Wednesday August 26th 2009

Wrist-slap and Tickle: Obama Goes Mild on CIA Torture
Special Note - A quote...."The American political world is shocked – shocked – to discover that the CIA has been torturing some of the victims seized, kidnapped, snatched and literally sold into captivity by America's Terror Warriors. (Other captives have been tortured by the military, by hired contractors, and by various other organs of the security apparat.) This despite the fact that these tortures – including the threat to kill a captive's children – have been known for years, reported in the mainstream media and in several books by well-regarded writers with highly respectable publishing houses. (I've been writing about America's torture regimen, in print and on-line, since early 2002, drawing almost entirely on these widely available sources.) None of the material now being released is "news" in the sense that it is new; but as always, it's nice to have one more source of confirmation for these already multiply-confirmed high crimes."

Seven Points on the CIA Report
Special Note - A quote...."You can catch my review of the CIA Inspector General John Helgerson’s report on BBC’s “The World” or on MSNBC’s Live with Carlos Watson today at 11 ET. Here, in the meantime, are seven points that I draw from it:"

CIA probe shields architects of US torture regime
Special Note - A quote...."The Obama administration’s release of a 2004 internal CIA report on torture and the announcement by the Justice Department of an extremely limited investigation into actions by individual interrogators is part of an elaborate attempt to cover up the scale of the crimes carried out under the Bush administration, while shielding its top figures from prosecution."

The CIA's willing torturers
Special Note...."There is a moment in the still heavily redacted CIA inspector general's report into its use of harsh interrogation techniques against al-Qaida suspects that speaks volumes of how torture is allowed to become acceptable." -- also posted at Uruknet & CommonDreams

Obama, rendition, and the decay of American democracy
Special Note - A quote...."The Obama administration’s decision to carry on the practice of rendition, by which “terror suspects” are spirited off to third-party countries to face torture, testifies to the profound decay of American democracy." -- also posted at Uruknet

Obama and The War Criminals
Video - Special Note - Some parts are grim. - mpg
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Group: US is monitoring journalists in Afghanistan [It's better than killing, arresting and detaining them --which the US has been doing since the invasion of Iraq.] 26 Aug 2009 The International Federation of Journalists complained Wednesday that news people covering the war in Afghanistan are being monitored by the U.S. military to see if they are sympathetic to the American cause. The federation said journalists seeking to travel under the protection of U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan may be screened first by an American public relations firm to see if their coverage portrays the military in a positive light. [What, exactly, *is* the American cause?] -- Paragraph posted at CLG

Files prove Pentagon is profiling reporters
Special Note - Related Article - A quote...."WASHINGTON — Contrary to the insistence of Pentagon officials this week that they are not rating the work of reporters covering U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Stars and Stripes has obtained documents that prove that reporters’ coverage is being graded as “positive,” “neutral” or “negative.” -- Moreover, the documents — recent confidential profiles of the work of individual reporters prepared by a Pentagon contractor — indicate that the ratings are intended to help Pentagon image-makers manipulate the types of stories that reporters produce while they are embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan."

Journalists' recent work examined before embeds
Related Article - A quote..."As more journalists seek permission to accompany U.S. forces engaged in escalating military operations in Afghanistan, many of them could be screened by a controversial Washington-based public relations firm contracted by the Pentagon to determine whether their past coverage has portrayed the U.S. military in a positive light." -- For more on the three articles shown above see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda
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Obama's Fight for Reform - Lay off the footwork and throw a punch!
Must Read - Outstanding satire - mpg -- A quote...."Almost a year after the Great Giddy Swarming of the Obamians last November, some of the revelers are waking up with one booger of a hangover. And they are asking themselves, "What were we thinking when we had that tenth drink of Democratic Party Kool-Aid?" It was a clear cut case of seduction and date rape. The spike in the drink was, of course, hope. Poor pathetic American liberals. Forever doomed to be naive freshmen at the senior beer bash." - also posted at Creative-i

Leaving Obamaland
Must Read - A quote...."In Obamaland, the president never keeps the truth from us except to deprive the nation's enemies of more bad things to say about us, because he's so busy looking forward. Crimes maybe, are in the past, hope is in the future, right? In Obamaland the president isn't to blame if the wars continue and the troops don't come home, and the government keeps kidnapping and torturing people --- he didn't exactly say all that would stop right away if at all anyhow, did he, really? In Obamaland, all this can be overlooked or forgiven, or at least put off till Democrats somehow obtain a bigger advantage than a mere crushing majority in the House, sixty votes in the Senate, and a new president."

