Tuesday April 7th 2009

PJB: Should We Kill the Fed?
Must Read - A quote...."“(T)he very people who devised the policies that produced the mess are now posing as the wise public servants who will show us the way out,” writes Thomas Woods in “Meltdown.” - Already in its sixth week on the New York Times best-seller list, this eminently readable book traces the Fed’s role in every financial crisis since this creature was spawned on Jekyll Island in 1913. - The “forgotten depression” of 1920-21 was caused by a huge increase in the money supply for President Wilson’s war. When the Fed started to tighten at war’s end, production fell 20 percent from mid-1920 to mid-1921, far more than today." -- also posted at ICH & HumEvents

The crash of '09, the collapse of '10
Special Note - A quote...."I told you that it's a funny world getting funnier. Many American analysts are saying that America's real economic collapse could come by the end of this year. "It will come to be known as 'The Crash of 09', they say. Others, especially a Russian political analyst, are predicting its physical collapse too. There's no doubt that the country is up the dirtiest of imaginable creeks without a paddle. But what's amazing is that America remains mired in stunning denial, continuing to make bad situations worse with useless bailout plans and messing around with the world instead of facing up to the reality that its time as a hyper-power is up, that's its economic system has failed and that its only recourse is to end its adversarial doctrine and get out of its lost wars as painlessly and honourably as possible. There's no point in going on flogging dead horses. The only sensible thing that survival demands is to craft a new moral economic and financial system and a moral foreign policy." - also posted at ICH -- Why be moral when you can be rich? - mpg

Global Financial Collapse - AltPt1 - AltPt2 - (YouTube - aprox 10 min each - April 03, 2009)
Videos - Special Note - A quote...."An Argentine opinion on the Global Financial Crisis, describing the whole Global Financial System as one vast Ponzi Scheme. Like a pyramid, it has four sides and is a predictable model. The four sides are: (1) Artificially control the supply of public State-issued Currency, (2) Artificially impose Banking Money as the primary source of funding in the economy, (3) Promote doing everything by Debt and (4) Erect complex channels that allow privatizing profits when the Model is in expansion mode and socialize losses when the model goes into contraction mode."

How Freedom Was Lost
Special Note - A quote...."This observation led me to the realization that freedom has been lost to envy. -- Americans no longer know what freedom is. Historically, the definition of a free person is one who owns his own labor. Serfs and slaves were not free, because they do not own all of their own labor. -- An income tax is inconsistent with the historical definition of freedom. Today in America government has a claim on every person’s labor, just as feudal lords, the government of that time, had claims on the labor of serfs and nineteenth century plantation owners had on slaves. -- Understanding that an income tax was serfdom, our Founding Fathers wrote the US Constitution in a way that prevented an income tax. This was altered in 1913 with a constitutional amendment that some claim was not properly carried out."
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Eurasian Crossroads: The Caucasus In US-NATO War Plans
Special Note - A quote...."The South Caucasus is rapidly becoming a critical strategic crossroads in 21st century geopolitics, encompassing the most ambitious energy transit projects in history and the consolidation of a military corridor reaching from Western Europe to East Asia, one whose command centers are in Washington and Brussels. -- The culmination of eighteen years of post-Cold War Western designs is on the near horizon as oil and gas are intended to be moved from the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea to Central Europe and beyond and US and NATO troops and equipment are scheduled to be deployed from Europe and the Persian Gulf to Afghanistan and Central Asia. -- Nothing less is at stake than control of world energy resources and their transportation routes on one hand and the establishment of a global army under NATO auspices fanning out in South and Central Asia and ultimately Eurasia as a whole on the other."

The Press and Human Terrain Systems - Counterinsurgency's Free Ride
Special Note - A quote...."Like a mad scientist’s slime monster that will not die in a 1950s B Movie, the Human Terrain System’s counterinsurgency teams not only somehow remains alive in the face of extensive devastating criticism, but the program’s existence remains firmly publicly boosted by a seemingly endless series of uncritical mainstream news and features stories that frame the program as America’s last best hope to win the hearts and minds of the occupied peoples of Iraq and increasingly Afghanistan.  If this were a B monster movie, such prolonged survival would be due to remarkable adaptive abilities, but Human Terrain has no such extraordinary power; its success has been guaranteed by the support it receives from the corporate media as it fawns over HTS in a flurry of glowing formulaic profiles ignoring the program’s fatal flaws.  If this were a 1950’s B monster movie, this situation would like finding those we depend on to open fire on the monster shooting blanks (and feeding it table scraps) while abundant cases of live ammo lay at their feet. "
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IDF planning largest-ever drill to prepare Israel for war
War Warning & False Flag Alert - (aprox. target date - two months from now) -- A quote...."The Home Front Command is preparing to hold the largest exercise ever in Israeli history, scheduled to take place in about two months, in hopes of priming the populace and raising awareness of the possibility of war breaking out. - Should there be a war, Israel would have insufficient emergency and rescue response units, according to a senior Home Front Command officer."

The Storm Widens
A quote...."One week after Iraqi government forces arrested an Awakening Group (commonly referred to as Sons of Iraq, al-Sahwa) leader, Adil al-Mashhadani, head of a patrol unit in central Baghdad's Fadhil neighborhood in Baghdad, sparking gun battles that raged for hours between US-backed Iraqi forces and US-allied Sunni militiamen that killed three people, militiamen have once again been detained, widening concerns that sectarian violence may once more engulf Baghdad. There are 50,000 Sahwa fighters in Baghdad alone." -- also posted at CounterCurrents

Peru's Fujimori jailed for 25 years
A quote...."Peru's former president has been jailed for 25 years after being found guilty of crimes against humanity and other charges. - Alberto Fujimori, 70, said he would appeal against the verdict after he was found to have ordered massacres and kidnappings during the 1990s "dirty war" against the Shining Path rebel group following a 15-month trial." -- Hey Bush, Hey Cheney....Obama won't be around to defend you guys forever.  Justice may be slow but those who commit crimes against humanity will eventually face their day of judgment. - mpg

Russian TV accuses US of spying on Russia, China
A quote...."BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — A documentary on Russian state television has accused the U.S. of using an air base in Kyrgyzstan to spy on Russia and China — an allegation a spokesman for the base flatly denied on Monday."

Russian confirms DPRK satellite launch, urges restraint
Full quote...."MOSCOW, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Foreign Ministry on Sunday confirmed the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) launch of a satellite and urged restraint from all relevant parties. "The DPRK sent an artificial satellite into an earth orbit on the morning of April 5," ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. He said the DPRK had informed the Russian side about the launch in advance. Russia called on all the states concerned to "show restraint in judgments and actions in the current situation," Nesterenko said, adding Moscow will continue monitoring the situation and consult with all parties concerned. The DPRK's official media reported earlier that it successfully launched a rocket carrying the "Kwangmyongsong-2" communications satellite, which entered orbit about 10 minutes after launch."

Brazil could make Russian new-generation fighters under license
A quote...."MOSCOW, April 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia may allow Brazil to produce its fifth-generation fighters under a license in the future, a senior Russian government official said in an interview with RIA Novosti." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Iraqi shoe-thrower's prison sentence reduced
This website editor hopes he makes a movie, writes a book, and receives millions of euros for his act of defiance. - mpg -- A quote..."The Iraqi journalist who was originally sentenced to three years imprisonmant for throwing a shoe at George W. Bush will spend only one year in jail."
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Countdown: Professor Turley on TeamObama: "A Breathtaking Expansion of Sovereign Immunity" - Alt
Must View Video - Obama™ Update - (YouTube - 4 min 15 sec - April 07, 2009)

Obama, the ICRC Report and ongoing suppression
Must Read - Obama™ Update - A quote...."Following up on the latest extremist Cheney/Addington/Yoo arguments advanced by the Obama DOJ in order to shield Bush lawbreaking from disclosure and judicial review -- an episode I wrote about in detail yesterday, here -- it's worthwhile to underscore the implications of Barack Obama's conduct.  When Obama sought to placate his angry supporters after he voted for the Bush/Cheney FISA-telecom immunity bill last June (after vowing the prior December to support a filibuster of any such legislation), this is what he said (h/t notavailable):" - also posted at ICH & CommonDreams

Video reveals G20 police assault on man who died - Video of the Assault - Death of Ian Tomlinson
Video - A quote...."Recently released video showing the police attack during the G20 Meltdown protest at the Bank of England, London, 1st April 2009, which led to the tragic death of Millwall fan Ian Tomlinson - a totally innocent man who was assaulted by the police." - also posted at WarInIraq -- It could happen to anybody, it did happen to him....he died. - mpg

21st Century Internment Camps: Disaster relief or civil rights disaster?
A quote...."On January 22, 2009, the National Emergency Centers Establishment Act (NECEA) [1] was submitted to Congress for consideration. It was introduced by Congressman Alcee L. Hastings of Florida, a man who, in 1989, became only the sixth federal judge in the history of America to be removed from office by the Senate for corruption and perjury."

"CIA medics joined in Guantánamo torture sessions, report says --Leaked ICRC report claims medical staff monitored terror suspects during waterboarding, recommended continuation of torture 07 Apr 2009 Medical personnel committed a "gross breach of medical ethics" by taking part in torture in Guantánamo, a leaked International Committee of the Red Cross document has revealed. The 40-page confidential report, written in 2007, describes how medical staff working for the CIA monitored prisoners' vital signs to make sure they did not drown while being subjected to waterboarding. Medical personnel were also said to be present when prisoners were shackled in a "stress standing position". The detainees were "monitored by health personnel who in some instances recommended stopping the method of ill-treatment, or recommended its continuation, but with adjustments", according to the report. The Red Cross concluded: "The alleged participation of health personnel in the interrogation process and, either directly or indirectly, in the infliction of ill-treatment constituted a gross breach of medical ethics and, in some cases, amounted to participation in torture and/or cruel inhuman or degrading treatment." -- Paragraph posted at CLG

"12 point includes 'suffocation by water' Doctors Involved With Torture in CIA Prisons By Surekha Ratnatunga 07 Apr 2009 "Inhuman" is how the International Committee for the Red Cross described a CIA prison program that made medical officers party to torture. A Red Cross report leaked online reveals more lurid details the disgraceful treatment of detainees during sessions of interrogation. The contents page alone is grim reading. Bulleted under the heading of "Other Methods of Ill Treatment" is a 12-point list that includes "suffocation by water," "beating and kicking," "confinement in a box," "prolonged nudity," and "deprivation/restricted provision of solid food." -- Paragraph posted at CLG

Former FBI director defends Saudi prince from bribery allegations
Special Note - Of Course!  Two former like minded 9/11 graduates still defending that old Saudi money spigot to the Bush Family, al-Qaeda, Pakistan’s ISI and other assorted 9/11 facilitators. - mpg -- A quote.... "WASHINGTON  —  Former FBI Director Louis Freeh says $2 billion that flowed from Britain to bank accounts controlled by the Saudi ambassador in the U.S. were sent as part of a secret arms deal between the British and the Saudis that, among other things, made it easier for the Saudis to evade American weapons-sales restrictions.
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Israel bans Gerry Adams from Gaza because he plans to meet Hamas officials
Full quote...."Northern Ireland political leader Gerry Adams will not be allowed to enter Gaza this week because he plans to meet Hamas officials, Israel said Tuesday. - Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel "would not help Adams meet with Hamas terror leaders." - A spokesman for Adams, Ted Howell, said Adams and his delegation planned to visit Gaza on Wednesday. He said, "we will meet with whoever wants to meet us."

Israeli soldiers physically abused a PRCS medical team during its humanitarian mission
A quote...."The PRCS Hebron Emergency Medial Station received a call from the Magan David Adom (MDA) indicating that there is wounded, who is a Palestinian worker in an Israeli factory, in MDA ambulance at the tunnels checkpoint south of Jerusalem and he needs to be transported by a PRCS ambulance. Immediately a PRCS ambulance was dispatched from the Beit Ummar station to the location of the incident." - posted at WarInIraq

Israeli border guards kill Palestinian youth
A quote...."OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- A 20-year-old Palestinian youth was shot and killed by Israeli border policemen in occupied Jerusalem's Sur Baher neighborhood at noon Tuesday."
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Panic: First Wall Street, Then Main Street
Must Read - A quote...." Americans are uneasy. Those with pensions have seen significant declines in their holdings. The net worth of the median household declined by 23% in 2008 – an unprecedented fall in the post-War era. - We have not yet seen panic. I think we will before the end of 2009. If not in 2009, then in 2010. - By panic, I mean a sharp shift in people's spending habits. I mean half-empty parking lots at the mall. I mean a decline of at least 50% from today's income at yuppie restaurants. People will finally start saving again, if they can. Credit card defaults will double. Already, the figure is over 4%."

Toxic debts could reach $4 trillion, IMF to warn
In their wildest fantasies and dreams!! See below -- A quote...."Toxic debts racked up by banks and insurers could spiral to $4 trillion (£2.7 trillion), new forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are set to suggest. -- The IMF said in January that it expected the deterioration in US-originated assets to reach $2.2 trillion by the end of next year, but it is understood to be looking at raising that to $3.1 trillion in its next assessment of the global economy, due to be published on April 21. In addition, it is likely to boost that total by $900 billion for toxic assets originated in Europe and Asia."

It's really going to be a lot more than that.  Just keep in mind there's approximately $1.3 to $1.5 Quadrillion (a thousand trillion) in derivatives out there.  Although they're primarily  used for leverage (hence the term  "notational value") most of them are currently under-water and sinking rapidly.

