Wednesday June 30th 2010

PCC-772 Cheonan: South Korean Government Admits the Deception (and then Lies About It)
Must Read - A quote...."If you wish to know why Sen. Lieberman rushed his “kill switch” bill into the senate and the House, which effectively gives the neoliberal president the ability to shut down “parts” of the internet during a global crisis (like say after another Gulf of Tonkin incident this time getting us into war with Iran?) the reason is simple… their propaganda can’t hold up to scrutiny anymore and the last remaining journalists, bloggers,  (as opposed to the MSM Pep Squad stenographers of the establishment) cost the globalists a Global Free Market Wars ”regime change” in North Korea (or at least they delayed it)" - For more on this issue see....US-False Flag Ops - The Cheonan

Guess who wants to kill the Internet?
Must Read - A quote...."It would be hard to think of anyone who has done more to undermine American freedoms than Joseph Lieberman. - Since 9/11, the Independent senator from Connecticut has introduced a raft of legislation in the name of the "global war on terror" which has steadily eroded constitutional rights. If the United States looks increasingly like a police state, Senator Lieberman has to take much of the credit for it. - On October 11, 2001, exactly one month after 9/11, Lieberman introduced S. 1534, a bill to establish a Department of Homeland Security. Since then, he has been the main mover behind such draconian legislation as the Protect America Act of 2007, the Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010, and the proposed Terrorist Expatriation Act, which would revoke the citizenship of Americans suspected of terrorism. And now the senator from Connecticut wants to kill the Internet."

Obama Calls for ‘Civilian Force’ as Large as the Military - OH OH!!! - mpg
A quote...."Speaking today at a town hall meeting, President Obama declared that the military was “overburdened’ by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, say that is among the reasons for his record military budgets as he contends with growing deficits."

Court's Dual Standards on Free Speech - posted at Consortium News
A quote...."A majority of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court seems to believe in free speech for corporations when it comes to influencing elections, but not so much for actual people trying to end wars." - also posted at ICH

FEC Attempts to Shut Down Campaign for Liberty
A quote...."The FEC has launched a pair of investigations on Campaign for Liberty. Both are meritless, but could seriously disrupt our growing program."

Was Pat Tillman Murdered by an American Sharpshooter to Shut Him up?
A quote...."Was Pat Tillman assassinated to prevent him from coming home to expose the fact that our troops have been ordered to guard, and even help produce and store the opium of Afghan warlords? Was it also because he had been corresponding with Noam Chomsky and was planning on returning to the US to help reinvigorate the anti-war movement? -- Here's what Pat Tillman knew about and wanted to talk about to the US media:"

The Tillman Story, an Expose Documentary that Goes to the Top
A quote...."When Pat Tillman gave up his professional football career to join the Army Rangers in 2002, he became an instant symbol of patriotic fervor and unflinching duty. But the truth about Pat Tillman is far more complex, and ultimately far more heroic, than the caricature. And when the government tried to turn his death into propaganda, they took on the wrong family. From her home in Northern California, Pat’s mother, Dannie Tillman, led the family’s crusade to reveal the truth beneath the mythology of their son’s life and death." -- For more on the two articles shown above see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda - Pat Tillman
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School of Terror
Must Read - A quote...."Much was made of al-Qaeda’s training camps in Afghanistan, the target of American bombers. But these were kindergartens compared with the world’s leading university of terrorism at Fort Benning in Georgia. Known until recently as the School of the Americas, it trained some 60,000 Latin American soldiers, policemen, paramilitaries and intelligence agents. Forty per cent of the Cabinet ministers who served in the genocidal regimes of Lucas Garcia, Rios Montt and Mejia Victores in Guatemala are graduates." - also posted at Uruknet

Summer in Iraq
A quote...."It would be a hell of a thing if this country, its people and its "mainstream" media could focus on more than one thing at a time, wouldn't it? Because we are still at war in Iraq, too. Soldiers are still dying there - 38 this year, seven this month - along with dozens of Iraqi service members and policemen. Hundreds of Iraqi civilians are killed and wounded every month, just like in Afghanistan, but we have somehow allowed ourselves to accept the farcical notion that things are settled enough over there that we can ignore what's going on." - also posted at Uruknet

US to blame for Afghan slaughter
A quote...."US-led forces in Afghanistan have killed many civilians in the southern province of Helmand amid public outrage over rising death tolls in the war-torn county, Afghan sources say."

Major NATO base in Afghanistan under attack
A quote...."AFP - One of the biggest NATO bases in Afghanistan came under attack Wednesday, the military alliance said, in a strike claimed by the Taliban. -- "Jalalabad airfield is under attack. I can confirm it. It is still going on, so I can't give much detail," said Lieutenant-Commander Iain Baxter, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force."

House Panel Halts Afghan Aid
A quote...."Following up on threats made by Rep. Nita Lowey (D – NY), the House Appropriations Subcommittee has announced that it is going to cut off some $4 billion of aid to the Afghan government."

Iran Plans Production of Long-Range Anti-Missile System
A quote...."Tehran, July 01, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi announced plans to start of manufacturing an indigenous long-range anti-missile system during a press conference on Wednesday."

Iran, Natural Gas, and EU Sanctions:  "Is Europe Shooting Itself in the Foot (To Russia's Benefit)?"
And also by the way, on behalf of just five million Jews living in the state of Israel.  Sometimes one is tempted to scream at the EU legislature "Get some proportionality, get your God damn priorities straight!!"  830 MILLION Europeans are to sacrifice their standard of living so five million Israelis can bomb and murder the Palestinians with impunity....to steal their land!!  Get a f-cking grip on reality guys!! - mpg -- A quote...."Any new sanctions that the EU might apply against Iran on the basis of the new guidelines must still be drafted and approved by member states, presumably before the EU foreign ministers meet again next month."

White House Low-Key on China-Pakistan Nuke Deal
A quote...."Last week’s meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in New Zealand brought statements of concern over China’s planned nuclear deal with Pakistan, but U.S. State Department officials avoided taking a strong position on the deal when pressed by reporters this week."

Al-Houthi’s group accuses the Yemeni government of bombing villages in the province of Saada
A quote...."Al-Houthi’s group said in a statement, which was delivered to Islam Times, that the Dechev military site fired four missiles at the villages of Al-Amshia without knowing the reasons and motives that led it to do so”.

An Israeli military base in Saudi Arabia?
Special Note - A quote...."Although Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf disclaimed the news reported in the Times of London according to which Saudi Arabia had opened an air corridor enabling Tsahal to attack Iran, numerous Middle East outlets have indicated that Tsahal is building a military base near Tabuk (on the Jordanian border). It is meant to serve as a support base for airborne troops. -- If this news were confirmed, it would constitute the first Israeli base on Saudi territory, with all the symbolic weight that it represents." also posted at WarInIraq -- For more on this issue see....The Kingdom of Leprosy - 10-07-08 - mpg

Israel's ongoing ethnic cleansing
A quote...."Forced expulsion, revocation of residency rights, excessive taxation, mass house demolition, recurrent land seizure and bulldozing Arab property. These are some of the main components of Israel's latest aggressive campaign to rid East Jerusalem of its Arab demographics and identity." - also posted at Uruknet

EU warns Israel over plans to raze houses in East Jerusalem
Related Article - A quote...."The European Union warned Israel Wednesday not to proceed with controversial redevelopment plans in East Jerusalem that would see the razing of at least 20 Palestinian-inhabited houses."

Lieberman slams Netanyahu over government's secret meeting with Turkey
These days one might become confused and think the headline above is referring to that AIPAC/Israeli Kenesset member, Joe Lieberman from Connecticut, but instead it's just another stupid idiot in Israel with the same name. - mpg -- A quote...."Tension within coalition as foreign minister accuses Netanyahu of undermining trust following reports PM approved clandestine talks with Turkish foreign minister." - also posted at Uruknet

Workers' strike hits Greece
A quote...."Thousands of Greek workers have staged a 24-hour strike, in protest against the government's austerity measures, bringing much of the country to a standstill."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

To end the occupation, cripple Israeli banks
Action Update - Boycott, Divest and Sanction, because it's something anyone and everyone can do. - mpg -- A quote...."The international banking sanctions campaign in New York against apartheid South Africa during the 1980s is regarded as the most effective strategy in bringing about a nonviolent end to the country's apartheid system. The campaign culminated in President FW de Klerk's announcement in February 1990, releasing Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners, and the beginning of constitutional negotiations towards a non-racial and democratic society." - For more on how to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website.

UK church boycotts Israel WB products
Action Update - Boycott, Divest and Sanction, because Israel's crimes against humanity must be stopped. - mpg -- "A UK church has unanimously voted to boycott Israeli products in a show of protest against Tel Aviv's illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank." - For more on how to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website.

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (17-23 June 2010)
Week in and week out for over sixty years....
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Explaining Derivatives, And Goldman's Dominance Thereof, In Four Simple Charts
Must Read - Charts - (click to enlarge) -- A quote...."Attached are several charts used to explain to confused politicians all they need to know about the biggest ponzi scheme market ever created (synthetic derivatives), how these derivatives are created, how the leverage attributed to just one asset can result in infinite amplification of risk, and how Goldman is in the very middle of a web which encompasses tens if not hundreds of trillions in derivative counterparty exposure with virtually every single other financial company in the world."

Dylan Ratigan: The Stock Market is Completely Manipulated and Corrupt
Video - Alt - He's right. - mpg

Relentless Equity Fund Outflows: ICI Reports Another $1.2 Billion Redeemed, 8th Straight Week Of Outflows
Market Tech Note - Chart -- A quote...."Crunchtime for mutual funds has arrived. On one hand they are getting slammed with the S&P now almost -8% YTD causing a collapse in the funds' own equity values. On the other hand, investors have now withdrawn $30 billion in cash, forcing a feedback loop where selling begets selling, and even more redemptions. Ah, the beauty of a Keynesian system falling apart. And let's not forget that fund cash levels are at all near record lows to begin with. If the market slide can not be contained, and if consumers who already have zero faith in the market retrench even more, it could be the beginning of the end for the fund industry."

Nearly 1 in 3 first-quarter home sales a foreclosure: report
A quote...."In a normal market, only 1 to 2 percent of home sales are foreclosures, so this is certainly a significant level," Rick Sharga, senior vice president at RealtyTrac, said in an interview. -- Total U.S. foreclosure sales in 2009 were up more than 1,100 percent from 2006 and more than 2,500 percent from 2005. Foreclosure sales accounted for 29 percent of all sales in 2009, up from 23 percent in 2008 and a mere 6 percent in 2007, the real estate data company said."

Britain 'might not cope with another bank emergency'
A quote...."Britain's mountain of debt could leave the country powerless to launch another rescue bid in the wake of a fresh financial crisis, the world's central bankers warned yesterday. Their "club" - the Bank of International Settlements - presented in its annual report a frightening picture of the impact of a second banking emergency on heavily indebted nations such as Britain."

