bush stole the Ohio vote and therefore the 2004 election.  We all knew they'd try to do the same for the 2006 vote.
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9/11 - From The History File...Armed pilots banned 2 months before 9-11
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Brazil ready to broaden nuclear cooperation with India
A quote...."Brazil Friday announced that it is prepared to broaden its cooperation with India in the field of nuclear energy."

Sticks and Stones
A quote...."Every so often, some dirty little news story surfaces which, despite my best efforts to ignore it, seizes the national (in)attention with such disproportional ferocity that I can’t help but sit up and wonder at its origin. While my interest in the often-incoherent ramblings of shock "journalists" approaches nonexistence, the reaction of the media and the "victims" to the recent flap over radio host Imus’ comments regarding the Rutgers female basketball team should instruct us all on the nature of modern media, business in general and the role that consumers and advertisers play in the policies of both. Ignoring the obvious fact that such inconsequential blather serves, most importantly, to distract us from the very real dangers that government poses, I’d like to focus, instead, on what this incident says about American society, in general."

Chavez: Troops to escort oil takeovers
A quote...."CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that soldiers will accompany government officials when they take over oil projects in the Orinoco River basin next month.  -  Chavez has decreed that Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, will take a minimum 60 percent stake in four heavy-oil projects in the Orinoco River region and invited the six private companies operating there to stay on as minority partners."

Gold rises, as dollar falls sharply against euro
A quote...."NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rose sharply Friday, as the dollar fell to a more than two-year low versus the euro, boosting demand for the precious metal.  -  Gold for June delivery closed up $10.20 at $689.90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 1.5% on the week.  -  Gold finally made a successful attempt at overcoming resistance at the $682/$685 level, after the US dollar sank to a 24-month low against the euro and oil prices firmed," said Jon Nadler, analyst at Kitco Bullion Dealers.  -  "A combination of adverse factors keeps gnawing at the US currency and may leave the Fed in the unwelcome predicament of having to boost rates to throw out a life-preserver to the greenback," Nadler said."

The Saturday Cartoons
A little humor. - mpg
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Friday April 13th 2007

White House: E-mails on firings may have been killed
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Some White House staff wrote e-mail messages about official business on Republican Party accounts, and some may have been wrongly deleted, the administration said Wednesday in a disclosure tied to the inquiry into the firing of eight U.S. attorneys."

Sure....it was some sort of horrible accident that got those e-mails deleted….isn’t that right? Does anybody seriously believe that?  Folks this is becoming childish, it used to be funny in a hideous dark sort of way, but they're not even trying to hide their contempt for Congress anymore.

The executive branch of the US government is now completely out of control, they are no longer even pretending to obey the law... their behavior is becoming increasingly dangerous.  Unless the legislative branch puts its collective foot down immediately they will become utterly irrelevant to the running of this government. - mpg

Operation Catcher's Mitt
DOJ Curtailed Highly Classified Prog . to Monitor Al Qaeda Suspects in the U.S.

A Look at the CIA vs. the Administration
2001 memo to Rice contradicts statements about Clinton, Pakistan

Thursday April 12th 2007

No posts - mpg

Wednesday April 11th 2007

Reality not violent enough for neo-cons
Must Read - A quote...."To some people, the themes of international politics are indistinguishable from those of professional wrestling. They see in the relations of nation states a ritualized melodrama of dominance vs. submission, triumph vs. humiliation. To them, every game’s a zero sum game; millions of individual human beings are labeled “good” or “evil.” All conflicts that don’t end violently, end shamefully; compromise equates with cowardice. So it was with the standoff between Great Britain and Iran over 15 Royal Navy sailors taken captive in the Persian Gulf. Ordinary people welcomed their release with happiness and relief. Actually, it’s tempting to say most normal people did. A perilous situation had been resolved without tragedy and without provoking a potentially disastrous war. Sure, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the occasion to score propaganda points. But what points ? That Iran is a sovereign nation capable of defending its territory. That its leaders can act magnanimously, freeing the prisoners before Easter as a “gift to the British people.” With a characteristic lack of subtlety, Ahmadinejad all but spelled out the message: We respect your faith. Maybe you should respect ours."

