Sunday August 19th 2007

Ground Zero Building Catches Fire, Doesn't Collapse
Must Read - Satire - A quote...."The 40 story Deutsche Bank building next to the ground zero site in New York, where the world trade center once stood, caught fire yesterday and burned intensely for seven hours without collapsing - This represents another modern day miracle in light of the commonly accepted premise that since 9/11, all steel buildings that suffer limited fire damage implode within two hours. This building had even suffered structural damage on 9/11 and had been partially dismantled. - The raging fire, which killed two firefighters, was finally declared under control late saturday afternoon, a full seven hours after it had begun to burn."  -bold/italics by website author.

See also....China's Tallest Building Catches Fire, Does Not Collapse
Must Read - Satire - A quote...."Shanghai's World Financial Center, the tallest building in China upon completion, defied all known physics yesterday afternoon when it caught fire but did not collapse, a modern day miracle in light of the commonly accepted premise that since 9/11, all steel buildings that suffer limited fire damage implode within two hours." - posted - 08-15-07

Glory Be Halleluiah!  Praise the Lord!  It's two divine miracles in a row, it must be a sign as prophesied that the long awaited revelation is near, get down on your knees and pray my fellow brothers and sisters, get down on your knees and pray to Almighty God for HE has seen fit in his infinite and glorious wisdom to spare these two buildings from utter destruction.

That's option one.

Option two is we arrest Bush and his PNAC'ing Neocon cronies, subject them to the US's new interrogation techniques for AS LONG AS IT TAKES to find out what they, the Saudi Royals and the bin Ladens really did regarding 9/11, give them one of those new fangled "military tribunal" faux-trials….than hang them on the front lawn of the White House.

This editor votes for option number two.  – mpg
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Money As Debt - (Google 47 min 7 sec - Feb 12, 2007) -  posted at ICH
Must View - A quote...."Paul Grignon's 47-minute animated presentation of "Money as Debt" tells in very simple and effective graphic terms what money is and how it is being created. It is an entertaining way to get the message out. The Cowichan Citizens Coalition and its "Duncan Initiative" received high praise from those who previewed it. I recommend it as a painless but hard-hitting educational tool and encourage the widest distribution and use by all groups concerned with the present unsustainable monetary system in Canada and the United States"

How Far Will the Crash Go and What Do we Do Now? - The “Crash of 2007-8” is underway
Related article - War Warning - A quote...."The immediate triggers are being described quite well: the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market; the vulnerability of the rest of the economy to the subprime undertow, due to the “efficiency” of the markets in spreading risk; the worldwide overextension of cheap credit; the failure of large institutional investors and Wall Street brokerages to behave responsibly; and the long-term effects of the U.S. trade and fiscal deficits which are now coming home to roost."

Those who say this is just a market wobble are in denial
Related article - War Warning - A quote...."Finally, as Nouriel Roubini, economics professor at New York University puts it, there is a difference between crises of liquidity and crises of insolvency. Liquidity crises are those in which firms and individuals have a cashflow problem; interest rate cuts help them through the tough times. Insolvency crises are much more serious; slashing rates makes no difference when people are going bust. The LTCM collapse was a liquidity crisis, Roubini says, and what's happening now is an insolvency crisis."

Why are the two articles shown above tagged as War Warnings?  See....Standard Disclaimer
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Anatomy of the Bank Run
Related article - A quote...."This article, from the September 1985 Free Market (that is, the Age of Volcker), is also timely for the Age of Bernanke."

Credit crisis claims another bank
Related article - A quote...."The collapse of the market in US subprime mortgages has claimed another European victim. On Friday it was announced that SachsenLB, a bank owned by the German state of Saxony, had to be bailed out to the tune of 17.3 billion euros ($23.3 billion)."
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President Ahmadinejad [of Iran] Blames - 'Enemies' for 'Misguided' al-Qaeda - posted at Watching America
A quote...."Addressing the opening ceremony of The Fourth Ahl-ul-Bait General Assembly  [to promote Islamic teachings and culture], he [President Ahmadinejad] said, "Misguided groups [reference to al-Qaeda] with little or no understanding of Islam have been equipped by enemies [reference to the CIA] during recent years to disgrace Islam by killing Muslims in the name of Islam. This logic is identical to that exercised by the hegemonic system [referring to the United States]," stressed the President, in his address to participants from over 100 countries."

That's right, President Ahmadinejad says al Qaeda was created by the CIA (and Bush's friends the Saudi Royals, but Ahmadinejad wasn't going to mention that - he rightfully doesn't want to antagonize the Saudis), whereas the US's Neoconing Neo-Romans are running around saying al Qaeda is being "helped" by Iran.

President Ahmadinejad is of course, totally correct on this one, see....US Support of Terror, the Neocons of course, are lying as usual. – mpg
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Military commanders tell Brown to withdraw from Iraq without delay
A quote...."Senior military commanders have told the Government that Britain can achieve "nothing more" in south-east Iraq, and that the 5,500 British troops still deployed there should move towards withdrawal without further delay."

Shiite Militia Expands Grip in Baghdad - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."BAGHDAD (AP) - The street market bustles in the early mornings and late afternoons as shoppers come out to buy fruit, bread, clothes and toys. Late into the hot summer nights, whole families gather to eat grilled kebabs at tiny stalls, their small children shrieking as they play tag."

Tomgram: Michael Klare, Tough Oil on Tap
Some quotes...."When "peak oil" theory was first widely publicized in such path breaking books as Kenneth Deffeyes' Hubbert's Peak (2001), Richard Heinberg's The Party's Over (2002), David Goodstein's Out of Gas (2004), and Paul Robert's The End of Oil (2004), energy industry officials and their government associates largely ridiculed the notion."  -  "Recently, however, a spate of high-level government and industry reports have begun to suggest that the original peak-oil theorists were far closer to the grim reality of global-oil availability than industry analysts were willing to admit."

See Who's Editing Wikipedia - Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign

A quote...."CalTech graduate student Virgil Griffith built a search tool that traces IP addresses of those who make Wikipedia changes.  -  On November 17th, 2005, an anonymous Wikipedia user deleted 15 paragraphs from an article on e-voting machine-vendor Diebold, excising an entire section critical of the company's machines. While anonymous, such changes typically leave behind digital fingerprints offering hints about the contributor, such as the location of the computer used to make the edits.  -  In this case, the changes came from an IP address reserved for the corporate offices of Diebold itself. And it is far from an isolated case."

An Unconscionable Stain on the Fabric of American Democracy

Must Read - A quote...."This is simply not how we are supposed to operate in America. This country is supposed to be a model for justice around the world. It is supposed to be the example of due process and equality under the law. We have seen many egregious violations of our core principles under the renegade Bush Administration but what happened this past week typifies the absolute worst of what we can be when we allow fear to supersede our laws. When we allow partisanship to replace our values. The powers that be and the corporate controlled media will have us believe that we are left or right, blue or red, and republican or democrat. Apparently along the way we have simply forgotten what is right and wrong."

Sequoia Voting Systems Responsible for 2000 Presidential Debacle?
A quote...."It's been seven years since pregnant and dangling chads in Florida caused one of the biggest political rifts in U.S. history. Those faulty Florida ballots also directly led to the passage of federal legislation in 2002 that outlawed punch-card voting machines and allocated billions of dollars in federal funds for states to purchase expensive new electronic voting machines."

Complete, Disturbing Investigative Exposé, Featuring Troubling New Revelations About America's E-Voting Companies, Now Available in Full Online...  --  A quote...."More information about the following report is available here. Since its airing, election legal watchdog Voter Action has called for a full Congressional investigation into the possibility of commercial fraud by the voting machine companies as based upon some of the startling information revealed in this exposé..."

Giuliani: Building His Platform On the Graves of 3,000 Dead Americans - posted at Progressive Daily Beacon
A quote...."Far from being a hero, the evidence indicates that the former Mayor of New York City was an incompetent boob, who thought he knew more about terrorism than the experts did and whose ignorance and obstinate nature imperiled the city's police, firemen, the people, and his own ability to deal with the emergency. Now, despite the many instances of failure, he is hoping to exploit the tragic loss of 3,000 lives for personal political gain."