To put it in easy to understand terms, if a Bankster lays down a billion dollar bet using derivatives to increase his leverage....say forty to one, and the assets that underlie his derivatives declines by just 2.5% (twenty five million dollars) He’s lost everything. If the assets go down by just 10% he’s in the hole for another three billion more. (assuming it's set-up like a futures contract, forward contract or swap and not an option - note: there can be very complex hybrid combinations created)

Many of these derivative “products” were based on underlying assets like housing, stocks and commodities that have already seen declines of between 20% to 40% and have much further to go.  Get the picture folks? – mpg
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Mortgage Delinquincies Soar In U.S.
A quote...."More U.S. consumers are falling behind on their mortgages, an indication that the housing market has yet to hit bottom, a top credit bureau executive told Reuters. - Dann Adams, president of U.S. Information Systems for Equifax Inc, reported that 7 percent of homeowners with mortgages were at least 30 days late on their loans in February, an increase of more than 50 percent from a year earlier."

GM Said to Speed Bankruptcy Plans as Board Crafts Savings Goals
A quote...."April 6 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. is speeding up preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing even as directors seek deeper savings this week to avoid that outcome, people familiar with the plans said." -- also posted at RogueGov

Obama's War On Labor
Obama™ Update - A quote...."Voters expecting change keep getting rude reminders of what kind, none they can believe in reiterated again on March 30 in Obama's remarks to the auto giants. While stating "We cannot....must not (and) will not let (this) industry vanish," he laid down a clear marker. Labor, not business, is targeted. More on that below."

Greece Teeters on the Verge of Bankruptcy
A quote...."Greece is on the brink of bankruptcy despite the fact that the global recession has yet to hit the country with full force. Strikes are paralyzing the country and the EU is putting on the pressure. But the government is still trying to put a positive spin on things."

Monday April 6th 2009

Economics Professors: Global Crash Worse Than During First Year of Great Depression
Must View Charts -- A quote....Many people (including me) have pointed out that the crash in the U.S. has arguably been worse than during the first year of the Great Depression. - But the Great Depression was a global, not just a U.S. crash. So how does the last year compare to the 1929 depression on a world-wide basis? - Economics professors Barry Eichengreen and and Kevin H. O'Rourke have written a paper conclusively showing that the global crash has been worse in the last year than during the first year of the Great Depression. - Because a picture is worth a thousand words, you can quickly see what they're talking about by looking at the following 4 graphs...."

Insolvency vs. Liquidity, or Austrians vs. Keynesians
Must Read - A quote...."On one side of the debate are Austrians using Austrian economics, on the other side are Keynesians using Keynesian economics. Gary North writes "The government, which is running a trillion-dollar deficit this fiscal year, is adding ever more debt to save the favored banks. It is buying the banks' insolvency in the name of future taxpayers." North sees the bank problem as insolvency. Concerning FED and government power to create money and "fix the crisis," Lew Rockwell writes "Good liquidity needs to be based on savings and capital, and it cannot be created by decree. Decrees end up creating money out of thin air, which ends up overriding market preferences and generating inflation. Everything officials do to fix the crisis ends up prolonging it." Rockwell sees the FED’s provision of liquidity as impossible to reconcile with preferences, and with the attempt to provide it being counterproductive."

Resist or Become Serfs
Must Read - A quote...."The lies employed to camouflage the economic decline are legion. President Ronald Reagan included 1.5 million U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine service personnel with the civilian work force to magically reduce the nation's unemployment rate by 2 percent. President Bill Clinton decided that those who had given up looking for work, or those who wanted full-time jobs but could only find part-time employment, were no longer to be counted as unemployed. This trick disappeared some 5 million unemployed from the official unemployment rolls. If you work more than 21 hours a week-most low-wage workers at places like Wal-Mart average 28 hours a week-you are counted as employed, although your real wages put you below the poverty line. Our actual unemployment rate, when you include those who have stopped looking for work and those who can only find part-time jobs, is not 8.5 percent but 15 percent. A sixth of the country is now effectively unemployed. And we are shedding jobs at a faster rate than in the months after the 1929 crash." -- also posted at ICH & AmericanEveryman & CommonDreams

For more on the three articles shown above see....Enforcing the Rules -- Too Little, Too Late - 02-27-09 - mpg
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There are no excuses for ongoing concealment of torture memos
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Those are the torture memos that are now at the heart of a growing controversy, as the Obama administration has sought multiple delays (a total of four) of the court-imposed deadline for it either to (a) disclose those memos to the ACLU or (b) declare that it will refuse to do so and explain why.  The last deadline was Thursday, April 2, and on that date, the Obama DOJ obtained yet another extension, making the new deadline April 16.  Two weeks ago, Newsweek's Michael Isikoff reported that Eric Holder and White House counsel Gregory Craig had overruled the vehement objections from ex-CIA Director Michael Hayden and others in the intelligence community and had decided to disclose the memos.  But thereafter, the Obama DOJ, rather than release the memos, instead sought another extension of the deadline, and numerous sources -- including The New York Times' Shane, Newsweek's Isikoff, and Harper's Scott Horton -- then reported that the anti-disclosure crusade inside the Obama administration is being led by John Brennan. " - bold by website editor -- also posted at ICH

US soldier goes on trial accused of raping Iraqi girl
This is posted just to show the mentality of occupation, keep in mind he's not alone and that there are possibly thousands of other cases out there that will never see the light of day....some of them worse than this one. - mpg -- A quote...."Jury selection has begun in the trial of a former US soldier accused of raping a teenage Iraqi girl, murdering her family and setting their house alight to cover their crime."

Spain investigates what America should
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."A Spanish court has initiated criminal proceedings against six former officials of the Bush administration. John Yoo, Jay Bybee, David Addington, Alberto Gonzales, William Haynes and Douglas Feith may face charges in Spain for authorizing torture at Guantánamo Bay." -- also posted at ICH & CommonDreams

Justice Extends to Bagram
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Since coming to power in a blaze of reforming glory, promising to close Guantánamo within a year, stop the CIA from running offshore torture prisons, and restore the Geneva Conventions to prisoners seized in wartime, the Obama administration has proceeded to make a number of poor decisions in relation to its predecessors’ reviled "War on Terror" policies."

Judge: U.S. used mentally ill witness in Guantanamo cases
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."WASHINGTON — The Justice Department improperly withheld important psychiatric records of a government witness who was used in a "significant" number of Guantanamo cases, a federal judge has concluded." -- also posted at CommonDreams

Feds to grill CIA felon over interrogation tapes
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors investigating the destruction of videotapes showing suspected terrorists under interrogation plan to question a former CIA officer next week before he heads to prison. - Dusty Foggo is the highest-ranking CIA officer ever convicted of a federal felony. He was to begin serving a three-year prison stretch next week."

Following Bush lead, Obama moves to block challenge to wiretapping program
Obama™ Update -- "Bombs Away" showing his true colors again. - mpg -- A quote...."President Barack Obama invoked "state secrets" to prevent a court from reviewing the legality of the National Security Agency's warantless wiretapping program, moving late Friday to have a lawsuit that challenged the program dismissed."

National Security Claptrap
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."I have never received a National Security Letter. NSLs require the recipient to "turn over information." I understand this as typical federal jackbootedness, but I do understand it. The part about how "this letter does not exist – tell no one" seems over the top, Mafioso, ten-year-old little boys playing spygames. - Apparently, most people who received these letters obeyed the gag orders, but finally, last December the court finally ruled that these administrative subpoenas violated the First Amendment, given the amazing lack of judicial oversight in their creation."

Democrats and War Escalation - It's one single party, called the DemoRepubs. - mpg
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Top Democrats and many prominent supporters -- with vocal agreement, tactical quibbles or total silence -- are assisting the escalation of the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The predictable results will include much more killing and destruction. Back home, on the political front, the escalation will drive deep wedges into the Democratic Party. -- The party has a large anti-war base, and that base will grow wider and stronger among voters as the realities of the Obama war program become more evident. The current backing or acceptance of the escalation from liberal think tanks and some online activist groups will not be able to prevent the growth of opposition among key voting blocs. -- In their eagerness to help the Obama presidency, many of its prominent liberal supporters -- whatever their private views on the escalation -- are willing to function as enablers of the expanded warfare."
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Ahmadinejad: Iran Waiting for US Policy Changes
A quote...."On a visit to Kazakhstan today, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he hoped President Barack Obama’s overtures for improved relations between the two nations would accomplish something, but that he was waiting for the US to change its policies as a sign the offer was sincere."

Putin: plans to use force against Iran "counterproductive"
A quote...."MOSCOW, April 6 (Xinhua) -- The plans to use force against Iran is "counterproductive," said Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin when presenting a government report to the State Duma, lower house of the parliament, on Monday."

Moderate Taliban leader warns Barack Obama's plan will make Afghanistan worse
A quote...."Nato's planned troop surge to Afghanistan will lead to an escalation in fighting and jeopardise secretive peace moves, a senior Taliban moderate has warned."

US drone attacks violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty: Rabbani
A quote...."ISLAMABAD: The Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Monday termed US drone attacks in Pakistani territory against the sovereignty of the country and demanded an immediate end to such attacks."

Missive from a perplexed diplomat
A quote...."Since Avigdor Lieberman's taking office I am beside myself. I am two years shy of retirement and I thought this might be the time to tell our so-called leaders what I think of them, to slam the door in their face and go home. - I have always been an old-school Mapainik - not radical left, heaven forbid. When we graduated our cadet course, Abba Eban was foreign minister. When Yitzhak Shamir from the underground became foreign minister, we thought it was the end of the world, but we stayed put. David Levy and Silvan Shalom were no Kissingers, but we got used to them, too."

El Salvador Turns a Page
A quote...."On March 15, El Salvador made history by electing the first left-wing president in its history."

PJB: March Madness, 1939
A quote...."On Sept. 1, 1939, Hitler’s panzers smashed into Poland. Two days later, an anguished Neville Chamberlain declared war, the most awful war in all of history. - Was the war inevitable? No. No war is inevitable until it has begun. Was it a necessary war? Hearken to Churchill:" --  also posted at AntiWar
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Some Straight Forward Questions For Steven Jones on the Subject of his Research
Special Note -- A quote...."(look at that one on the right.[see photo] That has the relative detonation velocity equivalent of 1 stick of dynamite for every 5-6 feet. Imagine what 3 or 4 lengths of this stuff run 4 feet apart under the floor pans and above the trusses would do to each floor. Now THAT would explain the missing floors and the dust all over lower Manhattan. Too bad no one in the Truth movement wants to test for it.) -- We know that a “fiber optic cable” installation project was underway for years prior to the demolition of the towers. Look at those “cables” up there. You could conceivably run those cables all day in an office and tell people it was new “fiber optic” lines, and no one would think twice about it." -- For more on this issue see....9/11 - WTC-1&2 &  9/11 - WTC7

"Fighter jets chase stolen plane over three US states 07 Apr 2009 A stolen plane was chased by fighter jets over three US states before the pilot landed on a highway in Missouri and ran away. State government buildings were evacuated as fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the plane, stolen from a flight school in Canada on Monday. Adam Leon was arrested after finally landing in southeast Missouri at the end of a six hour flight. [Recall that on 9/11, Cheney ordered NORAD to stand down, so that the terror attacks could go forward as planned, unimpeded. --LRP]" -- Paragraph quoted from CLG -- For more on this issue see....9/11 - NORAD

Peter Power Reveals More Details of 7/7 Terrorist Bombing Drills
A quote...."Peter Power, the former Scotland Yard official Anti-Terrorist Branch official, who oversaw drills of the very events of the London bombings on the morning of 7/7 as they were happening, has revealed more details behind the events for the first time in three and a half years."

"Bird flu vaccine tested on 200 people without their knowledge --They allegedly led their patients, many of them poor and homeless, to believe they were being vaccinated against ordinary flu. 06 Apr 2009 Nine health workers went on trial in northern Poland Monday accused of having tested a vaccine against bird flu on nearly 200 patients without their knowledge, court officials said. The accused -- three doctors and six nurses -- are charged with "fraud, creating false documents and delivering health care without authorisation" to 196 patients, judge Piotr Szadkowski of the Torun region told AFP. The medical personnel are charged with administering a vaccine banned in Poland 'against' the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu that can be transmitted to humans." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG
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US Envoy Writes of Israeli Threats
A quote...."In the wake of the accusation by Chas Freeman that his nomination to lead the National Intelligence Council was derailed by an "Israeli lobby," a forthcoming memoir by another distinguished ambassador adds stunning new charges to the debate. The ambassador, John Gunther Dean, writes that over the years he not only came under pressure from pro-Israeli groups and officials in Washington but also was the target of an Israeli-inspired assassination attempt in 1980 in Lebanon, where he had opened links to the Palestine Liberation Organization." -- also posted at AmericanEveryman

Israeli 'summary executions' in Gaza damned
A quote...."Testimonies from 44 people in Gaza gathered by five international medical experts revealed that during the three-week war on Gaza, civilians had been "attacked by the Israeli forces on the ground for no apparent justifiable reason."

Legal center: Condition of Palestinian minors in Israeli jails deteriorating
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- The Palestinian center for the defense of prisoners has revealed on Sunday that the Israeli occupation authority is still detaining 423 Palestinian minors in Israeli jails under harsh and miserable incarceration conditions."

IOA demolishes Palestinian home in O. Jerusalem
A quote...."OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli municipal staff escorted by Israeli occupation forces and policemen in occupied Jerusalem demolished Monday morning a Palestinian house belonging to a Palestinian citizen from Burj Al-Laqlaq neighborhood in the Old City."

Israel bans medical equipments and supplies imported by the PA to enter Jerusalem
Full quote...."The Israeli military barred all equipments and supplies imported by the Palestinian Authority from entering Jerusalem on Monday. Hatem Abed Al-Qader, the a Palestinian PM Jerusalem Affairs advisor, told reporters Monday that equipments were donated by the Islamic Bank and worth several million USD. According to Abed Al-Qader there will be Six Palestinian hospitals in Jerusalem that will be effected because of the new ban; Maqased, the Islamic Hospital, Saint Joseph Hospital, Saint John Hospital, the Red Crescent Hospital and Amira Basma Clinic."

Ministry of health: 61 types of medicine out of stock
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- The ministry of health in the Gaza Strip announced on Monday that 61 types of medicines and 69 types of medical equipment were out of stock in the ministry's' warehouses."