Democrats for war: The inevitable collapse
A quote...."The precipitous decline of antiwar sentiment within the Democratic Party has been on grand display over the past few months.  -  The majority of leading Democrats say they oppose the war in Iraq, but still refuse to cut funding. And when Bush vetoes the pork-swollen appropriations bill, which he’s promised to do, the Democrats have pledged to compromise, rewrite the bill, and grant President Bush exactly what he wants: more cash and no timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq.  -  “We’re not going to cut off funding for the troops,’’ said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin over the weekend on ABC’s This Week. “But what we should do, and we’re going to do, is continue to press this president to put some pressure on the Iraqi leaders to reach a political settlement.’’  -  Levin also stated that Democrats would take out language calling for troop withdrawal, but reiterated that they would not “vote to cut funding, period.” - See also Stupidity Alert 03-28-07 - mpg & Results Not Polls Are What Count 03-25-07- mpg

Signs and Wonders
A hilarious satirical send-up of Sean Hannity – mpg

Algeria Attack and the al-Qaeda Penetration of Africa
A quote...."It is sincerely mysterious [that] “al-Qaeda” has a knack of showing up in places targeted by the neocons. For instance, Africa, in particular Somalia and, more recently, Algeria.

Robert Fisk: Divide and rule - America's plan for Baghdad
A quote...." Revealed: a new counter-insurgency strategy to carve up the city into sealed areas. The tactic failed in Vietnam. So what chance does it have in Iraq?"

US raid on mosque leads to massacre in Baghdad
A quote...."“The Iraqi Army raided a mosque and killed two men in front of other worshipers at the early morning prayers,” the Times reported. It quoted Qais Ahhmed, a laborer who lives close to the mosque, as saying that one of those executed was the muezzin, the person chosen to lead the call to prayer.  -  “Then the locals took their guns and went out to fight the Iraqi Army and the police in reaction to these executions,” Ahmed added.  -  It was at that point that US troops joined the battle, calling in helicopter gunships to launch air strikes on the neighborhood.  -  The episode, which has all the earmarks of a deliberate provocation aimed at drawing out opponents of the American occupation in order to slaughter them, provides a revealing glimpse into the reality of the so-called “surge” ordered by the Bush administration."

The Iraqi resistance only exists to end the occupation
Related article - A quote...."The escalating attacks are not usually aimed at civilians, but are a direct response to the brutal actions of US-led troops."

Arabs Admit Being Cowed Before American Invasion
A quote...."The Arab Summit held in Saudi Arabia was one in which Arab leaders confessed to errors they have made. But it must be borne in mind that these errors are not simply mistakes, but sins for which an entire generation of Arabs have paid for in blood, underdevelopment and a future of insecurity."

The Iran War Theater's "Northern Front": Azerbaijan and the US Sponsored War on Iran
A quote...."In a timely decision, Azerbaijan recently (mid-March) granted NATO the permission to use two of its military bases and an airport to "back up its peace-keeping operation in Afghanistan" including support for NATO's "supply route to Afghanistan".  NATO's special envoy Robert Simmons insists that the agreement has nothing to do with US plans to wage aerial bombardments on Iran."

Corporate Media Bias in America: It sounds like "Apple Pie" and "Motherhood"
A quote...."This article addresses two of the writer's favorite corporate media targets - the Wall Street Journal's far-right editorial page and New York Times on every page. Both broadsheets were recently in attack mode taking on two Latin American leaders deserving praise but never getting any other than occasional backhanded kinds from papers devoted to one dual core mission - supporting the power elite and their own bottoms lines. First, the Journal."

'Surge' Architect Rejects 'War Czar' Job - posted at Consortium News
A quote...."The widespread doubts within U.S. military and intelligence circles that George W. Bush’s Iraq War “surge” can succeed were underscored when one of the plan’s architects, retired Army Gen. Jack Keane, was one of three generals to rebuff a White House offer of a new job dubbed “war czar.”

In other words, no one wants to be the next sacrificial goat and be forced to fall on their sword for George Bush's stupidity. - mpg
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Breaking: - Double the Troops in "Surge" (Updated)
A quote...."President Bush and his new military chiefs have been saying for nearly a month that they would "surge" an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq, in a last, grand push to quell the violence in Baghdad and in Anbar Province. But a new study by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the real troop increase could be as high as 48,000 -- more than double the number the President initially said."

Iran envoy repeats US abuse claim
A quote...."An Iranian diplomat kidnapped in Iraq has appeared before journalists in Tehran, saying that a US official was present while his captors tortured him."

Recession 2007

Tuesday April 10th 2007

Syria, Elliot Abrams, and the Contras All Over Again
Must Read - A quote...."It has an all-too-familiar ring to it."

ABC News: Army proposing extending duty for everyone in Iraq
A quote...."Next, we turn to Iraq and the American soldiers who are serving there. ABC news has learned that the army has put on the defense secretary's desk a proposal to extend the tour of duty for every active duty soldier in Iraq by three months. Robert gates could have a decision on that proposal later this week or early next. Here’s our national security correspondent, Jonathan Karl, at the pentagon. Jon?"