Tuesday June 29th 2010

Obama’s Moral Bankruptcy Regarding Torture
Must Read - A quote...."Saturday was the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, established twelve years ago to mark the day, in 1987, when the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Punishment or Treatment came into force, but you wouldn’t have found out about it through the mainstream US media. -- No editorials or news broadcasts reminded Americans that “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture,” and that anyone responsible for authorizing torture must be prosecuted, and no one called for the prosecution of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld or their supportive colleagues and co-conspirators, including, for example, John Yoo, Jay S. Bybee and Stephen Bradbury, the authors of the Office of Legal Counsel’s “torture memos,” or other key figures in Cheney’s “War Council” that drove the policies: David Addington, Cheney’s former Chief of Staff, Alberto Gonzales, the former Attorney general, and William J. Haynes II, the Pentagon’s former Chief Counsel." - also posted at Uruknet

Birgitta Jónsdóttir – Obama’s “Death Squad” Hunting for Wikileaks Founder!
Must View Videos - BJ&AJ(1/4) - BJ&AJ(2/4) - BJ&AJ(3/4) - BJ&AJ(4/4) -- A quote...."(June 29) – Alex welcomes back to the show Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of the Icelandic Parliament representing the Citizens’ Movement, but now representing The Movement. Her district is the Reykjavík South Constituency. She is also a writer, artist, activist, web developer, designer, and a spokeswoman for the website Wikileaks."

John Pilger: There Is a War on Journalism
A quote...."It’s been a week since Rolling Stone published its article on General Stanley McChrystal that eventually led to him being fired by President Obama. Since the article came out, Rolling Stone and the reporter who broke the story, Michael Hastings, have come under attack in the mainstream media for violating the so-called "ground rules" of journalism. But the investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger says Hastings was simply doing what all true journalists need to do. [includes rush transcript]" --  ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More…  ||

London Police Attack Photographer, Claim “We Don’t Have To Have A Law” To Detain You
A quote...."A young photographer was accused of being a threat under the Terrorism Act and eventually pushed down a flight of stairs by London police after he refused to stop photographing officers and cadets during a public parade." - also posted at TIC

Journalist: Toronto Police Sexually Molested Women At G20
Video - Alt - Or, how Abu Ghraib and Bagram came to Canada....yummy.  No doubt all you Neo-Roman wacko perverts out there are getting your freak on.  Welcome all the rest of you normal folks to the world's Newest, Sickest, Most Repulsive, Roman Empire EVER.  - mpg -- A quote...."Independent journalist Amy Miller speaks to media outside the Alternative Media Centre on Harbord Ave. on Monday. Miller says that women arrested by Toronto police were threatened with rape, that numerous women were strip-searched by male officers and that one severely traumatized woman was sexually molested by police."

Barred from Jerusalem for crime of being Palestinian
It's been said "we're all Palestinians now".  Well not yet....but we're rapidly getting there. - mpg -- A quote...."....in 2008 the young Dr Abu-Khalaf became a statistic, one of a record 4,577 Palestinian residents to have their Israeli-conferred status as a resident of East Jerusalem revoked in that year and with it the right to live permanently or work in either Israel or the occupied Palestinian territories. It is this revocation which is being challenged in court on his behalf by the Israeli human rights lawyer  Leah Tsemel today, and about which he says: "Losing my residency in my country is a source of pain to me... I feel I am being asked to choose between building my career and my homeland." - also posted at Uruknet

Jury Convicts Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge of Lying About Torture
Hey!!  All you torturers out there!!  Justice WILL catch up with you one day....you can count on it!! - mpg -- A quote..."Decades after torture allegations were first leveled against former Chicago police commander Jon Burge, a federal jury has found him guilty of lying about torturing prisoners into making confessions. Burge has long been accused of overseeing the systematic torture of more than 100 African American men. Two years ago federal prosecutors finally brought charges against Burge—not for torture, but for lying about it. On Monday afternoon, after a five-week trial, Jon Burge was found guilty on all counts of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying about the abuse. He could face up to forty-five years in prison. [includes rush transcript]" --  ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More…  ||

G20 protesters speak: It was chaos, riot cops fired on women - (RTYuTb - 3 min 12 sec - June 29, 2010)
RTVideo - A quote...."Dan Dicks and Charlie Veitch, G-20 protesters just back from Toronto, give their on-the-ground view of the battles between police and those opposed to the New World Order."

Iran nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri 'flees US captors'
A quote...."A man who says he is an Iranian nuclear scientist claims to have escaped after being abducted by US agents. -- In a video shown on Iranian state TV, he says he has escaped in the US state of Virginia and is now on the run."

Russian FM: CIA assessment on Iran not new
A quote...."JERUSALEM – Russia's foreign minister is expressing little concern over U.S. claims that Iran has enough uranium to make two nuclear bombs within two years, saying the information is not new. - Speaking in Israel on Tuesday, Sergey Lavrov responded to a new CIA assessment that Iran could produce the bombs by further enriching uranium it already has. - Lavrov said the International Atomic Energy Agency has already said Iran has 2,000 kilograms of uranium enriched to a low level, enough for two bombs if further enriched." - bold by website editor

Now folks, don't you think it was a little bit disingenuous to say Iran has enough material to make two nuclear bombs? WOW, just think about it this way, there are literally DOZENS of countries throughout the world that could make tens, even hundreds of nuclear bombs, RIGHT NOW!!  (Gasp! Scream! Pant!, Pant! Pant! Thud!)  At least according to the US-NRE's rather novel theory.

All they'd have to do is just mine their uranium deposits, mill them, and enrich them.  And one, two, three, before you could say "duck and cover" they'll have dozens, if not hundreds of bombs each.  Who knew that so many countries around the world already possessed nuclear weapons?  Shouldn't we go bomb all of them right now?

Gawd Almighty, it is truly horrendous to realize just how incredibly, unbelievably, sickeningly, stupid the Neo-Romans who live in this country have to be to actually swallow all the crap issued by their government, it makes you wonder if they have ANY pride left at all. - mpg

German Defence Minister questions role of Nato in Afghanistan war
A quote...."Germany is arguing for the aims of Nato's operations in Afghanistan  to be significantly scaled down and wants the alliance to adopt criteria to ensure that it never commits itself to a similarly open-ended mission in future." - also posted at Uruknet

Taliban extend sphere of influence, expert says
A quote...." Kabul - Afghanistan's Taliban militants are expanding their influence further into regions outside their traditional power base, the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) said. -- 'Their intake from non-Pashtun ethnic groups is growing, from where the Taliban hardly recruited in the past,' AAN co-director Thomas Ruttig said. - bold by website editor - Yeah, that sort of thing will usually happen when the US-NRE casually keeps murdering Afghan civilians....it gets them really angry, you know. - mpg

Dangerous Afghan highway threatens NATO supply flow
Special Note - A quote...."MAIDAN SHAHR, Afghanistan — Under relentless siege by Taliban insurgents, the crucial road that links the country’s most important cities, Kabul and Kandahar, has become one of the most dangerous highways in Afghanistan — if not on the planet — over the past year. - Insurgents have blown up a dozen bridges, six causeways and 85 culverts, according to U.S. officials. There were nearly 300 attacks on the road in a recent five-week period, mostly on armed convoys that were carrying goods for NATO forces. The Taliban have set up checkpoints to demonstrate their control of the highway."

Fighting in Afghan city of Jalalabad
A quote...."Fighting and gunshots have erupted in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad where police and witnesses say they have heard explosions at the airport."

China, Taiwan sign trade pact linking economies
A quote...."BEIJING – A historic trade deal between China and Taiwan will ease 60 years of hostility and push their economies closer than ever, the latest sign that Beijing's strategy of wooing the self-ruled island with carrots instead of sticks is paying off."

No light, no freedom, the ghost of 1967
A quote...."Several weeks ago, the Israeli news service sent out an email broadcast, 87 US senators affirmed unquestioning support for Israel in the wake of worldwide condemnation for Israeli actions against the Freedom Flotilla. In Australia, Prime Minister Rudd, after strongly admonishing Israel for counterfeiting Australian passports for use in political assassinations was removed from office, victim of a relentless media campaign orchestrated from Tel Aviv. How does this tell us we no longer live in democracies, the US, Australia, Britain, Germany and Canada?"
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

6,800 Detainees, Including 300 Children, Currently Imprisoned By Israel
A quote...."Abdul-Nasser Farawna, a Palestinian researcher specialising in detainees’ affairs and a former detainee himself, stated that there are currently 6,800 detainees imprisoned by Israel, including 300 children, 34 women, and 213 detainees in administrative detention." - also posted at Uruknet

Israel launches arresting campaigns in Jerusalem
A quote...."Jerusalem, June 29, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli occupation forces arrested today five Jerusalemites from the town of ‘Silwan’, south of Al Aqsa Mosque."

Will The NY Times Ever Retract Michael Oren’s Falsehoods?
Presstitute Alert - There goes the NYT again, spreading her legs for AIPAC/Israel. - mpg -- A quote...."Nearly a month after publishing Israeli Ambassador [to] the US Michael Oren’s apologia for the flotilla massacre, the NY Times has yet to correct two of the most glaring lies Oren made."
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Is North Dakota the Answer?
06-29-10
mpg

Keiser Report №55: Markets! Finance! Scandal!
Must View Video - Alt - A quote...."This time Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, look at the latest scandals of invisible gorillas, virtual pay and China's hi-tech underclass. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Ellen Brown, author of "Web of Debt", [GoglBkSrch]* about 'deficit terrorism.'" - *links added

Yeah, it's confusing, on the one hand people argue you shouldn't be printing and spending because it devalues your currency and causes inflation, (the Austrian School) therefore you should cut your deficits and encourage austerity instead.  On the other hand you have Keynesians arguing that government debt isn't so bad and will help revitalize the economy.

There's a simple answer to this conundrum, they're both right and they're both wrong, how's that possible you might ask?  As Ellen Brown suggests, any analysis on deflation and inflation depends on who gets the money, how its created, how it's distributed and for what reasons.  In other words, who gets to control the money supply and therefore the entire economy.

If the wealthiest one percent control the money supply, (the Chicago School of Economics) as they have done for at least the last ninety years, they'll always encourage government debt so they can cover all their bad bets in the financial markets while also funding their various illegal wars and occupations for profit.

After all, it's a win-win situation for them, if they lose after they've doubled down again and again in the markets, or after they've started more and bigger wars, they won't have to pay the price, instead it'll be the "little people" who'll be forced to pay the butcher's bill.  This is known as "socializing losses, privatizing gains" or "heads they win, tails you lose"

Also, if the money they've created out of thin air is locked in various bank vaults to fill the holes they've created in their respective balance sheets, or leveraged into the financial markets --  or both -- hardly any of it will reach "the real economy" and the only thing these activities will accomplish is to stimulate more speculation in the financial markets while the "real economy" continues into a deflationary debt spiral.