British MP calls for Israeli war crimes inquiry
PENDLE MP Gordon Prentice is calling for an independent inquiry into allegations of war crimes during the Israeli assault on Gaza. Following the conflict in December and January, Mr Prentice has called for an immediate halt to UK arms exports to Israel. He said: “What happened in Gaza should concern us all. “The attack was a wholly disproportionate response to the rockets fired into southern Israel.” Mr Prentice is supporting the Commons motion tabled by Martin Linton MP last week."
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National Democratic Party (NDP)
Special Note - A quote...."Americans are beginning to relearn the benefits of a sound money policy, and the principles of the NDP have not disappeared from the American polity. The Party "text-book" could still be used today as a general handbook of limited government and sound money."

Blowing Bubbles
Special Note - A quote...."As all the world economies writhe in financial pain from the cleansing of the largest bubble in financial history, the same question is being asked – how could this happen? Of course the usual answers are trotted out – human greed, animal spirits, criminal fraud, or capitalism itself. Modern financial history has been a series of booms and busts that seem to blend together making one almost indistinguishable from the next. The booms seduce even the most conservative into taking what in retrospect appear to be outlandish risks speculating on investment vehicles they know nothing about."

Budget Expands Government as Economy Contracts
Special Note - Contains Audio - A quote...."By Ron Paul -- Last week the House passed another budget that increases federal power, raises taxes, and increases the national debt. I voted against it, and was pleased to see that not a single Republican representative voted for it. Legislators often see bipartisanship as constructive, but I disagree especially where the destruction of our economy or our liberty is concerned. There has been too much bipartisan consensus on expanding government far beyond the bounds of the Constitution which we all swore to defend and uphold. Because of this, I have never been able to vote for a budget. However, it was good to see Republicans come together on this important vote, even if their alternative budget was almost as bad."

Fed Said Monday It Has Expanded Credit Lines To Foreign Central Banks - It's all just so ridiculous. - mpg
A quote...."The Federal Reserve said Monday it has expanded credit lines with the central banks of Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and European Union that will provide foreign currency to U.S. banks - if needed."

U.S. Deficit Nearly $1 Trillion During First Half Of Fiscal Year - It's absurd, it's all a complete farce. - mpg
A quote...."The U.S. budget deficit almost hit $1 trillion during the first six months of this fiscal year which began on October 1, according to estimates released on Monday by the Congressional Budget Office."

Soros Says U.S. Banks Basically Insolvent
A quote...."The U.S. economy is in for "a lasting slowdown" and won't recover this year, while "the banking system as a whole is basically insolvent," billionaire investor George Soros told Reuters Financial Television on Monday."

House Preparing To Legalize Payday Loans With 391% APRs
A quote...."A House subcommittee wants to legalize payday loans with interest rates of up to 391%. Lobbyists from the payday industry bought Congress' support by showering influential members, including Chairman Luiz Gutierrez, with campaign cash. The Congressman is now playing good cop, bad cop with the payday industry, which is pretending to oppose his generous gift of a bill."

Sunday April 5th 2009

Militarism & Financial Excess: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Must Read - A quote...."All Americans have exploited the rest of the world and the American financial-political elite has exploited all other Americans. We are now “all in this together” suffering the impact of the Reagan Financial Revolution in Irresponsibility and Deregulation which formed the natural foundation for the Neo-Con conspiracy to replace the Cold War with American Empire. But exposing the corruption and immorality at the base of the current global financial debacle still misses the root of the problem."

Iraq: Occupation Year 7
A quote...."The transcript of the “Occupation year 7” speech by Iraqi cardiologist Dr Omar Al-Kubaisy to the European Parliament, 18th March 2009, about the horrendous consequences of the illegal, war criminal and genocidal US, UK and Australian invasion and occupation of Iraq."

Asian firms on Iraq shortlist for oil deals
A quote...."BAGHDAD (AFP) – Asian companies are among nine firms shortlisted by the Iraqi oil ministry for contracts in 11 oil and gas fields, according to a document obtained by AFP on Saturday."

Scott Horton Interviews Gareth Porter
Audio Interview - A quote...."Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for Inter Press Service News Agency, discusses Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s persecution of Sunni Awakening Councils, the U.S. military’s cooperation with Iraq’s government in quelling a Sunni “Sons of Iraq” uprising and how a new outbreak of sectarian violence could give the U.S. occupation a new lease on life."

Time for Sunni militias to wake up!
A quote...."The once U.S.-backed and trained Sunni militias, euphemistically referred to as ‘Awakening councils’, are passing through hard times in Iraq. These councils, composed mainly of Sunni tribal leaders and their men, denounced al-Qaeda and joined U.S. military effort in cleansing the country of its terror.  They are accredited to have helped a great deal in winning over for the Americans strongholds in the capital Baghdad and major Iraqi cities and towns where the mighty U.S. army had failed to subdue. These battle-hardened tribesmen proved more effective than U.S. troops and Iraqi forces put together. Without their effective participation, al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia would have remained a force to reckon with and the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq could have at least doubled by now.  But surprisingly enough, the number of casualties Sunni militias have offered, and are still offering, would defy any logic." -- One would really hope nobody's surprised by this? - mpg

George [Galloway] interviewed on CBC’s "The Hour"
Video - A quote from  -- http://www.georgegalloway.com/ ..."The interview you won't want to miss. George Galloway appeared on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, Canada's award-winning late-night TV talk show, on Monday, March 30 -- the day a Canadian federal court denied Galloway's appeal to enter the country."

No Combat Troops, But Obama Lauds ‘Strong’ NATO Support for War
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."President Barack Obama’s attempt to secure firm commitments of significant additional troops from NATO allies to help in the planned escalation in Afghanistan was, by any objective measure, an abject failure. He got no combat troops, and only the most temporary commitments to send police and training personnel to help with the elections. Don’t tell that to the president, however."

Thousands flee bomb attacks by US drones
Making friends everywhere the US-NRE goes.  By the way, when you cause a million people to flee their homes because of random bombings, and don't anyone DARE dispute that statement, not after the US-NRE iced three wedding parties, such an action usually meets, and in fact substantially exceeds, the definitive definition of "terrorism" by anyone's measure – mpg -- A quote...."As many as 1m people have fled their homes in the Tribal Areas to escape attacks by the unmanned spy planes as well as bombings by the Pakistani army. In Bajaur agency entire villages have been flattened by Pakistani troops under growing American pressure to act against Al-Qaeda militants, who have made the area their base." - also posted at CommonDreams & Uruknet - bold by website editor

Cowardice in the Time of Torture - posted at ConsortiumNews
A quote...."I used to take a certain pride by association with prominent Bronxites who have “made it.” Cancel that for Attorney General Eric Holder and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. - You might think that as African-Americans, they would be especially outraged by torture, given what blacks have suffered at the hands of white torturers in this country and abroad. - Why is it that they seem to value more their admittance into a privileged white-dominated ruling class than doing the right thing? How else to explain their stunning reluctance to hold torturers accountable and thus remove the stain of torture from our nation’s soul and reputation?" -- also posted at CommonDreams & ADS & ICH

That Mighty Liberal Blog Power Made Manifest - [NOT!]
A quote...."A couple weeks ago, the Justice Department had planned to release a set of internal DoJ memos that, perhaps more than anything previously released, describe in great detail the exact types of interrogation procedures that were approved for use in secret CIA prisons. We know what was done, of course, but the memos would further provide evidence to the authorization and direction of torture at the highest levels. Some inside the White House would rather not see that happen."

Algeria's militants turn backs on presidential poll
A quote...."Little enthusiasm or interest about election outcome in militant strongholds in Algiers suburbs."

Radar opponents protest in Prague ahead of Obama' s arrival
A quote...."The protest, organised by the Neradaru.cz association, was held at Palach square in the Old Town first. Then its participants went to the U.S. Embassy where they dispersed around 16:00. -- Policemen and members of the anti-conflict team monitored the calm meetings. -- Speeches were held in front of the inscription "Two-thirds of Czechs say no to the U.S. radar."

Russia warns US on Georgia
A quote...."MOSCOW (AP) — Russia sent a strong warning to the United States Thursday about supporting Georgia in the U.S. ally's efforts to rebuild its military following last year's war. The Foreign Ministry said helping arm Georgia would be "extremely dangerous" and would amount to "nothing but the encouragement of the aggressor." The warning comes days after Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili stridently vowed to rebuild and prepare his armed forces for missions other than peacekeeping — comments made alongside a top U.S. general."

Russian Orthodox Church a growing political force
A quote...."The glittering Christ the Savior Cathedral, a pale-white marble structure decorated with bronze statuary and swaths of gold leaf, is more than just Moscow's grandest and most opulent place of worship."

Chechnya deputy PM "mastermind" in killing: Dubai police
A quote...."Dubai police accused a deputy prime minister of Chechnya of masterminding the assassination of former Chechen military commander Sulim Yamadayev, shot down in an underground car park in a brutal settling of accounts."

Shell in court over alleged role in Nigeria executions
A quote...."Ken Saro-Wiwa swore that one day Shell, the oil giant, would answer for his death in a court of law. Next month, 14 years after his execution, the Nigerian environmental activist's dying wish is to be fulfilled. -- In a New York federal court, Shell and one of its senior executives are to face charges that in the early 1990s in Nigeria they were complicit in human rights abuses, including summary execution and torture." -- Anybody who does "business" with the US-NRE.......  mpg

Conspiracy and Propaganda Centers: Illegal US Consulates in Venezuela
Special Note - A quote...."At the end of 2005, the Embassy of the United States in Venezuela, under the leadership of then Ambassador William Brownfield (present U.S. Ambassador in Colombia), inaugurated the first of what would become a total of four seats of “virtual consulates”, known as “American Corners” in Latin America. These are no typical diplomatic seats, given the fact that they do not have any authorization from the Foreign Ministry of the respective countries in which they are situated; neither do they offer services to the US citizens who reside in the country. Documents of the US State Department, recently declassified in the realm of my investigations, explicitly emphasize that the purpose of these “American Corners” is to facilitate an “unfiltered” dialogue and relation between the Embassy of the United States and the Venezuelan people."

Russian-Chilean Friendship Boosted
A quote...."Moscow, Apr 5 (Prensa Latina) This visit has been very successful because it allowed to give a new boost to the excellent relationships that Russia and Chile have maintained for 100 years, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet stated in this capital."
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Phoenix Police Raid Home of Blogger Who Criticized Them
Police State & Censorship Alert - A quote...."In what should send a frightening chill down the spine of every blogger, writer, journalist and First Amendment advocate in the United States, Phoenix police raided the home of a blogger who has been highly critical of the department. Jeff Pataky, who runs Bad Phoenix Cops, said the officers confiscated three computers, routers, modems, hard drives, memory cards and everything necessary to continue blogging. The 41-year-old software engineer said they also confiscated numerous personal files and documents relating to a pending lawsuit he has against the department alleging harassment - which he says makes it obvious the raid was an act of retaliation." - bold by website editor -- Remember, everyone out there should have off-site back-ups for everything you do.  Else you could lose all your data. - mpg

Police 'assaulted' bystander who died during G20 protests
A quote...."The man who died during last week's G20 protests was "assaulted" by riot police shortly before he suffered a heart attack, according to witness statements received by the Independent Police Complaints Commission."

UK: Protests Against Capitalism and the G20
Articles & Photos List - Of the G20 protests. - mpg

Scientists Publish 3 Papers Raising Evidence Contradicting the Official Story of 9/11
A quote...."You have probably heard that scientists have found "super-thermite" in the debris of the World Trade Centers (original scientific article). - In fact, two previous scientific papers have also found evidence contradicting the official story about 9/11...."
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"Tell me who the real terrorist is?" - premisses of martyrdom
Must Read - A quote...."Abu Mahmoud Harb is a father of 9 boys and 4 girls living since 1967 in Balata refugee camp, close to Nablus in the West Bank. He is around 75 years old and has seen everything that happened in the recent Palestinian history, from the Nakba in 1948 to the Gaza attack and massacre in December 2008 and January 2009. His own story, and the one of his family, perfectly illustrates the life and the suffering of the Palestinian refugees in the West Bank."

In the Hollywood Video Rental Store....
Cartoon

Israel's Assault on Gaza by Phyllis Bennis - Alt - (Google Video - 56 min : 33 sec  - Mar 19, 2009)
Video - A quote...."Author and fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies, Phyllis Bennis speaking at an event in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 13, 2009. IPS fellow Phyllis Bennis is also a fellow of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. She has been a writer, analyst and activist on Middle East and UN issues for many years. While working as a journalist at the United Nations during the run-up to the 1990-91 Gulf War, she began working on U.S. domination of the UN, and stayed involved in work on Iraq sanctions and disarmament, and later U.S. war and occupation in Iraq. In 1999 Phyllis accompanied a group of congressional aides to Iraq to examine the impact of U.S.-led economic sanctions on humanitarian conditions there, and later joined former UN Assistant Secretary General Denis Halliday, who resigned his position as Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq to protest the impact of sanctions, in a speaking tour. In 2001 she helped found and currently co-chairs the U.S. Campaign to End Israeli Occupation. She works closely with the United for Peace and Justice anti-war coalition, and since 2002 has played an active role in the growing global peace movement." -- For more on this issue see....Gaza Invasion of 12/27/08

PHOTO ESSAY ~~ THE AFTERMATH OF THE GAZA BLITZKRIEG
Photo Gallery - Click on the (tiny) "previous < -- > next" in the upper left corner to advance the frames. - mpg

[Jewish] Settlers attack homes, residents in East Jerusalem
A quote...."A group of extremist Israeli settlers attacked on Sunday evening several residents and homes in Al Sa’diyya neighborhood, in East Jerusalem, and occupied the home of Nasser Jaber for the second time, as they claim purchasing it."