Senate Democrats pledge funding to continue Iraq war
A quote...."In a declaration of support for an extended and open-ended US occupation of Iraq, two leading Democratic senators told national television audiences Sunday that under no circumstances would the Democratic congressional majority cut off funding for the war."

And How Bush Said "Thanks" - How Syria Helped US in "War on Terror"
A quote...."About five years ago I had a visit with Syrian President Bashar Al Asad, a visit when he told me that his intelligence services had uncovered a plot by Al Qaeda that would have killed American servicemen in the Middle East. He turned over the information to the U.S., which was then able to stop the operation, saving the lives of the Americans who were being targeted.  -  When I asked him what operation that was, he replied that, "The Americans asked me not to talk about it, but if they keep calling us a terrorist state, I will talk about it."  -  After I left his office, I asked the U.S. Ambassador to Syria if what he had said was true. His reply was that not only was it true, but that President Asad had been able to stop more than one Al Qaeda attack on American interests.  -  Those days are gone now, the heavy handed bad-mouthing of Syria by George W. Bush is causing Syria to completely stop its cooperation." - bold/italics by website author.

Precisely!!  That's the whole point. - mpg -- See also....The Redirection
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Congress Must Cut Off - Bush Family War Profits
A quote...." Since this war on terror was declared following 9/11, the pay levels for the CEOs of the top 34 defense contractors have doubled. The average compensation rose from $3.6 million during the period of 1998-2001, to $7.2 million during the period of 2002-2005, according to an August 2006, report entitled, "Executive Excess 2006," by the Washington-based, Institute for Policy Studies, and the Boston-based, United for a Fair Economy. - This study found that since 9/11, the 34 defense CEOs have pocketed a combined total of $984 million....."

See also the article shown below.....posted 04-07-07

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Iraq: Why the media failed - posted at BuzzFlash
 A quote...."April 10, 2007 | It's no secret that the period of time between 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq represents one of the greatest collapses in the history of the American media. Every branch of the media failed, from daily newspapers, magazines and Web sites to television networks, cable channels and radio. I'm not going to go into chapter and verse about the media's specific failures, its credulousness about aluminum tubes and mushroom clouds and failure to make clear that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11 -- they're too well known to repeat. In any case, the real failing was not in any one area; it was across the board. Bush administration lies and distortions went unchallenged, or were actively promoted. Fundamental and problematic assumptions about terrorism and the "war on terror" were rarely debated or even discussed. Vital historical context was almost never provided. And it wasn't just a failure of analysis. With some honorable exceptions, good old-fashioned reporting was also absent."

The Federal Reserve Monopoly Over Money
A quote...."04/10/07 "ICH" -- - Recently I had the opportunity to question Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke when he appeared before the congressional Joint Economic committee. The topic that morning was the state of the American economy, and many of my colleagues raised questions about how the Fed might better "regulate" things to ease fears of an economic downturn. The tenor of my colleagues' questions suggested that Mr. Bernanke's job is nothing less than to run the U.S. economy, like some kind of Soviet central planner. "

Iran planning to stop using U.S. dollar to price oil, central bank governor says
A quote...."KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Iran is planning to stop using the U.S. dollar to price oil, with less than half of its oil income now paid in the U.S. currency, Iran's central bank governor said."

US soldier causes Italy furore before murder trial
A quote...."ROME, April 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier who goes on trial in absentia next week in Rome for murder caused a furore in Italy on Tuesday for defending his fatal shooting of an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq. Mario Lozano, of the U.S. Army's 69th Infantry Regiment, is charged in Italy with voluntary homicide for killing Nicola Calipari as the agent was escorting a newly freed hostage, reporter Giuliana Sgrena, to Baghdad airport in 2005."

Two Explosive Books Tell the Inside Story of the Forged Iraq-Niger Docs That Helped Build the Case for War
Listen to Segment || Download Show mp3 ||  Watch 128k stream  ||  Watch 256k stream  ||  Read Transcript  ||
A quote...."EXCLUSIVE - In his January 2003 State of the Union address, President Bush declared the infamous sixteen words: “The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” The claim was central to the administration’s claims that Saddam Hussein was seeking weapons of mass destruction and served as a basis for launching the Iraq invasion less than two months later. Bush’s declaration was based on an intelligence document that provided evidence about Iraq’s purchase of uranium from the African country of Niger"
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Ira Chernus: What Will We Learn From Our Iraq War?
A BuzzFlash interview - A quote....