Obama's Wars Trigger New Activists - link posted at AntiWar
A quote...."The election of Barack Obama to the Presidency has highlighted the foreign policy double standard that the activists on the left end of the political spectrum have exhibited, or should one say not exhibited, towards the President's war-centric foreign policy. -- Obama is following the McCain plan for Iraq, doubling the U.S. forces in Afghanistan in addition to sharply increasing the number of private contractors operating in that region and bombing Pakistan on a regular basis. Yet, all of these actions, which in prior years would have been decried by those who consider themselves liberals/progressives, have seemingly fallen off the radar of the left-wing grassroots activists."
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Congress Seeks To Authorize & Legalize FEMA Camp Facilities
Police State Warning - A quote...."A new bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives called the National Emergency Centers Act or HR 645. This bill if passed into law will direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish national emergency centers otherwise known as FEMA camp facilities on military installations. This is an incredibly disturbing piece of legislation considering that the powers that be have already set in motion an agenda to setup a nationwide marital law apparatus through U.S. Northern Command and the Department of Homeland Security. Apparently, the fusion centers, militarized police, surveillance cameras and a domestic military command is not enough." -- also posted at DProgram

Army judge: 9/11 lawyers can't see CIA 'black sites'
A quote...."WASHINGTON — A military judge says defense lawyers for an alleged Sept. 11 plotter held at Guantanamo don't need to inspect secret CIA overseas prisons to determine whether the accused al Qaeda terrorist is competent to stand trial."

CIA Involvement: Police chief: Lockerbie evidence was faked
From the History File - A quote...."The Scotsman - 2006-08-28 -- This report was published by the Scotesman exactly three years ago. "the CIA planted the tiny fragment of circuit board crucial in convicting a Libyan for the 1989 mass murder of 270 people." -- A former Scottish police chief has given lawyers a signed statement claiming that key evidence in the Lockerbie bombing trial was fabricated. -- The retired officer - of assistant chief constable rank or higher - has testified that the CIA planted the tiny fragment of circuit board crucial in convicting a Libyan for the 1989 mass murder of 270 people. -- The police chief, whose identity has not yet been revealed, gave the statement to lawyers representing Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, currently serving a life sentence in Greenock Prison." -- also posted at AmericanEveryMan

Police quizzed if agent spied on terror suspects
Special Note - A quote...."THE Australian Federal Police has come under pressure to reveal whether a covert operative was planted in a group of five Melbourne men charged with terrorism offences." -- This seems to be one of the standard method's to support the policy of "White Man's Burden", recruit a bunch of uneducated, penniless, illiterate, [in Australia] and dope smoking, crack-heads, [in the US-NRE], give them some money, delusions of grandeur, and some "terrorist" 101 plans straight out of the same playbook these authorities used for 9/11 and 7/7 and PRESTO!  You've nabbed yourselves some "ol'dem dare terr-row-rists".  It's really not funny anymore, the US-NRE in collusion with Britain, and the Saudi Royals have spent close to a hundred billion dollars during the last thirty years to support every single Wahabbist, Salafist, Jihadist group out there to justify their Neo-Colonial plans for the Middle East, and it appears they're not going to stop until the world community stops them. – mpg

Look Familiar? - Alt - (YouTube - 54 sec - February 14, 2007)
Video - Special Note - A quote...."Another example of a top-down demolition. They crack the building about 7 floors down from the top.  The upper section then falls on the lower floors as they are demoed.  We can see the same kind of debris and white dust trails that we saw in the WTC demolition.  Very similar process." -- Boy oh boy, it sure does look familiar! - mpg -- For more on this issue see....9/11 - WTC7 & 9/11 - WTC-1&2

The 6,000
Special Note - Related Article - A quote...."***UPDATE*** At the end of this article, I have added a plan view layout and cross-section of what I hypothesize as the potential det cord layout plan for a typical WTC floor.  Scott has asked how the cord may have been used, so I thought I would include the drawings."