Institution: IOF destroyed archaeological buildings during the aggression on Gaza
A quote...."Gaza strip, April 5 (The Pal Telegraph) - The Jerusalem institution stated the Israeli offensive army devastated four historic buildings belonging to the Islamic, Ottoman, British and Egyptian historical periods during the recent aggression on Gaza. In a press release issued Wednesday the 1rst of April 2009 the Institutude said the governor’s mansion was also destroyed."  --  Wow!  Just like the US-NRE allowed all of Iraq's cultural artifacts, museums and other important institutions to be destroyed and looted (except for the oil ministry of course) during and after its  invasion of that poor country, during which one particular well known moron, commenting on the situation stated...."stuff happens".  Goes to show two like minded occupiers seem to follow the same "game plan".  Must be one of "dem dare coincidences"....or as our elites are so wont to say "it was an accident".  - mpg

Spain to try Israel for crimes against humanity
Action Update - A quote...."Spanish National Court Judge Fernando Andreu says he will redouble his probe of seven top Israeli military and government officials for suspected “crimes against humanity.” He made the decision after determining that documents forwarded by the Israeli Embassy in Madrid show that Israel has decided not to prosecute anyone for the targeted assassination of Salah Shehadeh, the commander of the military wing of Hamas, in Gaza City in 2002. Spanish law allows the prosecution of foreigners for such crimes as genocide, crimes against humanity and torture committed anywhere in the world if the suspects will not be tried in their home country."

Anti-siege national initiative committee to send aid fleet to Gaza next month
Action Update - A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- The government committee to break the siege stated Sunday that the Beirut-based national initiative committee to break the siege intends to send an aid convoy by sea called the "fleet of freedom" to the Gaza Strip next month."

Israeli exports hit by European boycotts
Action Update - It's working....Hip, Hip, Horay!! - mpg -- A quote...."The Guardian reports that “A fifth of Israeli exporters report drop in demand as footage of Gaza attacks changes behaviour of consumers and investors.” -- Israeli companies are feeling the impact of boycott moves in Europe, according to surveys, amid growing concern within the Israeli business sector over organised campaigns following the recent attack on Gaza."

Motorola drops bomb fuse unit following boycott campaign
Action Update - Boycott, Boycott, Boycott, any individual, any company, any agency that continues to do business with Israel. --  For more on how, see the upper-left-corner on the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg -- A quote...."Motorola has sold a controversial unit that produced bomb fuses and other equipment for the Israeli military, according to the Israeli financial newspaper Globes. The sale rids Motorola of some activities that had made it the target of a growing boycott in the US and worldwide. No explanation was offered in the media reports for the sale by Motorola Israel -- a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorola -- of its unit called Government Electronics Department (GED) to the Israeli company Aeronautics Defense Systems Ltd."

A most Nobel nominee
A quote...."Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. And you might be thinking, 'Who cares? So was Henry Kissinger.' And you'd be right to treat the high honor with skepticism. But it's Dr. al-Aish's story and personal committment to peace that make him such a remarkable Nobel nominee."
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VIDEO: More IMF "Economic Medicine" Is Not the Solution - G-20 Proposals will exacerbate the Global Economic Crisis -- Alt - (YouTube - 10 min 50 sec - April 03, 2009) - Must View Video - Michel Chossudovsky describes exactly how the loan sharks at the IMF conduct their scam - mpg -- A quote...."The Centre for Research on Globalization presents Michel Chossudovsky: "More IMF Economic Medicine Is Not the Solution"

Wall St. ticks off the world
Must Read - Some quotes...."The current international financial disaster brought on by Wall Street has created 25 million unemployed around the globe. People everywhere are mad as hell at both their leaders and America." -  " But this financial crisis won't be resolved until the rotten U.S. financial sector is restored to health, transparency, and integrity. Many major U.S. financial institutions are insolvent: their liabilities exceed assets. Neither they nor the Obama administration will admit it, or take necessary action. -- That's because the U.S. financial industry has grown far too powerful. Today, finance is America's leading industry at about 24% of GDP. Manufacturing has shrunk to 12%. Wall Street's "Masters of the Universe" grew so rich they were able to buy or manipulate most politicians and government regulators." - bold by website editor -- That's right folks, all this money is being spent to literally create....more money, not factories, or infrastructure, or social services or products, but just simply more paper. There is no more "there" there to this economy, it's a fake economy producing fake profits for fake people.  This entire nation, and anybody who follows it, is on the "road to hell" (quote from Sarkozy). - mpg -- also posted at CommonDreams

Never in the field of human history has so much been taken from so many by so few
Special Note - Market Wrap-Up - A quote...."The last week in March started with the coordinated call from Russia and China for a new non-national reserve currency, an idea that was greeted as one would expect with some derision until US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he supported such an idea. We can only speculate that he forgot his role in this Act 2 of the international stage tragedy "Global Financial Crisis" and used his lines from Act 4 which has of course yet to come. In this Act the role of the US is to resist such calls."

MSM: German and French banks got $36 billion from AIG Bailout
Special Note - Tables - AIG's break-down of their payments - by country & bank -- A quote...."We officially moved into the next stage of the crisis today. AIG, likely under pressure from the administration, decided to come clean about where most of the bailout money was going. In a press release with several attachments, the struggling insurer detailed which counterparties had gotten about $100 billion of the bailout funds."

The Charge of the Bailout Brigade
A quote...."More billions, More billions,
More billions onward,
All in the valley of Debt
Rode the G20:
'Forward, the Bailout Brigade!
Charge for the banks' he said:
Into the valley of Debt
Rode the G20......"

GM planning for bankruptcy
A quote...."A week into his new job as CEO of GM, Fritz Henderson says he is confident in the future of the company but a bankruptcy remains a possibility. Fritz Henderson, GM's new president and CEO, said for the first time on Sunday that the automaker is planning for the possibility of 'restructuring within bankruptcy', although he said he still hoped to avoid 'that public-relations nightmare'." -- Why GM and NOT the Banks & Banksters?  See quote shown below....

[Because] Detroit is part of "Main Street",(def. the "little people") worse than that....they actually make "things" using (gasp!) live human beings, and even worse than that....(shhhhh, don't tell anyone) some of these humans are used for manual labor (def. the use of ones own physical hands to engage in work).  Shocking isn't it, when everyone knows that nowadays all you have to do to make trillions of dollars is just push a little button or shuffle some paper around.  It's just to terrible to think of how civilization ever got by without the "manufacture" of "financial instruments" before, one really wonders what people did in the old days to make a living? -- *mpg* - posted 04-02-09

Bush and Obama Administrations Both Broke Law By Refusing to Close Insolvent Banks
A quote....Geithner's statements that he didn't have the power to close down the big banks is false. Moreover, Geithner and Paulson actually broke the law which requires the government to close down insolvent banks, no matter how big. - The Prompt Corrective Action Law (PCA) - 12 U.S.C. § 1831o - not only authorizes the government to seize insolvent banks, it mandates it." -- also posted at OpEdNews

Economist: "What We Have Is Something Perilously Close To A Dictatorship Of The Fed And The Treasury, Acting In The Interests Of Wall Street" -- Full quote...."Prominent economist Robert Kuttner said recently:" --- "What we have is something perilously close to a dictatorship of the Fed and the Treasury, acting in the interests of Wall Street." --- "Mussolini described fascism as the "merger of state and corporate power", and this seems to be what is happening in the merger of the interests of the big financial companies with the government."

U.S. bank woes just the start, Whitney says
A quote...."You have trillions of dollars of loans that were underwritten with bad math assumptions, and those have to work through the system,” Ms. Whitney said the other day. “You're going to start seeing banks sell stuff, the way you saw banks purge CDOs [collateralized debt obligations] and mortgage-related assets. And that's going to drive valuations lower. It has to run its course.” -- *Meredith Whitney*, bank analyst for Oppenheimer

Recession outlasts even extended jobless benefits
A quote...." WASHINGTON (AP) -- In the coming weeks and months, hundreds of thousands of jobless Americans will exhaust their unemployment benefits, just when it's never been harder to find a job. - Congress extended unemployment aid twice last year, allowing people to draw a total of up to 59 weeks of benefits. Now, as the recession drags on, a rolling wave of people who were laid off early last year will lose them."

35,000 UK firms to go bankrupt in 2009
Some quotes...."At least 35,000 firms and 125,000 people are expected to go bankrupt in Britain this year, an insolvency expert group has predicted. Begbies Traynor, a UK-based Corporate Rescue, Restructuring and Personal Insolvency company, has forecast that 35,000 firms -- 95 firms a day -- will go bankrupt this year, the Sunday Times reported. Nick Hood at Begbies said the number could rise to 40,000 by the end of the year." -- Editor's note: bankruptcies are a lagging indicator, but....."The rate is accelerating - on a bad day we could see 20 businesses going under a day," he told the paper."

IMF sends shock report to eastern Europe
A quote...."The Financial Times has revealed an IMF analysis which shows that central and eastern Europe will see a plunge in gross domestic product by about 2.5 per cent this year. -- A growth forecast taken six months ago had central and eastern Europe growing by 4.25 per cent"

Saturday April 4th 2009

NATO summit sparks fire in France
A quote...."Buildings are set ablaze in France's Strasbourg as over a thousand 'violent' protesters run riot across the city against NATO's 60th anniversary there. - On Saturday, the violent protesters, part of a 10,000-strong demonstrating public, set a five-storey hotel, a pharmacy, and a tourist information office alight in the border city, DPA reported."

It was Never about Democracy
A quote...."After 12 years of merciless US-backed sanctions, all Iraq needed was one small push to descend into total chaos. Yet many Iraqis still waited to see what the US would offer. What they got was complete absence of security, hundreds of thousands of jobs losses, and death and torture at the hands of US forces with the help of some 'favoured' Iraqis. -- That's where the seeds of sectarianism had been sown. Instead of promoting reconciliation and unity, the US played a classic 'divide and rule' game in Iraq and drew the new Iraq - politically - along sectarian lines. -- Militarily, Iraqis who had friends or family members killed or tortured by US forces in the presence (or under the advice) of other Iraqis weren't always strong enough to punish the Americans so they took vengeance on their fellow Iraqis. The result? A cycle of vengeance that could have been averted." -- Yeah, US-NRE psyops are a real b-tch.  The Muslims still haven't learned after all this time how the "Great Game" is REALLY played though.  Some of them still actually believe all that bullsh-t about the "Clash of Civilizations", they're still allowing themselves to be toyed with and set against one another by the US-NRE and Israelis.  As it stands now, they're about five to fifteen years from winding up just like the Native Americans or Palestinians,  penned up in little cage like reservations looking wistfully at what used to be their lands wondering what the heck happened to all their oil. -  mpg

Iraq's brutal executions
A quote...."The war was supposed to improve human rights, but six years on the country has returned to unfair trials and mass executions." -- The US-NRE placed Saddam into power, sold him weapons of mass destruction, encouraged him to attack Iran in a war that killed over a million Iranians and countless Iraqis, gave the green light for him to attack Kuwait, than finally finished him, his people and his entire country off in three easy steps - Gulf War I, the intervening decade of sanctions, and finally Gulf War II.  Now the US-NRE has installed Maliki into power.....  This all proves two things, One - The more things change the more they stay the same, and Two, any leader that does "business" with the US-NRE is eventually going to wind up exactly like Saddam did, swinging at the end of a rope. – mpg

Financial Times: US may cede to Iran’s enrichment plan
War Alert - Obama has lied about eveything so far, that's why this is a war alert, he and Israel are cooking something up. - mpg -- A quote...."London, April 4, 2009 IRNA - US officials are considering whether to accept Iran’s pursuit of uranium enrichment and may cede to "Iran’s nuclear ambitions", Financial Times reports."

North Korea launches long-range rocket
A quote...."The projectile launched from North Korea today appears to have passed over towards the Pacific,” the office the Japanese prime minister, Taro Aso, said in a statement. Japanese media reported that the first stage of the rocket had fallen as planned into the Sea of Japan of the country’s north-west coast and that the second stage had fallen into the Pacific Ocean far to the east."

Venezuela convicts 9 policemen over 2002 coup
A quote...."A Venezuelan judge on Friday convicted nine police officers for involvement in violence linked to a 2002 coup that toppled leftist President Hugo Chavez. - Chavez was briefly forced from office by military officers and opposition leaders after clashes between demonstrators in downtown Caracas killed some 20 people in events that bitterly divided the OPEC nation for years along political lines."

Personal web data to be stored for a year
A quote...."The mobile calls, emails and website visits of every person in Britain will be stored for a year under sweeping new powers which come into force on Monday. Privacy campaigners warned last night that the information would be used by the Government to create a giant "Big Brother" super-database containing a map of everyone's private life." -- also posted at RogueGov
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Student Foils Israeli Bid to Wreck Family's Hopes
A quote...."Bethlehem University has been closed a dozen times by Israeli storm-troopers and shelled by their tanks, but it remains one of those magical places in the Holy Land where you always feels good 'vibes'."

Medical fact-finding mission in Gaza confirms human rights violations
A quote...."An independent medical fact-finding mission with 44 separate testimonies, confirms violations of health–related human rights and severe violations of International Humanitarian Law during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip 27.12.2008-18.01.2009."

"Israeli war crimes were daily and too numerous to count"
A uqote...."In the past few days various internationally recognized associations have heavily condemned the Israeli exactions in Gaza, shedding light on the recurrent crimes. Alleged accusations are becoming more certain now and are being backed up with evidence and testimonies from both sides, including the Israeli soldiers themselves. Even war has rules and they were repeatedly breached. What is justice waiting for?"

Action Carrefour Drancy - Boycott Israel! - Alt - (BlipTV - 4 min 19 sec - April 4th 2009)
Video - It's in French, but you'll get the idea. For more on how to boycott Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" on this website. - mpg
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Let's Play Pretend!
Must Read - A quote...."When elementary school kids want to escape the confines of their circumstances they pretend to be pirates, princesses, and Jedi knights. Now, with the relaxation of "mark to market" valuation rules announced yesterday by the accounting trade's self-regulatory body, our bankrupt financial institutions can escape their own reality by pretending to be solvent. The unraveling of our fairytale economy over the last few months has not yet convinced us that the time has come to put away childish things. The applause that greeted the news yesterday on Wall Street is a clear sign that we still have some growing up to do."