If the money the wealthiest one percent have borrowed is taken out of their banks and made available to the "real economy" the entire banking system would promptly collapse because most of their banks' assets, especially those contained within the TBTFs, are virtually worthless.

Hence Bernanke's proposals and policies for zero capital requirements, thirty trillion dollars worth of back-stops, guarantees and pay-outs, "mark to fantasy", no real financial reform, a hands off policy regarding derivatives, the endless and highly creative varieties of "extend and pretend" programs enacted by almost every single financial institution everywhere, including Ben's multi-trillion dollar swap&hold4'eva toxic "asset" allocation programs to numerous Fed accounts and last but not least, Ben's ZIRP4'eva largess for everyone.

Eventually these massive government programs of support for the wealthiest one percent may begin to actually endanger "their" (it sure ain't ours!) fiat currency (otherwise known as a sovereign debt crisis), if that happens there will be prompt demands by them, along with their presstituting lackeys, for various deficit reduction and austerity programs, (also known as socializing losses - or - tails you lose). However, if these austerity programs begin to reduce economic demand even further, the debt spiral will most likely increase in its severity and longevity.

If Ben, out of desperation, begins to monetize the mountains of rapidly accumulating debt he and his Bankster friends have created -- and hidden -- thus actually freeing up some of this trapped currency for the "real economy", there will be a corresponding increase, possibly a massive one, in price-inflation, (also known as too much currency chasing too few goods) and probably a further erosion in the dollar's "world reserve currency status."

What a horribly tangled web our financial parasites have woven.  How can they possibly get out of their self-induced liquidity trap, what's the solution?   Well to tell you the honest truth folks, there actually isn't one.

Not for the current fractional reserve system that creates ever increasing personal and government debt per capita during each successive ten year economic/war cycle, with ever increasing interest payments and an ever increasing portion of the real economy being usurped by the non-producing, parasitic, Bankster complex along with it's co-dependent military industrial complex.

Instead we'll have to create another system.  A system that DOESN'T include the financial parasites or war mongers.   Perhaps, as Ellen Brown suggests, it will look something like North Dakota's, perhaps it will look like something else.  Only time will tell. - mpg
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China wary of currency 'drug'
Must Read - Related Article - A quote...."Paul Krugman's article "The Renminbi Runaround" in the June 24 edition of The New York Times is not only diplomatically insensitive: it also lacks economic justification. [1] The United States, with its unprecedented debt, is hardly in a position to lecture China and accuse it of bad behavior, acting in bad faith, playing games, and threaten it with trade sanctions. It is not China's house that needs to be put in order, but that of the US. -- Krugman assumes that the regime of flexible exchange rates is the nature-ordained foundation of foreign trade. It is not. It is a half-baked concoction, originally inspired by John Maynard Keynes, elevated to dogma by Milton Friedman."

Europe's not the problem
Must Read - Related Article - A quote...."For the past three months, markets have been worrying about the future of countries in the European Union, and more particularly within the zone that uses the euro. The euro has fallen consistently against the dollar and euro-denominated bond yields of southern European countries have risen to heights at which financing- budget deficits becomes painfully expensive. Yet as policy responses on both sides of the Atlantic have evolved, one thing has become clear: Europe is not the problem markets think it is, and the US economy looks much shakier than markets currently believe."

Top Republican: Raise Social Security's retirement age to 70
That's right folks, JUST GO AHEAD and vote for the Repubs, they stole your money, now YOU might just have to work till you drop....dead.  If YOU vote for these clowns you'll have only YOURSELVES to blame for what happens to you!! - mpg -- A quote...."A Republican-held Congress might look to raise the retirement age to 70, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) suggested Monday."

Banks Financing Mexico Gangs Admitted in Wells Fargo Deal
And some of you out there don't believe they were REALLY Banksters! - mpg - A quote...."Wachovia, it turns out, had made a habit of helping move money for Mexican drug smugglers. Wells Fargo & Co., which bought Wachovia in 2008, has admitted in court that its unit failed to monitor and report suspected money laundering by narcotics traffickers -- including the cash used to buy four planes that shipped a total of 22 tons of cocaine. -- The admission came in an agreement that Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia struck with federal prosecutors in March, and it sheds light on the largely undocumented role of U.S. banks in contributing to the violent drug trade that has convulsed Mexico for the past four years."  - also posted at BLN

Economic Crisis: The Next Round of Financial Slaughter - The G-20 Summit Charade
A quote...."In a November 2009 article, I forecasted that at the earliest, by the first quarter and the latest by the second quarter of 2010, the global economy would unravel. -- Since the second quarter of 2009 and more so in the first quarter of 2010, the Obama administration, the G8, the international mass media, the IMF and the World Bank, all sang the chorus that the global economy is on "the road to recovery" and "the worst is behind us". -- While, the Dow (DJIA) “recovered” from the March lows of 2009 and shot above the 10,000 mark, all major markets were manipulated to give the illusion of recovery. The gullible took it all - hook, line and sinker. -- But let me share some common sense logic."

Are The Market's Pilot Fish, The Momentum Traders, Abandoning Stocks?
Market Tech Note - A quote...."It is no secret that recently market liquidity has been horrendous: on a high-volume day like today, when intraday TRIN hit that of the Flash Crash, and closed at the fifth worst ever, there were virtually no advancers and only decliners. Yet today merely follows days in which no volume melt ups have resulted in no decliners and just advancers. This type of trading pattern has made alpha generation impossible, with those hoping to generate any "above risk free" return being forced to rely on leveraged beta plays."

TRIN Index Goes Nuts, Second Highest Since Flash Crash, Fifth Highest In Recent History
Market Tech Note - A quote...."Today's reading indicated that on the NYSE people could not get enough of selling, and in size. What is more worrisome is that in the last two months, we have seen an amplitude in the TRIN that has never occurred before: it has approached 0 (on low-volume melt up days), all the way to 12+ on 5/6 and nearly 6 today. This simply means that, as we have been claiming for a long time, there is increasingly less liquidity in the market." -- Actually it appears there's a lot of liquidity in the Market, it's just leveraged (courtesy of Ben's boys) at thirty to one, fifty to one, even a hundred to one. - mpg

No, This Is Not An Onion Headline: S&P Puts Moody's On Downgrade Review
A quote...."We are now at the point where one can only sit back and cackle as the insanity unravels. The president earlier agreed with his supervisor that the Economy is doing swell on a day when the market posted the 5th highest TRIN rating in history, the ECB is saying all is well even as Europe is about to implode, and now, S&P has just announced it has put Moody's on creditwatch negative...." - It's like watching piranhas eat each other. - mpg

Fannie-Freddie Bailout Could Cost Taxpayers $1 Trillion - Try two to three trillion. - mpg
A quote...."For American taxpayers, now on the hook for some $145 billion in housing losses connected to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, that amount could be just the tip of the iceberg."

Monday June 28th 2010

Live from Planet Norte - America's totalitarian democracy and the politics of plunder, or, life is a titty tuck and a Dodge truck -- Must Read - A quote...."June 28, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- Starting with the Homeland Security probe at Washington's Reagan Airport, arrival back in the United States resembles an alien abduction to a planet of bright lights, strange beings and incomprehensible behavior. The featureless mysophobic landscape of DC's Virginia suburbs seems to indicate that homogeneity and sterility are the native religions. Especially after spending eight months in Mexico's pungent atmosphere of funky, sensual open air markets, rotting vegetation, smoking street food grills, sweat, agave nectar and ghost orchids. -- The uniformity on Planet Norte is striking. Each person is a unit, installed in life support boxes in the suburbs and cities; all are fed, clothed by the same closed-loop corporate industrial system. Everywhere you look, inhabitants are plugged in at the brainstem to screens downloading their state approved daily consciousness updates. iPods, Blackberries, notebook computers, monitors in cubicles, and the ubiquitous TV screens in lobbies, bars, waiting rooms, even in taxicabs, mentally knead the public brain and condition its reactions to non-Americaness. Which may be defined as anything that does not come from of Washington, DC, Microsoft or Wal-Mart."

Another Failed President?
Must Read - A quote...."The Wall Street Journal/NBC Poll out today confirms that the nation that entertained such high hopes for Barack Obama has lost confidence in his capacity to lead. -- Sixty-two percent of all Americans believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction. For the first time, more Americans disapprove of Obama than approve. Fifty-seven percent would prefer someone else, rather than the member of Congress they now have."
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The Land Where Theories of Warfare Go to Die - Obama, Petraeus, and the Cult of COIN in Afghanistan
Must Read - A quote...."Less than a year ago, General David Petraeus saluted smartly and pledged his loyal support for President Obama’s decision to start withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan in July 2011. In December, when Obama decided (for the second time in 2009) to add tens of thousands of additional American forces to the war, he also slapped an 18-month deadline on the military to turn the situation around and begin handing security over to the bedraggled Afghan National Army and police. Speaking to the nation from West Point, Obama said that he’d ordered American forces to start withdrawing from Afghanistan at that time." - also posted at CommonDreams

Public Souring on the Afghanistan War
Must Read - A quote...."If you’ve lost Rory Stewart, you’ve lost the war. Rory Stewart is a young British conservative, who once walked Afghanistan and later governed the Iraqi province of Maysan in 2003-2004 under Paul Bremer’s Coalition Provisional Government. He is now a Tory Member of Parliament and a junior member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in that body. Stewart ran a charity for years while residing in Kabul. He long expressed skepticism about a troop escalation in Afghanistan, but he is now in a position to influence British Prime Minister David Cameron. "

We are Losing our Nation to Lies about the Necessity of War - (YuTb - 1min 23 sec - June 28, 2010)
Must View Video - A quote...."Speaking on the House floor, Kucinich addressed an expected vote on a $33 billion supplemental war funding bill:"

Candidate Obama 2007: Pulling troops from Iraq to be ‘first thing I do’… “You can take that to the bank”
Related Video - Alt - (YuTb - 15sec - December 01, 2009) -- Here's the liar in Chief. - mpg -- A quote...."Broken promises are a way of life in Washington, but it doesn’t get more brazen than President Obama’s lies about ending the war in Iraq– shameful enough to make candidate Obama blush."

Leon Panetta: There May Be Fewer Than 50 Al Qaeda Fighters In Afghanistan
A quote...."WASHINGTON -- Asked by ABC's Jake Tapper to estimate the number of al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan, Panetta said, "I think the estimate on the number of Al Qaeda is actually relatively small. At most, we're looking at 50 to 100, maybe less. It's in that vicinity."

The “Hitler” option in Afghanistan
A quote...."The removal of Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the US commander in Afghanistan and his replacement by Gen. David Petraeus is not, as portrayed by Obama’s political apologists, a principled defense of civilian control over the military. Nor is it, as the official line emanating from the White House would have it, a change in personnel only, not in policy."