More Bad Science Surrounding the “Nano-Thermite” Red Herring
Related Article - A quote...."Another AE911Truth member has come out with what he claims is video evidence of the presence of  “nanothermite” in the demolition process of the World Trade Centers.  It is surprising that AE911Truth (an organization made up primarily of engineers and scientists)  would be promoting this video by David Chandler because it is an embarrassing collection of unsupported conclusions and really bad science.  It so obvious, anyone can pick it apart.  Unfortunately, I think that might be it’s purpose."
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The Secret War Against Iran
From the History File -- A quote...."04/03/07 "ABC News' -- A Pakistani tribal militant group responsible for a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials since 2005, U.S. and Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News. -- The group, called Jundullah, is made up of members of the Baluchi tribe and operates out of the Baluchistan province in Pakistan, just across the border from Iran."

ElBaradei Foes Leak Stories to Force His Hand on Iran
Special Note - A quote...."WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (IPS) - Western officials leaked stories to the Associated Press and Reuters last week aimed at pressuring the outgoing chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, to include a summary of intelligence alleging that Iran has been actively pursuing work on nuclear weapons in the IAEA report due out this week." -- also posted at ICH & CounterPunch & FTW

Iran gets 118 states to back ban on striking nuclear sites - link posted at AntiWar
A quote...."Iran has enlisted the support of more than 100 nonaligned nations in its push for a ban on attacks against nuclear facilities, according to documents shared with The Associated Press."

Al-Hakim's Death Unsettles Iraqi Politics
A quote...."The big news in Iraq was the death from cancer in Tehran of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the clerical leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. -- He had been born in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf in 1950, into the household of Grand Ayatollah Muhsin al-Hakim, who served as the spiritual leader of Iraqi and most other non-Iranian Shiites in the 1960s. From 1968, when the secular Arab nationalist (and strongly Sunni-tinged) Baath Party made a coup and took over Iraq, it began persecuting Shiite activists. Many members of the al-Hakim clan were killed (over 60 by some counts), and others, including Abdul Aziz, were forced into exile in Iran."

Powerful Iraqi Shiite leader has died in Iran - posted at AntiWar
Related Article - A quote...."Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the scion of a revered clerical family who channeled rising Shiite Muslim power after the fall of Saddam Hussein to become one of Iraq's most powerful politicians, died Wednesday in Iran, the country that was long his powerful ally. He was 59."

Deadly bomb 'not linked to Afghan vote'
A quote...."The Taliban denied involvement in the Kandahar strike, the deadliest since a suicide car bomber killed more than 60 people in an attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in July last year. Kandahar is the home province of Mr Karzai, but US officials say Kandahar City is also where the Taliban run shadow courts, tax businesses and have stepped up a killing campaign against government officials."

US fears mount over Afghan election travesty
A quote...."Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission reported Tuesday that preliminary vote tallies from 10 percent of polling stations gave incumbent President Hamid Karzai a slight lead over his main rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, in the election held August 20."

As Slow Afghan Vote Count Trudges Along, Questions Mount - Videos of Fraud Allegations Mount as Results Trickle In -- A quote...."The election commission that has been slowly counting the results of last week’s Afghan election says that with 17% of the polling stations counted, President Hamid Karzai’s lead is widening, though he is still well short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a run-off."

Medvedev: Recognition of S. Ossetia Irrevocable
A quote...."Moscow, Aug 26 (Prensa Latina) Russian President Dmitri Medvedev considered irrevocable on Wednesday the Russian decision a year ago to recognize the independence of the autonomous republic of South Ossetia, located in Georgian territory."

Planned U.S. military bases in Colombia increase regional tensions
A quote...."BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. deal on military bases in Colombia is pitting Bogota against many neighboring countries, which feared the bases would threaten their national security and heighten regional tension."

Israel Turns Up The Heat To Evict Bedouin From Desert Lands
A quote...."August 26, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- The inhabitants of the Bedouin village of Amra have good reason to fear that the harsh tactics used by the Israeli army against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been imported to their small corner of Israel’s Negev desert." -- also posted at SouthLebanon & AtheoNews
 & PalestineChron
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

"If a Jew needs a liver, can you take the liver of an innocent non-Jew?"
Quote of the Day --- "If you saw two people drowning, a Jew and a non-Jew, the Torah says you save the Jewish life first. If every simple cell in a Jewish body entails divinity, is a part of God, then every strand of DNA is part of God. Therefore, something is special about Jewish DNA ... If a Jew needs a liver, can you take the liver of an innocent non-Jew passing by to save him? The Torah would probably permit that. Jewish life has infinite value." -- *Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburgh*

Death Threats Over Israel Organ Trade Article
Contains Video - A quote...."Hat tip to fellow blogger morris for the excellent video. Donald Bostrom, the journalist who uncovered the illegal organ trade in Palestine, has received death threats AND Israel is to ban all Swedish journalists from working in Israel. So much for being a democratic state, and Israel has the chutzpah to talk about Iran LOL. Here he is interviewed regarding the article and the threats. I hope he has protection!More after video:"

Israeli brutality in broad daylight: A chemical weapon attack on Palestinian school children [during Jan '09]
Photo Gallery - From the History File -- A quote...."These photos, taken a few months ago, record in detail an Israeli attack on a Palestinian school, an attack using white phosphorus:"

Army breaks into Radio Bethlehem 2000, confiscates its equipment
Full quote...."Israeli soldiers broke on Tuesday evening into the Radio Bethlehem 2000 station in Beit Jala, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and confiscated its equipment. - Station manager, George Qanawati, stated that the soldiers confiscated all broadcast equipment, putting the station off-air. - Qanawati slammed the Israeli attack and considered it an attempt to silence the media. - The radio broadcast was also online as well as onto airwaves. Right now, the Radio’s website has only a black screen with the following words written in Red: - “We apologize, our broadcast has been halted as the occupation soldiers broke into our station and confiscated our equipment”. - also posted at AtheoNews & WarInIraq

Israeli forces continue systematic attacks against Palestinian civilians
A quote...."On 14 August 2009, Israeli gunboats opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats opposite to Rafah beach. As a result, a 12-year-old Palestinian child, who was at the beach, was seriously wounded by a gunshot to the head. - During the reporting period, Israeli forces used force against peaceful demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank. A number of demonstrators also suffered from the inhalation of an unknown substance used by Israeli forces in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah. - In the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes bombarded the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt allegedly to destroy smuggling tunnels. - Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Israeli forces seize 10 Palestinians overnight
Full quote...."Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces reportedly seized 10 Palestinians in overnight raids in the West Bank on Thursday. - According to Ynet, the so-called “wanted” Palestinians were taken from Jenin, Qalqilya, Nablus and Ramallah. They were “taken for questioning” at an unknown location."
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

Honduras Resistance Enters Day 60
A quote...."Tegucigalpa, Aug 26 (Prensa Latina) People's resistance against the coup d''etat in Honduras have reached its 60th consecutive day on Wednesday, amid the tense atmosphere after a failed international effort to find a negotiated solution to the crisis."

Honduran resistance goes it alone
Video - A quote...."As protests against the coup government in Honduras enter their 60th day, the international community has largely turned their attention away from the streets of Tegucigalpa. This lack of awareness, combined with heightened state repression, has done little to deter the ongoing disobedience campaign inside Honduras. Al Giordano reports from rural Honduras on the determination of the resistance movement to achieve their goals, with or without help from abroad. Giordano also points out that, contrary to popular belief outside of Honduras, the end goal of the resistance is not the return to power of President Zelaya, but rather the transformation of the country through a constitutional referendum."
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More on the Iranian Election.....

Iran's Khamenei says protests planned before vote
A quote...."TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader said on Wednesday he did not believe the leaders of opposition protests that erupted after the country's June presidential vote were agents of foreigners."
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The Rising Tide of Unemployment in America: How Bad Will It Get, And What Can We Do?
Must Read - Charts - A quote...."Before we can even start looking at causes or solutions, we have to understand what the current level of unemployment really is, and what the trends portend for the future. -- Let's use America as an example. With the largest economy in the world, it has often been said that "when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold". And much of the rest of the world has adopted the "Washington Consensus" - America's neoliberal view of economics.[Footnote] Moreover, the rest of the world has been infected by many types of "toxic assets" invented in America, such as credit default swap derivatives[Footnote], as well as Wall Street style banking strategies. So I will use the United States has a case example, but will also touch on global trends."

A Future of Poverty and Upheaval
Must Read - A quote...." And so those very same silly sods, who claim to be professionals in the financial world, who never saw this thing, the current economic crisis, approaching, are now the ones who loudly proclaim that the worst is behind us and though the recovery will be difficult, an upswing has now at least begun. -- There were, of course, a few sane voices out in the wilderness, often ridiculed or simply ignored by CNBC, who warned of an impending implosion. It is these voices we as a people should be paying more attention to, rather than those who have been bought by a system that was compromised decades ago when our great-grandparents were young and Woodrow Wilson was president. -- And what do these lone voices still say today? Hold on for the ride of your life."

The Devil We Know
Must Read -- Some quotes...."Ayn Rand wrote, "when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed." -- America is not doomed, but the fellows in Washington are pushing for that outcome. It seems that all the characters that encouraged this financial crisis are being rewarded, and Ben Bernanke's re-nomination is no exception to this rule. He was on the Board of Governors when Alan Greenspan grew our bubble economy. Known as "Helicopter Ben," Bernanke was the most vocal supporter of low interest rates to combat the bogus threat of deflation, even if it meant dropping cash from helicopters. He succeeded in his aim – as it is hard for prices to decline while the money supply is growing by double digits." -- "Bernanke says that he doesn't want to preside over another Great Depression. That doesn't mean he doesn't want another Great Depression; he just doesn't want to preside over it. His plan seems to be continuing to print money so that the depression isn't apparent until after he leaves office. However, while Greenspan was able to get out of Dodge, Bernanke will probably not be so lucky, as his reappointment virtually guarantees that he will be in the middle of the action when the bullets start to fly. Left to clean up his own mess, Bernanke will soon regret not quitting while the going was good."

The Reappointment of Bernanke
A quote...."The world’s central bankers met in Jackson Hole last weekend for their annual gathering. Undoubtedly one of the main topics of discussion was the reappointment of Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Board chairman. His reappointment would almost certainly win the support of the vast majority of attendees. This should raise serious concerns. -- This is the same group that in 2005 devoted their meeting to an Alan Greenspan retrospective (seriously). The world’s leading thinkers and practitioners of monetary policy debated whether Alan Greenspan was the greatest central banker of all time."

Peter Schiff on aljazeera Riz Khan Global recession 24 Aug 09
Video - Special Note

Whitney predicts more than 300 bank failures
A quote...."Meredith Whitney, the analyst who predicted that Citigroup Inc. would cut its dividend last year, said the number of U.S. bank failures will quadruple as lenders struggle with bad loans."

The Leaper Kings
Chart - A quote...."Here’s further proof that the market is off its rocker lately. Ladies and gents, the leaders of the new bull market:"

New-home sales jump nearly 10% in July
More good news - mpg -- A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Sales of new homes rose for the fourth month in a row in July, increasing an estimated 9.6% to an annual rate of 433,000, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday."

U.S. durable-goods orders jump 4.9% on aircraft bookings
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- A doubling in aircraft bookings during July drove orders for new U.S.-made durable goods up by 4.9%, the largest increase in two years, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. -- However....Excluding the 18.4% increase in transportation goods, orders rose 0.8%, the third gain in a row and the longest upward streak in four years." - underline by website editor

MSM: Real US unemployment rate at 16 pct – Fed official
A quote..."The real US unemployment rate is 16 percent if persons who have dropped out of the labor pool and those working less than they would like are counted, a Federal Reserve official said Wednesday. “If one considers the people who would like a job but have stopped looking — so-called discouraged workers — and those who are working fewer hours than they want, the unemployment rate would move from the official 9.4 percent to 16 percent, said Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart."

US Steel Imports At Multi Year Lows
Chart - Full quote...."With many pundits extolling the imminent inventory pick up and the ensuing exponential growth of US GDP, it probably makes sense to observe demand for primary raw materials for durable goods. Or, rather, the lack thereof. July US Steel imports were at the second lowest reading in over three years, at 0.9 million tonnes, well over 50% below the average monthly import total of 2.5 million tonnes. One would presume an inventory pick up would be preceded by a pick up in steel imports. Alas, the facts do not back up that assumption."

Toyota to reduce global output by 10%
A quote...."Japan's giant carmaker Toyota plans to reduce its global output capacity by 10 percent to cope with lower demands in the market."

Tuesday August 25th 2009

Is The USA A Sick Country Or What?
Must Read - A quote...."We've got a litany of horror and abuse here that sounds like the worst kind of stories that used to come out of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, or the Argentine Junta or Idi Amin's Uganda. About the only thing missing is word that the military and CIA torturers were eating their victims, or feeding them their own genitals, but who knows? Maybe we'll get there yet. It's hard at this point to rule anything out." -- also posted at OpEdNews

Deaths, Missing Detainees Still Blacked Out in New CIA Report
A quote...."The CIA and the Obama Administration continue to keep secret some of the most shocking allegations involving the spy agency's interrogation program: three deaths and several other detainees whose whereabouts could not be determined, according to a former senior intelligence official who has read the full, unredacted version." - also posted at Uruknet -- This is the second article by ABC's Brian Ross & Matthew Cole -- see also yesterdays....Report: CIA Used Power Drills, Guns, Threats Against Children

Holder on the Verge of Violating Convention Against Torture With Very Limited Investigation by Special Prosecutor
A quote...."The Holder Department of Justice is putting politics ahead of the law." -- Washington, DC: Today, Kevin Zeese, an attorney who filed complaints seeking the disbarment of 15 Bush-Cheney torture lawyers, derided the likely appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate less than a dozen cases of torture."

Isikoff: ‘We still don’t know the full story’ on CIA torture
A quote...."The CIA inspector general’s report on torture practices, released yesterday under court order, is so heavily redacted that “we still don’t know the full story” about what happened with CIA torture practices, investigative reporter Michael Isikoff told MSNBC Monday night."

After 6+ Years at Guantanamo, Mohamed Jawad Returns Home
A quote...."A young Afghan prisoner has returned to Afghanistan following his release from Guantanamo Bay. Mohamed Jawad arrived in Kabul on Monday. He was ordered freed last month after more than six years at Guantanamo. He was as young as twelve at the time of his capture and was tortured and threatened into confessing to throwing a grenade at a US soldier. [includes rush transcript]" --  ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More…  ||
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CIA collusion with “Al Qaeda” financiers and attack planners  - posted at OnlineJournal
Special Note - A quote...."(WMR) -- WMR has learned from an intelligence source from a NATO country that elements of the CIA have coordinated their activities with top Gulf state officials who have been connected to “Al Qaeda” networks that have planned and financed various terrorist attacks. -- A number of the “Al Qaeda”-associated officials are veterans of the CIA’s war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, including a top prince of the Al Thani royal family of Qatar who also serves as a government minister. The prince, who was shot twice in the back while fighting with the Afghan mujaheddin against the Soviets in Afghanistan, maintains close relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan and serves as a conduit between the CIA and both the Taliban and “Al Qaeda.”

Top Sunni rebel on Iran death row says US ordered attacks
Special Note - A quote...."ZAHEDAN: A top Sunni rebel who is awaiting execution in Iran said on Tuesday that his militant group received orders from the United States to launch terror attacks in the Islamic republic. -- Abdolhamid Rigi, brother of shadowy Jundallah (Soldiers of God) group leader Abdolmalek Rigi, told reporters his brother was an Al-Qaeda point man in Iran six years ago but that later the group broke off ties with him. -- 'The United States created and supported Jundallah and we received orders from them,' Rigi said in Iran's restive southeastern city of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan." -- For more on this issue see....US Support of Terror -- MEK-PKK-Others

Scientists Confirm the Effectiveness of The Big Lie - People Will Go To Extraordinary Lengths to Create False Justifications for Government Misdeeds -- Must Read --  Quote of the Day...."All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true in itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.  --  It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying." -- *Adolph Hitler*, from his book Mein Kampf - bold by website editor
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[Iraqi] Shi'ites unite in a new power grab
Special Note - A quote...."DAMASCUS - A new coalition formed to run in the parliamentary elections scheduled for January - announced in Iraq on Monday - has the backing of Iran and could pose a serious challenge to Prime Minister -- The coalition includes 10 political parties - all Shi'ite - and is to be called the Iraqi National Alliance (INA). It replaces the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) and will include heavyweights like Ahmad Chalabi, a former vice president, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), its military wing the Badr Brigade, the Sadrist bloc of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and a breakaway wing of Maliki's ruling Da'wa Party."

Qaeda claims Baghdad bombings that killed 95
What's going on?  Didn't Maliki's government claim that Saddam's Baathist supporters did the deed?  Isn't it a little late for al-Qaeda to claim the credit? - mpg -- A quote...."BAGHDAD (AFP) – Al-Qaeda claimed twin truck bombs outside two ministries in Baghdad last week that killed 95 people and wounded almost 600, according to a statement posted on Tuesday on an Islamist website."

The Bush's Lasting Legacy in Iraq
A quote...."US-led troops used 320 tons of DU against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf war and about 2,000 tons [of DU] in the 2003 invasion." - bold by website editor

Afghan Elections [if you can call them that] Change Nothing
A quote...."It is by no means self-evident that young Western men and women should go to their death in Afghanistan in order to impose a Western model of society on a population that - in its vast majority - wants none of it, says Patrick Seale." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Karzai's Top Challenger Releases Videos Alleging Fraud - link posted at AntiWar
A quote...."As preliminary results from Afghanistan's presidential election trickle in, President Hamid Karzai's chief rival escalated his accusations of widespread fraud in the elections, showing reporters videos and materials that he said proved Karzai intended to "steal the verdict of the nation." "

“The Safe Haven Myth”–Harvard Prof. Stephen Walt Takes on Obama’s Justification for Escalating the Afghanistan War -- A quote...."US military commanders have reportedly told the US special envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, that they need more troops to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. Last week, President Obama defended the expansion of the war, calling it a “war of necessity.” We speak with Harvard professor Stephen Walt, who argues that the President’s “safe haven” argument for expanding the US military presence in Afghanistan should be viewed with skepticism. [includes rush transcript]" --  ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More…  || 

Iran softens its nuclear stance - for now - [and other issues]
Special Note - Some quotes...."A new report on Iran's controversial nuclear program will be released this week by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), ahead of the September deadline set by the Barack Obama administration in anticipation of more multilateral sanctions on Iran. All indications are that after a temporary lull, the Iran nuclear crisis will loom large again come this autumn." -- "The government has adopted several remedial steps aimed at both calming the home front and aimed at enhancing - mostly nuclear and regional - diplomacy. Ahmadinejad's introduction of a largely technocratic cabinet featuring three female ministers and several Western-educated PhDs is a welcome step forward."

Iran says Western approaches to regional issues unworkable
A quote...."TEHRAN, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tuesday that the Western countries' double-standard approaches toward regional issues will not work, the official IRNA news agency reported."

Russia says first phase of ESPO pipeline to be completed by year end
A quote...."MOSCOW, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The construction of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline keeps to the schedule, with its first phase to be completed by the end of this year, the president of Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said on Tuesday."

Putin in surprise visit to Chechnya
A quote...."Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday made an unannounced visit to Chechnya, the government said, amid concerns over mounting Islamist violence in the restive Caucasus region. A terse government statement published by Russian news agencies said the Russian strongman had “visited Chechnya on a short one day working visit” for talks with its leader Ramzan Kadyrov."

Sukhoi signs record $2.5 bln deal with Russian defense ministry
A quote...."MOSCOW, August 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Defense Ministry and the Sukhoi aircraft maker signed on Tuesday a 80 billion ruble ($2.5 billion) contract, the Russian prime minister said. -- Under the contract signed at the MAKS-2009 air show at Zhukovsky outside Moscow, the Russian Air Force will buy 48 Su-35S, 12 Su-27SM and four Su-30M2 fighter jets."

South Ossetia, Abkhazia to Celebrate Independence Day - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."Another reminder of the lingering tensions from last year’s brief Russo-Georgian War, the republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, separatist enclaves whose claims of independence were finally recognized by Russia on August 26, 2008, celebrate the one year anniversary of this recognition as an independence day."

AFRICOM: The Pentagon's First Direct Military Intervention In Africa
A quote...."The 2009 World Population Data Sheet published by the Washington, DC-based Population Reference Bureau states that the population of the African continent has surpassed one billion. Africans now account for over a seventh of the human race."

Venezuela preparing to sever ties with Colombia, says Chavez
Full Quote...."CARACAS, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday to prepare to sever relations with Colombia over disputes relating to the latter's decision to allow U.S. military access to its bases, local media reported."

Hoffa Applauds Salvadoran President's Decision to Reopen Soto Murder Case
A quote...."WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa applauded the announcement by the Salvadoran government that it will reopen the investigation into the assassination of Teamsters Port Division Representative Gilberto Soto after nearly five years since his death in Usulutan, El Salvador."

Morales Annuls Forest Exploitation Concessions, Turns Land Over to Indians
A quote...."LA PAZ – The government of Evo Morales on Sunday annulled the concessions to exploit forest areas in a portion of eastern Bolivia and handed over more than 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of those lands to the Guaraya Indians."

Morales Ally’s Wife Wounded in Bolivia Bombing
A quote...."LA PAZ – The wife of a grassroots leader who is an ally of Bolivian President Evo Morales was seriously wounded by a letter bomb. -- Arminda Colque, who was waiting with four other people for a meeting to begin, opened an envelope she had just received about 3:00 p.m. Wednesday in the waiting room of a union headquarters in La Paz, triggering the blast, eyewitnesses said."
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War protest follows Obama - link posted at AntiWar
A quote...."CHILMARK — On his first official vacation since taking office, President Barack Obama has tried to leave his work at home. So some demonstrators are bringing the issues to him. - Noted war protester Cindy Sheehan is scheduled to arrive today on Martha's Vineyard to hold a series of peace vigils and other events to confront the president about the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

U.S. Increasing Use of Private Contractors in War Zone
A quote...."In Iraq, armed contractors are increasing as US troops “drawdown.” In Afghanistan, the increases are across the board. -- The Department of Defense has released an updated census of Pentagon contractors deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and CENTCOM’s area of operations. The overall number of contractors in the third quarter of 2009 increased slightly from 243,000 to 244,000, which means that private forces continue to constitute about half of the total US force deployed in these two wars."

Sibel Edmonds' Deposition: Video and Transcript Released
A quote...."Just over two weeks ago, FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds was finally allowed to speak about much of what the Bush Administration spent years trying to keep her from discussing publicly on the record. Twice gagged by the Bush Dept. of Justice's invocation of the so-called "State Secrets Privilege," Edmonds has been attempting to tell her story, about the crimes she became aware of while working for the FBI, for years." -- also posted at AftrDwngSt

Lynching of Cynthia McKinney urged by ‘journalist’ trained and paid by FBI
A quote...."Former Congresswoman [and presidential candidate] Cynthia McKinney sent an email around on Sunday in which she wrote: -- “[I]t has just now come to my attention that a ‘journalist’ who suggested that I be lynched was actually being paid by our own government to say that. Now, when I reported it to the FBI, how in the world was I to know that he was at that time on the FBI’s payroll?” -- Well at least she has a sense of humor about it.  What else can you do but laugh at these little presstituting paid for piglets. - mpg

Survivors of Israel's attack on USS Liberty tell their stories - link posted at AntiWar
A quote...." COLUMBIA, S.C. — Jim Kavanagh was scraping and repainting a satellite dish atop the USS Liberty when an Israeli plane flew overhead on June 8, 1967. The 19-year-old seaman waved to the allied aircraft before heading below deck to shower off sweat and sea salt. -- Little did he know the Liberty was moments away from a bewildering ambush that would kill 34 U.S. sailors. More than 42 years later, the Israeli attack — the subject of a new book by a first-time S.C. author — is a continual source of frustration for Kavanagh and two other Carolinians who survived the incident."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Israel: A Stalemated Action of History
Must Read - A quote...."What Zionism confirmed, if any confirmation were needed, is that accidents are more important in shaping history than is all too often allowed. Here was the intellectual café, which existed in key cities – Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century or the Lower East Side of New York before World War I – filled with immensely creative people full of ideas and longing for a golden era to come. Ideas – good, bad, and indifferent – flourished. In this heady atmosphere, Zionism was born. -- But Zionism has produced a Sparta that traumatized an already artificially divided region partitioned after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire during World War I led to the Versailles Treaty and the creation of the modern Middle East. The state of Israel has always relied on military solutions to political and sociological problems with the Arabs. The result is constant mobilization. -- Even more troublesome for peace and stability in the vast Middle East, Zionism has always been symbiotic on some great power for the security of its national project, realized in a state called Israel."

Israel admitted at least one case of organ harvesting and more
Special Note - A quote...."In this digest: I report on a 2002 Israeli admission that a pathologist in an Israeli hospital was harvesting organs without authorization, on the hopeful sign of the start of the academic year, the beginning of Ramadan in Palestine, a video on the free Gaza movement, on follow-up to Rafah clashes (in Arabic), and on growth of religious fundamentalism in Israel." -- also posted at AtheoNews

The Holocaust™/anti-Semite card©. Don't leave home without it!
Special Note - A quote...."How to play the Holocaust™/anti-Semite card -- Say you're a SLC on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean that was founded based on lies, murder, deceit and land theft. And say that your country still practices ingrained habits of murder, lies, theft of investors money, con games, false-flags, terror, corruption, racism and more land theft. -- