"[There is a] "very big hole" in
unfunded pension and health-care liabilities built up by a careless
political class over the years. "We at the Dallas Fed believe the total
is over $99 trillion," he said in February."
America's
Nightmare: The Obama Dystopia - Manipulation, propaganda, imagery &
PR wizardry
Must Read - Obama™ Update
- A quote...."After 8 years of the Bush-Cheney nightmare during which
we saw the wanton destruction of Afghanistan and Iraq, the
cynical negation of centuries of Law designed to protect the most
basic human rights and a foreign policy worthy of Genghis Khan, there
came along the "Great Black Hope" in the persona of Barack Obama. The
collective world consciousness turned uncritically to what was
presented as a new era for peace, change and trust in Government.
-- Never before had one witnessed such an accomplished use of
manipulation, propaganda, imagery and public relations wizardry to sell
the public a man who was to take the baton from Bush and run with it in
the race to destroy the economy, the rights of the people and help
birth a nation totally controlled by those who have always lurked in
the shadows of power. "Change" was promised and was delivered in the
form of a deepening of the already Dystopic nightmare. - Promises
were broken with no apology, the same creative legalese that infested
the Bush administration, in the form of John Yoo and Alberto Gonzalez,
was again used to deny justice to the inmates of Guantanamo, It was
used to justify more torture, more destruction of the Constitution and
more illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens." --
also posted at Uruknet & DProgram
Obama’s
Democratic Authoritarianism -- He's bad – really bad – on civil
liberties - posted at AntiWar
Must Read - Obama™ Update
- A quote...."He’s not closing Guantanamo, he’s continuing the
"preventive detention" policy of the Bush administration under a new
rubric ("prolonged detention"), he’s on board with military commissions
("reformed," of course) and the denial of habeas corpus – and last, but
certainly not least, his supporters in Congress have launched a
campaign to give him and his cabinet officials the power to close down
the Internet in the name of "national security.""
Obama
likely to keep Gitmo running
Obama™ Update - A quote...."US President Barack Obama says deciding
what to do about prisoners of great threat is the main issue on
Guantanamo's closure. -- In yet another retreat from his promises, the
US president claimed that his government should not release some
'dangerous' detainees held at the infamous detention center - an
announcement that could be interpreted into an indefinite extension to
the ominous prison's life."
Spain's
Judges Cross Borders In Rights Cases - link posted at ICH
A quote...."MADRID -- Spanish judges are boldly declaring their
authority to prosecute high-ranking government officials in the United
States, China and Israel, among other places, delighting human rights
activists but enraging officials in the countries they target and
triggering a political backlash in a nation uncomfortable acting as the
world's conscience."
Day
of the Dead
Must Read - A
quote...."by Cindy Sheehan -- I was on an airplane flying to
Orange County from Sacramento to attend the al-Awda Conference; which
is a Palestinian Right’s Conference. Al-Awda translates to “The
Returning"; when the Pilot voice filled the cabin to make an
announcement that I think went unnoticed by most of my fellow
passengers, but I heard it. -- As the plane was on the approach to John
Wayne airport, the Captain came on the intercom to remind us all to
“remember our brave troops who have died for our freedom.” Even in this
post 9-11 paranoid paradigm, if I wasn’t belted in for landing, I would
have popped out of my seat at 13D and charged up to the cockpit to let
the pilot know that my son was killed in Iraq and not one person
anywhere in this world is one iota more free because he is dead."
A
Bitter Cup of Joe: Bagman Biden's Bully-Boy Diplomacy
Must Read - A
quote...."Anyone
who lived through the howling, roaring exhalation of meaningless noise
that was the 2008 race for the Democratic nomination and still retained
some fleeting, desperate, hope against hope that Barack Obama might
represent at least some modicum of substantial change surely had that
last, microscopic flicker extinguished for good the instant they got
the news that Obama had picked Joe Biden as his running mate."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Yet
Another Bogus 'Terror' Plot -
Article also posted at ICH
A quote...."By the now, it's maddeningly familiar. A scary terrorist
plot is announced. Then it's revealed that the suspects are a hapless
bunch of ne'er-do-wells or run-of-the-mill thugs without the slightest
connection to any terrorists at all, never mind to Al Qaeda. Finally,
the last piece of the puzzle: the entire plot is revealed to have been
cooked up by a scummy government agent-provocateur."
Jihad-lite?
A quote...."This terrorism sting case from New York keeps getting
stranger. In two New York publications, the girlfriends of those
accused are stepping out to defend their men. What they're saying is
certainly enough to raise eyebrows....."
For more on the two articles
shown above see....
In
Bronx Bomb Case, Missteps Caught on Tape -
posted 05-22-09
FBI
Agent on Synagogue Case Has Questionable Record -
posted 05-22-09
Exactly
As We Predicted; Deadly NY Terror Cell Are Semi-Retarded Potheads -
posted
05-22-09
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The
Empire Is Bankrupting America
A quote...."While Barack Obama was delivering his flowery speech
justifying the indefinite imprisonment without trial of people
suspected of violating laws against terrorism, the New York Times and
Bloomberg were reporting on the financial consequences of
out-of-control federal spending."
22
Dead, Dozens Wounded in Mosul, Falluja Attacks; Sunni leaders Arrested
in Diyala
A Juan Cole round-up of events in Iraq - Monday, May 25, 2009 -- A
quote...."he NYT reports that various attacks in Mosul and Falluja
killed 22 on Sunday, including a suicide bombing targeting a US convoy
in Mosul that missed and hit a restaurant instead. As many were wounded
in the attacks as killed. There was also an assault on national police
in Mosul, and a roadside bombing that killed Iraqi troops and wounded
by-standers. In Falluja, guerrillas threw a grenade into a family home,
killing an infant and wounding family members."
U.S.
holds journalist without charges in Iraq
A quote...."Reuters cameraman Ibrahim Jassam has been held since
September. The U.S. military rejected a court order to release him,
saying he is a 'high security threat.' No evidence has been presented."
--
Well according to our new
Emperor, no evidence needs to be presented. - mpg
US
Holds Journalist Without Charges in Iraq
Related Article - A quote...."Ibrahim Jassam is the latest journalist
the US has arrested but not charged. A journalists advocacy group says
such actions hurt US standing when it speaks for press freedom and rule
of law." --
For more regarding the
two articles shown above see....US
- Killing the Messenger
Summit
Shows Iran a Regional Power - Trilateral Summit [Attendees] Agree to Eliminate
Terrorism posted at AntiWar
A quote...."Today in Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held
a trilateral summit with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and
Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The three agreed to an official
statement (available below) in which they pledged, among other things,
to work together to eliminate all terrorism in the region."
Ahmadinejad
slams presence of foreign forces in region
A quote...."TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacked the
presence of foreign forces in the region at a summit with Afghan
President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on
Sunday aimed at tackling terrorism and other security problems. The
three neighbors' first such meeting, which ended with pledges of
cooperation but without any specific measures being announced, took
place as Pakistan and Afghanistan are battling the spread of Taliban
insurgencies in their countries."
Obama
orders Gates to update plan for Iran strike
War Alert - A
quote...."American defense secretary tells NBC television president has
instructed him to refresh plans for military action against Tehran
prepared during Bush era. 'Presidents always ask their military to have
a range of contingency plans available to them,' he says."
Israeli
exercise envisions total regional war
War Alert - A
quote...."Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Israel will launch a nationwide
military readiness drill next Sunday simulating an all-out regional war
in addition to an uprising by Palestinians in the interior of the
country."
Two
million rendered refugees by fighting in Pakistan
A quote...."The Pakistan military offensive against pro-Taliban militia
in the country’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) has produced a
massive humanitarian crisis. More than one-and-a-half million people
have fled their homes during the past month—the largest number of
people to have been displaced by violence since the Rwandan genocide of
1994, reports the United Nations High Commission for Refugees."
North
Korea Conducts Nuclear Weapons Test - posted
at AntiWar
South Korea’s cabinet is holding an emergency meeting this morning
after it detected an “artificial earthquake” in North Korea, a sign
that the nation may have conducted a test explosion of an atomic
weapon. - Those fears were later confirmed by North Korea’s Central
News Agency (KCNA), which confirmed that the nation conducted its
second underground nuclear test at approximately 10:00 am Monday local
time (roughly 9 pm Sunday EST). The seismic activity detected was
similar to the October 2006 test."
Full
text: N Korea test statement
Related Article - A quote...."The following is the full-text of a
report released on Monday by the North Korean state-run Korean Central
news Agency (KCNA), confirming the country had conducted a nuclear
test."
Putin
warns outsiders over Ukraine -
posted at AntiWar
A quote...."Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned the West on Sunday not
to meddle in relations between Russia and Ukraine, according to remarks
cited by state-run news agencies. - After laying a wreath at the grave
of Anton Denikin, who fought against the Red Army after the 1917
Bolshevik Revolution and is now cast by the Kremlin as a patriot, Putin
urged journalists to read Denikin's diaries, RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass
reported. - "He has a discussion there about Big Russia and Little
Russia — Ukraine," they quoted Putin as saying. "He says that nobody
should be permitted to interfere in relations between us, they have
always been the business of Russia itself."
London
7/7 bombing investigation a “whitewash
A quote...."Families of victims of the July 7, 2005 bombings in London
have denounced a parliamentary investigation into the events as a
“whitewash”. They accuse Parliament’s Intelligence and Security
Committee (ISC), which issued a report of its investigation last week,
of covering up the failure of MI5 to stop the four suicide-bombers who
killed 52 people and injured 700."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The
Palestinians; The Right of Return and the Right of Choice
Must Read - A
quote...."Today,
May 15th marks the 61st anniversary of the Nakba, or Exile of
Palestinians from their homes, villages and farms: driven out by the
raging Jewish terrorist groups in their mission to establish the State
of Israel. 45 years also passed since the establishment of the PLO as
the Palestinian Liberation Organization dedicated to the liberation of
Palestine from Zionists. Rather than liberation and the realization of
the Right of Return, the PLO and its leaders of Arafat, Abbas and Qurai
exchange the "Right of Return" for the "Right to Manage" the Jewish
Occupation of what remained of historic Palestine, of course minus
Jerusalem, minus all the land taken for Jewish Settlements and Jewish
Roads and the Apartheid Wall and the more than 615 Israeli Security
Checkpoints. 15 years passed since the signing of Oslo and the present
Palestinian leadership continues to negotiate, failing at every step,
failing to even achieve minor relief for the millions of Palestinians,
such as the removal of one single checkpoint or allowing a dying mother
to pass through to go to a hospital. If the past is an indication of
the future, then the Diaspora Palestinians will have a long time to
wait. Perhaps the best thing they can do is to exchange the "Right of
Return" for the "Right of Choice"."