CIA defends Iraqi killers contract
A quote...."The CIA has defended its new $100 million (£66m) contract with a notorious mercenary outfit to protect US diplomats in Afghanistan." - also posted at Uruknet

Remember Vietistan?
A quote...."Washington handpicked Hamid Karzai to become president of Afghanistan. After serving one term, beloved by few of his fellow citizens, Karzai publicly proclaimed a lack of confidence in the ability of his US benefactors to prevail against the enigmatic Taliban. He told the media he no longer trusted the US commitment - its ability to win the war and its staying power. Indeed, he has begun to talk - perhaps even negotiate - with the very entity against which the US military has engaged for a decade, suffering more than 1,000 dead and many more wounded, both physically and mentally. -- Simultaneously, to cover his bets, Karzai pretends he is grateful for Washington's generous assistance. Shocking? Never happened to us before? Hit Google and you'll find our Vietnamese Karzai." - also posted at FPIF & CommonDreams
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Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About An Israeli Attack On Iran (But Were Afraid To Ask)
Must Read - War Alert - A quote...."The Center for Strategic and International Studies' Abdullah Toucan released a detailed report comparing the mission requirements of strikes on these (and other) facilities with Israel's capabilities and concluded the mission was within Israel's grasp operationally.1  Normally we would call this report a "must read," but instead we've read it so you don't have to, as well as added some of our own research and secondary sources.  The report also examined the ballistic missile strike option and delved into some of the political and instability costs that an attack would extract (which we ignore for the purposes of this discussion).  Those sections are well worth reading, even if the political reality on the ground has changed since early 2009."

Parsing Recent Carrier Strike Group Movements
War Alert - A quote...."As with any Nimitz class carrier, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) doesn't deploy alone.  Instead she sails with a number of other support vessels composing a "Carrier Strike Group."

Massive Iranian military reinforcement near the Gulf region
War Alert - A quote...."Informed Iranian sources were quoted as saying on Monday that Tehran reinforced the presence of the army and the Revolutionary Guards near the coast of the Persian Gulf, following the U.N. decision to impose tougher sanctions, including the threat of international inspections of Iranian vessels."

Report: Turkey closes airspace to Israel military following Gaza flotilla raid
A quote...."Turkey withdrew its ambassador and canceled joint military drills with Israel in response to the deadly raid May 31 that left nine dead."

Tehran: CIA waging anti-Iran psychological warfare
A quote...."TEHRAN - Iran on Monday accused the US Central Intelligence Agency of waging psychological warfare against it through "fake reports," saying the CIA knows Tehran's nuclear programme has no military aims. -- Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast dismissed CIA director Leon Panetta's comments that Iran could have nuclear weapons ready to use by as early as 2012. -- "Such remarks fall within the framework of psychological warfare aimed at creating a negative perception about Iran's peaceful nuclear activities," Mehmanparast told state news agency IRNA."
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Former ambassadors question silence on the 'excesses' of Israel
A quote...."A former Australian ambassador to Israel has accused the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, of being silent on the ''excesses'' of Israel and questioned why her partner has been given a job by a prominent Israel lobbyist." - also posted at AlethoNews & WarInIraq

Jerusalem master plan: Expansion of Jewish enclaves across the city
A quote...."The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee is set to approve an unprecedented master plan that calls for the expansion of Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, a move largely based on construction on privately owned Arab property." - bold by website editor

Ten big media lies about Israel… a must read for everybody
A quote...."Michel Collon, a Belgian journalist and author, in his book "Israel, let's talk about it," has slammed European media over decades of "lying" to people in order to support Israel. -- Collon, in his book, has recounted "10 big lies" spread by Western media in order to "justify the existence and actions of Israel", which are concisely presented below...."
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One Year Later, Zelaya Claims Honduras Coup Was Planned by U.S. - No surprise here. - mpg
Special Note - A quote...."According to the former Honduran President, “everything indicates that the coup was planned at the Palmerola military base by the U.S. Southern Command and clumsily executed by incompetent Hondurans”

Honduran president 'fears new coup'
Related Article - Haaaa, haaaaaa, haaaaaa....it's just too funny. - mpg -- A quote...."A year after the coup that ousted Honduras' former president, Manual Zelaya's successor has expressed concerns that he too could be toppled. -- Porfirio Lobo said on Monday that he is the target of a new plot by some of the same wealthy businessmen who supported Zelaya's removal." - What should we call it?  hoisted by his own petard?  He who liveth by the sward dyeth by the sward?  Ironic justice?  Karma is a b-tch? - No doubt Hillary will be pleased. - mpg

Honduras, one year after the coup
Related Article - A quote...."Right now there are a bunch of military trucks driving around the city, full of soldiers, surrounding most of the important buildings downtown," Karla Lara tells me over the phone from the capital of Honduras, on the eve of the one-year anniversary of last year's coup d'etat. "It's pretty clear they're trying to scare people." - also posted at CommonDreams

One Year Later: Honduras Resistance Strong Despite US-Supported Coup
Related Article - A quote...."One year ago, on June 28, 2009, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was awakened by gunfire. A coup was carried out by US-trained military officers, including graduates of the infamous US Army School of the Americas (WHINSEC) in Georgia. President Zelaya was illegally taken to Costa Rica."
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One million protest against Italy's austerity cuts
A quote...."ROME – Italians marched through cities and towns yesterday in a general strike protesting an austerity budget they say bleeds workers but spares the rich."

Iceland – The Still Report - (YuTb - 8min 05sec - June 27, 2010)
Must View Video -  A quote...."Iceland's situation is dire, but the people of Iceland are tired of the bankers tricks. They are waking up to the fact that there is another way to run a country other than perpetual debt. This section will be added in "The Secret of Oz" film."

China to hold six-day military drills in South China Sea
A quote...."The Chinese Navy will hold six-day military drills in the South China Sea from Wednesday, allegedly in response to planned U.S.-South Korean exercises in the Yellow Sea, local media reported on Tuesday."

Russia starts large-scale military drills in Far East
A quote...."The Russian Armed Forces started on Tuesday large-scale Vostok-2010 military exercises in Siberia and the country's Far East, a spokesman for the Far Eastern military district said."

How Saville Got the Higher-Ups Off the Hook - The Bloody Sunday Report
A quote...."We hope it will lead to greater harmony among all the parties," declared Louis Susman, US ambassador to Britain, speaking during a visit to Northern Ireland a week after the June 15 publication of the report of Lord Saville into the massacre in Derry of 13 civil rights marchers by British paratroopers on Bloody Sunday, January 30 1972."
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Det Cord and Concrete Slab
Special Note - Contains Video - Alt - A quote...."In a recent interview with Tom Sullivan, Richard Gage asks him about Brent Blanchard’s comment that the Towers couldn’t have been demoed because there would be “miles and miles of det cord” lying around afterward.  Brent Blanchard knows all too well why this is a dishonest statement and Tom Sullivan did nothing to correct the misinformation.  Det cord is a high explosive, used in the demolition industry to link cutter charges and to simultaneously blow up various structural elements of the building being brought down.  In short, there would be no det cord lying around because the det cord itself is part of the demolition process… it blows up." - For more on this issue see....Reficultnias's 9/11 Central

The Mysterious Death of Dr David Kelly: Damning New Evidence Points to a Cover-up by Tony Blair's Government - Special Note - A quote...."Mystery: A new investigation into the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly has revealed shocking new claims of a government cover-up -- Many believe the truth about the manner of Dr Kelly’s death has never been established properly. Some even fear that the 59-year-old, the world’s leading expert in biological and chemical weapons, was murdered."

Glenn Greenwald: If it’s OK to target Americans for assassination, what’s left?
Special Note - Contains Video - Alt - Quote of the Day...."If you can justify allowing a president to kill U.S. citizens just because a criminal like Leon Pinetta promises there is secret evidence against them, then what is next?  This will not stop at our borders. One more false flag operation and they will be targeting U.S. citizens for murder here in America, right out in the open.  If criminal and immoral policies are allowed to continue unchecked, they don’t get better by themselves, they get bolder."

Ohio 6-Year-Old Turns Up on Terror Watch List
A quote...."(June 26) – The father of a 6-year-old Ohio girl who turned up on the U.S. government's terror watch list says the worst thing his daughter has ever done is probably been mean to her sister."

Illinois inmate bleeds to death as guards ignore him, offer no medication at all for weeks
A quote...."For days before he died from internal bleeding in a federal prison, Adam Montoya pleaded with guards to be taken to a doctor, pressing a panic button in his cell over and over to summon help that never came." - Hey, it would have cost to much.  Anyway the guards were probably betting on how soon he was going to die. - mpg

Ex-Chicago policeman guilty of lying about torture
A quote...."(Reuters) - A retired Chicago police commander suspected of using electric shocks, suffocation and mock executions to force suspects to confess was found guilty on Monday of lying about the brutality."

Cybersecurity Measures Will Mandate Government “ID Tokens” To Use The Internet
Web Censorship Alert - A quote...."The move to shut down and regulate the Internet under a new government-controlled system has accelerated into high gear with the announcement that the government’s cybersecurity strategy revolves around issuing Internet users with ID “tokens” without which they will not be able to visit websites, the latest salvo against web freedom which, in combination with Senator Joe Lieberman’s ‘kill switch’ bill, will serve to eviscerate the free Internet as we know it." - also posted at Mathaba

The Devil Is In The Details: DHS Monitoring Web & "Wrong" Words
Web Censorship Alert - A quote...."DHS will monitor more U.S. citizens on the Internet, the feds may have the power to pull the plug on the Web, and certain words automatically incriminate you if used in emails. It's been a busy week, eroding away at privacy. The devil in the details of censorship."

White House Preparing National Online ID Plan
Web Censorship Alert - A quote...."The Obama administration is set to propose a new system for authenticating people, organizations and infrastructure on the Web. The online authentication and identity management system would be targeted at the transactional level -- for example, when someone logs into their banking website or completes an online e-commerce purchase." - also posted at BLN

Gun Rights Must Be Honored by States, Cities, High Court Rules in 5-4 Vote
Contains Related Video - Alt - A quote...."(Bloomberg) – The U.S. Supreme Court extended the reach of the constitutional right to bear arms by saying it binds state and local governments as well as the federal government."
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Seeing It All in Toronto - Still Free, Barely Holding On
Special Note - A quote...."Synopsis:  Not all of us who are fighting in the streets here in Toronto are despondent, but a great many of us are.  I am.  We are experiencing in our neighborhoods what brown people have experienced for centuries around the world at our hands.  It has come home to roost.  I woke this morning from a dream of Kanada, and I was weeping uncontrollably.  Our children are attacked by troops openly in the streets, openly in so-called “free speech zones.”  We chant, “the world is watching,” but as we are beaten back from the neighborhoods in which we have lived for two hundred years by troops who may not even be Canadian, we see football on the TV’s.  Is anyone watching us? "

G20 Protesters Being Abducted, Bundled Into Unmarked Vans In Toronto
Multiple Videos - UnmrkdVans - LtstScens - UnmrkdPOs - PlnClthsPOs - SeatdProtstr - PolcSntchSqd -- A quote...."These videos, and many others uploaded to Youtube, clearly show police charging and attacking peaceful protesters  and journalists, while in some cases black bloc anarchists have been allowed to rampage through the city unchallenged."