BuzzFlash: Let’s look back at something you brought up in terms of the Vietnam War. At the chaotic end of the Vietnam War, with the infamous photos of the last GIs leaving the embassy, and Vietnamese falling off the runners of helicopters because they were trying to flee -- the two people who presided over that were Donald Rumsfeld and his assistant Dick Cheney.

Ira Chernus: Yes.

It’s an interesting interview whose subject regards the interplay between a people's psychology and their national myths and how this interaction might lead to various pathologies in the formation of a Nation's foreign policy and culture.

Mr. Chernus has an interesting point of view, however in the opinion of this author when it comes to the United States, it appears that money and power are the sole determinants and predictors of America's foreign policy.  The rest is simply a thin veneer, a shroud tastefully placed over the diseased, pox covered, hideously deformed, New Roman Empire that this Nation has made itself into.

The American national myths as discussed by Mr. Chernus are simply used by our predatory elites to manipulate, coerce and deceive the bulk of America's people to further the elites rapacious desires.

The really sad part is that most of America's people want to be deceived by their elites.  They want to be comforted by the "victory culture" because if they were to confront what they have willingly lent their names to, what they have willingly done to themselves, what they have let themselves become....they would realize they are the monsters now.  And that is something very few people would willingly face. - mpg
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The " S " Words-- Serfdom and Slavery
A quote...."This essay will examine the gigantic failure of worldwide credit welfare as a centerpiece, and why it can easily be associated with modern-day Serfdom. Hence the " S " word as the title reads. Yet many Westerners would agree that slavery is intolerable and must be dealt with. Alas those asking for action generally ignore that in the 1850s a slave went for the equivalent of 40,000 present dollars while today a slave often cost under $100 as Dr Kevin Bales stresses in his video-documentary "Disposable People, New Slavery In The Global Economy" .

Sarko on pedos: "born that way and are a problem managing."
A quote...."April 9, 2007 -- With the French presidential election on April 22 and neo-cons everywhere anxious to see one of their own, Nicolas Sarkozy, garner a majority of the vote in the first of two elections, Sarkozy has, in a major blow to his fortunes, tipped his hand on a theme common to neo-con politicians in France, the United States, Canada, Australia, Britain, and other countries -- their fascination with, defense of, and participation in pedophilia and pedophilic rituals. In an interview with a French magazine, Sarkozy said he is "inclined to think that people are born pedophiles, and that it is also a problem that we do not know how to manage."

Cheney's Nemesis
A quote...."For forty years, Seymour Hersh has been America’s leading investigative reporter. His latest scoop? The White House’s secret plan to bomb Iran - On May 29th, 1975, an aide to then-White House chief of staff Donald Rumsfeld sat down with a yellow legal pad and in careful longhand sketched out a list of possible responses to a damaging investigative report in The New York Times. "Problem," the aide wrote. "Unauthorized disclosure of classified national security information by Sy Hersh and the NYT." He then laid out five options, ranging from the most ominous (an FBI investigation of the newspaper and a grand jury indictment) to the least offensive ("Discuss informally with NYT" and "Do nothing"). Number three on the list, however, read, "Search warrant: to go after Hersh papers in his apt."  -  The note's author? A viper-mean Beltway apparatchik named Dick Cheney, who was making his name doing damage control for the Republican White House after the Watergate disaster."

Congress Presses for Justice Docs
A quote...."One last chance, or the subpoenas come out.  -  Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee along with ranking member Arlen Specter (R-PA) wrote Attorney General Alberto Gonzales yesterday to ask again for certain withheld documents relevant to the U.S. attorney firings. If Gonzales doesn't turn them over by tomorrow, the committee will issue subpoenas for them on Thursday, they write. You can read the letter here.
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9/11 - From The History File...Ashcroft knew
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Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy (Now in Paperback) - posted at BuzzzFlash
A quoted quote...."Starred Review. Forget Iraq and Sudan--America is the foremost failed state, argues the latest polemic from America's most controversial Left intellectual. Chomsky (Imperial Ambitions) contends the U.S. government wallows in lawless military aggression (the Iraq war is merely the latest example); ignores public opinion on everything from global warming to social spending and foreign policy; and jeopardizes domestic security by under-funding homeland defense in favor of tax cuts for the rich and by provoking hatred and instability abroad that may lead to terrorist blowback or nuclear conflict."

Ecological Apocalypse: Why Are All The Bees Dying?
A quote...."The article states that U.S. bee colonies have been dropping since 1980 and the number of beekeepers have halved.  -  Scientists are thus far stumped as to what is causing the decline, ruling out parasites but leaning towards some kind of new toxin or chemical used in agriculture as being responsible. "Experts believe that the large-scale use of genetically modified plants in the US could be a factor," reports Germany's Spiegal Online."