The Ones Who Got It Right
Special Note - A list of people (and their books) who tried to warn all of us. -- A quote...."by Ralph Nader -- Why is it that well regarded people working the fields of corporate power and performance who repeatedly predicted the Wall Street bubble and its bursting receive so little media and attention?"

Girding for a Depression
A quote....[The] Roosevelt Administration stimulus spending—huge deficit spending—eased the pain but failed to end the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s policies did not put the U.S. economy on a track for growth, and President Obama’s policies will force Americans to relieve those frustrations. -- In the 1930s, the economy suffered three false recoveries only to fall back into depression, because New Deal policies worsened structural problems that pulled the economy down in the first place. For example, the New Deal proliferated monopoly pricing, extended the life of undersized farms, raised structural savings rates, and created a system of home lending too dependent on federally sponsored banks—a system that ultimately contributed to the current crisis." -- also posted at ICH & GlobRsrch

Simon Johnson's crusade against the oligarchs of Wall Street
A quote...."Few magazine articles in recent memory have excited as much econo-blogospheric commentary as former International Monetary Fund chief economist Simon Johnson's "The Quiet Coup." For good reason: Johnson's elucidation of how four decades of deregulatory ideology placed the interests of Wall Street "oligarchs" above the interests of the general public is magisterial and convincing." -- also posted at ICH

Are You [&#$%@$*!!] kidding Me!!!
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The Obama administration is engineering its new bailout initiatives in a way that it believes will allow firms benefiting from the programs to avoid restrictions imposed by Congress, including limits on lavish executive pay, according to government officials. -- Administration officials have concluded that this approach is vital for persuading firms to participate in programs funded by the $700 billion financial rescue package." - bold by website editor

Larry Summers, Tim Geithner and Wall Street's ownership of government
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."White House officials yesterday released their personal financial disclosure forms, and included in the millions of dollars which top Obama economics adviser Larry Summers made from Wall Street in 2008 is this detail...." -- also posted at CommonDreams

Financial industry paid millions to Obama aide
Obama™ Update -- Related Article - A quote...."Lawrence H. Summers, the top economic adviser to President Obama, earned more than $5 million last year from the hedge fund D. E. Shaw and collected $2.7 million in speaking fees from Wall Street companies that received government bailout money, the White House disclosed Friday in releasing financial information about top officials."

Wall Street Journal report: US executive perks “flourished” in 2008
A quote...."According to data published in the Wall Street Journal Friday, the median salaries and bonuses of America's top 200 chief executive officers fell by 8.5 percent in 2008, to $2.24 million, and total direct compensation declined 3.4 percent, to $7.56 million. The decline was the first in seven years and only the second since the newspaper began tracking CEO pay in 1989."

Friday April 3rd 2009

Obama’s Neoliberals: Selling His Afghan War One Report at a Time
Special Note - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Reading the Center for American Progress‘ new report supporting President Obama’s escalation of the US war against Afghanistan is a very powerful reminder of how much neoliberals and neocons are alike. This, of course, is not some genius observation, particularly since CAP and the neocons are making it hard to miss, what with their love triangle with the war. Indeed, CAP’s launch event for its report, "Sustainable Security in Afghanistan: Crafting an Effective and Responsible Strategy for the Forgotten Front," included a leading neocon, Frederick Kagan and was promoted by William Kristol’s new version of the Project for a New American Century, the Foreign Policy Initiative. So, here is part of what we are seeing unfold: Running parallel to the bi-partisan war machine within the official government is a coordinated campaign in the shadow government — the think tanks. Or, as Naomi Klein describes them, the people paid to think by the makers of tanks. CAPs particular role in this campaign appears to be attempting to sell Obama’s war.

Taking the Prince of Peace Seriously
A quote...."You know, I can fly an F-15, put two nukes on ’em and I’ll make one pass. We won’t have to worry about Syria anymore.” -- Johnson later claimed he’d been joking. But the congregation wasn’t laughing – it was roaring with cheers and applause. -- These were all Christians, you understand – you know, people who are supposed to be concerned about the wrongful taking of innocent human life. -- It’s not just Protestants; a substantial number of Catholics are guilty of the same cavalier attitude toward war, which is ipso facto just if waged by the U.S. government. They will spend their time tracking down whatever slivers of evidence they can find in support of their leaders’ war propaganda, a practice they would have laughed at if they’d observed it in the Soviet Union. As a Catholic myself I have been mortified to think that a neoconservative death cult is what is being projected to the non-Christian world as Christianity."

America’s New Era of Leadership
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."President Obama declared shortly after his inaugural that "the gravest danger to the American people is the threat of a terrorist attack with a nuclear weapon and the spread of nuclear weapons to dangerous regimes."

Noam Chomsky on US Expansion of Afghan Occupation, the Uses of NATO, and What Obama Should Do in Israel-Palestine -- A quote...."We speak to Noam Chomsky, prolific author and Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As NATO leaders gather for a sixtieth anniversary summit in France, Chomsky says, “The obvious question is, why bother celebrating NATO at all? In fact, why does it exist?” Chomsky also analyzes the Obama administration’s escalation of the Afghanistan occupation and reacts to the new Netanyahu government in Israel. [includes rush transcript]"  --  ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More…  || 

Kucinich on Budget Resolution: I Simply Cannot Endorse a Budget or a Plan that Authorizes the Expansion of War
A quote...."Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today issued the following statement after voting against H.Con.Res 85, setting forth the Congressional Budget for the fiscal year 2010: -- “I am committed to doing everything I can to put our community and our nation on the path to economic stability. I led opposition to the bank bailout program TARP, I worked vigorously in favor of the stimulus package, and I have worked to save the automotive, steel and aerospace industries in America."

Bush, Obama differences by ~Latuff2
Cartoon - Click on the image to enlarge it. - mpg

Dr. Omar Al Kubaisy: Speech in the European Parliament. -- The misery in Iraq after six years of occupation
A quote...."Iraq , ladies and gentlemen, with its wealth and its generosity, attracted many peoples and ethnicities over the ages, as a result of which the aforesaid elements have made up a mosaic of the people. It has been inhabited by peoples of numerous different nationalities, ethnicities and religions in security and peace, as well as compatibility, harmony and stability. In spite of the fact that it has experienced numerous foreign waves of invasions, and large attempted invasions, desirous of its great wealth and its geopolitical strategic position over the ages. Iraq has come out of these experiences after fighting to the death and defending its land and territory to emerge victorious, united and unified."

Obama Fails in Press for NATO Surge
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."President Barack Obama’s European tour has failed to net any serious commitments from NATO allies. The most concrete offer he got was 35 troops from Belgium. Spain offered 12 more, yet with the US planning to send tens of thousands of additional troops this year, these are hardly a drop in the bucket.

Top Ten Ways the US [i.e. Obama] is Turning Afghanistan into Iraq
Obama™ Update -- An insightful list from Jaun Cole. - mpg

EU terror warning
False Flag Alert - (The US-NRE just threatened Europe) - mpg -- Obama™ Update -- A quote...."STRASBOURG, France: US President Barack Obama warned his European Nato allies yesterday that they face a greater risk of terror attacks than America and that he needs their help to defeat Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. -- "It is probably more likely that Al Qaeda would be able to launch a serious terrorist attack in Europe than in the US, because of proximity," Obama said after arriving in France for a Nato summit."

Sarkozy rejects Obama's Afghan plea
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has rejected a plea from Barack Obama, the US president, for his country to send extra troops to Afghanistan. Speaking at a news conference with Obama, in Strasbourg on Friday, Sarkozy gave his support to "the new American strategy in Afghanistan", but added there would be "no strengthening of French troops" in the country."

Railway to link Iran, Armenia to Black Sea
A quote...."Iran and Armenia have agreed to build a railway that would connect the two neighboring countries and boosts economic cooperation. - Iranian Minister of Road and Transportation Hamid Behbahani said that the construction of the 470-kilometer (292-mile) railway, the bulk of it passing through Armenian territory, would take at least five years and cost up to USD 1.2 billion (892 million euros)."

Chavez sees little hope for better US ties
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Tehran: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday that he has little hope of better relations with Washington under President Barack Obama, saying the United States is still acting like an "empire" in his eyes."

[Israel's] Lieberman and Wiping Countries off the face of the Map
A quote...."Avigdor Lieberman, the Moldovan night club bouncer, is now foreign minister of Israel. The world has had a lot of fun laughing at the pronouncements of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who stands falsely accused of threatening to wipe Israel off the face of the map. But Ahmadinejad has protested that it would be wrong to kill large numbers of civilians. -- In contrast, Lieberman has threatened to wipe at least two countries, Egypt and Palestine, off the map." -- For more on this issue see....A Mortal Threat – Europe’s New Frankenstein Monster - 01-26-09 - mpg

Ukraine opposition blocks parliament doors before key reform vote
If the Ukrainian people borrow any money from the IMF, they can bend over and kiss their collective.... country.... good-bye. - mpg -- A quote...."Members of Ukraine's main opposition party have barricaded the doors of parliament in Kiev with chairs and occupied the main podium in an attempt to stall a vote on a set of economic measures needed to qualify for a vital International Monetary Fund loan."

Medvedev Resurrects Idea of Replacing Dollar as Reserve Currency
Special Note - Heck if Europe can do it so can the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin/Central America and the CIS countries....it's the ONLY way to go. - mpg -- A quote...."Barely 24 hours after announcing that Russia and the United States would cooperate on a variety of long-simmering issues, President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia reproposed a Russian idea that the United States had thought it had batted away: starting a new basket of strong regional currencies to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. -- In a speech before leaders here at the Group of 20 summit meeting, Mr. Medvedev said that the countries most responsible for the global economic crisis (read: the United States) are not taking their fair share of the burden for “macroeconomic policies” needed to fix the problem."

Summits Come and Summits Go As The Economy Continues Its Slide
A quote...."The eyes of the world have been on the Economic Summit in London but the ideas of the world were mostly conspicuous by their absence. Here we have a global crisis. The house is on fire. Unemployment is climbing. The real estate contagion is now claiming condos and even shopping malls. It’s bad and by most accounts, getting worse. And, all the “leaders” of the world can do is devote ONE DAY to a forum that must have cost millions to stage." -- also posted at Creative-i

Fourth lawsuit filed against Blackwater
A quote...."A fourth lawsuit has been filed in a federal court in San Diego against the former Blackwater Worldwide security firm on behalf of family members of Iraqis allegedly killed by Blackwater guards."

Inquiry into torture allegations announced [by Britain]
Still nothing from the US-NRE except the announcement that the plan for a "truth" (hah, that would be a change for once) commission to look into the matter of torture was canceled. - mpg -- A quote...."MPs are to undertake the most far-reaching inquiry into Britain's role in human rights abuses in decades as allegations mount to suggest that officials repeatedly breached international law."
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Bill Moyers Interviews Glenn Greenwald & Amy Goodman
Must View Video Interview - Bill Moyers talks with alternative media heavyweights Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman about what can and can’t be addressed in big corporate media. Amy Goodman and Glenn Greenwald are the first recipients of Park Center for Independent Media Izzy Award (named for I.F. Stone)." -- ||  Transcript  ||  Podcast Mp3  ||

Should Obama Control the Internet?
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Should President Obama have the power to shut down domestic Internet traffic during a state of emergency? -- Senators John Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) think so. On Wednesday they introduced a bill to establish the Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor—an arm of the executive branch that would have vast power to monitor and control Internet traffic to protect against threats to critical cyber infrastructure. That broad power is rattling some civil libertarians." -- also posted at AmericanEveryman

Democrats duck Bush torture probe - posted at Online Journal
A quote...."Despite overwhelming evidence that ex-President George W. Bush and many top aides engaged in a systematic policy of illegal torture, national Democrats appear to be shying away from their recommendation last year for a special prosecutor to investigate these apparent war crimes."

Peace activists attempt to strengthen First Amendment protections following their erosion during the last eight years
A quote...."WASHINGTON -- A small group of peace activists appeared in D.C. Columbia Superior Court Thursday to appeal their conviction stemming from an anti-war protest on Capitol Hill in September 2006."

Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11 Exclusive: Rumsfeld Sought Plan For Iraq Strike Hours After 9/11 Attack
From the History File -- A quote...."WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2002  | CBS News has learned that barely five hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was telling his aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq — even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks." -- For more on this issue see....Fake Intel / Propaganda - al Qaeda & Saddam & Fake Intel / Propaganda - 9/11 & Saddam & War Resource 9/11 - Cheney's Energy Task Force
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9/11 - From The History File...A Wake-Up Call to the Alternative Liberal Media: STOP Ignoring 9/11 & PNAC
The 9/11 Reichstag Fire - database
Project for the New American Century - database
PNAC: Neo-cons‟ map for destroying, Russia, China and Pakistan still alive
PNAC signatories - Alt - list
McCain asked about PNAC and 9/11 at town hall
PNAC - OAC - database
PNAC - NLP
PNAC - EL
PNAC - AT
PNAC - FPIF
PNAC - SW - sourcewatch
Project for the New American Century - wikipedia
PNAC - Primer-BW
PNAC - Rouges Gallery - photo gallery
PNAC Members - database
Videos about pnac - video list
Iraq, PNAC, 9/11 All Roads Lead To Israel - audio files
PNAC - A Thorough Analysis - analysis
PNAC No More?

For more on this issue see....9/11 - Planning Guidance
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Israel on Trial
Special Note - A quote...."NYT's Op-Ed Contributor -- CHILLING testimony by Israeli soldiers substantiates charges that Israel’s Gaza Strip assault entailed grave violations of international law."  -- Also posted at DesertPeace....includes an Action Alert & CommonDreams & PalestineChron & ISM

Hamas to Fatah: You should rethink agreements after Lieberman's statements
A quote...."GAZA, [PIC]-- Hamas Movement has called on Fatah faction on Thursday to rethink all the "feeble" agreements it had signed with the Israeli occupation government "at the back of the Palestinian people" after the Israeli officials clearly stated they won't be bound with those agreements."