Journalist Describes Being Beaten, Arrested by Canadian Police While Covering G20 Protest
A quote...."Among the hundreds of people arrested at the G20 protests in Toronto were a number of journalists. Jesse Rosenfeld is a freelance reporter who was on assignment for The Guardian newspaper of London. He is also a journalist with the Alternative Media Center. He was arrested and detained by Canadian police on Saturday evening covering a protest in front of the Novotel Hotel. [includes rush transcript]" -- ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More…  || 

Porter: When police stick to phony script
A quote...."They call it the Miami Model. -- But it could be called the Genoa model, the Pittsburgh model and, after this weekend, the Toronto model. -- It refers to police tactics used in Miami seven years ago, during the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit, and, more importantly, the protests erupting on the streets outside." - also posted at CommonDreams

Naomi Klein: The Real Crime Scene Was Inside the G20 Summit
A quote...."As thousands protested in the streets of Toronto, inside the G20 summit world leaders agreed to a controversial goal of cutting government deficits in half by 2013. We speak with journalist Naomi Klein. "What actually happened at the summit is that the global elites just stuck the bill for their drunken binge with the world’s poor, with the people that are most vulnerable," Klein says. [includes rush transcript]" --  ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More…  || 

G20 News
A compilation of articles and videos from DProgram....mpg

Another Meaningless G20 Summit Ends With No Conclusive Outcome
A quote...."People around the world question if it were possible to reach such rudimentary agreement just using telephone and advanced telecommunication means rather than wasting so much time, effort and money to organize that event."

Stephen Harper Ozymandias versus the 'thugs'
A quote...."Stephen Harper Ozymandias spent over two billion dollars on security for his useless summits, an obvious bit of self-aggrandizement, and the expense, much of it handed out corruptly to political pals, became a political issue. He thus needed to justify the massive waste, corruption and assault to civil liberties:
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

“Sheer Criminal Aggression” Israel’s Attack on Gaza Flotilla Chomsky Says “No Credible Pretext”
Must View Video -Alt (contains transcript) - Source:  representativepress -- A quote...."Hijacking boats in international waters and killing passengers is, of course, a serious crime.  The editors of the London Guardian are quite right to say that "If an armed group of Somali pirates had yesterday boarded six vessels on the high seas, killing at least 10 passengers and injuring many more, a NATO taskforce would today be heading for the Somali coast." It is worth bearing in mind that the crime is nothing new. For decades, Israel has been hijacking boats in international waters between Cyprus and Lebanon, killing or kidnapping passengers, sometimes bringing them to prisons in Israel including secret prison/torture chambers, sometimes holding them as hostages for many years."

"We like to murder Arabs. Welcome to the Muslim Holocaust"
Grim Photos - (warning) - A quote...."Horrific images and cold hard facts about the Israeli perpetuated, American financed Muslim holocaust that a large majority of Americans will never see on pseudo-news outlets like the 'Cartoon News Network' and FUX, since they are Zionist owned and operated propaganda outlets designed to fill American minds with Jewish lies and distortions to keep us supporting murderous Apartheid Israel.... and to poison our minds into thinking that celebrity news and sporting contests are actually important and deserve our unwavering attention."

Israeli army and armed settlers violently attack Palestinians in Silwan, Jerusalem
Contains Videos -- IOF/atcks - PrvtGrds - Polc@SEJ -- A quote...."Yesterday, during the clashes in Silwan, Muhannad Mahmoud al-Qawasmi, 17, was seriously injured. Muhannad was shot in his right eye from a rubber bullet by a soldier that aimed his weapon directly at him from a short distance. Muhannad was on his way to assist a medical crew that evacuated residents who were injured by inhaling tear gas."

Israel conducts different raids and incursions in Gaza
A quote...."Gaza, June 29, (Pal Telegraph) A Gazan died and three others were injured after an Israeli raid on the separating fence east of Gaza City."

7,300 Palestinians in Israeli jails
A quote...."7,300 Palestinians, including 17 legislators and two former ministers, are currently detained in about 20 Israeli prisons, a report says."

10 Jordan Valley families given 24 hours to leave homes
A quote...."Bethlehem – Ten families in the Jordan Valley were handed home demolition orders on Sunday and given 24 hours to evacuate their lands."

Response to the Israeli Cabinet’s Decision to ["]Ease["] the Siege on Gaza
A quote...."On June 17th 2010, the Israeli Cabinet decided to take steps to ease the Israeli-imposed siege on Gaza by allowing more items to enter. These items include mayonnaise, ketchup, chocolate, sweets and children’s toys, all of which have been prohibted from entering Gaza for the last 3 years. Some other items which will be allowed to enter will be going to civilian projects under the auspices of international NGOs. -- While welcoming this Israeli initiative, the fact remains that many people in Gaza are living below the poverty line and cannot afford to buy these items. 80% of the population in Gaza is dependent on the UNRWA for food staples and basic living amenities. Now in its fourth year, the siege has created a miserable and unsustainable reality for all."

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Flotilla to Gaza and Israel's Attack
A quote...."The flotilla to Gaza on 31 May 2010 surrounded by 4 frigates, 3 helicopters, 2 submarines and
20 zodiac boats belonging to the Israeli navy."

From the USS Liberty to the Mavi Marmara
A quote...."In an outstanding article entitled 'How Israeli propaganda shaped U.S. media coverage of the flotilla attack', Glenn Greenwald makes the argument that is self-evident in the title. As someone who was on the Mavi Marmara ship and interviewed frequently after the Israeli crime, I can attest to the accuracy of his findings, which are also applicable to the Canadian media and other global media outlets as well, albeit to a lesser extent." - also posted at Uruknet

Yemeni activists organize biggest local flotilla for Gaza
Flotilla News - A quote...."SANA'A, (PIC)-- A number of Islamic activists in Yemen announced the initiation of a fund-raising campaign to organize the biggest Yemeni fleet to break the siege on Gaza."

Galloway: Lifeline 4 will participate in the world's largest aid convoy to Gaza
Flotilla News - A quote...."LONDON, (PIC)-- Former British lawmaker and head of Viva Palestina George Galloway stated that his Lifeline 4 would join other convoys to form the world's largest ever aid convoy that would head for the besieged Gaza Strip in mid-September."

11 unions back campaign to boycott Israel
Action Update - Boycott, Divest and Sanction, because it works!! - mpg -- A quote...."The international campaign for boycott, sanctions and divestment against Israel is starting to gain leverage in Australia, especially since the recent killings of nine Turkish solidarity activists." - For more on how to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website.
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G20 ends in fiscal policy rift
Market Alert - A quote...."The Group of 20 summit has concluded without a major breakthrough amid signs of an economic policy rift between US President Barack Obama and other world leaders."

BIS Blasts Fed's ZIRP Policy, Warns About Negative Side Effects From Extended Low Interest Rates
Related Article - A quote...."Well, at least Ben Bernanke will never be able to conduct sworn testimony claiming nobody warned him about the adverse side-effects of ZIRP. As part of its 80th annual report, the BIS has dedicated an entire chapter to diagnosing Ben Bernanke's terminal Keynesianism, entitled: "Low interest rates: do the risks outweigh the rewards?" The openly negative, and borderline critical narrative, coming from the central banks' central bank, adds yet more fuel to the rumor that there is an open schism developing between the BIS and the Fed, with the IMF's increasingly fiat-y SDR likely to suffer as a result. Whether the BIS is planning the creation of some non-fiat currency, as some have speculated, is unknown at this point."

The Fed Has Lost It; Publishes Essay Bashing Bloggers, Tells General Public To Broadly Ignore Those Without An Econ PhD -- A quote...."Some Fed economist (with a hard-earned Ph.D mind you) named Kartik Athreya (who lasted at Citigroup as an associate Vice President for a whopping 7 months before getting sacked in 1998 only to find solace for his expiring unemployment benefits in the public sector) has written the most idiotic "research" piece to come out of the Federal Reserve since 1913, and the Fed has written a lot of idiotic research since then – after all you don't destroy 98% of the dollar's purchasing power in 97 years with non-idiotic research. But this just takes the cake."

Curve Flattening Pain Back To May Levels
Deflation Alert - A quote...."As we have long been warning, the most popular trade in rates over the past year, and the one that Morgan Stanley has gotten virtually all of their clients into, whether outright or through CMS and other contraptions, has been the bullish steepener trade. Well, things have gotten bearish and very flat in a hurry - alas, this trade has now collapsed and is now back to September 2009 levels. When one considers the gobs of leverage associated with this unwind, primarily driven by the 10 Year about to have a 2 handle as a deflationary panic suddenly grips the land, and as vigilantes make it impossible for the Fed not to push the QE 2.0 button, and the completely senseless action in the market suddenly makes a little more sense. In the meantime credit funds are losing tens of billions, and are forced to seek liquidation of other positions."

800,000 mortgages in California are 30+ days late or in foreclosure. Only 132,000 show up in the MLS. Why there will be no housing bottom for California until at least 2012. -- A quote...."The latest data on new and existing home sales shows us evidence that housing has benefited from a bear market bounce but that has now come to an end.  The drop in existing home sales was sizable but the drop in new home sales came in at a record breaking figure.  The difference here comes from the large amount of distress inventory still moving at lower prices."

Taxes coming for $1 trillion in commercial real estate. 1.2 million partnerships own over $1 trillion in CRE. Too big to fail dumping CRE debt. -- A quote...."The problems for commercial real estate are deep and significant and have the potential of stifling any sort of recovery.  Rather than looking at commercial real estate (CRE) as a reason for more stimulus or bailouts the question should examine why so many CRE locations are defaulting.  Can this be a sign that demand for goods, strip malls, condos, and other large projects are simply not in demand from a middle class that is confronting a new austerity?"

JP Morgan Responds To Financial Reform: The Poison Pill Strategy
A quote...."While the financial reform negotiation process grinds to its meaningless conclusion, the real action lies elsewhere – in Jamie Dimon’s executive suite. -- Dimon, the head of JP Morgan Chase, is apparently seeking to (a) become more global, (b) move further into emerging markets, and (c) become more like Citigroup. -- This is terrific corporate strategy – and very dangerous for the rest of us."

Bulgaria CDS Cheap As National Bank Reports Tripling In Bad And Restructured Loans
A quote...."Last Wednesday, the Bulgarian National Bank released figures for problem loans at Bulgarian banks, showing a tripling in the percentage of bad and restructured loans to 11.4% of total loans at the end of May 2010, compared with 3.66% a year earlier and 10.7% in April. This is credit negative for Bulgarian banks, as the recent increase in problem loans will further impact the banks’ net profitability, given the requirements to set aside higher provisions for such loans."  -- *Elena Panayiotou*, bank analyst

Japan's household spending falls 0.7% in May
Deflation Alert - (and it was unexpected) -- A quote...."May's decline compared with a median market forecast for a 0.5 percent rise, following a 0.7 percent annual decline in April." - bold by website editor
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Reaching too Far, Delving too Deep: The Well from Hell
A quote...."The Dwarves dug too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum... shadow and flame. — *Saruman*, The Lord of the Rings [by J.R.R. Tolken]  --  There is something primordial about BP's quest for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. It's an Icarus-like story of super-ambition; of reaching too far, delving too deep. [And being too CHEAP!!]