The blogosphere risks putting off everyone but point-scoring males
Some quotes...."So you're at a public meeting on, say, the war in Iraq and the main speaker has just sat down. Someone in the audience rises to declare the speaker is talking crap, but that's typical of him because he knows nothing and it's a scandal that he's paid for the rubbish he turns out. A second man agrees that the speech was trash, but tells the first man he should crawl back under his stone because he never says anything worth listening to. A third man wonders why the speaker didn't mention Israel, especially given his Zionist-sounding last name.....""....If that has an oddly familiar ring, it may be because you're spending a lot of time online, specifically in the new and still lawless world known as the blogosphere."

Iranian military to issue book, CD on U.K. sailors' arrest
A quote...."TEHRAN, April 10 (RIA Novosti) - A book and a compact disc detailing admissions by detained British sailors and marines that they entered Iranian territorial waters illegally will soon be issued, Iran's military said Tuesday."

The US and Britain aren't spreading "freedom and democracy", nor did they ever intend to.  But it sure looks like they are spreading that good old Anglo-Saxon technique commonly known as professional perception management, also known as spin control, framing, infotainment, shaping, etc. etc. etc.  Isn't that just great? - mpg

Iraqi Staffer for McClatchy Lists Gains After 4 Years of War
A quote...."Iraqis never feel afraid of the electric shocks because we have electricity power for only two hours a day or three hours as a maximum. The rest of the day we have to use small Chinese generator that cost something like 100 $ which are not really powerful enough to kill people."

McCain Has Gone McCrazy
A quote...."John McCain has become the mad uncle that the family keeps locked in the attic, but always manages to escape. Hey, they're Republicans - what do they care about proper care and treatment of the mentally ill? Anyway, eventually someone finds him sitting naked in the street, playing with his own feces. It's sad - tragic really. No human being should have their dignity ripped from them in that way."

Monday April 9th 2007

Six Crises in Search of an Author
Must Read - A quote...."Still, the arc of instability, as a name, was then more prediction than reality. And it was a prediction -- soon enough to become a self-fulfilling prophesy -- on which George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and all those neocons in the Pentagon readily staked careers and reputations. As a crew, already dazzled by American military power and its potential uses, such a bet undoubtedly looked like a sure winner, like betting with the house in a three-card monte scheme. They would just give the arc what it needed -- a few intense doses of cruise-missile and B-1 bomber medicine, add in some high-tech military boots-on-the-ground, some night-vision goggled eyes in the desert, some Hellfire-missile-armed Predator drones overhead, and some "regime-change"-style injections of further instability. It was to be, as Andrew Bacevich has written, "an experiment in creative destruction."

Did I hear the fortieth anniversary of US-led occupation of Iraq?
Must read - A quote...."Many Western historians draw astounding parallels between the British occupation of Iraq in 1914 and the American occupation of Iraq about 89 years later. Britain completed its occupation in 1918 with long military campaign during World War I when the Ottoman Empire collapsed, and Iraq became a British colony in 1920.
In response to Iraqi resistance, including a country-wide uprising in 1920 started in al-Rumaitha city, southwest of Baghdad, British forces battled for over a decade to pacify the country, using airplanes, armored cars, firebombs and mustard gas. Air attacks were used to shock and awe, to teach obedience and to force the collection of taxes. Winston Churchill, as responsible cabinet minister in the early years, saw Iraq as an experiment in high-tech colonial control. Though officials in London sometimes had qualms about the violence, colonial administrators on the ground like Gertrude Bell expressed enthusiasm for the power of the imperial military enterprise."

The Wages of Militarism - Whining Imperialists
A quote...."Two kinds of imperial whining have come to pervade foreign policy discussion. One relates to Bush's overextending the military so they cannot deploy to other places desperately needing their lethal capacity.  -  Others fixate on "American credibility." If we withdraw, an October 22, 2006 Washington Post editorial declared, we forego our "moral obligation." After all the U.S. military and Iraqi sacrifices, the U.S. must not allow a collapse, which would occur "without the prop of 140,000 [now 170,000] U.S. troops."

U.S.–Made Mess in Somalia
A quote...."The media often report overseas developments, but don’t always explore their underlying causes, which, in many cases, conveniently lets the U.S. government off the hook. The recent internecine violence in Somalia provides a classic example."

See also....North Koreans arm Ethiopians as U.S. assents
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Children in Chains: This is the New America
A quote...."A nation that has made money its god should not be surprised when the image of God that it produces is a horrible rictus of meanness, violence and sexual obsession. A nation that has made money its ultimate value should not be surprised when its communities are gutted, its families wither and millions of people are thrown away like trash. A nation that has made money its only guiding principle should not be surprised to find its sons and daughters being blown to bits – and blowing other people to bits – in foreign lands for the sake of the wealth and power of a small rapacious elite and the bootlicking liars who serve them."