Considering the video shown below, this editor is sure the Progressive Daily Beacon meant to say Giuliani is an "incompetent [bunch of] boob[s]"....that's plural....as in two. – mpg

Rudy Giuliani in Drag Smooching Donald Trump - (YouTube - 46 sec - Added:  April 14, 2006)

Saturday August 18th 2007

The Convenience of Denial
Must Read - posted by PG - A quote.... "08/17/07 "ICH  " -- -- The man who ran CNN's news operation during the invasion of Iraq is now doing damage control in response to a new documentary's evidence that he kowtowed to the Pentagon on behalf of the cable network. His current denial says a lot about how "liberal media" outlets remain deeply embedded in the mindsets of pro-military conformity."

More on this nation's supposedly "free press"...free to lie that is. They lied, and many Americans along with almost a million Iraqis died. - mpg
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Antiwar Radio: Scott Horton Interviews Gareth Porter
Must Listen - Interview - A quote...."Gareth Porter, historian and reporter for IPS News, explains how the American occupation only exacerbates the situation in the Iraq, how local Sunnis have always been better equipped than the U.S. to handle al Qaeda in Iraq and debunks the administration’s propaganda about Iran in Iraq.

Project Management: Bushists Through the Looking-Glass on Iran Charges
A quote...."For several years I've been writing about facts point to a disturbing but inescapable conclusion: that the Bush Administration has been fomenting sectarian and political violence in Iraq by arming – and in some cases, creating – militias, factions, terrorist groups, death squads and overt and covert "security forces." [See Appendix below.] Based on reports taken from the publicly available sources, most often from Pentagon and White House officials, it is clear that over the course of the war, the groups thus supported and empowered by the Bush Administration have included practically every side in the kaleidoscopic conflict that has torn the conquered nation apart: Baathists, Shiites and Sunnis of various stripes, Kurds, tribes, spies, even a group of exiled Iranian cultists that Saddam Hussein had employed as brutal muscle in repressing his people."

New York Times on Iran: Neo-colonialism with a liberal twist
A quote..."The New York Times on August 16 published an editorial in response to reports that the Bush administration plans to declare Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization. The editorial by the organ of the liberal, Democratic Party wing of the US political establishment, entitled “Amateur Hour on Iran,” exemplifies the hypocritical and two-faced character of its critique of the Bush administration’s policy toward Iran and the Middle East as a whole."

Dennis Kucinich: Desapparacido!
A quote...."Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has been “disappeared.”  -  Not in the sense of victims of America’s so-called War on Terror. He hasn’t been carted off in an orange jumpsuit to some black site in Kazakhstan. But he has been “disappeared” by the reporters and editors of the New York Times."

US can't rule the world any more
A quote...."There was a window at the end of the Cold War when the US could have achieved "full spectrum dominance" of the world, in keeping with neoconservative ideology. It virtually had no serious foes and was considered the richest, the most technologically advanced, the most respected and the most powerful nation on Earth."

Kremlin Moves to Capitalize On Travails of the Americans And Regain Lost Influence … - @ Watching America
A quote...."The crash-landing of the American Neo-conservatives and their demented policies is good for Russia, but not the crash of the United-States." clarifies Sergueï Markov. "We're content with every U.S. failure in Ukraine, where the Russian state was born. But we're not happy with the problems of the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor would we be in Japan if the Japanese nationalists were to suddenly drive them out."

Military commanders tell Brown to withdraw from Iraq without delay
A quote...."Senior military commanders have told the Government that Britain can achieve "nothing more" in south-east Iraq, and that the 5,500 British troops still deployed there should move towards withdrawal without further delay."

IRAQ:  Between the Two Rivers, Lack of Water Kills
posted by PG - A quote...."BAGHDAD, Aug 17 (IPS) - The collapse of Iraq's infrastructure has created a worsening water crisis that is killing untold numbers of Iraqis.  -  Iraq, with its famous Tigris and Euphrates rivers that run the length of the country, is now unable to provide drinking water to most of its people.  -  "The two rivers are still there, great as they always were, and flowing all through the year," chief engineer Ahmad Salman of the Baghdad Water Authority told IPS. "Yet Iraqis are thirsty, and we are ashamed of being engineers in the service. We have simply failed to provide our people with half of the drinking water they need."
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Cheney in 1994 on Iraq - (YouTube - 1 min 23 sec - August 15, 2007)
posted by PG - A quote....

Interviewer - "Do you think the US or UN forces should have moved into Baghdad"?

Cheney - "No...because if we'd gone into Baghdad we would have been all alone, there wouldn't have been anybody else with us.  It would have been a US occupation of Iraq.  None of the Arab forces that were willing to fight with us in Kuwait were willing to invade Iraq."

Hence that ever so fortuitous and ever so endlessly cited event called 9/11, and the creation in it's aftermath of a "coalition of the (non Arab) willing".  Isn't it nice to have "a catalyzing event like a new Pearl Harbor" to drum up all that international....cover? – mpg
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The Venezuelan Economy Grows by 8.9 Percent in Second Quarter of 2007
A quote...."Caracas, (venezuelanalysis.com) August 17, 2007 — The Venezuelan economy showed a growth rate of 8.9 percent in the second quarter of 2007, according to statistics released by the Central Bank of Venezuela this week. The continued growth of the Venezuelan economy for nearly 4 consecutive years is a result of many factors, including government policies to invest in social programs and raise household purchasing power, said Finance Minister Rodrigo Cabezas."

DISGUSTING - How can these little brown people grow their economy three times faster than the US, and they're not even under the US’s tender tutelage like Iraq is?  Don't worry Venezuela, as soon as the US is "done" with Iraq....we'll [the US] be coming for you and your people - to "help you" (again), just like we did with Iraq. - mpg

Regarding the article shown above see....

Venezuela coup linked to Bush team
The CIA and the Venezuela Coup - Hugo Chavez: A Servant Not Knowing his Place
The New Politics of Political Aid in Venezuela - US sponsored "Destabilization Plan"
Rift deepens Between U.S., Venezuela Years After Coup
Venezuela Groups Get U.S. Aid Amid Meddling Charges
American navy 'helped Venezuelan coup'
Exxon Mobil not welcome in Venezuela anymore
Venezuela nationalizes Orinoco oil fields
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Argentine economy grows 8.4%; unemployment down to 9.8%
A quote...."The Argentine economy expanded 8.4% during the first half of 2007 compared to a year ago reported Friday the country’s Statistics and Census Office, Indec. President Nestor Kirchner also announced that unemployment in the second quarter of 2007 dropped to 8.5% of active population."

DISGUSTING - How can these little brown people grow their economy three times faster than the US, and they're not even under the US’s tender tutelage like Iraq is? How could Argentina abandon the Chicago School of Economics and the IMF's "prescriptions", wouldn't they feel better with the higher unemployment and lower growth they had during the prior twenty years as long as they were following the "US's model"?  Silly little people, after were done with Venezuela, we'll [the US] be coming for you to design a "better" economic plan for your country….whether you want it or not. - mpg

Regarding the article shown above see....
 
Argentina's market-enforced crisis
Argentina and the IMF
Argentina's Revolt
The Costs of Orthodoxy Argentina was the poster child for austerity and obedience to the IMF formula.
Argentina Didn't Fall on Its Own - Wall Street Pushed Debt Till the Last
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Analysis: Iran winning more friends in region
posted by PG - A quote...."WASHINGTON,  Aug. 14 -- At a time when the United States is widely regarded in the Middle East as a military aggressor and faces plummeting popularity around the world, Iran is taking advantage of the situation to boost its own image and forge closer ties with its neighbors."

The inside story of British death squads in Northern Ireland
posted by PG - Some quotes...."Operation Banner: An Analysis Of Military Operations In Northern Ireland is the official history of an occupation that started in 1969 and formally ended on 31 July this year."  -  "According to the official history, the conflict in Northern Ireland was about two warring tribes, the Catholics and Protestants, who had to be kept apart for their own sakes by British soldiers.  -  But in reality the occupation of Northern Ireland was brutal, repressive and murderous. Far from keeping “warring tribes” apart, military intelligence recruited, trained and armed Loyalist murder gangs in Northern Ireland, ordering them to carry out a series of assassinations."

Gee....this all sounds soooooo familiar. – mpg
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Up to 80 congressmen visit israel in August
posted by PG - A quote...."They should just hold their next session in Tel Aviv and do away with the useless formality of meeting on Capitol Hill."

Bush Administration Pushed For Private Briefings For Petraeus, Dems Confirm - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."Amid a bitter skirmish between the White House and Dems yesterday over whether General Petraeus will testify publicly to Congress about Iraq, the Bush administration  repeatedly claimed yesterday that the administration had never pushed for closed-door-only briefings for Petraeus. - But that claim is false, according to an on-the-record statement we've obtained from the office of the House Foreign Affairs Committee." - bold/italics by website author

U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan
A quote...."The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa. The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem."

So after cheering on the death of a million Iraqis, the Israelis are going to steal their oil.  Who says crime doesn't pay? – mpg

For more on this, see....The Second Treatise of Civil Government 1690 : -- *John Locke* - 1632-1704 - a quote
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Kazakhstan to host international conference against nuclear weapons
A quote...."On August 29, Kazakhstan will host a conference entitled "Kazakhstan's way to a nuclear weapon-free world" to mark the 16th anniversary of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site's closure. The symposium will be organized by the country's Foreign Ministry."

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The Curious Vacuum Cleaner in Rm. 641A
A quote...."The address is 611 Folsom Street in downtown San Francisco. To be more precise, it’s in a tightly guarded, access restricted room: Room 641A. There’s a loud sucking sound coming out of this room. It’s the sound of the United States Constitution going down a rat hole."

See also....Whistle-Blower Outs NSA Spy Room
See also....AT&T Seeks to Hide Spy Docs
See also....AT&T Whistle-Blower's Evidence
See also....New light on NSA spying
See also....Whistle-Blower's Evidence, Uncut
See also....Study Group 3 LGX/Splitter Wiring [Diagrams] San Francisco - Issue 1, 12/10/02 - PDF
See also....Court Filing Confirms Spy Docs
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Some new quotes from....Sage Observations - PG's quotes - 07-24-07

"Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise."
-- *Sir Francis Bacon*

"Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason"
 -- *Sir John Harrington*, 1561-1612

"When the same man, or set of men, holds the sword and the purse, there is an end of liberty"
 -- *George Mason*

"The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men"
 -- *Plato*

"Demagogue: one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots"
 -- *H.L. Mencken*

For more of these new quotes click on  - Sage Observations - 08-18-07
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Beyond Hypocrisy: Decoding the News in an Age of Propaganda : Including A Doublespeak Dictionary
posted by PG - Google book excerpts - A quote....This book is about doublespeak, the misuse of word by implicit redefinition, selective application of "snarl" and "purr" words, and other forms of verbal manipulation.  These usages are integral to language in a world of growing professionalization in advertising, public relations, and news management, and the increasingly urgent demands for these services in business and politics."

Lie, Lie, Lie, Lie, Lie, Lie: Gonzales' Top Six Fibs
A quote...."The verdict is clear: Alberto Gonzales is the lying-est attorney general in recent history. "I don't trust you," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) told him last month. Ranking member Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) sounded him out for his "lack of credibility." "He tells the half truth, the partial truth and everything but the truth," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that Gonzales. “He’s one sneaky, lying S.O.B., to put it bluntly" is Rep. David Obey's (D-WI) frank take."

In Unprecedented Order, FISA Court Requires Bush Administration to Respond to ACLU's Request That Secret Court Orders Be Released to the Public  --  - posted at BuzzFlash  -  A quote...."WASHINGTON - In an unprecedented order, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) has required the U.S. government to respond to a request it received last week by the American Civil Liberties Union for orders and legal papers discussing the scope of the government's authority to engage in the secret wiretapping of Americans. According to the FISC's order, the ACLU's request "warrants further briefing," and the government must respond to it by August 31. The court has said that any reply by the ACLU must be filed by September 14."

Editorial: Let Americans challenge eavesdropping - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."So here's a summary of the artful dodge: If the government won't confirm it monitored your calls, the case has to be dismissed. If you can prove you were targeted, the government can withhold evidence and the case has to be dismissed. If you already have the evidence you need, the government can bar its use and the case has to be dismissed. The administration shouldn't be allowed to duck accountability for what could be ongoing violations of the rights of millions of Americans."

And just remember folks, the DemoRepubs said all of this spying on Americans was perfectly fine and dandy with them. - mpg
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Bush's First Crime: A Cold Case Warms Up
A quote....""In the corporate world, some things aren't exactly black and white when it comes to accounting procedures."  -- George W. Bush

Shuffling Off to Crawford, 2007 Edition
posted by PG - A quote...."The cases of Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch were ugly enough. So surely someone in the White House might have the good taste to draw the line at exploiting the murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. But nothing is out of bounds for a government that puts the darkest arts of politics and public relations above even the exigencies of war."

Credit Derivative Orgy is Behind Liquidity Crisis
A quote...."Financial Times warned against them. So did Warren Buffet, Alan Greenspan, Jim Sinclair and the chief economist at Morgan Stanley.  -  Derivatives they said could facilitate a global financial collapse like what sunk Barings Bank, Orange County and the Long-Term Capital Management practically overnight."

How We Got to This Point in Our Nation's History Part One
A quote...."I have learned a lot in the past week. I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I’ve found new sources that are verifying what I’ve suspected, and enlightened me on things I never knew. Why I’m finding these interesting and informative explanations could be because I have learned to look in the right places, or because this information is finally getting out. It could be a combination of both. Suddenly though, I feel that I am getting closer to the truth than I have ever imagined, and it scares me somewhat."

TVA reactor shut down; cooling water from river too hot - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."ATHENS, ALA. — The Tennessee Valley Authority shut down one of three units at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant Thursday because water drawn from a river to cool the reactor was too hot, a spokesman said.  -  The nation's largest public utility shut down Unit 2 about 5:42 p.m. CDT because water drawn from the Tennessee River was exceeding a 90-degree average over 24 hours, amid a blistering heat wave across the Southeast.  -  "We don't believe we've ever shut down a nuclear unit because of river temperature," said John Moulton, spokesman for the Knoxville, Tenn.-based utility." - bold/italics by website author

"Democracy For the Few"
posted by PG - Book Review - A quote...." 07/30/07 "ICH" -- --   Michael Parenti  is an internationally known speaker and award winning author of 20 books and hundreds of articles. He's also a noted academic having taught at a number of colleges and universities in the US and abroad. "

Friday August 17th 2007

Fed attempts to bail out bankrupt Wall Street speculators; Cheney demands staged terror attacks, war with Iran -- part 3 of a 3-part series  --  Must Read - A quote...."Thirty-six years ago this week, on August 15, 1971, President Nixon ended gold settlement among nations and fixed currency parities, and thus pulled the plug on the Bretton Woods world monetary system, the most successful world currency arrangement that the world has ever known."

The Architecture of Perpetual War
Must Read - A quote...."Of late, many of the nation’s literati have preoccupied themselves with a mendacious New York Times op-ed column by a couple of think tank hacks named Michael O’Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack, the burden of which is that, by golly, the glorious Surge really is working. Of course, the whole thing was a put-up job, sold on the man-bites-dog pretence that the two authors were longtime critics of the Bush administration who had gone to Iraq and seen the light. Their performance is deftly skewered here."

Gilded Age Crime: Poor Go Homeless, Wealthy Get Bailouts
A quote...."Driving to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, the route goes through poor neighborhoods where house after house have signs: For Sale.  -  What this really means is: foreclosed.  -  Listening to Jimmy Cramer yell and scream on CNBC about how “there is so much painout there,” he was not referring to underpaid American troops, or homeless American poor, but the banks, hedge funds and private equity deal-makers whose hundreds of millions of dollars have been reduced to......hundreds of millions of dollars".

Fed moves to halt market meltdown
War Warning - A quote...."Announcing the decision before the stock market opened on Friday, the Fed said that the deterioration in market conditions and tighter credit, coupled with increased uncertainty, had the “potential to restrain economic growth” in the future. It judged that “the downside risks to growth have increased appreciably.” Inflation, which, up to now the Fed had insisted was the main problem facing the economy, did not rate a mention—pointing to the strong possibility of a cut in the federal funds rate when the Fed’s open market committee meets on September 18."

Why is this a War Warning?  See....Standard Disclaimer & Effective Fed Funds Rate
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US steps closer to war with Iran
War Warning  - A quote...."The Bush administration has leaped toward war with Iran by, in essence, declaring war with the main branch of Iran's military, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which it plans to brand as a terrorist organization."

Maliki seeks a lifeline in Syria
A quote...."DAMASCUS - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is scheduled to arrive in Damascus for a two-day visit on Monday. This will be his first visit to the Syrian capital - where he lived as a refugee in the 1990s during the Saddam Hussein years - since becoming prime minister in April 2006."

Troops in Iraq to Reach Record Level - posted at AntiWar
War Warning - A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of U.S. troops in Iraq could jump to 171,000 this fall - a record high for the war - as military leaders expect stepped-up insurgent attacks timed to a progress report from American commanders in Baghdad.

The Big Lie - NATO's Killing Fields In Afghanistan
A quote...."The misery and wholesale destruction in Afghanistan continues though it hardly makes it to the headlines anymore. The civilian population suffer not only due to lack of basic infrastructure and food, but also because they are becoming increasing targets of NATO aerial bombings. The new commander in chief of the NATO forces American General Dan McNeill is a strong advocate for massive air power, which has earned him the name 'Bomber McNeill'. The consequence is a sharp rise in civilian casualties."

Russia, China, Iran Warn U.S. at Summit
A quote...."BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) - The leaders of Russia, China and Iran said Thursday that Central Asia should be left alone to manage its stability and security - an apparent warning to the United States to avoid interfering in the strategic, resource-rich region."

Chinese, Russian, Central Asian leaders show off military might
A quote...."CHEBARKUL, Russia (AFP) - The presidents of Russia, China and four other Central Asian states attended unprecedented joint military exercises on Friday, intended as a display of strength to the West."

The old Iran-Contra death squad gang is desperate to discredit Chavez
A quote...."I walked with Roberto Navarrete into the national stadium in Santiago, Chile. With the southern winter's wind skating down from the Andes, it was empty and ghostly. Little had changed, he said: the chicken wire, the broken seats, the tunnel to the changing rooms from which the screams echoed. We stopped at a large number 28. "This is where I was, facing the scoreboard. This is where I was called to be tortured."

Former Rep. Blasts Foreign Grip on Congress
A quote...."In the greatest service of his long public life, former President Jimmy Carter warns of the grave consequences of America’s phenomenal subservience to Israel. In his latest book and recent lectures, he focuses on how Israel’s cruel occupation, made possible by massive and unconditional U.S. support, has subjected the Palestinian people to terrible suffering for 40 long years."

One Year Later: Israel Guilty of Most of the War Crimes in Second Lebanon War
A quote...."This week marks a year since the end of hostilities now officially called the Second Lebanon war by Israelis. A month of fighting — mostly Israeli aerial bombardment of Lebanon, and rocket attacks from the Shia militia Hizbullah on northern Israel in response — ended with more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians and a small but unknown number of Hizbullah fighters dead, as well as 119 Israeli soldiers and 43 civilians."
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Battle at Kruger - (YouTube - 8 min 23 sec - May 03, 2007) - posted at 9/11 Truth
A quote...."NEWS: We're going back to Africa with the National Geographic Channel to work on a special that will air later this year and will give the behind-the-scenes story on how we got this amazing footage."

This is an extremely instructive lesson for the US and British military.  Don't be squeamish gentle reader, just watch it all the way through, you will not believe the ending.  The Lions are the US, the Crocodiles are the British....and the Water Buffalos are the Muslims in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East. -  Get the picture? - mpg

For more on this entire episode see....The Black Bull died today
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Neo-Cons: Make Bush Dictator Of The World
Some quotes...."Maniacal right-wing Family Security Matters organization, which has ties to Cheney, Rumsfeld and Perle, carries screed that calls for Bush to declare martial law, become emperor of the planet, lifetime president, and ethnically cleanse Iraq by means of nuclear genocide"  -  "He then cites Julius Caesar, the reviled dictator of the Roman Empire, as an example of how Bush should engage in rampant ethnic cleansing."  -bold/italics by website author

The Bushists and the Neo-Romans who inhabit America and comprise thirty percent of it's population ARE already engaged in "rampant ethnic cleansing".

For more on this see....Become a Roman - or Remain an American - 08-11-07 - mpg
And....The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg
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CIA, FBI computers used for Wikipedia edits
Must Read - A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People using CIA and FBI computers have edited entries in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia on topics including the Iraq war and the Guantanamo prison, according to a new tracing program.  -  The changes may violate Wikipedia's conflict-of-interest guidelines, a spokeswoman for the site said on Thursday.  -  The program, WikiScanner, was developed by Virgil Griffith of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico and posted this month on a Web site that was quickly overwhelmed with searches."

FBI, CIA Scriveners Edit Wikipedia Entries
Related article - A quote...."According to Reuters, “CIA and FBI computers have edited entries in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia on topics including the Iraq war and the Guantanamo prison, according to a new tracing program.” No doubt, as well, the FBI and CIA have made other changes to “the world’s most important online encyclopaedia,” editorial changes not as grandiose as expanding former CIA chief William Colby’s entry, dumping a chart on Iraq casualties, or removing satellite images of the concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. You can bet they edited scads of lesser entries as well.

For more on the two articles shown above see....Accessories After the Fact - mpg  - 08-14-07
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9/11 - From The History File...CIA agent alleged to have met Bin Laden in July
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NSA Judge: 'I feel like I'm in Alice and Wonderland'
A quote...."Ryan Singel and David Kravets are blogging the U.S. 9th Circuit hearing on the NSA's spying, and AT&T's alleged complicity, reporting live from the San Francisco courthouse. Hit 'refresh' in your browser and scroll to the bottom for updates."

Chertoff: You Will Submit to the Control Grid
A quote...."On occasion, our rulers tip their hands a bit too much, especially when confronted with the recalcitrance of subjects in resistance to their best laid plans. “Americans may need passports to board domestic flights or to picnic in a national park next year if they live in one of the states defying the federal Real ID Act,” reports CNN. “The Department of Homeland Security insists Real ID is an essential weapon in the war on terror, but privacy and civil liberties watchdogs are calling the initiative an overly intrusive measure that smacks of Big Brother.”

BREAKING: 'DIEBOLD ELECTION SYSTEMS, INC.' IS NO MORE
A quote...."Election Unit Spins off from Corporate Parent, Becomes 'Premier Election Solutions' After Failure to Find Buyer for Failing Unit! - Is Full Bankruptcy Fall Behind?"

Hezbollah brings Israel war to computer screen - posted at AntiWar
a.k.a. - Hezbollah Game-Boy or Hezbollah X-Box, this whole thing is pretty funny, however if American manufacturers can do it, so can Hezbollah. - mpg
 
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Thursday August 16th 2007

Do the Neo-Cons Need Karl Rove When They Can Count on the Democrats?
Must Read - A quote...." 08/16/07 "ICH" -- -- Karl Rove scoots off the sunken White House ship with his plans for future neo-con dominance safe and secure—in the hands of Democrats unwilling or incapable of challenging his dirtiest deeds.  -  Elected to end a lunatic war, the Democratic Congress has prolonged it, earning approval ratings even lower than those of George W. Bush, whom Rove designated as a “war president” long before the attack on Iraq.  -  The Democrats have also signed off on the GOP’s all-out assault on the Constitution, meekly certifying a “unitary executive” with totalitarian demands for a blanket suspension of civil liberties, arbitrary detention, official torture and more.  -  Once again voters will approach a presidential election asking themselves—why vote for Democrats who won’t challenge the most catastrophic GOP outrages?"

Kucinich Sounds the Alarm
Must Read - A quote....Dennis Kucinich may not be a front runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.  -  But the congressman from Cleveland has succeeded in distinguishing himself from the other contenders when it comes to speaking those truths that are self-evident. -  And in an era of mass delusion and denial on the party of leaders in both major political parties, stating the obvious can be a radical act."
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We've Seen All This Before
War Warning - A quote...."First, the Busheviks warned of the growing threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb. But when they ran that flag up the pole, few in the media and the public were found to salute.  -  So now, we're told that the Iranian government is training and sending lethal weapons to the Shiite "insurgents." And so, in his press conference last Thursday, George Bush warned the Iranians that "there will be consequences for people transporting, delivering ... highly sophisticated IEDs [improvised explosive devices] that kill Americans in Iraq."  This is just fine with Dick Cheney who, according to McClatchy newspapers, is eager to attack Iran and is winning the struggle with the diplomats to convince Bush. - bold/italics by website author  ---  For more on this see quote shown below.

"Regarding the article shown above and for any of the bull you might read later on in our nation's mass-faux-media, understand this - I.E.D.s & E.F.P.s can be made by anybody. A five year old could make them.  All you need is a plastic ring (like a PVC pipe) a screw on bottom, some squibs, some high explosives and concave copper sheet for the top....that's it - mpg - posted 07-09-07"

For the truth about I.E.D.s & E.F.P.s see........In Iraq, anyone can make a bomb
Iraq's Superbombs: Home Made?
The Imminent Spread of EFPs
The Smoking Gun?: Photographic Evidence
Insurgents adapting faster to U.S. defenses
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The Worsening Nightmare
Must Read - Red War Warning - A quote...."This will be my last post in the foreseeable future about the coming attack on Iran, widening war in the Middle East and beyond, and concerning the likely dire consequences within the United States. I will undoubtedly note stories and developments of special significance -- but as for documenting the inexorable path leading to actions that will be the moral and political equivalent of Nazi Germany's attack on Poland, no. No more of that. If you want to remain informed about the steps of our descent into hell, I recommend you follow Chris Floyd, Antiwar.com, and Counterpunch. (That list isn't intended to be exclusive by any means; those are a few of the best sites for "alternative" views of current events, and ones that I myself keep apprised of.)"
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What the Americans Have Lost - posted at Watching America
A quote...."The Americans have begun to recognize that the Iraq campaign has resulted in some significant setbacks for the U.S. Army. Recently, the Pentagon announced that it had lost track of some 190,000 weapons that the Americans had handed over to Iraqi government military units.  -  However, the easy leakage of these weapons out of Iraqi government hands and into the unknown couldn't possibly have occurred without the knowledge of the intelligence services, all of which are fully aware that government units are obedient and subservient tools for the powerful militias. The Americans certainly know that the formation of government forces on the basis of sectarian quotas is the real reason for the disappearing weapons, wasted money and loss of national stability. It is also the direct cause of Iraq's ongoing bloodshed."
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John Pilger - author journalist and film maker - (YouTube - 15 min 6 sec - June 30, 2007)
Must View - A quote...."John Pilger - author journalist and film maker speaks at an antiwar rally at Socialism 2007: Socialism for the 21st Century conference in Chicsgo. June 16, 2007 - Filmed by Paul Hubbard"

If you don't posses a thick skin along with a hard nosed attitude, this website might occasionally get you down.  If you're one of those people, YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS SPEECH.

This editor didn't know Mr. Pilger was such a rebel rouser.  Bravo. – mpg
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The Unseen Lies: Journalism As Propaganda
A quote...."The following is a transcript of a talk given by John Pilger at Socialism 2007 Conference in Chicago  --  The title of this talk is Freedom Next Time, which is the title of my book, and the book is meant as an antidote to the propaganda that is so often disguised as journalism. So I thought I would talk today about journalism, about war by journalism, propaganda, and silence, and how that silence might be broken."

This is the video....John Pilger - Freedom Next Time Part 1 - (YouTube - 22 min 22 sec - July 09, 2007)
And....John Pilger - Freedom Next Time Part 2 - (YouTube - 21 min 27 sec - July 09, 2007)
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US Tags Iran for Casualties from Its Own Attacks
A quote...."When a top U.S. commander in Iraq reported last week that attacks by Shiite militias with links to Iran had risen to 73 percent of all July attacks that had killed or wounded U.S. forces in Baghdad, he claimed it was because of an effort by Iran to oust the United States from Iraq, referring to “intelligence reports” of a “surge” in Iranian assistance."

Ahmadinejad to join Chinese, Russian leaders for regional security summit
- posted at AntiWar
A quote...."BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived Wednesday in Kyrgyzstan to join the leaders of Russia and China for a summit of a regional group seen as a platform for countering U.S. interests in strategic, energy-rich Central Asia."

Iran has not started a war in over 1,000 years: German expert
- posted at AntiWar
A quote...." started a war in over 1,000 years, a leading German Mideast scholar and journalist said Tuesday.  -  "The last offensive Iranian war dates back to over 1,000 years," wrote Michael Lueders in an analytical piece for Tuesday's edition of the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper.

Afghanistan: Attacks on the Rise - NYT Slide Show
Slide Show - A quote...."Though Afghanistan experienced a period of relative calm after the fall of the Taliban, parts of the country have since become more dangerous. Larger circles on the map show which provinces have had the most terrorist attacks since 2002."

It's a pretty good graphic of how things are steadily getting worse.  You'll probably need some good bandwidth to view them. – mpg
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US envoy signs 30-billion-dollar Israel arms package
A quote...."The United States signed a deal on Thursday to boost its military aid to Israel to 30 billion dollars over the next decade aimed at countering a "resurgent" Iran and its allies." - bold/italics by website author.

"Stick to principle"--The top 1% all of the time!

A quote...."That's big bro 43's mentality. Remember back when W was maneuvering one of his first tax cuts for his "Ranger" and "Pioneer" cronies. He was following one of his many mentor's requests. At one point Cheney was asked by Paul O'Neill, Dubya's Treasury Secretary at the time, why he supported redistribution of wealth to the wealthiest and feckless, reckless, impotent, dickless Cheney chortled that "You know, Paul, Reagan proved that deficits don't matter. We won the mid-term elections, this is our due!" as noted in the Transcript of Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's Interview on CBS, - 6O Minutes, 11 January 2004."

Conspiracy to Destroy America. [C2DA] - Part 4
- A quote...."Conspiracies, lies, deceptions, fraud, murder, theft, greed, corruption across the board, or is it just a remarkable convergence of coincidences that "look" like a conspiracy and makes for a good fiction story? Here is this authors take on the facts to date, and where they are leading, or could lead if we allow it to happen.  -  Let us imagine for the purpose of this article that there is a genius insanity behind events in this world, which I’ll refer to as "they." Their only purpose is to have power, wealth and control over the masses, and to steal, kill and destroy. How would they go about it without setting off alarms, or being too obvious to most people?

Additional articles....Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
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Feds Train Clergy To "Quell Dissent" During Martial Law
A quote...."A shocking KSLA news report has confirmed the story we first broke last year, that Clergy Response Teams are being trained by the federal government to "quell dissent" and pacify citizens to obey the government in the event of a declaration of martial law.  -  In May 2006, we exposed the existence of a nationwide FEMA program which is training Pastors and other religious representatives to become secret police enforcers who teach their congregations to "obey the government" in preparation for the implementation of martial law, property and firearm seizures, mass vaccination programs and forced relocation."

If the President Does It, It's Not Illegal?
A quote...."Since 9/11, George W. Bush has been trampling all over the Constitution. Unfazed by public opinion, the law or Congress, Bush seems to think he can get away with anything.  -  His most recent attempt (that we know of, at least) to expand his powers beyond all legal justification came in July 2007. Falling conveniently under the rubric of national security, Bush issued an executive order which authorizes the government to freeze the financial assets of anyone who directly or indirectly aids someone who has committed or “poses a significant risk of committing” violent acts “threatening the peace or stability of Iraq.”

See also....Thirty Five Acts to Restore Americans' Rights - 11-10-06 - mpg
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Liquidity woes hit more lenders
A quote...."Several mortgage lenders have seen their shares slump amid fresh concerns over the impact of global credit market turmoil on liquidity.  -  Firms have seen the credit squeeze - prompted by woes in the US sub-prime mortgage market - hit their ability to refinance debt"

Good Riddance Turd Blossom
A quote...."What truly cheers me up through these dog days of summer is the thought that two old friends of mine are up north on a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and that I am not there with them."

Wednesday August 15th 2007


China's Tallest Building Catches Fire, Does Not Collapse
Must Read - Satire - A quote...."Shanghai's World Financial Center, the tallest building in China upon completion, defied all known physics yesterday afternoon when it caught fire but did not collapse, a modern day miracle in light of the commonly accepted premise that since 9/11, all steel buildings that suffer limited fire damage implode within two hours."
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A "Slow Motion Train Wreck"
Must Read - War Warning - A quote..."Based on his company's exhaustive research, there are "no exceptions ever." Bubbles come and go, but, in time, they all settle back in same place. As Grantham puts it: "We know one principal truth at GMO and that is that we live in a mean-reverting world in investing. (Our research) has shown....that all bubbles....eventually break (and our definition of a bubble is a) 2 standard deviation event - the kind of moves that occur about every 40 years." Grantham mentions four stock market ones in particular that stand out - the US in 1929, US again in 1965 - 72, 1989 in Japan (in land and stocks) and the still ongoing greatest ever US 2000 bubble yet to come back to its mean.."

Fed attempts to bail out bankrupt Wall Street speculators; Cheney demands staged terror attacks, war with Iran -- part 2 of a 3-part series  --  Must Read - War Warning - Some quotes...."In Surviving the Cataclysm, my 1999 study of the world financial crisis, I developed the distinction between collapse and disintegration. A collapse can be very serious, like the Wall Street crash of 1929. Prices plummet, but the exchange still remains open for business. Disintegration is much more serious, like the British default of September 1931 that swept away the only monetary system the world had in those days, or the German hyperinflation of 1923, which wiped out the entire German middle class.  ---  click here for Part 1

Special Note - And...."In an irony of history, traders in the Chicago futures pits have been complaining to CNBC about the abolition, only a few weeks ago, of the 1934 New Deal era rule which had required short sellers to wait for an uptick in the stock they were targeting before they could complete their trade. The rule change had produced disruptions and uncertainty, the trader complained on CNBC. The New Deal rule, one of the final vestiges of the regulations introduced after the Great Crash of 1929, was one of the last factors saving today’s finance oligarchs from themselves. Once the uptick rule was gone, the death agony of the current system entered a new phase." - links added by website author.

See also....Standard Disclaimer
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Bush to brand Iranian force as “terrorist”
Red War Warning * - A quote...."In a move with ominous implications, the Bush administration, according to articles in yesterday’s New York Times and Washington Post, has resolved to brand the entire Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “specially designated global terrorist” organization. In doing so, Bush will use powers provided under a presidential order signed shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

* UPDATE - This article was changed from a War Warning to a Red War Warning after reading  - The Worsening Nightmare - posted 08-16-07
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US military launches offensive against “Iranian-backed” militia in Iraq
War Warning - A quote...."The US military announced on Monday it had begun a new offensive against alleged “Iranian-supported extremist elements” within Iraq’s Shiite population. Without bothering to square its latest claims with Washington’s “war on terror” propaganda, the Pentagon is asserting that rogue Shiite militias backed by Tehran are now a far greater danger to the occupation forces than Al Qaeda-linked Sunni radicals."

"A Heart to Heart Talk" - Bush Warns Puppets Not to Praise Iran
Related Article - A quote...."Hamid Karzai, hand-picked by Washington to pose as president of the broken country of Afghanistan, says his government has "very, very good, very, very close relations [and] will continue to have good relations with Iran." He declares on CNN, "So far, Iran has been a helper" in fighting terrorism.  -  Nuri al-Maliki, favored by Washington as the most viable prime minister to pretend to lead the bleeding country of Iraq, says Iran is doing "positive and constructive" work in "providing security and fighting terrorism" in his country.  -  Both of these puppet regimes in nations bordering Iran seek to maintain close relations with the Islamic Republic. But puppets aren't supposed to compose their own lines, and the puppeteer George Bush seems somewhat irked at these words."
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U.S. general says 15-month Army rotations in Iraq, Afghanistan, to continue into next summer - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."FORT HOOD, Texas: U.S. soldiers deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan will be facing the extended 15-month deployments until at least next June, a top Army commander said Tuesday."

Army Suicides Highest in 26 Years - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."WASHINGTON — Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report."

It's what happens to you when you find out ALL the stuff you used to believe in turns out to be nothing but lies.  When you're stuck in some strange land, killing a bunch of people you don't know, for a bunch of wealthy elites making buco bucks off the arms and oil trade, who pay you a pittance while they smile at you and say "you're doing a good job boy" but actually could care less if the bit of cannon fodder you represent gets killed or maimed.

And you....can't....get....out. - mpg
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US anti-war group ordered to take down Iraq demo posters
Some quotes...."A US anti-war group has been warned it will be fined 10,000 dollars if it does not remove posters in Washington announcing a march in the capital next month against US involvement in Iraq, a spokeswoman said Wednesday."  -  "Washington city authorities said the posters have to come down because they were stuck on with adhesive that did not meet city regulations."

Ahhhhhh!  That's it; those nefarious peaceniks used the wrong TAPE! - mpg
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"There is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there?"
A quote...."Either this government --that of Bush and his co-conspirators --is legitimate or it is not! If it is not, then, by definition and law, nothing following from it is lawful. Unlawful regimes may get away with issuing decrees but without "legitimacy", decrees are unlawful. Dictatorships, therefore, find it necessary to enforce decrees with tanks and arms."

Some more fun from "V"...along with some chimps, (or apes) one of whom was selected by our ever so wise wealthy elites to rule over us. - mpg
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NYPD Report: Potential Terrorists Like Chatting Online, Hanging Out
A quote..."....it's hard to know what kind of action law enforcement can pursue here, short of monitoring every Muslim who hangs out at a hookah bar or has an internet connection. The report stops at calling it a "challenge" to figure out how "to identify, pre-empt and thus prevent homegrown terrorist attacks given the non-criminal element of its indicators."

Can you believe this report?  This website editor thought "the conditions that turn someone into a jihadist" were incidental factors in carrying out a terrorist attack.

MUCH more important would be tracking down those individuals who prepositioned their investments to take advantage of such an attack, gave BILLIONS of dollars to these groups over many years, conducted confusing exercises on the very day the attacks occurred, had their countries' security apparatus establish LONG TERM tactical and logistical support for these groups while at the same time instructing other parts of the security apparatus to "back off" when they attempted to investigate these relationships.  Encouraged their "friends" to support these groups and are continuing to do so....to this very day!  And right after the attack on 9/11 they even had their own "security forces" "evacuate" the relatives and families of those who supposedly planned the attack out of the country.

To the NYPD....you're doing a great job!  They say out West that water flows uphill towards money, guess it works the opposite way out there in the East....investigations flow down hill away from money, ain’t that right? - mpg
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Exodus of Her Majesty's Secret Service Agents
A quote...."It's the British Army's big malaise. Close to 20 percent of the officers who work for the Army's intelligence services have quit their jobs in the last three years, according to a military source cited yesterday by The Daily Telegraph. In all, that represents the departure of close to a hundred officers, mostly those engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan. The reason? Salaries offered by private intelligence companies in those countries are much more attractive."

What's better than having a government Gestapo?  Answer - your very own private Gestapo.  For more on how this issue is affecting America (it's much more scary over here) see....The Mercenary Revolution - posted 08-13-07 - mpg
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Eyes Wide Shut: The International Media Looks at Venezuela
A quote...."Most consumers of the international media will be surprised to find that the controversy over Venezuela's oldest TV station, RCTV, is still raging. We were repeatedly informed that President Hugo Chavez "shut down" the station on May 27th. But in fact the station was never "shut down" - since there is no censorship in Venezuela. Rather, the Venezuelan government decided not to renew the broadcast license that granted RCTV a monopoly over a section of the publicly-owned frequencies.  -  This is a big distinction, although the U.S. and international press blurred it considerably."

Hamas is ready to talk
A quote...."While Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert is busily courting Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas as a "partner for peace", successive voices continue to speak out against efforts to sideline the democratically elected Hamas government. As the Britain's Commons foreign affairs committee concluded on Monday, this strategy is counterproductive and doomed to fail, for the simple reason that the support of the Palestinian people is unmistakably lacking. Abbas's party does not democratically represent the Palestinians, yet what is in effect now a dictatorship in the West Bank is being welcomed by Israel and its western allies. The duplicity of this situation is shameful."