Pro-Israel
forces attempt to silence University of California Santa Barbara
professor
A quote...."On January 19 University of California Santa Barbara
sociology Professor William Robinson sent an email to students on the
roster of his Global Affairs course in which he compared the Israeli
occupation of Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto. He was subsequently brought up
on disciplinary charges by the Academic Senate of the university, as
well as subjected to harassment and persecution by pro-Israeli
elements." --
For more on this issue
see....Judeo-Christian
C/C & US
Obama
offers nothing to the Palestinians
Not true, he offers them lies,
pain, brutal oppression, endless suffering, and death. Think that's a
tad harsh? Than just keep in mind Obama's coronation as the New Roman
Empire's newest Emperor was literally bathed in blood. - mpg -- See
article shown below... -- A quote...."His three hour meeting
last week in the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin
Netanyahu made clear that President Barack Obama has no more intention
of acting as an “honest broker” to secure a settlement with the
Palestinians than his predecessor, George W. Bush." --
Article - No
Leadership From Obama. - Oh Contraire! - 12-28-08 - mpg
Israel
Steals Palestinian Heritage, History
A quote...."Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayad has made a
formal complaint to the Canadian government regarding the intention of
Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum to collaborate with the Israel
Antiquities Authority to host “Dead Sea Scrolls: Words that Changed the
World” from June 27 to January 3, 2010."
Fatah
facing deepest crisis ever
A quote...."Fatah leaders have accused Palestinian Authority (PA)
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his allies of seeking the “dismantling” and
“disintegration” of the movement in order to facilitate “the
liquidation” of the Palestinian cause."
Palestinian
internal strife drags on
A quote....""The picture in Palestine today is worthy of a surreal
masterpiece: dialogue between factions in Cairo has come to nil, though
it may well have been their last chance; there is an old government in
Gaza, usually referred to as dissolved; then there is a new government
in the West Bank, ordered by Mahmoud Abbas, which predictably piqued
Hamas and spurred, for the first time ever, opposition from within
Fatah itself," wrote Mamdouh al Sheikh in an opinion piece for the
Emirati daily Al Bayane." --
For
more on this issue see....US
Sponsored Civil Wars - Palestine
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The Swine Flu Outbreak and Other
Bio-Warfare Matters....
Queens woman becomes second confirmed swine flu death
in NYC
Tamiflu
might not work against swine flu, Government’s scientists warn
WHO:
World Should Prepare For Severe Flu Crisis
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
An Avalanche of
Claptrap
Must Read - A quote...."
Illusions pile up… They’re sure to come down sooner or later -- Like
snow at high altitudes, the central banks’ new money is piling up. As
reported last week, all the world’s major central banks have turned on
their snow machines. The US Federal Reserve has been authorized to
“print” $1.75 trillion worth of new money in order to buy Treasury
bonds. The Bank of England has its own program – worth 75 billion
pounds, so far. Even Switzerland has been printing money – so much that
its money supply, as measured by M2, is growing at 30% per year. And
two weeks ago, the European Central Bank announced that it too would
begin creating money in order to buy corporate bonds."
Early
retirement claims increase dramatically
Financial Alert - A
quote...."Instead of working longer as the economy worsens, more
Americans are calling it quits before age 66. The ramifications could
be profound for the retirees, families, government and social
institutions." --
For more on this
issue see quote and articles shown below....
"....bare
in mind the US-NRE is currently expending huge sums on various
unnecessary military operations and self-inflicted Imperial
"adventures" worldwide, is spending more on its vast, bloated,
military establishment per year than the rest of the entire world combined, is deeply in debt along with its entire
population, a population which has increased their debt load per capita, inflation
adjusted, every ten
year cycle for the past sixty years, is a population that has
reduced its savings rate recently to the point where it became
negative, is a nation that has a substantially diminished manufacturing
base and finally, is a nation now undergoing a large unavoidable
demographic shift as tens of millions of baby-boomers retire from the
workforce. --- NONE of these additional burdens existed
during the Great Depression. This does not bode well for the next
two years, or for that matter the next two decades in offering any
support for a positive outlook regarding the future of this nation’s
economy. - mpg" -- Quoted from Enforcing
the Rules -- Too Little, Too Late - 02-27-09 - mpg
California
faces its day of fiscal reckoning
A quote...."SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The day of reckoning that California
has been warned about for years has arrived. The longest recession in
generations and the defeat this week of a package of budget-balancing
ballot measures are expected to lead to state spending cuts so deep and
so painful that they could rewrite the social contract between
California and its citizens. They could also force a fundamental
rethinking of the proper role of government in the Golden State."