Amen! - mpg
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Bush Spreads Guantanamo Gangrene Globally
A quote...."The atrocities and murders at Abu Ghraib, just west of Baghdad, where an estimate 70 to 90 percent of the captives are said to have been arrested by mistake, have been well documented. At Bagram prison, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, prisoners have been treated just as badly. Some have been chained to ceilings for days and repeatedly beaten; some have been put in cold rooms so long their hands and feet became swollen, inflicting excruciating pain, and death. As at Abu Ghraib, some Bagram captives were just beaten to death. John Sifton of Human Rights Watch, concluded Iraq detainees are routinely beaten. Torture was “condoned and commonly used,” he said."

Iran warns Iraq over Iranians held by U.S. forces
A quote...."TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has warned neighbouring Iraq that its failure to secure the release of five Iranians detained there by U.S. forces could impair Tehran's cooperation with Baghdad, a senior official was quoted on Sunday as saying.

Curious Coincidences Over Fate of Iranians Kidnapped in Iraq
A quote...."    According to Hoshyar Zebari, head of Iraqi diplomacy, the three events that follow "are not connected in any way." Tehran's liberation on Wednesday, April 4, of fifteen British sailors has "nothing to do" with the liberation twenty-four hours earlier of an Iranian diplomat who mysteriously disappeared two months ago in Iraq. Neither does it have anything to do with the announcement a few hours later in Tehran that five other Iranian "diplomats," captured by the American Army January 11 in Iraq, will receive a visit by an adviser from their Iraq embassy. "Simple coincidence," says everyone in unison from Baghdad, London, Tehran and Washington, where the very idea of a "goodwill" exchange seems impossible to acknowledge. "No negotiation, no accommodation," they all assert."

Iran releases rebuttal footage of sailors playing chess
A quote...."The Brits really should've quit while they were ahead . . .
Too late now."

Halliburton winds up Iran work
A quote...."US oil services giant Halliburton said Monday it had wrapped up its work commitments in Iran and was no longer conducting any projects in the Islamic republic."

15,000 Troops Could Stay Longer in Iraq
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon is considering a plan to extend the tours of duty for up to 15,000 U.S. troops serving in Iraq, a defense official said Monday."

Army prosecutions of desertion rise sharply
A quote...."Army prosecutions of desertion and other unauthorized absences have risen sharply in the last four years," writes Paul von Zielbauer for the Times, "resulting in thousands more negative discharges and prison time for both junior soldiers and combat-tested veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Iraqi Shiites unite in protest against US 'occupation'
A quote...."Hundreds of thousands of Shiites burned and trampled on US flags on Monday as they gathered in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf for an anti-American rally called by firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on the fourth anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein."

The photographs tell the story... Is This Media manipulation on a grand scale?
A quote...."April 6th: Iraqi National Congress founder, Ahmed Chalabi is flown into the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah by the Pentagon. Chalabi, along with 700 fighters of his "Free Iraqi Forces" are airlifted aboard four massive C17 military transport planes. Chalabi and the INC are Washington favorites to head the new Iraqi government. A photograph is taken of Chalabi and members of his Free Iraqi Forces militia as they arrive in Nasiriyah."

The unresolved story of ABC News' false Saddam-anthrax reports
A quote...."All of those factual claims -- each and every one of them, separately -- were completely false, demonstrably and unquestionably so. There is now no question about that. Yet neither ABC nor Ross have ever retracted, corrected, clarified, or explained these fraudulent reports -- reports which, as documented below, had an extremely serious impact on the views formed by Americans in those early, critical days about the relationship between the 9/11 attacks, the anthrax attacks and Iraq."

Why CNN Can't Tell You the Truth
A quote...."CNN cannot tell you the truth because the truth would destroy the very gravy train that feeds them. Write CNN and tell them you are sick and tired of their slanted reporting, and tell them you are going to boycott their advertisers unless they get back to unbiased reporting. That might actually get their attention."

Why boycott their advertisers....just boycott all of the mass media and go browse the web to get your news…. real news that is.  You'll be better informed, you won't have to watch, read or listen to their sickening garbage, it'll be cheaper and in the end you'll feel a whole lot better. - mpg
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Sign on to Sander Hicks' Open Letter to DA Hynes - [Regarding: 9/11]
A quote...."It's been three months since I wrote you my letter of January 9th, 2007, urging your office to open an investigation into the horrific terrorist attacks of 9/11/01. Based on original research and sources, I urged you to focus on the social network that helped 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta in our hometown of Brooklyn, NY. I have not yet received a response, so I am sending you this second letter, with key updates. It will be published in the April issue of The New York Megaphone (circulation 66,700) as well."

9-11 Truth on The View. Rosie O: Another Unexpected Hero.
A quote....The Truth will not change. Perception of the Truth continuously grows.  While Rosie may not get www.911Truth.org on the View, some great nuggets of truth have been leaking out to the people."
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9/11 - From The History File...Bush held up plan to hit Bin Laden
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Where Have All The Bees Gone?
A quote...."Faced with demands related to customs duties and subsidies which protect and support US ethanol production, Bush did not make the slightest concession to his Brazilian guest at Camp David.  -  President Lula attributed to this the rise in corn prices, which, according to his own statements, had gone up more than 85 percent.  -  Before these statements were made, the Washington Post had published an article by the Brazilian leader which expounded on the idea of transforming food into fuel."

More calls for attorney general to resign over firings of US attorneys
A quote...."Appearing on the “Fox News Sunday” program, former speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich joined other prominent Republicans and a larger number of Democratic lawmakers in urging Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to resign over his role in the firings of eight US attorneys."

Professor who criticized Bush told added to terrorist 'no-fly' list
A quote...."A top Constitutional scholar from Princeton who gave a televised speech that slammed President George W. Bush's executive overreach was recently told that he had been added to the Transportation Security Administration's terrorist watch list. He shared his experience this weekend at the law blog Balkinization."

UK Government's Endless Lies Over ID Cards
A quote...."Yet more declassified papers have emerged that prove that the British Government has consistently attempted to mislead the public over ID cards and retention of biometric information. A second set of papers also shows that the government has embarked on a huge programme of fingerprinting school children without Parliamentary debate or oversight."

Sunday April 8th 2007

Happy Easter Sunday - no posts - mpg

Saturday April 7th 2007

White Toyota, white aid
A quote...."Hey white man" she called to me "these people all come to our country in their fast cars saying they want to help us but they never stop and give us a lift."

How Can Children of the Holocaust Do Such Things?
What are Jews now capable of resisting: tyranny? Oppression? Occupation? Injustice? We resist none of these things, no more. For too many among us they are no longer evil but necessary and good-we cannot live, survive without them. What does that make us? We look at ourselves and what do we see: a non-Jew, a child, whose pain we inflict effortlessly, whose death is demanded and unquestioned, bearing validity and purpose.

An Archive of Despair
A quote...."After the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, looters pillaged and burned the library. Now, on the brink of the fourth anniversary of Saddam Hussein's fall, and several weeks into a new security offensive, Eskander and his staff are struggling to preserve the fragments of Iraq's ancient heritage at a place he calls the "historical memory of the country."  -  "What makes a Kurd or a Sunni or a Shia have something in common is a national library," he said. "It is where the national identity of a country begins."

Neocon Lieutenant Colonel Blames Iraq’s Victims
A quote...."Perhaps you remember Ralph Peters? He’s the United States Army Lieutenant Colonel formerly assigned to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence who redrew the map of the Middle East for Armed Forces Journal in June, 2006. In the article, entitled “Blood Borders,” Peters wrote that his “hypothetical redrawing of boundaries reflects ethnic affinities and religious communalism,” in other words, Peters has adopted the Israeli idea of busting up the Arabs, Kurds, and Persians into Bantustans."

The New American Colonialism - To the peoples of the world, they'll eventually come for you all, everyone of you, with insincere smiles plastered on their faces while mockingly and repeatedly insisting "we're here to help you", to "bring you freedom and democracy"....and then, with delicious glee and with a great deal of satisfaction, they will gut, devour and destroy your country.

Never forget Iraq, never ever forget what they did to that country.  Never forget what they intend to do to Iran, to the rest of the Middle East, and to the world. - mpg

See also....Viral Neocons - 05-26-05 - mpg
See also....White Man's Burden - 12-20-06 - mpg
See also....Remember the Native Americans - 02-07-07 - mpg
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North Koreans arm Ethiopians as U.S. assents
A quote...."Washington: Three months after the United States successfully pressed the United Nations to impose strict sanctions on North Korea because of the country's nuclear test, Bush administration officials allowed Ethiopia to complete a secret arms purchase from the North, in what appears to be a violation of the restrictions, according to senior American officials."