BP oil spill Corexit dispersants suspected in widespread crop damage
A quote...."The earlier posting referenced the adverse effects of Corexit and crude oil on plants with a link to a research document. Not too may people actually looked at the study though... So I put in the table referenced in the paper to make my point." - also posted at RogueGov

Sunday June 27th 2010

No posts. - mpg

Saturday June 26th 2010

Stupid is as Stupid Does....Again
06-26-10
mpg

Congressman Rohrabacher: Almost All House Republicans Think Iraq War Illegal, Immoral
Must View Videos - JN&AJ(1/3) - JN&AJ(2/3) - JN&AJ(3/3) - A quote...."Judge Andrew Napolitano’s new Saturday show on the Fox Business Network is set to send shock waves through the political establishment this weekend when his guest – Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher – reveals that almost all House Republicans now believe that the invasion of Iraq was not only a mistake, but also illegal and immoral."

Special editorial heads-up, regarding the illegal alien issue discussed in the videos: If Obama grants amnesty to all illegal aliens within the US-NRE by executive fiat, he'll ONLY be doing so in order to deliberately hand an issue to the other faction of the DemoRepub party in a diabolical effort to "play-off" one section of this nation's population against another.  He doesn't care how many people may get killed or injured in the process.  This is the EXACT SAME TECHNIQUE the US-NRE's parasites used when they supported almost every single terrorist group in the Middle East during the last thirty years to create their so-called "long war".  Almost all illegals are hard working, law abiding, tax paying, family oriented people who just want a better life for themselves.  The pros and cons of immigration reform will not be debated here, but for Obama and the DemoRepubs to use these immigrants in this way to distract the public from their Bankster hand-outs and illegal wars is reprehensible. - mpg

Beyond Stupidity: Another Of Israel's Useful Idiots -- Congresswoman Raises Red Flag on Hezbollah-Cartel Nexus on U.S. Border -- Special Note - Related Article - A quote...."She said "Iranian agents and members of Hezbollah" are thought to be learning Spanish in Hugo Chavez-run Venezuela before trying to obtain false documents to enter the United States as purported Mexicans. She said Hezbollah, known for its tunnel-digging skill, could be receiving drug money from cartel operations in exchange for help forging better tunnels across the U.S. border for trafficking."

Another editorial heads-up:  Perhaps FOX News and its owner, a stalwart member of the "Jewish Community" and an AIPAC/Israeli supporting, war mongering, bonafied member of this nation's parasites, Rupert Murdoch, doesn't get the hint shown in the comment above.

Just how infantile and obvious can these people be?  The piece of childishly crafted  propaganda in the article shown above is designed SOLELY to serve Israel's interests.  Israel hates Hezbollah for the two defeats Hezbollah inflicted on them during Israel's invasions of Lebanon, hates Chavez's support for Iran and finally hates Iran's defiance of their neo-colonial ambitions for the Middle East and their planned genocide of the Palestinians. 

They're perfectly willing to use Mexicans as the new "terrorist" whipping boy to play the dumb Southerners in this country off against the Hispanic community as these very same Southerners were so recently well "played" against the world's Muslim community.

Sure, it's been a fun ride.  Take the dumbest people on earth, use their tax dollars in collusion with the Saudi Royals to support every known terrorist group in the Middle East for the last thirty years, have Israel with cooperative elements in this country stage 9/11, use the murderous atavistic tendencies of the morons living here to get them to spend even more of their own tax dollars killing millions of complete strangers who did them no harm.  All in conformity with the PNAC Protocols and on behalf of Israel's and the Saudi Royals' agenda - than - to top it all off, hand thirty trillion dollars in back stops, guarantees and pay-outs to your rich Bankster friends on Wall Street to pay for that fine fling all these guys had.

Yeah, a load of laughs, what a bunch of rubes those goyum are, what fun times the parasites have had.  But it's over now, it really, truly, is over now.  Everyone knows how it was done so these guys should just cut it out.

Lets go over the numbers shall we?  Christian Caucasians, about 60 percent of the population, Hispanic Americans, about 15 to 20 percent of the population, African Americans about 10 to 15 percent of the population, Asians about 5 percent, members of the Jewish Community less than 2 percent.....

A word to the wise for those idiot members of the "Jewish Community" who continue to support the PNAC Protocols, you're beginning to look really dumb to just about everyone worldwide. Why don't you quit while your ahead?  You've got most of the money now and you've done enough damage already, or is it the fact you feel you haven't spilled enough blood yet that keeps you going?

Again to emphasize, quit while you're ahead, as many of you "chosen people" would say, "it's the right play and the smart thing to do".  - mpg

"Learned Helplessness." -- In Dire Straits, Americans Whimper Instead
Must Read - A quote...."June 25, 2010 "Information Clearing House" --  PORTLAND, OREGON--In 1967 animal researchers conducted an interesting experiment. Two sets of dogs were strapped into harnesses and subjected to a series of shocks. The dogs were placed in the same room. -- The first set of dogs was allowed to perform a task--pushing a panel with their snouts--in order to avoid the shocks. As soon as one dog mastered the shock-avoidance technique, his comrades followed suit. -- The second group, on the other hand, was placed out of reach from the panel. They couldn't stop the pain. But they watched the actions of the first set." - Stop voting for Demos or Repubs folks, you'll feel a whole lot better if you do. - mpg

Mission Accomplished: The Reagan Occupation and the Destruction of the American Middle Class
Must Read - A quote...."June 25, 2010 "Information Clearing House" --  Eighty years ago, something occurred in America that was never supposed to happen. An aristocrat came to the presidency and engineered a policy revolution that created a broad and prosperous middle class where it had not existed as such before."

Nat Hentoff: Philadelphia man indicted for using right to free speech
Must Read - (For the outrage) -- A quote...."This is a story that should be a warning to Americans, regardless of political party, because it dramatically illustrates what pre-eminent civil liberties attorney Harvey Silverglate documents in his book, "Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent" by means of the ever-increasing broad and vague federal laws that allow prosecutors to pin arguable federal crimes on any one of us, even for the most seemingly innocuous behavior." - also posted at ICH

Obama Regime Warns Turkey Must Show Commitment to West
A quote...."26/06/2010  The United States warned Turkey that it is alienating US supporters [read AIPAC/Israel] and needs to demonstrate its commitment to partnership with the West [AIPAC/Israel again]. --  The remarks by Philip Gordon, the Obama administration's top diplomat on European affairs, were a rare admonishment of a crucial NATO ally." - also posted at AlethoNews & WarInIraq

Out in the Open: The Bipartisan Neoliberal Agenda for America Goes Mainstream – Welcome to My World
A quote...."On Sept. 11th 1973, the neoliberals in Washington and the CIA helped stage a coup in Chile so they could test Milton Friedman’s economic theories on a nation-state and neoliberalism (“savage capitalism”) was born. -- They killed the elected president of the people of Chile for it. They installed a dictator for it.  They created death squads for it. The hardships and misery they created would last for decades. -- But by the business elites it was called “The Miracle of Chile”. They did it because neoliberals know that the people would never accept their IMF/World Bank type ”structural reforms” by choice, so they implement them and then they protected the corrupt system by the use of brutal and merciless force." 

Dark days for Iraq as power crisis bites
A quote...."BAGHDAD - Sameh Mohammad is pretty much your typical Baghdad housewife. She's tough, world-weary and consumed by the daily challenge of keeping her four children fed, clothed and alive in the rough Shaab district of the capital's eastern slums. She eased down on her doorstep amid the searing afternoon heat on June 22, and issued a typical Baghdad complaint:" - That's right folks, seven years after launching an ILLEGAL war based on nothing but US-NRE inspired, and paid for, intel (lies) and bombing a secular, highly industrialized, country back into the pre-industrial age....it's still pre-industrial after all the so-called "help" it has received from the US-NRE.  Anybody else out there want some "help" from the world's newest, sickest, copy of the Roman Empire? - mpg

'Israel to take over Lebanon gas by force'
A quote...."Israel has threatened to use military force to take the full control of a newly-discovered gas field partly in Lebanese waters in the Mediterranean Sea. " - also posted at WarInIraq

Iran, Russia to finalize oil deal
A quote...."An Iranian official says negotiations to finalize an oil-fields deal with Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russia's OAO Gazprom, are in final stages."

Troubled Kyrgyzstan holds poll despite warnings
A quote...."Kyrgyzstan votes on a new constitution just weeks after deadly ethnic violence with the interim government praising the high turnout. The turnout ‘rejects the myth that Kyrgyzstan is collapsing, that there is a civil war,’ says deputy interim government leader Omurbek Tekebayev."

Kyrgyzstan extends state of emergency in south
A quote...."Kyrgyzstan's interim government extended on Sunday the state of emergency in the south of the country until August 10."

Leader of Death Squads Wins Colombian Election
How many people want to bet that cocaine production and export rises massively under the leadership of Columbia's newest gang-banger and with seven new US-NRE military bases in the country? - mpg -- A quote...."Juan Manuel Santos, notorious Defense Minister in the regime of outgoing President Alvaro Uribe and closely identified with high crimes against humanity “won” the recent Presidential elections in Colombia, June 2010.  The major electronic and print media CNN, FOX News, Washington Post, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the once liberal Financial Times (FT) hailed Santos election, as a great victory for democracy.  According to the FT, “Colombia not Venezuela is (the) best model for Latin America” (FT 6/23/2010 p. 8).  Citing Santos “overwhelming” margin – he garnered 69% of the vote, the FT claimed he won a “strong mandate” (FT 6/22/2010).  In what has to be one of the most flagrant cover-ups in recent history, the media accounts exclude the most egregious facts about the elections and the profoundly authoritarian policies pursued by Santos over the past decade."

"Look Papi, There Goes Hidalgo!" - An Uprising of Bones
Special Note - A quote...."Under the martial cadence of muffled drums, the bones rolled solemnly up the elegant Paseo de Reforma atop a dozen military vehicles. Four skulls could be spotted in one large glass urn. "Look Papi, there goes Hidalgo!" a small boy pointed excitedly - one of the skulls is purported to be that of Miguel Hidalgo, the country priest who rose in rebellion in 1810 to initiate Mexico's struggle for independence from Spain, an event whose bi-centennial is being celebrated this year."

Peace campaigner, 85, classified by police as 'domestic extremist'
A quote...."For John Catt, protest has never been about chaining himself to a railing or blocking a road in an act of civil disobedience. The 85-year-old peace campaigner's far milder form of dissent typically involves turning up at a demonstration with his daughter, Linda, taking out his sketch pad and drawing the scene." - also posted at AlethoNews & WarInIraq

How many Americans are targeted for assassination?
A quote...."When The Washington Post's Dana Priest first revealed (in passing) back in January that the Obama administration had compiled a hit list of American citizens targeted for assassination, she wrote that "as of several months ago, the CIA list included three U.S. citizens."  In April, both the Post  and the NYT confirmed that the administration had specifically authorized the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki.  Today, The Washington Times' Eli Lake has an interview with Obama's top Terrorism adviser John Brennan in which Brennan strongly suggests that the number of U.S. citizens targeted for assassination could actually be "dozens":"

Obama Internet Kill Switch Plan Approved By US Senate
A quote...."A US Senate committee has approved a wide-ranging cybersecurity bill that some critics have suggested would give the US president the authority to shut down parts of the Internet during a cyberattack."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Demolishing Israel's lies about Gaza Freedom Flotilla: interview with ex-US Marine Kenneth O'Keefe
Must View Videos - Flotilla News - GFF&KoK(1/3) - GFF&KoK(2/3) - GFF&KoK(3/3) -- A quote...."Please spare a few minutes to watch the following three-part video – a recording of an interview with former US Marine Kenneth O'Keefe, to be broadcast on the BBC's "HARDtalk" programme on Monday 28 June 2010."

Think about it this way folks, during the Cuban Missile Crisis the US (now the US-NRE) blockaded Cuba in an attempt to stop ONLY the shipment of missiles to Cuba in what some would certainly characterize as an existential threat to the US.

They approached the Russian freighters in broad daylight, identified themselves, their mission, their objectives and ASKED to board the ships for inspection.  IF the ships refused to stop the US Navy was supposed to engage in a carefully proscribed series of escalations resulting in the MINIMUM use of force in order to engage SOLELY in a search of the ships.  ALL THE OTHER SHIPS NOT carrying missiles were to be let through.

Contrast this with Israel's actions.  They openly declared that they were going to ATTACK the Freedom Flotilla, they did so in the DEAD OF NIGHT using Israel's "top" commando unit, NOT the navy, they did so against a CIVILIAN passenger ship, they used lethal force either PRIOR to boarding the ship or immediately thereafter and they did so to stop ALL HUMANITARIAN aid to the CIVILIANS of Gaza as a form of collective (and therefore illegal), punishment.  As such what the Flotilla was tryiny to do could NEVER be characterized by ANYONE as an existential threat for Israel.  (Go ahead, this website editor dares anyone to characterize the delivery of humantarian aid as an is existential threat for any country, UNLESS of course, you're trying to exterminate the lawful residents.) - mpg

Let Them Eat Coriander - Gaza Starves More Slowly
Must Read - A quote...."As Israel this week declared the “easing” of the four-year blockade of Gaza, an official explained the new guiding principle: “Civilian goods for civilian people.” The severe and apparently arbitrary restrictions on foodstuffs entering the enclave – coriander bad, cinnamon good – will finally end, we are told. Gaza’s 1.5 million inhabitants will have all the coriander they want." - also posted at WarInIraq

British trade union calls for boycott
Action Update - Boycott, Divest and Sanction, because it's necessary - mpg - A quote...."One of Britain’s largest trade unions passed a motion at its annual conference in Bournemouth last week accusing Israel of lying over the Gaza flotilla incident and has called for a complete boycott of Israel and for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, it was confirmed on Thursday." - For more on how to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website.

Israeli foreign minister wants Palestinians stripped of citizenship and relocated
A quote...."NAZARETH // Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s far-right foreign minister, set out this week what he called a “blueprint for a resolution to the conflict” with the Palestinians that demands most of the country’s large Palestinian minority be stripped of citizenship and relocated outside Israel’s future borders." - also posted at CounterCurrents

Demo Against Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians in Silwan, Jerusalem
Videos - Silwan(1/3) - Silwan(2/3) - Silwan(3/3) -- A quote...."Three videos of a demonstration in Silwan Jerusalem against the ethnic cleansing by various means of Palestinians living in the city."

IOF soldiers abduct daughter of businessman, serve demolition notice
A quote...."TULKAREM, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have stormed the home of Palestinian businessman Ali Al-Dadu in Tulkarem city and kidnapped his daughter Yasmin after confiscating a number of personal computers in the house." - also posted at AlethoNews & WarInIraq

Israeli's Cheer Beheading of Little Girl
Contains Video - A quote...."Jim Dean at Heritage TV in Atlanta sent me this one. I couldn’t help but put it up. I look on this as a test, if you are comfortable with this person and how they think then, well, you are showing a tremendous amount of moral flexibility. We call people like her sociopaths."

Ask Israel to stop using live amunition against Gaza's buffer zone protesters
A quote...."The catastrophic Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which left 9 dead, has rightly horrified the international community. However, lethal force by the Israeli military is nothing new to Palestinians. In the Gaza ‘buffer zone’, live ammunition is routinely used against unarmed demonstrators and farmers."

Egypt barring Gaza aid ship from Suez Canal
Special Note - Flotilla News - A quote...."27 June 2010 TEHRAN - The Iranian Red Crescent said on Sunday that in addition to restrictions imposed by Israel, Egypt had barred a Gaza-bound aid ship from entering the Suez Canal, leading to the trip being postponed." - also posted at KhaleejTimes & ManarTV - So much for the neutrality of the Suez Canal.  This is dangerous folks, if Egypt can bar this ship they can bar any others at the behest of the Israelis. - mpg
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Tarpley: 'Obama's plans are hogwash'
Must View Video - (RTYuTb - 7min 21 sec - June 18, 2010) - Source:  RTAmerica -- A quote...."As demonstrators get ready to descend upon the G-20 Summit to protest against the establishment, the heads of state might be getting ready to protest each other. At the forefront of the conference is the United States and China, clashing already over possible money manipulation. Webster Tarpley says that President Obama's administration is sabotaging Blanche Lincoln's bill in congress that bans derivatives." - For more on this issue see....The First Salvos of the Currency Wars - 05-07-10

Celente: The US is run by Wall Street
Must Video Video - (GCYuTb - 7 min 12 sec - June 25, 2010) - Source:  GeraldCelenteChannel -- A quote...."Go to http://geraldcelentechannel.blogspot.com for more recent Gerald Celente Interviews that you have been missing...."

Is the Fed Too Big To Fail?
Must Read - A quote...."The mark of political sovereignty is legal immunity from failure. For example, the government of the United States cannot be sued without its consent. It is above the law. It must consent to expose itself to the possibility of failure in a court. -- In school, we are taught about an ancient idea that is long out of favor: the divine right of kings. What did it mean? I think most people would find it difficult to say. It meant that there was no earthly court of appeal above the king. The king's judicial word was law, because no higher authority could lawfully overturn his word. -- The two revolutions of the seventeenth century brought that doctrine to an end in England and the colonies. First Cromwell (1649), then Parliament (1688) removed kings from their thrones."

Press TV-On the edge with max Keiser-06-25-2010 (Part 1) - (Part 2) - (Part 3)
Video Interview - MK&MH(1/3) - MK&MH(2/3) - MK&MH(3/3) -- Max Keiser interviews Dr. Michael Hudson of MichaelHudson.com and author of "Super imperialism: the economic strategy of American empire", [GoglBkSrch]* -- A quote...."Max Keiser is on the edge of the financial news where future financial scandals, market crashes and monetary crisis begin, be there before it happens." - *links added

Greece starts putting island land up for sale to save economy
Related Article - A quote...."There's little that shouts "seriously rich" as much as a little island in the sun to call your own. For Sir Richard Branson it is Neckar in the Caribbean, the billionaire Barclay brothers prefer Brecqhou in the Channel Islands, while Aristotle Onassis married Jackie Kennedy on Skorpios, his Greek hideway. - Now Greece is making it easier for the rich and famous to fulfill their dreams by preparing to sell, or offering long-term leases on, some of its 6,000 sunkissed islands in a desperate attempt to repay its mountainous debts."

As 1.3 Million Americans Are About To Lose Their Jobless Benefits This Week, The Unemployment Rate Will Surge To 10.5% -- A quote...."As we reported  on Friday, a critical bill that was unable to pass this past week was the extension of unemployment benefits to millions of Americans currently collecting a $1,200 average monthly stipend from the US government for sitting on their couch and not paying their mortgage. As a result of this huge hit to endless governmental spending of future unearned money, the WSJ reports that "a total of 1.3 million unemployed Americans will have lost their assistance by the end of this week." Furthermore, the cumulative number of people whose extended benefits are set to run out absent this extension, will reach 2 million in two weeks, and continue rising: "

Presenting The Key H2 Milestones To Observe As The Economy Begins Its Next Pre-Stimulus Contraction Cycle
A quote...."Goldman's Andrew Tilton has laid out a useful framework of the most relevant factors to keep an eye on as the double dip unfolds in its entirety. While Goldman's bias is traditionally bullish, we are confident that as more and more economic indicators surprise to the downside (and June so far has been an unmitigated disaster - we will post Goldman's macroeconomic "surprise" tracker as soon as the latest version is released - it will be a bloodbath), which will eventually pull H2 GDP far below the administration's expectations for a number well north of 2%, and even Goldman's more tame forecast of 1.5%."

BP's Blowout Preventer is Leaning and Might Fall Over
Special Note - A quote...."As I have previously noted, it is now clear that there is damage to BP's well beneath the sea floor."

Supermarkets selling meat from animals fed GM crops
A quote...."Supermarkets across Britain are routinely selling food from animals reared on genetically modified crops without having to declare it on labelling, it can be disclosed."

Friday June 25th 2010

No posts. - mpg

Thursday June 24th 2010

Offically FUBAR
Must Read - Quote of the Day...."By Cindy Sheehan - June 24, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- Five months shy of two years ago, many of you went to the polls and voted for Obama because you were from mildly disappointed to wildly angry at the Bush administration. I get that emotion—I do. But even I realized that Bush was not THE problem, but only A problem. The real problem is the system that keeps killing our children and the children of other nations and cultures. It has been doing it from the beginning of our time and it will be doing it until our end if we don’t recognize that an Empire exists to feed on others to enrich, empower and give itself health. We cannot be a healthy society when we live in an Empire—no matter who sits on the throne."

Representative Grayson: 85% of Congress funding endless US wars during US economic crisis
Contains A Must View Video - Alt - A quote...."The following 8-minute video by Dylan Ratigan of Congressman Alan Grayson is a brilliant discussion contrasting US “investment” of taxpayer money on endless and unlawful wars versus the dire condition requiring policy in the US economy."

Obama Disavows July 2011 Afghan Drawdown Date - NO ONE should be surprised. - mpg
A quote...."Though it is hard to imagine that eight and a half years in anything the Obama Administration could do with regards to the Afghan War would constitute a “hasty exit,” President Obama attempted to reassure again today that this would not happen, in comments which formally disavowed the July 2011 drawdown date he set himself in December."

McCain says more troops may be needed - Ditto. - mpg
A quote...."McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that it may be necessary to increase troop levels as other countries default on their commitments to send forces into Afghanistan."

Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny?
A quote...."When Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920s, leading up to his taking power in the 1930s, he deliberately sought to activate people who did not normally pay much attention to politics." - also posted at DProgram

48% See Government Today As A Threat to Individual Rights
A quote...."Nearly half of American Adults see the government today as a threat to individual rights rather than a protector of those rights."

Green Party blocked from Texas ballot
Related Article - A quote...."AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry's close friend and former chief of staff tried to help Green Party candidates get on the general election ballot this fall as part of a larger effort by outside groups that state District Judge John Dietz declared “an unauthorized, illegal contribution” Thursday."

The Official 9/11 Story … Accept Without Question
Video - Alt - (YuTb - 8min 17sec - June 24, 2010) - Source: Pupaganda -- A quote...."(Pupaganda) – In the United States today, true investigational journalism is rare. Much of the news circulated by mainstream media is only a presentation of information handed down from the government. Major media functions as a gatekeeper of information, creating consensus among Americans on an array of topics including the popularly held beliefs about September 11, 2001. An atmosphere has been created where questioning the official explanation or asking for a reinvestigation is seen as blasphemy." - For more on how this country acts in regards to 9/11 see....Acting Guilty - 12-01-09 - mpg

'Mossad hit men targeted Erdogan'
Special Note - A quote...."The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has failed in an attempt to assassinate Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a Jordanian weekly says."

Mistah McChrystal - he dead
Must Read - A quote...."When it comes to American wars, history has a kinky habit of repeating itself as farce over and over again. So now the Pentagon has been plunged into turmoil because General Stanley McChrystal, former United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization commander in Afghanistan, was featured unplugged in a Rolling Stone magazine interview. -- Those were the days when the Washington Post used to bring down a president (now the Post, as well as The New York Times, prefer war, on Iraq, on AfPak, on Iran). Gonzo master Hunter S Thompson anyway must be celebrating with heavenly tequila shots in his wild and crazy tomb; Rolling Stone after all managed to bring down a general - to the sound of The End by The Doors."

McChrystal 'sacked for intelligence leak'
Related Article - A quote...."Kabul circles say the dismissal of US commander was over leaking information including NATO's connection with the executed leader of the Jundallah terrorist group, Abdolmalek Rigi." - also posted at WarInIraq

McChrystal’s Ouster May Embolden Pakistan’s Diplomatic Efforts
Related Article - A quote...."Already courting Afghan President Hamid Karzai with offers to help broker a “power-sharing” deal with militant groups along their mutual border, Pakistan is expected to be further emboldened in their effort by the ouster of General Stanley McChrystal."

Kyrgyzstan: Picking Up the Pieces
A quote...."Kill the victim and go to his funeral. Is NATO poised to move into the heart of Central Asia, even as its war in Afghanistan implodes, marvels Eric Walberg --  Kyrgyzstan joined the rank of failed states this month: its central government lacks legitimacy and depends heavily on external aid, with the US base looming large, while the people are largely destitute, harassed by local thugs and drug barons, and looking to Moscow for a way out."

Post-Soviet security bloc's working group heads to Kyrgyzstan
A quote...."The head of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and its working group will head to Kyrgyzstan on Friday to assess the situation there, the post-Soviet security bloc said."

Canadian officials under sway: Spy chief
A quote...."Canada's top intelligence official has revealed that some cabinet ministers from two provinces are being influenced by foreign governments." - also posted at AlethoNews

Venezuela Takes Oil Rigs Owned by US Company
Oil rigs are fine (with just compensation), but if Chavez keeps going the way he's going, he's going to destroy Venezuela's economy. - mpg -- A quote...."CARACAS – Venezuela’s government plans to nationalize 11 oil drilling rigs owned by Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Helmerich & Payne in the latest takeover by the government of Hugo Chavez in a string of nationalizations in all sectors of the beleaguered economy as Chavez seeks to remake the country into Communist nation."

Police raid Belgian Catholic hierarchy in child sex probe
A quote...."Police raided Belgium's Catholic Church HQ on Thursday and seized computer files at the home of its top cardinal over the last 20 years amid fresh accusations of child sex abuse by priests."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Gaza Flotilla - Facts vs Israel Fiction - (YouTube - 8 min 47 sec - June 11, 2010)
Must View Video - A quote...."You all know I am no fan of Islam or Muslims, but a crime is a crime, and in the case of Gaza, Israel is the coward / bully, thanks to American money. Israel: GUILTY; GUILTY; GUILTY; GUILTY; GUILTY!!!"

Organisers of aid flotilla will sue Israel
A quote...."Organisers of a flotilla which was unable to reach Gaza in late May due to an Israeli blockade are planning to file a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice in The Hague."

FGM Collecting Evidence, Testimonies To Sue Israeli Over Flotilla Attack
Related Article - A quote...."Members of the Free Gaza Movement are collecting testimonies and evidence by contacting activists who were onboard the Turkish ship that was attacked by the Israeli military while heading to Gaza as part of the Freedom Flotilla humanitarian aid convoy."

Fake calls to "ease" the Gaza siege
A quote...."Ever since Israel's murderous attack on the Freedom Flotilla on 31 May, there have been increasing calls from many parties on Israel to end its siege of Gaza. This is strange as well as deceitful, for the siege is not Israel's alone."

Israeli warplanes attack Gaza Strip
A quote...."At least one Palestinian has been wounded after Israeli warplanes launched three raids on the Gaza Strip, according to medical officials. - The planes attacked the southern town of Rafah overnight, witnesses told AFP on Friday." - also posted at WarInIraq

Israel to expel Hamas politicians from Jerusalem
A quote...."JERUSALEM – Israel's decision to expel four Hamas politicians from Jerusalem threatened to set off a new crisis  over the disputed city and could hinder U.S. efforts to restart peace talks."

Abu Zuhri: Ramallah authority providing political cover for IOA crimes
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, lashed out at the Fatah-controlled PA in Ramallah for conspiring with the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) against a Turkish attempt to push for international investigation into the IOA attack on the Freedom Flotilla at the UN Human Rights Council."
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Keiser Report №54: Markets! Finance! Scandal!
Video - Alt - A quote...."This time Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert look at the latest scandals of a rating agency's threats, a two-tiered euro, and a rising gold price. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Gary Rivlin, author of Broke, USA."

After Hitting 1,100bps In Spread, Greece Finally Relents And Puts (Parts of) Itself Up For Sale
A quote...."Today, Greek CDS hit an all time wide in spread. For the first time, this unpleasant phenomenon seems to have registered in the minds of Greek oligarchs, as finally, after months of dithering, the country is taking serious steps to moderate its bankruptcy. The steps in question are asset sales, and the assets in question are islands including portions of Mykonos, and all of Nafsika. So if you work in Goldman and need a nice place (with a non extradition treaty in place very soon) to stash the several hundred gold bar collection amassed over the past two years of record bonuses, here is your chance for a nice, cheap offshore vault, ironically in the very country whose finances you overrepresetned for years."

Second Straight Hungarian Bond Auction Failure As Citi's Willem Buiter Calls For €2 Trillion European Rescue Facility, Ridicules Stress Tests -- A quote...."A week ago we highlighted that Hungary, in addition to liquidity problems, is now back to experiencing solvency issues, after suffering a bond auction failure. Today, Hungary had its second failed auction in a row, after it was unable to raise enough money as had been initially planned."

Japan's May core consumer prices fall 1.2%
Deflation Warning - A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Japan's core consumer price index dipped 1.2% in May compared to the same month last year, marking the 15th consecutive decline...." - bold by website editor

Deutsche Bank: U.S. Financial Conditions Just Collapsed Back To Crisis Levels
A quote...."Financial conditions appear to have worsened substantially in recent quarters based on our update of the broad index of US financial variables presented earlier this year at the US Monetary Policy Forum. In the wake of recent developments in Europe, increased stress in financial markets has pushed that index halfway back to its immediate post- Lehman crisis lows."

Evans-Pritchard Announces Fed Contemplating $5 Trillion QE Expansion
A quote...."....the next QE phase will most certainly not occur before the midterms, which as the recent abdication of a national budget demonstrated, are a critical priority for the administration, over and above the telegraphing of the country's catastrophic state to the general population, which is precisely what a nuclear monetary blast would be (let alone a new fiscal one - it is no incident that today, for the first time, a new $35 billion unemployment stimulus bill crashed in the Congress after it could not muster enough votes). Therefore, we are confident that the Fed has its hands tied well until December, although we anticipate a January lift off date for QE version 2 and final, which, as Bob Janjuah notes, will likely come in collaboration with every single central bank in the world, in one last (failed) reflation attempt: the final spasm for the Keynesian religion."

U.S. scores dead last again in healthcare study
A quote...."(Reuters) - Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on healthcare, but get lower quality, less efficiency and have the least equitable system, according to a report released on Wednesday."

Survey: Individual Health Insurance Premiums Jump
A quote...."People who buy their own health insurance have been hit lately with premium hikes that far exceed increases in premiums for employer-sponsored coverage, according to a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation. -- The nonprofit foundation, which is separate from health insurer Kaiser Permanente, said recent premium hikes requested by insurers for individual coverage averaged 20 percent. Some customers were able to switch plans and pay less, so people paying on their own actually wound up paying 13 percent more on average."

Men's pension age [in Britain] up to 66 from 2016
A quote...."The Government was accused today of making people "work until they drop" under plans to increase the pension age. -- Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith was providing more detail on plans to scrap the default retirement age which allows employers to get rid of staff when they reach the age of 65. -- The state pension age for men is set to rise from 65 to 66 from 2016 - nearly a decade earlier than the last government was planning. -- Ministers will raise the possibility of extending the pension age to 70 and even older in the following decades to "reinvigorate retirement". -- Unions reacted with anger to the news, accusing the Government of showing its "class bias" just weeks after gaining power." - It appears the costs of simply being the US-NRE's lackey in support of its, and Israel's, attempt at a New Roman Empire just keep growing and growing and growing. - mpg
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America Can't Solve Crises Because It's a Company-Owned Town
Must Read - Contains Audio - A quote...." The Great Gusher in the Gulf is a political, not simply an economic and environmental, crisis. “No amount of public disgust at BP has moved Obama to behave as if he is beholden to the majority that elected him – for the simple reason that he is not.”

Gulf Methane Levels 1 Million Times Above Normal Are Depleting Oxygen And Creating Marine Dead Zones
Related Article - A quote...."Reuters is so not getting the administration's latest round of taxpayer bail out funding when mainstream media comes knocking on Obama's door looking for handouts. The media company has shockingly decided to release some of the truth about the biosystematic genocide currently happening in the Gulf:"

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062410-063010 - links page
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