UN appoints Gaza war investigator
A quote...."The United Nations has appointed a former war crimes prosecutor to investigate offences allegedly committed by Israeli and Palestinian fighters during Israel's war on Gaza."

White phosphorus not forgotten in Gaza
A quote...."During Israel's three-week-long offensive on Gaza launched on 27 December, the Israeli army used internationally banned weapons according to foreign military and medical experts. Israel used American-made white phosphorus shells in populated areas across the Gaza Strip. "

Freedom Rider: Barbaric Israel
A quote...."Despite the best efforts of the American corporate media, the Israeli lobby, and compromised politicians, the true nature of Israel’s barbarity towards the Palestinian people is not easily hidden. The massacres of Gaza’s civilian population that were recently carried out by the Israeli Defense Force created a turning point in worldwide public opinion. Only the Israeli and American governments try to deny that war crimes were committed." -- also posted at ICH

Israel April Fool's Day by ~Latuff2
Cartoon - Click on the image to enlarge it.  - mpg

Arab 'Reconciliation' Summit a Bust  - Not a surprise at all. - mpg -- posted at Palestine Chronicle
A quote...."The 21st Arab League summit held this week in Doha, Qatar ended up being little more than a summit of egos."
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Bill Moyers Interviews William K Black
Must View Video Interview - The financial industry brought the economy to its knees, but how did they get away with it? With the nation wondering how to hold the bankers accountable, Bill Moyers sits down with William K. Black, the former senior regulator who cracked down on banks during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. Black offers his analysis of what went wrong and his critique of the bailout" -- ||  Transcript  ||  Podcast Mp3  || -- also posted at ICH

Geithner's dirty little secret
Special Note - Related Article - A quote...."US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner claims he is not seeking "to sustain weak banks at the expense of strong". Yet the biggest five lenders in the US, led by JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, are the weakest, holding 96% of US bank derivatives positions and almost all the net credit-risk exposure. And they are dictating federal government policy"

Toxic Asset Plan Will Leave The Same Amount Of Toxic Assets In The System, But With the Taxpayers Now Liable For Most Of The Losses -- Special Note - (The mystery of "overpay" solved - mpg) -- Related Article - A quote...."But why would the banks overpay for the other guy's toxic assets?  --  Some financial writers have speculated that these banks are giving each other kickbacks under the table. But we don't even have to go there.  --  If all of the big banks holding the lion's share of toxic assets (about 5 banks, as discussed below) have a gentleman's agreement to overpay for the other guy's toxic assets, then they will end up in the same position as if they had all paid fair market value. You overpay for mine, I'll overpay for yours . . .But since they can then say that they naively overvalued the assets, the government will pay them back for their "losses".  --  Get it?"

Chrysler workers oppose more concessions - Alt - (YouTube - 3min 46sec - April 02, 2009)
Video - A quote...."Workers at the Dodge Assembly plant in Warren, Michigan, just outside Detroit, denounced President Obama's demands for more suffering and deep sacrifices when they spoke to reporters from the World Socialist Web Site on Tuesday. Many of these workers--who have seen repeated layoffs, cuts in bonus pay and wage and benefit concessions--were outraged at the conditions placed on loans to the automakers. These conditions mean that many workers will lose their jobs and those who remain in the plant will take drastic cuts in their living standards."

The Obama Deception
Cartoon

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac plan [$210 Million] in bonuses - It's just not funny anymore. - mpg
Special Note - A quote...."More than 7,600 employees of US government-rescued mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are to receive 210 million dollars in bonuses to keep them in their jobs, according to documents released by a lawmaker Friday." -- For more on this issue see....Having Fun With Your Tax Dollars

5.1 million jobs lost in this recession so far - Payrolls fall 663,000 in March while unemployment rate jumps to 8.5%
A quote...."U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell by 663,000 in March, close to expectations, while the unemployment rate jumped to a 26-year high 8.5% from 8.1%, as expected." -- "

U.S. March ISM services index falls to 40.8%
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. nonmanufacturing sectors contracted at a faster pace in March, according to a Friday report from the Institute for Supply Management, as the global slowdown continued to take its toll."

Food stamp list swells to record 32.2 million
A quote...."WASHINGTON - A record 32.2 million people -- one in every 10 Americans -- received food stamps at latest count, the government said on Thursday, a reflection of the recession now in its 16th month."

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Thursday April 2nd 2009

Servants and Masters; Images from the G20 Summit
Photos - Must View & Read - A quote...."Today, we know that the world is run by corrupt international bankers and the political lackeys that serve them.  They are a collection of people who think only in terms of the accumulation of un-Godly amounts of conspicuous wealth by any means necessary."

Military Escalation and Obama’s “War on Terrorism”: US Officials “Rediscover” ISI-Taliban Nexus
A quote...."Long considered the realm of “conspiracy buffs” the New York Times, citing anonymous “American government officials,” have belatedly “discovered” that Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence agency (ISI) is aiding the Taliban and al-Qaeda." -- For more on this issue see....US Support of Terror

Tony Benn - Stop the War G20 Protest Central London April 1 2009 - Alt - (YouTube - 2min 16sec - April 01'09)
Video - A quote...."US Embassy, Grosvenor Square to Trafalgar Square * Get the troops out of Iraq & Afghanistan * End the siege of Gaza free Palestine * Create jobs not bombs * Stop arming Israel * Abolish all nukes."

Resistance and National Sovereignty in the Arab World
A quote...."Proclamations (and delusions) of sovereignty in the Arab world create and necessitate resistance.  As a political concept, sovereignty means the independence and power to exercise control over a political and territorial entity free from external interference.  But in this age of selective and externally-defined “democracy,” of “fighting terrorism,” of “international consensus,” and of “globalization” and its concomitant neo-liberal privatizing “reforms,” how can any Arab state or an  aspiring-to-be-a-state like Palestine be sovereign?"

Silence on Afghanistan: If Only It Were a Joke
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."It's April Fool's Day week and my inbox is full." -- "What I wish was a joke was some of the rest of what's been coming in... - Like all the mail from supposedly anti-war groups who worked hard to elect Barack Obama on an anti-Iraq war platform, but now, when it comes to escalation in Afghanistan, are lining up in support."

Casualties caused by IEDs in Afghanistan on the rise
A quote...."WASHINGTON — Roadside bombs cause 75% of casualties to coalition forces in Afghanistan, up from 50% two years ago, prompting urgent pleas from commanders there for more armored vehicles to protect troops, according to data and interviews." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Bagram prisoners can contest detention in U.S. courts
A quote...."WASHINGTON — Prisoners held by U.S. forces in Afghanistan can challenge their detention in U.S. courts, a federal judge ruled Thursday, rejecting the Obama administration's position."

Can't Torture a Man Anymore? At Least We Can Lock Up His Lawyers for Speaking
A quote...."Lawyers for Binyam Mohamed face the incredible prospect of a six-month jail sentence in America after writing a letter to President Obama detailing their client's allegations of torture by US agents." - also posted at ADS -- For more on this issue see....The Convenient Silence of Guantanamo Bay - 05-31-08 - mpg

Venezuela: Chavez says he's willing to take Gitmo inmates
A quote...."CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he would be willing to accept prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will close, the Venezuelan government said Thursday."

Chavez tells why Obama will fail with Iran
Special Note - A quote..."Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez explains why the Obama administration will likely be unable to improve US relations with Iran. -- "I don't have much hope, because there is an empire behind him. He's the president of an empire," Chavez explained in Tehran when asked whether President Barack Obama really seeks better days with Tehran. -- Latin American countries use the term 'empire' to describe the US policy of policing the world and its decades of interference in the internal affairs of nations worldwide." -- also posted at WarInIraq
  
Kazakhstan rail link on hold - For now, but oil prices will go up. - mpg
A quote...."On October 16, 2007, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran signed an agreement to lay 700 kilometers of railroad track from Uzen, western Kazakhstan, to Gorgan, Iran, transiting Turkmenistan. Now the railroad might be delayed for more than 18 months for financial reasons. "

Ukrainian Parliament paralysed
A quote...."Ukraine’s opposition The Party of Regions has blockaded parliamentary work in an effort to force the government to launch new anti crisis programmes or resign."
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Canadian Parliament votes again to let U.S. war resisters stay - posted at Online Journal
A quote...."Two days ago, for the second time in 10 months, Canada’s House of Commons told Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government, including Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, to stop deporting U.S. soldiers resisting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Why Is the Center for American Progress Cavorting with Neocons? Oh, Right, Because They Are on the Same Team
A quote...."The Center for American Progress, which was founded by former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta in 2003, masqueraded as a “progressive,” semi-anti-war organization through the dark years of the Bush administration when it required little political courage to oppose the White House and wars that were portrayed as Bush’s or the Republicans’. While feigning opposition to the Iraq war, CAP refused to confront Democrats over their continued funding of that war. After Obama’s election, Podesta, of course, headed the transition team, which swiftly appointed hawkish Democrats from the Clinton era, kept on Robert Gates and other Republicans, sidelined progressives and in doing so won praise from neocons and other Republicans." -- also posted at AmericanEveryman
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Jewish Defence League Rallies Government To Investigate Canadian Peace Groups
A quote...."Jewish Defence League of Canada director Meir Weinstein, said today that any Canadian organization or individual that invited George Galloway to speak in Canada later this month, would be looked in to regarding their ties to terror groups."

Falk: The Palestinian people have the right to resistance
A quote...."NEW JERSEY, (PIC)-- Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Palestine, stressed that the Palestinian people have the right to resistance, self-determination and the establishment of their independent state."

Amnesty slams US arms shipment to Israel
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."BEIRUT: Amnesty International said late Wednesday that a US-chartered ship carrying a large shipment of munitions had delivered its cargo to Israel. -- In a press release, Amnesty said the Wehr Elbe, a German cargo ship chartered and controlled by US Military Sealift Command, docked and unloaded its cargo of over 300 containers at the Israeli port of Ashdod, just 40 kilometers north of Gaza by road. The German ship left the US for Israel on December 20, a week before the start of Israeli attacks on Gaza." -- For more on this issue see....

Obama's Solution For Ending The Israeli Onslaught in Gaza Was To Bribe Israel With More Smart Bombs  - Alt - Must View Video - (For the outrage) - Obama™ Update - (YouTube - 1 min 48 sec - March 30, 2009) -- A quote...."CNN interviews Symour Hersh -- Obama's Solution For Ending The Israeli Onslaught in Gaza Was To Bribe Israel With More Smart Bombs Make note he was trying to get it done before his inauguration, I wonder why that was?" - posted 04-01-09 -- For more on this issue see also...Israel Pauses (Politely) for the Emperor's Coronation - 01-16-09 - mpg & Gaza Invasion of 12/27/08

Gaza Aid Prevented by U.S.
A quote...."The United States (U.S.) Patriot Act is preventing Save The Children Norway from rebuilding schools in Gaza. The organization is in despair. -- "We are allowed to distribute emergency rations, such as food and water, but systematic relief efforts and rebuilding is blocked", according to Bjørn Lindgren, Save The Children's regional director for Europe and the Middle East, in a Klassekampen interview. "It is a terrible policy that keeps us from helping children." -- also posted at WarInIraq & Uruknet

Changing the rules of war
A quote...."The extent of Israel's brutality against Palestinian civilians in its 22-day pounding of the Gaza Strip is gradually surfacing. Israeli soldiers are testifying to lax rules of engagement tantamount to a license to kill. One soldier commented: "That's what is so nice, supposedly, about Gaza: You see a person on a road, walking along a path. He doesn't have to be with a weapon, you don't have to identify him with anything and you can just shoot him." -- also posted at ICH
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Wall Street Love's Making Money -- Literally
04-02-09
mpg

Stocks soar on optimism for an economic recovery
This website rarely has any comments on the market, versus at least five to ten articles a day on the economy, but this little gem in the LA Times really deserves an extra special mention - mpg
A quote...."The Dow Jones industrial average climbs 216 points to close at 7,978 as investors cheer the easing of bank accounting rules and steps by G-20 policymakers to bolster [i.e. spend another trillion dollars for the IMF] the global economy."

You see folks, it was all a deluded figment of your collective over-active imaginations.  As has been repeatedly stressed recently by our glorious "leadership", everything you've been told up till now about excessive spending and borrowing beyond ones means, along with the gutting of all those security rules on Wall Street which enabled the Banksters to create over one Quadrillion dollars in unknowable, unpriceable and therefore untradeable financial instruments as being the proximate and principle cause of our current financial difficulties....was completely and totally wrong.

As it turns out, it's actually savings that are bad for the economy, that basing financial instruments on "actual value" or "real rates of return" is simply passé, that such outmoded concepts are part of the "old economy", that "fundamental" or "value investing" is only practiced by financial dinosaurs, that in the "new economy" the deeper in debt you go, the healthier your financial system will actually be.  That unlike the stripped down, minimalist Bush regime's financial regulations, in the new economy advocating any financial rules at all is now considered ludicrously simple minded, wrong headed and frankly embarrassing to everyone involved.

So go out there folks and get yourselves deeper into debt, create your very own ponzi schemes, borrow as much as you can without any collateral whatsoever, print as much dubious paper as you can possibly crank out, max out your credit cards, sell that house to three different buyers at the same time, use other people’s money as much as you can and pump, pump, pump it all into the market.  If you can, in anyway, leverage beyond the pitiful fifty percent margin (0.5 to 1) allowed for the "little people" .... you should do so.  Twenty to one, thirty to one, a hundred to one....the sky’s the limit folks, act just like the rich Banksters and you too could someday succeed as they do.  So go out there, create, fabricate, obfusticate, speculate and watch your wealth procreate.