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American tortured by US in Iraq speaks out
A quote...."04/07/06 "ICH" -- -- WASHINGTON, Apr 5 (IPS) - A year ago, Donald Vance learned what its like to be falsely accused by the U.S. military of aiding terrorists. He was held without charge for more than three months in a high-security prison in Iraq, and interrogated daily after sleepless nights without legal counsel or even a phone call to his family."

As US, British death toll rises: Pentagon orders 14,000 National Guard troops to Iraq
A quote...."US military authorities revealed that thousands more National Guard troops have been assigned to duty in Iraq in deployments scheduled for the next three years. The announcement coincided with reports that twelve more US and British troops were killed over a three-day period in the war-torn country."

Occidental CEO got more than $400 million in 2006
A quote...."CHICAGO (Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum Corp.'s chairman and chief executive took in more than $400 million in compensation last year, the company said in a filing, one of the biggest single-year payouts in U.S. corporate history."

To all the service men and woman out there, they gave this guy four hundred million dollars for one year's worth of service.  How much are they going to give you for one years worth of service?  How much are they going to give you for one of your arms, for one of your legs, or for one of your eyes....?

And you know what the really funny part is, if you succeed in your "mission" you're going to make this guy and the rest of his cronies even more fantastically wealthy than thay already are....now that's truly hilarious. – mpg
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Saudi King “mistaken” over legality of US troops in Iraq: Bolton
A quote...."DUBAI - Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said on Friday that Saudi’s King Abdullah was ”mistaken” when he questioned the legality of the US military presence in Iraq and should “correct” his controversial remarks on the matter."

Kurd: U.S. Sought Other Iranians in Raid
A quote...."BAGHDAD (AP) - American forces who captured five Iranians in the northern city of Irbil three months ago were really after commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards who were visiting Kurdish officials, the Kurdish leader said in remarks broadcast Saturday."

Wolfowitz Accused of Nepotism at World Bank
A quote...."WASHINGTON - A controversial raise for a World Bank employee who has been romantically involved with the Bank’s President Paul Wolfowitz was not the work of the Bank’s Ethics Committee, as originally alleged by Wolfowitz’s office, according to the watchdog group that leaked the information.Members of the Ethics Committee of the Board, the relevant body that would have approved the raise, which has triggered allegations of nepotism at the Bank’s highest levels, say that they knew nothing of the salary hike, according to the Washington-based Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower protection organisation."

The IMF at Sixty-Three — An Early Retirement?
A quote...."It's a rite of Spring in Washington: as winter fades and the cherry blossoms burst into their pale pink splendor, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank hold their annual Spring Meetings. It was not so long ago, in the pre-9/11 world, that the event attracted protestors, police crackdowns, and pre-emptive strikes against them. "Better the finance meeting had been held offshore, like other nefarious cartels do, than to reinforce the image of our nation's capital as a two-bit capitalist dictatorship," wrote Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy in 2000, after the police rounded up scores of bystanders, including tourists, and threw them in jail."

The 911 Mystery Plane
A quote...."On September 11 2001, as the eyes of the nation were focused on the gruesome events at the World Trade Center, the networks interrupted their coverage in New York with a breaking story from Washington. A large plane had just been sighted over the White House. Exactly when it first appeared is not certain, but the reports aired at about the time of the pentagon strike, or just before. Witnesses who saw the mystery plane say it circled over Washington. CNN's Senior White House correspondent John King saw it while standing in Lafayette Park, directly across from the White House. King reported live that "about 10 minutes ago, there was a white jet circling overhead. Now, you generally don't see planes in the area over the White House. That is restricted air space. No reason to believe that this jet was there for any nefarious purposes, but the Secret Service was very concerned, pointing up at the jet in the sky."[1]"
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9/11 - From The History File...Bush Downgraded Bin Laden as a Threat in 2001 [just prior to 911]
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Editorial | Karl Rove and the GSA
A quote...."The Democrat-controlled House is investigating whether Doan violated the Hatch Act for a meeting she hosted at the GSA on Jan. 26. In attendance at this brown-bag lunch were more than 40 political appointees from around the country, participating via teleconference. They saw a PowerPoint presentation from J. Scott Jennings, who happens to be deputy political director to Karl Rove, the president's political guru."

How Giuliani Lost America - Dead Dogs Don't Bleed
A quote...."Since that apex in popular esteem, Giuliani's course has been unsteady. His business enterprises and associates have come under unsparing scrutiny, prime among them his former New York City police chief, Bernie Kerik, a former prison warder plucked from obscurity by Giuliani. Last week prosecutors informed Kerik he will be indicted for serious offenses including tax evasion and misleading federal investigators (Martha Stewart's ticket to conviction)." - For more fun see Rudi's cross dressing...