Row
at Royal Bank of Scotland over multimillion-pound bonuses
A quote...."Royal Bank of Scotland is under fire over new bonus schemes
for its chief executive, Stephen Hester, and other top bankers amid
concern about the performance criteria attached to multimillion-pound
awards by a bank 70% owned by the taxpayer."
Barack Obama: Son of
a Gipper
Must Read - A
quote...."The
cost of elevating appearance above substance is never worth the
price.
I said it under both the presidency of John F. Kennedy and Ronald
RayGun. I am now saying it about the presidency of Barack
Obama. We
have elected a clean, well-spoken flim-flam man who is in reality just
another house servant of the military/industrial/media complex. -- The
moral, spiritual, intellectual and aesthetic bankruptcy of our present
condition is beyond bearing. Paradoxically, it was actually more
manageable under the past administration than it is at present.
At
least we felt no complicity with Bush. The dividing line between
the
Philistine and those who knew better was bright and well defined.
Now
everything is confusing. The sad disparity between appearance and
substance in this new president is about the only thing that is
beginning to emerge with some degree of clarity."
Obama’s course is set and his presidency is
already stained the familiar blood-red -
Article also posted at ICH
Must Read - A
quote...."How long does it take a mild-mannered, anti-war, black
professor of constitutional law, trained as a community organiser on
the South Side of Chicago, to become an enthusiastic sponsor of
targeted assassinations, 'decapitation' strategies and remote-control
bombing of mud houses at the far end of the globe?"
Watching
Obama Morph Into Dick Cheney -
posted
at ICH
Must Read - A
quote...."May 21, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- - America has
lost her soul, and so has her president. A despairing country elected a
president who promised change. Americans arrived from every state to
witness in bitter cold Obama’s swearing-in ceremony. The mall was
packed in a way that it has never been for any other president. - The
people’s good will toward Obama and the expectations they had for him
were sufficient for Obama to end the gratuitous wars and enact major
reforms. But Obama has deserted the people for
[other] interests. He is relying on
his non-threatening demeanor and rhetoric to convince the people that
change is underway. - The change that we are witnessing is in Obama,
not in policies. Obama is morphing into Dick Cheney. - Obama has not
been in office four months and already a book could be written about
his broken promises." --
also posted
at CounterPunch
& DProgram
Obama Says, "There
will be NO prosecutions of anyone in Bush administration" - Alt - (YuTb
9m10s 05/20/09)
Must View Video - A
quote...."No 9/11-Type Commissions, either. **
BREAKING NEWS**- On The
Rachel Maddow Show, Michael Isikoff reports a secret meeting at the
White House today with Obama and AG Eric Holder and human rights
activists. Obama announced, emphatically, "There will be NO
prosecutions of anyone in the Bush administration" and "No 9/11-type
commission either." 5/20/09" --
For
more on this issue see....A
Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the New American Century" - 10-31-08
- mpg & Do
It for the Sake of Your Children - 04-26-09 - mpg
Enhanced
Interrogation Technique 101 – Sodomize Children in Front of Mothers
-
Article
also posted at ICH
A quote...."Seymore Hersh reported, too little fan-fare years ago, that
raping a young Iraqi boy in front of his mother was just one horrible
thing on one of these “enhanced interrogation” videos.....
He said he had seen all the Abu
Ghraib pictures. He said, ‘You haven’t begun to see evil…’ then trailed
off. He said, ‘horrible things done to children of women prisoners, as
the cameras run.’ He looked frightened.” -- *
Salon Mag*
-
posted at ICH
Must View Video -
Alt - (YouTube -
4 min -February 25, 2009) --
From the
History File - posted
Fri
Feb 27, 2009 -- A quote -- But the path back from the dark side
may lead us down some unfamiliar valleys of remorse and repugnance
before we can return to the light. We may have to face our fellow
Americans saying to us, "No, please, tell us that we did not do that,
tell us that Americans did not do that" - and we will have to explain,
somehow. This is no small thing, and not easy; this will not be
comfortable or proud; but somehow it must be done. "
Center for
Constitutional Rights Launches Website to Expose Health Professionals'
Complicity in Torture
Name them, shame them, than sue
the heck out of them!! - mpg -- A quote...."Faced with a steady
current of evidence that doctors and psychologists participated in the
torture of prisoners detained overseas, federal officials, state
licensing boards and professional associations defend their failure to
take action against those health professionals by saying that they "do
not have enough information." -- We disagree. In response, the Center
for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has launched the website for
When
Healers Harm, our campaign to hold health professionals accountable
for torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment."
Rachel
Maddow: Indefinite detention? Shame on you... President Obama
Video -
Special Note -
Alt
- (YouTube - 7 min 42 sec -
May
21, 2009) - **
BREAKING
NEWS** -
President Obama has
just declared new unconstitutional
presidential powers to hold people without charge, or the right
to see evidence against them, or a trial to determine the facts -- indefinitely, If that word is to
complicated for some of you sheeple out there, it means FOREVER.
For more on why he's doing this see....Making
Up Stories - With Torture
Obama
Is Considering Doing Something Even Bush Didn't Try: "Preventive
Detention" of People Who Will Never Get a Trial -- The New York
Times is reporting :
President Obama told human rights
advocates at the White House on Wednesday that he was mulling the need
for a “preventive detention” system that would establish a legal basis
for the United States to incarcerate terrorism suspects who are deemed
a threat to national security but cannot be tried...
What justification could their
possibly
be for refusing someone a trial? Remember, there are well-established
procedures for making sure that sensitive information which would
actually detrimental to national security if released is kept away from
the general public, such as "in camera" hearings (which is legal talk
for a hearing held "in chambers"). - also posted at
OpEdNews
--
For more on why Obama doesn't
want to give anybody involved with 9/11, or the Bush admistration, or
both, a trial, see....Making
Up Stories - With Torture
The
American Way: In Defense of George W. Bush
Must Read - A
quote...."If George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and other principals of the
previous administration were ever brought to trial for war crimes, I
would offer my services, in all sincerity, to their defense. For I
think they would have a strong case to make, one that would be of
vital, perhaps decisive importance for the future of the nation -- and
the world." --
also posted at
OpEdNews
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
US
Col. Advocates US 'Military Attacks' on 'Partisan Media' in Essay for
Neocon, Pro-Israel Group JINSA @
ICH
Special Note - A
quote...."A new report for a leading neoconservative group which pushes
a belligerent “Israel first” agenda of conquest in the Middle East
suggests that in future wars the US should make censorship of media
official policy and advocates “military attacks on the partisan media.”
-
also posted at CommonDreams
& AtheoNews
& Uruknet & Pulse
--
For more on this issue see....US
- Killing the Messenger & Judeo-Christian
C/C & US
Spain
revives US army murder case -
link
posted at ICH
Related Article - A quote...."A Spanish judge has reinstated charges
against three US soldiers over the death of a Spanish journalist in
Iraq. -- Judge Santiago Pedraz said there was new evidence to suggest
that the three soldiers were responsible for the 2003 death of
cameraman Jose Couso."
Spain
charges 3 US soldiers for killing cameraman in Iraq
Related Article - A quote...."A
Spanish judge on Thursday charged three U.S. tank crewmen for killing a
Spanish television cameraman during the invasion of Iraq. - Sergeant
Thomas Gibson, Captain Philip Wolford and Lieutenant Colonel Phil de
Camp, none of whom are now in Spain, fired a shell at the Palestine
Hotel in Baghdad on April 8, 2003, killing Telecinco cameraman Jose
Couso and Reuters' Ukrainian cameraman Taras Protsyuk."
NYT
Helps the Bushies, Again -
posted
at Consortium
News
Related Article - A quote...."The New York Times, which helped sell the
Iraq War with a bogus story about aluminum tubes for nuclear
centrifuges and withheld evidence of illegal spying on Americans for
more than a year, is again mishandling a sensitive story in a way that
panders to the Right."
John R.
MacArthur: As Hitler tightened the screws: Hypocrisy and conniving in
France
Related Article - A quote...."HAVE YOU EVER asked yourself what you
would have done if you had found yourself in Paris on June 14, 1940,
when the German army rolled into town? Collaboration so quickly became
the norm that this fundamental question — would I have run, fought,
played ball or just kept my head down? — rarely gets posed in public.
Of course, the answer would have depended largely on whether you were
Jewish, or French, or both. But whatever your origins, or your
politics, the practical and moral choices presented that day still
trouble the conscience and demand debate." --
also posted at CommonDreams
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Italian
Prosecutor: Enough Evidence for CIA Convictions
Special Note - A
quote...."FLORENCE, Italy -- The chief prosecutor in a trial related to
the U.S. "rendition" of a suspected terrorist believes there is more
than enough evidence to secure a conviction of over two dozen Americans
charged in the case despite a ruling that excludes key Italian
documents and testimony under "state secrecy" laws."
CIA
interrogation briefing list contains more errors
A quote...."WASHINGTON May 20, 2009 (AP) — New questions surfaced
Wednesday about the accuracy of a CIA document meant to settle who in
Congress knew about severe interrogation methods approvedCIA memo by
the Bush administration. - Three new errors appeared to emerge in the
CIA's matrix of 40 congressional briefings on so-called enhanced
interrogation techniques. Those techniques include waterboarding, a
form of simulated drowning, which President Barack Obama has called
torture."
The
March of Folly,
Continued By Norman Solomon
Must Read - A
quote...."To understand what’s up with President Obama as he escalates
the war in Afghanistan, there may be no better place to look than a
book published 25 years ago. “The March of Folly,” by historian Barbara
Tuchman, is a chilling assessment of how very smart people in power can
do very stupid things — how a war effort, ordered from on high, goes
from tic to repetition compulsion to obsession — and how we, with undue
deference and lethal restraint, pay our respects to the dominant moral
torpor to such an extent that mass slaughter becomes normalized in our
names. -- What happens among policymakers is a “process of
self-hypnosis,” Tuchman writes. After recounting examples from the
Trojan War to the British moves against rebellious American colonists,
she devotes the closing chapters of “The March of Folly” to the long
arc of the U.S. war in Vietnam. The parallels with the current
escalation of the war in Afghanistan are more than uncanny; they speak
of deeply rooted patterns."
U.S.
Pullout a Condition in Afghan Peace Talks
A quote...."KABUL, Afghanistan — Leaders of the Taliban and other armed
groups battling the Afghan government are talking to intermediaries
about a potential peace agreement, with initial demands focused on a
timetable for a withdrawal of American troops, according to Afghan
leaders here and in Pakistan."
Going
for Broke - Six Ways the Af-Pak War Is Expanding
A quote...."Yes, Stanley McChrystal is the general from the dark side
(and proud of it). So the recent sacking of Afghan commander General
David McKiernan after less than a year in the field and McChrystal's
appointment as the man to run the Afghan War seems to signal that the
Obama administration is going for broke. It's heading straight into
what, in the Vietnam era, was known as "the big muddy." --
also posted at AsiaTimes
Lebanon
complains to UN on Israel's alleged spying
A quote...."Lebanon said Thursday it has complained to the United
Nations about alleged spying by Israel, accusing its archenemy of
violating a 2006 truce and the country's sovereignty."
Israeli Air Force
conducts drill simulating regional war
War Alert - A
quote...."The Israeli Air Force concluded Thursday a three-day drill
which simulates a comprehensive regional war; the drill included
interception, attack aircraft, helicopters, refueling aircraft, in
addition to testing the air force system and ground force readiness."
Opposition
Blocking Two Key Roads in Tbilisi
A quote...."Opposition leaders and activists blocked the capital city’s
two key roads on both banks of Mtkvari (Kura) River in protest against,
what the opposition said was, “an illegal seizure” of cars belonging to
its activists and supporters."
Russia
says 'no' to Energy Charter, urges new agreement
A quote...."KHABAROVSK, May 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia reaffirmed on
Friday it will not ratify the existing Energy Charter and called for a
new energy agreement to ensure future global energy security. - Energy
security was among the key issues on the agenda of a Russia-EU summit
in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk on Friday."
Russia
Second Largest Arms Exporter; South America Promising Market
A quote...."Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI
latest data on global arms transfers published this week reveal that
Russia remains the second largest arms exporter in the world,
accounting for a quarter of global exports of major conventional arms."
--
Sure, with a mindless thug of a
country currently on a world wide rampage trying to steal as much oil
as it can, not to mention trying to "help"
(see article shown below) Latin America with "public safety programs"
(Hah! Is that what they're calling it nowadays?)....everyone down south
could use as much home defense as they can possibly afford. – mpg
Reinventing
Demons - The Obama administration plans a new round of ‘public safety’
programs in Latin America.
OH NO!! More School of the America's
"stuff"
coming soon to Latin American countries everywhere. And they were
doing so well while the New Roman Empire continued to be "distracted"
by its attempts to "help"
the poor little peoples of the Middle East. Now however, the New
Roman Empire has decided its going to "help"
the poor little peoples in Latin America...again. As they
say....there goes the neighborhood.....again. -- A quote...."At
an April 7 press conference, President Barack Obama’s special advisor
for the Summit of Americas Jeffrey Davidow announced the
administration’s new plan to provide U.S.-funded “public safety”
programs to other governments throughout the Western Hemisphere. U.S.
public safety programs are necessary now, Davidow said, because “Latin
America [and] the Caribbean are witnessing an increase in criminality
and are having difficulty confronting this because of judicial and
police systems that need assistance, need more training, need more
equipment.” --
For more on this
issue see....Strangers
In the Night - 10-04-06 - mpg
Brazilian
aircrafts for nationalized Aerolineas Argentinas
A quote...."The Argentine government signed Thursday a contract to
purchase twenty mid range aircrafts from Brazilian manufacturer Embraer
for recently nationalized flag carrier Aerolineas Argentinas. President
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said these will be the first new
aircrafts for Aerolineas in 16 years."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Columbia
Space Shuttle Investigation Cost $175 Million. Challenger Investigation
Cost $100 Million. 9/11 InvestigationOnly
Got $15 Million --
Special Note
- Many people have written on the 9/11 Commission's budgetary
constraints.
See
this. -
Want
to Know has a great new summary of the Commission's scandalously
inadequate budget:"
"The 9/11 commission was
originally
allotted
only $3 million. Eventually, after much begging and haggling, the
commission was given $15 million. Yet a
CNN
article lists the cost of the Lewinsky investigation at $30
million. A
Los
Angeles Times article states the cost of the Columbia space shuttle
disaster investigation was $175 million. -- How could 9/11
– the greatest disaster in American history – be given such a small
budget for investigation?
Remember, the Commissioners stated that government did everything it
could to cover up and obstruct their investigation:" -
also posted at AtheoNews
& OpEdNews
--
For more on this issue see....9/11
- Commission
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
New
York "Terror Plot" Another Government Provocateured Set-Up
A quote...."The corporate media and the authorities are having a field
day lavishing saturation coverage on the so-called New York "terror
plot" in which four men, three of them U.S. citizens, supposedly
planned to blow up a Jewish temple and shoot down military planes,
feverishly citing it as another example of why we should accept police
state measures in major cities and the targeting of American citizens
as "domestic terrorists"."
Liberty
City Case Leaves Bitter Aftertaste
Related Article - A quote...."Like the Mounties, they finally got their
men. -- And all it took was three years, three trials, and millions of
taxpayer dollars. At that price, you’d like to feel a certain
satisfaction from last week’s guilty verdict against five men from
inner-city Miami who stood accused of conspiring with al-Qaeda to
launch terrorist attacks in this country. You’d like to feel you’d seen
justice done. -- Instead, you are left with the nagging suspicion that
all you’ve seen is justice miscarried." -
More like massacred. - mpg
Federal
Agency Says It Can Search Your Home Without A Warrant
A quote...."The Federal Communications Commission has confirmed that
its own guidelines claim the right to enter and search your home
without a warrant at any time of the day or night."
Democracy
Going Dark: The Electronic Police State
A quote...."The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s budget request for
Fiscal Year 2010 reveals that America’s political police intend to
greatly expand their high-tech surveillance capabilities."
The
Days of Your Friendly Neighborhood Cop are Over
A quote...."Lately you can't find a day that goes by without watching
another violent police beating of a civilian. Our local police look
more and more like the military, and harsh treatment is becoming the
rule, instead of the exception. Here's a video of a police chase that
ends with the suspect's vehicle being overturned and the suspect being
thrown clear and lying unconscious by the side of the road. Watch the
heroic actions of the police as they take this dangerous unconscious
suspect into custody. Thankfully, five of them have been fired."
A
Moratorium on Genetically Manipulated (GMO) Foods
A quote...."The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has
just issued a call for an immediate moratorium on Genetically
Manipulated (GMO) Foods. -- In a just-released position paper on GMO
foods, the AAEM states that ‘GM foods pose a serious health risk’ and
calls for a moratorium on GMO foods. Citing several animal studies, the
AAEM concludes ‘there is more than a casual association between GMO
foods and adverse health effects’ and that ‘GM foods pose a serious
health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function,
reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health.’
The report is a devastating blow to the multibillion dollar
international agribusiness industry, most especially to Monsanto
Corporation, the world’s leading purveyor of GMO seeds and related
herbicides"
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Abbas’
New Government Broadly Rejected As “Illegal” and “Unconstitutional”
A quote...."A new transitional government was sworn in on Tuesday, May
19 by President Mahmoud Abbas to replace the previous emergency
government. This new government was immediately rejected as “illegal”
and “unconstitutional” by almost every political party—including Hamas,
Fatah, leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP),
and the Palestinian People’s Party (PPP)."
A
Misbegotten Government
A quote...."The new Palestinian Authority (PA) government which was
sworn in Ramallah Tuesday, 19 May, is another prescription for failure.
Hence, one would exaggerate little by saying that the new cabinet will
be a deformed replica of the previous government whose main task was
confined to carrying out instructions and orders from the American
“High Commissioner” in the West Bank , Gen. Keith Dyaton."
Int'l
study: Israeli control in occupied territories 'is a breach of the
prohibition of apartheid'
A quote..."The following international report concluding that Israel's
occupation of Palestinian territories "has become a colonial enterprise
which implements a system of apartheid" was sent out by journalist Ben
White. Another stinging statement from the report: "The Wall and its
infrastructure of gates and permanent checkpoints suggest a policy
permanently to divide the West Bank into racial cantons." (White's book
'Israeli
Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide', will be published this summer."
Gaza
reality videos by ANERA -
Alt - (YouTube -
1 min 44 sec -
May 15, 2009)
Video - A quote...."
Anera, American Near East Refugee
Aid, produced the first of a series of monthly videos about the current
situation in Palestine, fully produced in Gaza. - Full announcement is
available
on
their website."
Beit Ommar
farmers continue to challenge closed military zones in order to reach
their lands
A quote...."On the morning of the 16th, Palestinian farmers from Beit
Ommar village with lands in Saffa close to the illegal Israeli
settlement of Bet Ayn, defied a closed military zone order issued by
the army in order to work their lands. At around 7am, about a dozen
farmers and their families accompanied by a large group of Israeli and
international solidarity activists, went to their fields in a valley
just below Bet Ayn settlement. Farming in this valley is often
dangerous, as the villagers face harassment from settlers and the
Israeli military."
"The
next generation must continue our struggle"
Interview -- A
quote...."Rami Almeghari writing from the occupied Gaza Strip
interviews Dr. Abdullah al-Hourani, Live from Palestine, 21 May 2009 --
A quote...."Dr. Abdullah al-Hourani is a Palestinian politician and
researcher based in the Gaza Strip. He is the director of the
Gaza-based Palestinian Center for National Studies in Gaza and chairman
of the Palestinian Popular Committee for the Defense of the Right to
Return. Al-Hourani was displaced by Zionist forces, along with more
than 750,000 other Palestinians, from historical Palestine in 1948. On
the occasion of the 61st aniversary of the disposession of Palestine,
The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari interviewed Dr.
al-Hourani at his Gaza City office."
Belgian
campaign targets bank financing Israeli settlements -
Hip Hip Hooray for the Belgians!! -
Boycott Israel!! - mpg
Action Alert - A
quote...."In a remarkably short period of time, activists in Belgium
have built a strong basis for the campaign "Israel colonizes — Dexia
funds," asking the bank to divest from its subsidiary Dexia Israel
because of its financing of the expansion of illegal settlements in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Israeli settlements violate
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, prohibiting the Occupying
Power to deport or transfer parts of its civilian population into the
territory it occupies, as well as Article 53 prohibiting the
destruction of property on occupied territory. The Dexia campaign is
flourishing in Belgium and may potentially spread to other countries
where Dexia subsidiaries are based." -
For more information on how to boycott
Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. -
mpg
Hopes
and dreams on the Gaza coast
A quote...."Every day, as the sun sets on the coast of Gaza, people
make their way to the coffee shop-lined beaches and the pot-holed
streets that run parallel to its coastline. -- On the terrace of the
famed Al Deira Hotel, patrons jostle for position, sipping sweet Arabic
coffee as the sounds of legendary Arab musicians delicately waft
through the air, mingling with the aroma of flavoured tobacco."
Palestinians
to hold 2nd international literature festival in Jerusalem
A quote...."The second Palestine Festival of Literature will take place
from 23-28 May 2009, MA'an news agency said. -- Palestinians tries to
make their cultural life survive via several festivals and activities
as they have kept long-running struggle against occupation to regain
state rights and territorial unity. Annual Palestine Festival of
Literature is one of these festivals."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
US
Treasury injects $7.5 bln more into GMAC
A quote...."The US Treasury said Thursday it had injected an additional
7.5 billion dollars into cash-strapped US auto finance giant GMAC to
enable it continue providing loans to dealers and consumers."
631K
new jobless claims, total benefit rolls 6.7M
A quote...."WASHINGTON – The number of newly laid-off workers
requesting unemployment insurance dropped slightly last week after
spiking due to auto layoffs, while continuing jobless claims inched
closer to 7 million."
May
21: Leading Indicators up 1%
A quote...."The Conference Boards’ Leading Indicators Index increased
by 1% to 99.0 (2004=100) in April, which is the first increase in 7
months, following a -0.2% reduction in March. Positive contributions to
the index were stock prices, interest rate spread, the index of
consumer expectations, average weekly initial claims for unemployment
insurance (inverted), average weekly manufacturing hours, index of
supplier deliveries (vendor performance), and manufacturers’ new orders
for consumer goods and materials. The negative contributions to the
index were real money supply, building permits, and manufacturers’ new
orders for nondefense capital goods -- The Coincident Indicators
decreased by 0.2% to 101.1 (2004=100), following a decrease of 0.6% in
March."
US-Philly
Fed factory activity contracts in May
A quote...." Manufacturing in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic area
contracted in May, a regional Federal Reserve survey released on
Thursday showed. - The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its
business activity index came in at minus 22.6 in May, compared with the
analyst expectation for a reading of minus 18. - Any reading
below zero represents contraction in the sector."
US
shuts down BankUnited FSB in biggest failure this year
A quote...."Bank United FSB had assets of 12.80 billion dollars and
deposits of 8.6 billion dollars as of May 2."
Bonds
Hit by Ratings Fears -
link
posted at ICH
A quote...."Britain was warned by Standard & Poor's Ratings Service
that it may lose its coveted triple-A credit rating, triggering a drop
in U.K. bonds and sparking global fears about the consequences of
massive debts being incurred by the U.S. and other major nations as
they try to dig out from the economic crisis."
"The
Odds on the Dollar, Treas. Bonds and the U.S. Govt’s AAA Grade All
Heading for the Dumpster are Shortening"
A quote...."I've written numerous essays on the facts that the dollar
is losing its status as world reserve currency, the bubble in treasury
bonds may be ending, and the U.S. may very well lose its AAA sovereign
credit status."
World
economy in freefall
A quote...."Governments of the world's major economies announced
staggering first-quarter contractions in the past few days, as real
indicators of the economic crisis continue to worsen."
"The criminal justice system
identified and convicted some of those involved in the 1993 World Trade
Center attacks. By contrast, not one person has been prosecuted for the
9/11 attacks, although seven and a half years have gone by. Even Khalid
Sheik Mohammed, one of the masterminds of 9/11, is unlikely ever to be
convicted in US courts because he was repeatedly subjected to torture.
Significantly, the cruel and torturous methods used on detainees never
yielded enough information to capture Osama Bin Laden or his chief
deputy. So much for the claims of torture's efficacy."