Just remember, Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, Henry "Hank" Paulson, Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner told you to do so.

One more thing though, don't try to print your own currency; even if the Banksters and the Wall Street crowd get away with doing practically the same thing, it’s still illegal for the "little guy" to actually print money for himself.  – mpg
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South Park - Stan Marsh takes us through the mortgage crisis - (YouTube - 8 min 50 sec - March 26, 2009)
Must View Video - Related Video -- A quote...."From this week's episode of South Park, "Margaritaville," Stan Marsh and others get hit with the backlash of the credit crunch."

Eight reasons to dump Larry Summers - posted at Online Journal
Special Note - Related Article A quote...."I mentioned in my article Bankrupting the world that Tim Geithner was just the face, the voice, behind the PPPIP giveaway to America’s top commercial banks to restore what amounts to $200 trillion in their cumulative derivative debt. I can say today that it’s even more apparent that Larry Summers is the corrupt brain behind the give-away and should go."

The Righteous Rage of Dennis Kucinich
Video -- A quote...."(We reported on this very issue a couple days ago. It's just as ugly as Kucinich describes in the video.)" -- Regarding Merrill Lynch's $3.6 billion bonus payouts. - mpg

Ex-AIG chief says government bailout bid will fail
A quote...."The former head of AIG said Thursday he was not to blame for the collapse of the insurance giant and declared that government-backed plans to rescue the firm would fail. -- "All plans so far advanced by the US government to date have failed and the current plan, in my opinion, will not succeed," Maurice "Hank" Greenberg told a congressional hearing."

What is Sacrosanct for One is Shredder Material for the Other - What If Obama Had Treated Detroit Like Wall Street?
A quote...."What if the Obama administration treated the auto industry like Wall Street? -- There'd be no talk of potential bankruptcy, no firing of executives, no demands to shed failing subsidiaries, no demands for honest accounting, no insistence that creditors share some of the companies' pain. And we certainly wouldn't hear about re-writing contracts, heretofore described as sacrosanct. -- Instead, we'd be hearing about a scheme to get private sector players "now sitting on the sidelines" to invest in absorbing the auto industry's excess capacity." -- Detroit is part of "Main Street",(def. the little people) worse than that....they actually make "things" using (gasp!) live human beings, and even worse than that....(shhhhh, don't tell anyone) some of these humans are used for manual labor (def. the use of ones own physical hands to engage in work).  Shocking isn't it, when everyone knows that nowadays all you have to do to make trillions of dollars is just push a little button or shuffle some paper around.  It's just to terrible to think of how civilization ever got by without the "manufacture" of "financial instruments" before, one really wonders what people did in the old days to make a living? - mpg

Obama’s “Path to Viability for GM & Chrysler”: The ruthless language of Wall Street
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."On Monday, President Barack Obama issued a set of ultimatums to General Motors and Chrysler that represent the direct intervention of the US government to effect a brutal restructuring of the American auto industry in the interests of Wall Street."

Foreclosure Crisis Hits Warp Speed: 6 Million Families Face Losing Their Homes in the Next Three Years
A quote...."What would you do if someone foreclosed on your home? If suddenly you and all your possessions were out on the street with a bank account depleted from trying to make mammoth mortgage payments, where would you go?" -- also posted at ICH

Commercial real estate loan defaults skyrocket
A quote....WASHINGTON (AP) -- With loan defaults rising, analysts say the struggling commercial real estate industry is poised to fall into the worst crisis since the last great property bust of the early 1990s."

Moody's downgraded $1.76 trln U.S. corp debt in Q1
A quote...."NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - Corporate America's credit quality collapsed in the first quarter, with Moody's Investors Service downgrading an estimated $1.76 trillion of debt, a record high, the rating agency said on Wednesday."

Credit card charge-offs hit record high -Moody's
A quote...."NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - Credit card write-downs soared to record levels in February, representing an all-time high in the 20-year history of the Moody's Credit Card Index, as job losses mounted, the rating agency said on Wednesday."

Initial jobless claims rise to highest level since 1982
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- First-time claims for state unemployment benefits rose a seasonally adjusted 12,000 in the week ended March 28, hitting the highest level since October 1982, the Labor Department reported Thursday. "

U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rose by 12,000 to 669,000 (Update2)
A quote...."April 2 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing unemployment claims unexpectedly rose last week to the highest level since 1982 and those staying on benefit rolls jumped to a record as companies kept cutting jobs to trim costs."

U.S. Sales for Ford, Chrysler, GM Down in March
A quote...."Ford was down 40%, Chrysler down 39% and GM down 45%" [From one year ago] -- But they picked up from the month of February due to "incentives", of course that could subtract from the bottom line. - mpg

Factory orders increase first time in 7 months
Some- quotes...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Orders for U.S.-made factory goods increased 1.8% in February, the first gain after six months of large declines, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Excluding transportation goods, orders rose 1.6%. Excluding the 36% increase in defense goods, orders rose 0.9%." -- "Factory orders had fallen at least 3% in each of the previous six months. January's orders were revised sharply lower to a 3.5% decline from 1.9%"
Wednesday April 1st 2009

Darkness Renewed - Terror as a Tool of Empire
Must Read - A quote...."Here's a purely hypothetical scenario. Let's say you were a dedicated imperial militarist who believed that your country's security, prestige and financial interests could best be served by war and the ever-present threat of war. Let's say you had some really hot and juicy operations going on, endless deadly conflicts that were pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into your war machine and entrenching national policy even more deeply in the militarist philosophy – the machtpolitik – that you believe in. -- But there's a problem. The general public – the cow-like herd out there that doesn't understand grand strategy the way you and your fellow elites do – is growing weary, and wary, of your Long War. The national treasury is bankrupt, the national infrastructure is rotting, the nation's communities are dying; millions of people are out of work, losing their homes, losing their dreams, spiraling down into want, privation and despair. Yet you have big plans to escalate the war, expand your war machine, and maintain the global dominance that you believe is the right and natural role for your special nation – and its elites. What to do? How to galvanize the truculent, self-absorbed herd into enthusiastically supporting your vital agenda once more?" -- also posted at ICH

Fake Faith and Epic Crimes
Must Read - A quote...."These are extraordinary times. With the United States and Britain on the verge of bankruptcy and committing to an endless colonial war, pressure is building for their crimes to be prosecuted at a tribunal similar to that which tried the Nazis at Nuremberg. This defined rapacious invasion as "the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." International law would be mere farce, said the chief US chief prosecutor at Nuremberg, Supreme Court justice Robert Jackson, "if, in future, we do not apply its principles to ourselves." -- also posted at ICH & GlobRsrch

Sudan/Darfur is Test Case for Obama’s “Humanitarian” Aggression
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Any government in the world that believes it has been targeted for regime change by the United States and its allies would be foolish to allow western-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to operate freely in its territory. When Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir evicted 13 western NGOs from his country last month, he was responding quite rationally to the clear threat of so-called “humanitarian” military intervention by the U.S. under the pretext of “rescuing” Sudanese in the war-torn Darfur region." -- also posted at ICH & Creative-i

Banned Speech - British MP George Galloway Speaks - Alt - (Google Video - 56min :25sec- 090331) - AltAudio
Must View Video - Must Listen Audio - A quote...."Banned British MP George Galloway thanked Canada's immigration minister "for giving the anti-war movement such a tremendous boost." Galloway lashed out at Federal Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney when he was beamed into, via the Internet, a nearly full 588-seat MiST theatre at the University of Toronto Mississauga. The controversial Brit was speaking from New York City because the Canada Border Service Agency ruled he was a threat to our national security and banned him from entering the country. "What was meant as a four-city tour has turned into a national and international story. Mr. Kenney, thank-you for giving the anti-war movement such a tremendous boost with your eternal blundering," said Galloway."

Robert Fisk: Galloway a victim of Canada's baffling approach to fighting terror
A quote...."Come out and debate with me like a man," the old bruiser shouted over the video-link to Toronto. "Let's book the biggest hall in Canada and you and I will debate these issues of war and peace and freedom of speech and censorship... If we don't achieve a political settlement (in the Middle East), we're in for war. If there's no justice, there will be no peace for Palestine." -- It was, of course, the old scallywag himself, George Galloway, fuming about the Canadian Immigration Minister James Kenney's refusal to allow him to speak in Canada on the grounds that he – Galloway – was involved in "terrorism". The Scottish-born MP was talking from an important centre of "world terror" – New York City." -- also posted at ICH

Obstruction of Justice
Special Note - A quote...."U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema is scheduled to issue a ruling in the Eastern District of Virginia at the end of April in a case that will send a signal to the Muslim world and beyond whether the American judicial system has regained its independence after eight years of flagrant manipulation and intimidation by the Bush administration. Brinkema will decide whether the Palestinian activist Dr. Sami Amin Al-Arian, held for over six years in prison and under house arrest in Virginia since Sept 2, is guilty or innocent of two counts of criminal contempt."

US[-NRE] Weighs Putting 70,000 Troops in Afghanistan - Hope all you Obamatrolls are happy. - mpg
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is weighing whether to deploy 10,000 more troops to Afghanistan but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are questioning an increased commitment and seeking specific measures of progress against the deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan and Pakistan."

Leahy Bails on 'Truth Commission' Plan
Obama™ Update -- Gee, what a surprise, considering all of Obama's constant discouragement of, and adamant opposition to, any attempt to find and punish all those who supported Bush's manifest and many crimes.....including 9/11. - mpg-- A quote...."Those of you following the George W. Bush prosecution trail will be interested to know that Patrick Leahy’s “truth commission” is a no-go. I was in a meeting with Leahy and four other Vermonters on Monday when he broke the news to us." -- For more on this issue see....To Forgive and Forget -- To Deny Justice -- Never !! - 01-16-09 - mpg - and the articles shown below....

Britain's bizarre [as apposed to the US's] reaction to war crimes allegations: investigations [are] needed  posted 03-09-09
We don’t torture’ ... right now - posted 03-13-09
Ted Rall: Obama doesn’t talk like Bush; he just acts like him  - posted 03-24-09
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Rebel Sunnis Escaped Baghdad Sweep With Weapons
A quote...."An update on the mass arrest of members of the Sunni Awakening Council who launched an uprising in Baghdad’s Fadhil neighborhood reveals that as many as 25-30% of those who took part in the clashes have gone missing, apparently having escaped with their weapons."

Shahristani blasts KRG oil contracts
A quote...."PARIS, March 30 (UPI) -- Oil export contracts with the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq are in direct violation of the Iraqi Constitution, the oil minister said." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Fitzgerald & Gould: Afghanistan, a New Beginning
A quote...."The first major mistake, according to one well placed Afghan/American was Washington’s total deference to American companies whose control of the reconstruction process assured that the financial benefits accrued exclusively to foreign developers, contractors, and suppliers while leaving the local population and their leadership out of the development loop. -- Over the last 7 years much of the aid that reached Afghanistan never got to the local level where it mattered and where it did, it was snatched up by warlords, put in power by Bush administration overseers"

The secrets of Obama's [Afghan] surge
Special Note - A quote...."Is United States President Barack Obama telling it like it is as far as his new strategy for the Afghanistan and Pakistan war theater - AfPak, in Pentagonspeak - is concerned? There are reasons to believe otherwise." -- also posted at ICH

Chavez arrives in Tehran
Full quote...."The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has arrived in Tehran for a four-day visit to hold talks with Iranian officials. Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, welcomed the Venezuelan president in Tehran's Mehrabad Airport on Wednesday night, IRNA reported. During Chavez' visit to Tehran, Iran and Venezuela will launch a joint bank. The Venezuelan president will leave Tehran for Tokyo after meeting with Iranian officials "

G20 summit: European demands threaten to wreck deal
A quote...."France and Germany delivered a late threat to derail Gordon Brown’s efforts to secure a global recovery deal last night by demanding new concessions from the United States on financial regulation. -- In a classic show of eve-of-summit brinkmanship, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy joined forces to give warning that they would refuse to sign any agreement that did not meet their “red lines” on tax havens, hedge fund regulation, tracing “securitised” assets sold around the world and capping bankers’ remuneration. They also wanted the “naming and shaming” of tax havens that refused to go along with tougher regulatory rules, which is being opposed by the United States." - also posted at WarInIraq

EU in Tatters
Related Article - A quote...."Not that the Eurocrats are coming up with anything more likely to succeed. The EU is a hodge-podge of very different states with radically different governments and economies, with no parallel Europe-wide budget to allow for fast and broad stimulus measures. The US budget deficit will be 10 per cent of GDP this year and the next and the next. This is impossible for the EU, which has a 3 percent limit per country and which, unlike the US, cannot print its currency as if there was no tomorrow. -- Much of the trillions that Obama is spending is in fact seeping into Europe, adding to the steady US dollar inflow over the past half century, leaving Europe awash in dollars. For Europe to notch up the euro-printing press would be foolhardy in the extreme. The EU counts on exports as a stimulus to the economy, like Asia, something the US abandoned long ago." - also posted at OnlineJournal -- Yeah, the US-NRE prints all them Dollars and if you don't use them, a terrible "accident" could....like...uhh....happen to your whole frigging country.  Sort'a like Iraq. - mpg

The G20's Dynamic Duo of Obama and Brown
Cartoon

Beyond the dollar
Related Article - A quote...."China's proposal that the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights replace the US dollar as the world's main currency is a non-starter. But China could break an IMF prohibition by putting the yuan on the gold standard. That would be of long-term benefit to the world economy and its own citizens."

Chilean president arrives in St Petersburg as part of visit to Russia
A quote...." ST PETERSBURG, April 1 (Itar-Tass) - Chilean President Michelle Bachelet arrived in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. - Her travel to St. Petersburg opened the official visit to Russia. At Pulkovo’s airport she was welcomed by representatives of the city administration and diplomats. - Bachelet is planning to have a series of bilateral meetings and go sightseeing. On Thursday, she will have talks with St. Petersburg governor Valentina Matviyenko on prospects for cooperation." -- also posted at WarinIraq

Former Chechen rebel 'assassinated'
A quote...."Emirati authorities have detained a Russian national in connection with the killing of a former Chechen rebel leader, a police official says. - Russian media reports said Sulim Yamadayev died on Monday, two days after he was shot in a midday attack outside the seaside residential complex where he lived in Dubai."