U.S. to Expand Domestic Use Of Spy Satellites - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."The U.S.'s top intelligence official has greatly expanded the range of federal and local authorities who can get access to information from the nation's vast network of spy satellites in the U.S."

This is one of the few "legal" moves the Bushists have initiated to spy on all of us; despite that accident however, it's one more demonstration of their ever present need to keep the sheeple in their pens….a camera on every corner and an ever watchful spy in the sky.  Big Brother really is going to be watching you, all the time, everywhere you go, 24/7. – mpg

Tuesday August 14th 2007

Accessories After the Fact
08-14-07
mpg

Credibility Of Wikipedia Takes a Dive After Wired Exposé
Must Read - A quote...."The credibility of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia has taken another dive after a newly developed software program exposed how the CIA, corporations like Diebold and others routinely edit entries to bury criticism and manipulate the truth."

To all the readers viewing this blog....please post this and pass it on.  This is SERIOUS! These guys are straight out of George Orwell's 1984 and are intent on putting the real truth of what happened during these last seven years, the nightmare that has almost completely consumed this nation...into the "memory hole".

The unvarnished truth which is our national heritage and the honest record of all the heinous crimes committed by the murderous liars who now squat in our nation's centers of power,  is about to be buried.  A record that needs to be told and retold over and over until it is seared into our nation's conscience so that these bastards DON'T DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!

An essential record, which could one day contribute to righteous justice being delivered against these thugs, these moral cretins, these oath breakers, deviants, perverts and murderers, may be concealed forever if WE on the web allow these little snot-nosed, collaborating, pin headed lackeys and accessories after the fact in the murder of three thousand Americans, get away with hiding the awful crimes that have been committed by this nations elites.
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Ex-CIA Analyst Discusses Cheney 9/11 Stand-down Order - (Google -  4 min 29 sec - Aug 13, 2007)
A quote...." Retired CIA Analyst Ray McGovern discusses the possibility of vice president Cheney issuing a stand-down order that allowed the 9/11 attacks to succeed, on a national talk radio program."

For more on this see....9/11 & It's Fallout - Videos
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9/11 - From The History File...
FBI Hides 85 Pentagon Videos And 9/11 Truth
Renovation Program Had Hardened the Facade Attacked on 9/11/01
The Pentagon Renovations Completed on 9/11/2001
Thoughts on the Pentagon strike theories
Missing Pentagon Evidence
Norman Mineta Confirms That Dick Cheney Ordered Stand Down on 9/11
Norad Stand Down War Games
911 Commission - Trans. Sec Norman Mineta Testimony - (YuTb 3m54s 022006)
911 The Missing Pentagon CCTV Security gate Video Frames...
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War and Leviathan: The Trick that Works Every Time - (YouTube - avg length 7-10 min - July 30, 2007)
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7
Must View - A quote...."Mr. Higgs's presentation to The Future of Freedom Foundation's conference."

100% Proof Google is Keeping Alternative Media Sites Down
Related article - A quote...." As if it were not bad enough that we are censored by the main stream media, now there's a new type of suppression being implemented upon conspiracy related websites and alternative media sources.  -  It's called Link Relevance Suppression, and it's being used on most of the alternative media websites to lower traffic being driven to them by the popular search engine Google."

Bush's Brain Steps Down: Facing Subpoenas, Karl Rove Resigns

Listen to Segment || Download Show mp3  ||  Watch 128k stream  ||  Watch 256k stream  ||  Read Transcript  ||
Interview - A quote...."President Bush's top adviser Karl Rove announced on Monday he will step down as White House deputy chief of staff at the end of the month. The move comes while he is at the center of several Congressional investigations. We speak with Dallas Morning News reporter Wayne Slater, co-author of two books on Rove, "Bush"s Brain" and "The Architect." [includes rush transcript]"

New Spy Law Broader Than Thought - posted at Consortium News
A qutote....U.S. news reports mostly parroted the White House claim that the law “modernizes” the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance of 1978 and “narrowly” targets overseas terror suspects who call or e-mail their contacts in the United States. But the “Protect America Act of 2007” actually casts the wiretapping net much wider. -  The law applies not just to terror suspects abroad who might communicate with Americans at home, but to anyone who is “reasonably believed to be outside the United States” and who might possess “foreign intelligence information,” defined as anything that could be useful to U.S. foreign policy."

UK 'damaged' by Lebanon war delay
A quote...."The UK's reputation was damaged when the government hesitated in calling for an immediate end to the Lebanon war last year, MPs have said.  -  At the time, then-PM Tony Blair was criticised for waiting a few weeks before eventually calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon."

But he only waited a few weeks....while Israel savagely bombed residential areas, power plants, bridges, and during the last few days while Tony "waited", saturated all of South Lebanon with over three million cluster bomblets.

For more on this see....White Man's Burden - 12-20-06 - mpg
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Gaza Tunnel Smugglers Grow Under Hamas
A quote...."Gazans are finding an antidote to their growing isolation: digging tunnels under their border with Egypt to smuggle everything from weapons to cigarettes to people.  -  A group of smugglers recently gave an Associated Press photographer rare permission to accompany them as they dug one tunnel. In underground darkness with stifling heat and limited air supply, the diggers painstakingly removed sand and rubble as they crawled through cramped spaces carrying portable lamps and homemade tools."

Understanding And Misunderstanding Iraq
Some quotes...."Yesterday Atrios got into a blog dust-up with Michael Cohen...." - "The basic point of contention (see Atrios, Cohen, and Atrios again) is Cohen's view that "Like it or not, there was a defensible case for war in Iraq." Thus, Cohen feels that even though he personally opposed the war, liberal hawk war supporters like his friend Will Marshall shouldn't be mocked."

Tomgram: All-time Highs in Iraq
A quote...."Someday, we will undoubtedly discover that, in the term "surge" -- as in the President's "surge" plan (or "new way forward") announced to the nation in January -- was the urge to avoid the language (and experience) of the Vietnam era. As there were to be no "body bags" (or cameras to film them as the dead came home), as there were to be no "body counts" ("We have made a conscious effort not to be a body-count team" was the way the President put it), as there were to be no "quagmires," nor the need to search for that "light at the end of the tunnel," so, surely, there were to be no "escalations."

The State Perpetuates Itself by Failing - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."This example is not the only self-generating demand for government activism that has arisen from the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Although al-Qaeda had no presence in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, the Mesopotamian branch rose in opposition to the U.S. occupation, and now is causing mayhem by launching numerous suicide attacks against both military and civilian targets. Yet with a straight face, George W. Bush maintains that the U.S. must continue expending U.S. and Iraqi lives and hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq to battle a threat he helped generate. He is also arming former enemies in Iraq – the Sunni guerrillas – to help battle the destructive group. Trust in the guerrillas may be misplaced, and could come back to haunt the United States later or exacerbate the ongoing civil war."

All part of the plan to generate more profits for the MIOC elites.  It's called "the self-licking ice cream cone".

Kucinich: DLC agenda 'indistinguishable' from Neoconservative agenda
A quote...."Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, a consistent opponent of the war in Iraq, appeared Sunday on ABC's This Week, telling host George Stephanopoulos, "I think that the support is building in my direction."

Whistle-blower in China faces prison.
A quote..."Beijing -  For much of his adult life, Wu Lihong campaigned to clean up his befouled local lake. That cause appeared to get a boost in May when the sorry state of Lake Taihu, the third-largest in China, elicited national outrage after a carpet of algae scum on the lake made tap water undrinkable for millions of households. - Mr. Wu's efforts came at a price. Last Friday in a courtroom in Yixing he was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud and extortion. His wife says he was tortured in detention and calls the verdict an act of vengeance by embarrassed local officials"

If Chinese officials are going to arrest a lone individual who's simply advocating for clean drinking water and a healthy lake, they will fail as a system, as an institution, as a government, and eventually as a country.  It shows a dangerously stupid level of inflexibility and intolerance for dissent.  Such a stringent policy is not only moronic, it's counterproductive and will allow pent up grievances to go unaddressed, build up to unsustainable levels and eventually explode.

This editor thought Chinese officials were more subtle and smarter than behavior like this would indicate. - mpg
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Tajikistan mired in great power game
Must Read - A quote...."Tajikistan, the basket case of the Soviet Union, and since then the most desperately impoverished of the former communist states, is where, between June of 2006 and June of this year, the EBRD decided that the creation of a private aluminum fortune, controlled by the president of the country - the largest concentration of wealth in Tajikistan - is a policy goal of such sensitivity, the evidence that it has been corruptly acquired, and is corruptly maintained, should be suppressed. "

How the "great game" is being played out in Tajikistan, a rollicking good tale of corruption, greed and what happens when the US and some of its more corrupt European partners try to be "friends" with the leaders of smaller and weaker countries -- disaster, ruination and crippling debt. - mpg
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A day of reckoning for Americans who lived beyond their means - posted at ICH
A quote...." 08/12/07 "Taipei Tomes" -- -- The pessimists who have long forecast that the US economy was in for trouble finally seem to be coming into their own. Of course, there is no glee in seeing stock prices tumble as a result of soaring mortgage defaults. But it was largely predictable, as are the likely consequences for both the millions of Americans who will be facing financial distress and the global economy."

Monday August 13th 2007


The U.S. Normalization of Mass Murder - posted at ICH
Must Read - A quote...." 08/13/07 "ICH" -- --- Given the nation's tottering infrastructure, imperial overreach abroad and vandalized constitutional process by a lawless executive branch, what will it take to scare the general public, mainstream press and political classes into immediate action to bring about meaningful change? At this twilight hour of the American republic, there must come a paradigm shift of seismic proportions or else the republic will perish. I'm less than optimistic. Insomuch as, I suspect, that if, during a rare press conference, George W. Bush's face were to suddenly shed its skin, right on camera, live on national television, on all channels, broadcast and cable, to reveal the countenance of a Gila Monster -- the elitist beltway punditry would begin to catalog the merits of his reptilian single-mindedness. Then proceed to an interview with an "expert" from a right-wing funded, zoological think tank, "The American Institute for the Advancement of Predatory Policy," who would assure us that: "...in an era when evil is as proliferate as flies around the stinking dumpster of the world, Americans will be kept safe by a lizard-faced leader who eats flies for breakfast." And the general public would only be concerned because the broadcast happened to preempt the finals of American Idol."

See also....George W. Bush Saves A Baby - (YouTube - 3 min 17 sec - October 10, 2006) -  posted 10-14-06
A quote...."President George W. Bush saves a precious infant from a horrible death. The press then reacts.
Written & directed by Matthew Filipowicz"
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The Mercenary Revolution
Must Read - Some quotes...."In a revealing admission, Gen. David Petraeus, who is overseeing Bush's troop "surge," said earlier this year that he has, at times, been guarded in Iraq by "contract security." At least three U.S. commanding generals, not including Petraeus, are currently being guarded in Iraq by hired guns. "To have half of your army be contractors, I don't know that there's a precedent for that," says Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has been investigating war contractors."

And...."The implications are devastating. Joseph Wilson says, "In the absence of international consensus, the current Bush administration relied on a coalition of what I call the co-opted, the corrupted and the coerced: those who benefited financially from their involvement, those who benefited politically from their involvement and those few who determined that their relationship with the United States was more important than their relationship with anybody else. And that's a real problem because there is no underlying international legitimacy that sustains us throughout this action that we've taken."
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Abdullah Azzam and the Omissions of Neocon Historians
Must Read - A quote...."In an “editorial” published in the Boston Herald, neocon propagandist—and jackleg historian—Jonah Goldberg gives us a running history lesson on “al-Qaeda,” specifically its purported ideological founder, Sheikh Abdullah Azzam. According to Goldberg, the late Azzam was “one of the founders of the jihadist movement that became al-Qaeda.” Indeed, this is true, although Mr. Goldberg, of course, does not bother to tell us the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey might have it."

Britain’s frontline soldiers have 1 in 36 chance of dying on Afghan battlefield
A quote...."Britain’s frontline troops in Afghanistan are being killed at such a rate that, were it to continue, one in 36 would not survive a six-month tour of the country. - bold/italics by website author.

Imagine what their odds would be if they had to do multiple fifteen month tours like their American counterparts - mpg
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Obstructing the War on Iran - posted at ICH
Must Read - Some quotes...." 08/13/07 "ICH" -- -- Many military officials, political analysts, and strategy study groups anticipated the war against Iran to be launched at the beginning of 2007, sometime between mid January and late April, when weather conditions would be ideal for aerial sorties and naval invasion. The signs were apparent with the heavy naval traffic in the Arabian Gulf, and the number of the conducted war games on both sides."

And.... Iran Sanction Act, expected to be passed by the congress, is calling for American disinvestment in any foreign energy company that invest more than $20 million in Iran. This Act is facing a fierce opposition from European countries such as France, Germany and UK, among others, who had sent their diplomats to lobby against the Act on Capitol Hills. The Act would hurt major European energy companies such as French Total,* Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol of Spain. The latter two are involved in $10 billion investment to produce Iran’s liquefied natural gas. American divestment in such companies would adversely affect American public sector pension funds especially Calpers and Calstrs; giant California pension plans. Sanctions against Iran hurt the US itself more than anybody else.

See also....
US and French Oil Conglomerates Share the Spoils of War - posted 08-10-07
A quote...."What this agreement suggests is that US oil interests are sharing the spoils of war with Europe's largest oil giant, the Franco-Belgian oil conglomerate Total.*  -  This rapprochement between Chevron and Total is consistent with the shift in French politics. President Nicolas Sarkozy is broadly representative of the interests of the Franco-Belgian conglomerate."

So Bush carves up Iraq killing upwards of a million Iraqis, and because he's FUBAR'd everything up so badly, he's now been forced to grudgingly fob off a piece of Iraqi production to the "surrender monkeys" (former Neocon slang) led by the new Neocon darling French president Sarkozy, so Sarkozy will now stiff the Iranians and help Bush try to isolate and eventually carve up that country too....just like Bush did with Iraq.

These "statesmen" are nothing but a bunch of gang-banging, thuggish, two bit, murdering, hoodlums.  May they rot in hell. - mpg

* bold by website author
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Panic Attack: Rove Packs Bags in Big-Time Bushist Bug-Out
A quote...."The announcment that Karl Rove is going to resign -- precipitiously, in a matter of days, obviously in a great hurry to get the hell out of Dodge -- must mean there is one hell of an indictment coming down the pike (or else one hell of a backroom deal has been cut to avoid an indictment). If that's the case, it probably involves the politicization of the Justice Department: an egregious thing, to be sure, but more in the nature of a "technicality" when compared to Rove's roles in conspiring to launch a war of aggression, subvert the electoral process and install an unconstitutional authoritarian regime."

Nixon Set the Stage for Bush’s Excesses
A quote...."I had just turned 16 years old when the marathon interviews entered our living room. Mr. Nixon, I thought, would be the worst president in my lifetime. How could he not be? His list of offenses seemed endless: Sending young men and women to their deaths in a useless war, justified by cooked claims of impending victory. Getting the Internal Revenue Service to audit those on an enemies list of political opponents and uncooperative journalists. Asserting executive privilege in order to cover his own lawbreaking. Employing dirty tricks to gain and hold power.  -  It all was so beyond the pale, I naively thought that no American president would ever again come close to such official depravity.  -  Enter the boy king, George W. Bush, and his regent Dick Cheney...."

Tumbling Down: Diebold Stock Price Falls in Sell Off as Still More Company Fraud Comes to Light
A quote...."Po', po' Diebold. Being unAmerican only pays well up to a point, we guess, as the company's stock once again begins to tumble today after a key analyst cuts his rating for the once-great "security" company, citing "possible legislative concerns in the company's voting machines business."

Zogby: Majority of Americans Understand Little about Latin American Neighbors
A quote...."As the U.S. struggles with a sagging public image in many Latin American countries, American adults show a stunning ignorance about the region, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows."

Actually this website editor is quite happy the average American is aware that Brazil and Venezuela ARE Latin American countries; one small step at a time folks. - mpg
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081307-081907 - links page

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