Azerbaijan-Russia Gas Deal Plans Dims Nabucco Hopes
A quote...."Azerbaijan and Russia are close to signing a gas sales agreement, Azerbaijani and Russian news sources announced on March 30. -- In a potential blow to the US- and European Union-backed Nabucco pipeline project, Russia’s Gazprom has made an offer to its Azerbaijani counterpart to purchase Azerbaijani gas at a price comparable to European alternatives, the Russian news website Vzglyad reported."

Iran to target Europe gas market
Before the faux-news-channel zombies and air-heads go completely berserk, what the title shown above is referring to is Iran's ambitions to export gas to Europe....so calm down OK? - mpg -- A quote...."Iran wants to develop the planned 'Persian pipeline' project to transfer its gas to Europe, Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari says. --
"Iran will transfer gas to Greece and Italy through Iraq, Syria and the Mediterranean Sea," Nozari told reporters in Damascus after a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Sufiyan al-Aw." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Israel FM rules out any withdrawal from Golan
A quote...."TEL AVIV - Israel's new Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman ruled out in an interview published on Thursday any withdrawal by the Jewish state from the Golan Heights in exchange for peace with Syria."
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Seymour Hersh: Secret US Forces Carried Out Assassinations in a Dozen Countries, Including in Latin America
A quote...."Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh created a stir earlier this month when he said the Bush administration ran an “executive assassination ring” that reported directly to Vice President Dick Cheney. “Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or to the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving,” Hersh said. Seymour Hersh joins us to explain. [includes rush transcript]" -- ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More…  ||

Obama's Blackwater? Chicago Mercenary Firm Gets Millions for Private "Security" in Israel and Iraq
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."On the campaign trail, Barack Obama's advisers said he "can't rule out [and] won't rule out" using mercenary forces, like Blackwater. Now, it appears that the Obama administration has decided on its hired guns of choice: Triple Canopy, a Chicago company now based in Virginia. It may not have Blackwater's thuggish reputation, but Triple Canopy has its own bloody history in Iraq and a record of hiring mercenaries from countries with atrocious human rights records. What's more, Obama is not just using the company in Iraq, but also as a U.S.-government funded private security force in Israel/Palestine, operating out of Jerusalem."

Rove-connected judge recuses self from Minor case
A quote...."There were startling new developments on Wednesday in a case of alleged political prosecution of a Mississippi attorney. - Once-prominent attorney Paul Minor, jailed on charges of bribery, has alleged that his prosecution was politically motivated and timed to Mississippi's gubernatorial elections. He has also alleged that there was direct involvement by former Bush White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl Rove."

FBI Helps Loudoun County Sheriff With Ex-CIA Slaying
A quote...."The FBI has joined the investigation into the death of a Loudoun County man who used to be a contractor for the CIA. The FBI is helping the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office in its investigation into the death of a former CIA contractor. Agents are checking to see if William Bennett has any enemies from his CIA days, sources said. Deputies found Bennett's body in a grassy area next to Riverside Parkway early on March 22. His wife, Cynthia Bennett, was found injured nearby. She was airlifted to an area hospital, where she remains in critical condition."
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Tony Benn Stop The War Coalition (pt1) & (TB - pt2) - (YouTube - aprox 6-7 mins each - March 29, 2009)
Must View Video -- A quote...."The great Tony Benn discussing the Stop the War Coalition. Peace not violence. Excellent inspiring speech!"

Israel and the US - Does the Tail Wag the Dog? - posted at The Palestine Chronicle
Special Note - A quote...."Israel’s winter blitzkrieg into Gaza, like all its other forays against Palestinians, was made in the U.S.A. This is thanks to enormous U.S. financial support for Israel - roughly $3 billion a year - combined with unwavering political backing, even in the face of genocidal policies."

Let the world see Israel’s true, ugly face
A quote...."There is no doubt that the new Israeli government, led by Benyamin Netanyahu, honestly reflects the collective mindset of the Israeli Jewish Zionist society.  True, there are Israelis who are averse to racism and fascism, but these are unfortunately very few in numbers and their influence is almost negligible."

Israeli gunboats fire at Palestinian fishing boats
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli gunboats on Wednesday opened machinegun fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the coasts of Gaza city causing material damage but no casualties were reported. - Eyewitnesses said that a number of fishermen who were at sea at time of the incident were forced to head to the shore because of the intensified shooting."

Report: “17 Palestinians, including three children, killed in March”
A quote...."The International Solidarity For Human Rights reported that Israeli soldiers killed 17 Palestinians, including three children and one woman, in March, and kidnapped more than 280 residents."

Israel's Illegal Annexation Of East Jerusalem - posted at The Palestine Chronicle
A quote...."So says a confidential EU report revealed on March 7 by The London Guardian's Rory McCarthy. It accuses Israel "of using settlement expansion, house demolitions, discriminatory housing policies and the West Bank (Separation) barrier as a way of 'actively pursuing the illegal annexation' of East Jerusalem." More still, including restrictive permits, "closure of Palestinian institutions," and various other ways to "increase Jewish presence in" the city, "impede Palestinian urban development, and separate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank" incrementally to annex it." -- also posted at CounterCurrents & OpEdNews

Zionists: We hate you because you are evil, not because you are Jewish
A quote...."I have been under fire of late from two diametrically opposite quarters. First, the fanatical, self-worshipping Zionists who think that non-Jewish suffering should never ever be compared with Jewish suffering. -- Needless to say, this psychotic attitude stems from deep-seated convictions that a Jew is a special creature whose life is worth more than the rest of humanity. Haven’t we noticed, for example, how Israel has made "Gilad Shalit", the Israeli soldier imprisoned by Hamas, a household name all over the world, while next to nothing is mentioned about the estimated 10,000 Palestinian political and resistance prisoners languishing in Israeli dungeons and concentration camps?" -- also posted at DesertPeace

MIDEAST:  Israeli Military Cloaks Abuses
A quote..."It took the [Israeli] military investigators just half the duration of the 22-day war in Gaza to bulldoze the accounts and to dismiss completely the serious allegations made by soldiers who had themselves taken part in the fighting."

Funds needed for Tristan Anderson’s medical expenses
Action Alert - Donation Request -  A quote...."Tristan Anderson, an American citizen, was critically injured during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Ni’lin. Anderson was shot in the head with a tear gas projectile from around 60 meters by Israeli forces on 13 March 2009."

UNESCO should join cultural boycott
Action Alert - A quote...."When schools under the United Nations flag are targeted, when children are targeted, when a whole population is systematically deprived of food and water, sanitation and electricity, the various UN agencies affected should not be content with protest alone -- they should live up to their responsibility by taking action." -- For more on how to boycott Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg
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Inflationary Depression
Interview - Special Note - Peter Schiff Interviews Dr. Marc Faber -- A quote...."

Q: Are we looking at the same kinds of inflation we saw in the late '70s, or not quite as bad?

MF: My view is that, eventually, we will see a much higher inflation rate than in the '70s. In the short term, because of the collapsing asset market and increased savings rate in the US, we will see deflationary pressures. But in the long run, we'll have a much higher inflation rate. That will be negative for US bonds and equities.

Q: Not a pleasant picture. Are there any other bubbles on the horizon?

MF: Basically, we always have bubbles and investment mania in the world. Even in the 19th century, under the gold standard, from time-to-time investment manias and bubbles developed in railroads and in canals and in real estate, just to name a few. Under a fixed monetary, or gold, standard, where the quantity of money cannot be increased indefinitely; there is a natural limit to the scale of the crisis. Usually when there's a boom in one sector of the economy, you have some kind of deflation somewhere else; that was also the case in the 1970's. We had a boom in commodities, but bond prices collapsed. -- What Mr. Greenspan and Mr. Bernanke have achieved is historically quite unique. They have managed to create a bubble in everything, everywhere in the world: in real estate, equities, commodities, art, worthless collectibles; even bond prices continued to rise as interest rates fell due to the loose monetary policy. Since 2007 and 2008, everything has collapsed. But government bond prices continue to rise, and went ballistic between November 2008 and December 2008, when 10- and 30-year Treasury yields collapsed. So my view would be that this was the last bubble they managed to inflate. From here on, the government bond market will fall. In other words, the trend will be for interest rates to actually go up."
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The Quiet Coup
Must Read - The author used to work for the IMF, an institution which has done a lot of heavy lifting to maintain dollar hegemony while sucking the life blood out of many economies in the developing world, but his analysis of the US-NRE's present economic/political structure seems to be bang-on-target. - mpg -- A quote...."The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at the center of many emerging-market crises. If the IMF’s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time."-- For more on this issue see....Enforcing the Rules -- Too Little, Too Late - 02-27-09 - mpg

Obama’s Ersatz Capitalism
Special Note - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."THE Obama administration’s $500 billion or more proposal to deal with America’s ailing banks has been described by some in the financial markets as a win-win-win proposal. Actually, it is a win-win-lose proposal: the banks win, investors win — and taxpayers lose. -- Treasury hopes to get us out of the mess by replicating the flawed system that the private sector used to bring the world crashing down, with a proposal marked by overleveraging in the public sector, excessive complexity, poor incentives and a lack of transparency." - also posted at CommonDreams

In for a Penny, In for $2.98 Trillion - Paid out so far.... mpg
Special Note - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The good news on the government’s “No Banker Left Behind” program is that, according to the special inspector general’s report on Tuesday, the total handout to date is still less than 3 trillion dollars. It’s only $2.98 trillion, to be precise....." -- "The bad news is that even greater amounts of money are to be thrown down what has to be the world record for rat holes." -- also posted at CommonDreams

The Scoop on Reserve Currencies
Special Note - You've heard that the IMF is considering printing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of its own currency - called "Special Drawing Rights" or SDRs. Currently, the SDR is pegged to four currencies: the dollar, yen, euro and sterling." -- "But you probably have not heard that...."

"China's government has floated a variant of this idea, suggesting a currency based on 30 commodities along the lines of the "Bancor" proposed by John Maynard Keynes in 1944."

Congressional Committee on Financial Services: AIG Paid Full Amount to Foreign CDS Counterparties, But Demanded 70% Haircut of U.S. Counterparties -- Special Note - Obama™ Update -- In a stunning development, Representatives Frank and Bachus are alleging that AIG might have paid the full amount of credit default swap contracts to foreign counterparties, but demanded that U.S. counterparties take a haircut of up to 70%:" -- This was all part of a deal the Obama/Bush team concocted with some of the European elites during the last twelve months. - The US-NRE's elites agreed to guarantee some of their investments, and they in turn agreed to reciprocate by giving some limited support to the Dollar along with the US-NRE's colonial ambitions for the Middle East.  It's all just one big happy "(crime) family". - mpg

Blind Salmon
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."So, Alan Grayson's bill passed the House today, after a hilariously incoherent debate by the Republicans. They are determined to stand up for the right for wealthy people to loot the public treasury. - I realize that it is a fundamental tenet of their philosophy -- they really believe that wealthy people are morally superior and that when the economy sputters due to their ineptitude and greed, average working people should step up and dedicate a portion of their income to ensuring that the rich don't suffer the loss of their well deserved compensation. That's what serfs are for. - Still, it just strikes me as being a tad politically impractical, all things considered:" -- Who says?  To restate the equation --  $12.8 Trillion in loan guarantees, back stops and cash payouts for the wealthy banksters, brokers and hedge fund operators, while it's so far been $42 billion for the auto industry along with a $26 billion jobs program for the serfs.  Looks like they're doing just fine for their rich masters so far.  Of course they've got the Demos and Obama helping them out. - mpg

Watchdogs: Treasury [Still!] won't disclose bank bailout details
A quote...."WASHINGTON — The massive programs designed to rescue the nation's financial sector are operating without adequate oversight, with vague goals and limited disclosure of their details to the taxpayers who are paying for them, government watchdogs told a Senate panel Tuesday." -- also posted at RogueGov

U.S. private sector axes 742,000 jobs in March
Editor's note - unemployment is a lagging indicator. - mpg -- A quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - Job losses in the U.S. private sector accelerated in March, more than economists' expectations, according to a report by ADP Employer Services on Wednesday. -- Private employers cut jobs by a record 742,000 in March versus a 706,000 revised cut in February that was originally reported at 697,000 jobs, said ADP, which has been carrying out the survey since 2001."

Chicago PMI falls to lowest level since 1980
A quote...."A closely followed measure of Chicago-area manufacturing and commercial activity unexpectedly fell in March to its lowest reading since 1980, an industry trade group reported Tuesday."

ISM Manufacturing Index Contracts In March
A quote...."NEW YORK (AP) -- A trade group's measure of the health of the manufacturing sector contracted for the 14th straight month in March, but at a slower pace than expected and a handful of industries expect to benefit from the government's economic stimulus measures."

Construction spending falls for 5th month
A quote...."WASHINGTON - Construction spending fell for a fifth straight month in February as another big drop in home building offset a slight rebound in nonresidential construction."

Pending home sales rise in February
A quote...."WASHINGTON - An index that tracks signed contracts to purchase previously occupied homes rose in February from a record low a month earlier as U.S. buyers took advantage of deeply discounted prices and low interest rates." -- For more on the "deeply discounted prices" see....US property prices down 29pc and still falling fast

Letter to Bank of America
Must Read - Great satire - mpg -- A quote...."To whom it may concern: I have been a customer of Bank of America since October 2006. In that time I have maintained, in good faith, a checking account, a savings account, an investment account and two credit card accounts. - This letter is to inform you that I am displeased with the service I've received from BOA and will no longer be doing business with you."

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040109-040709 - links page

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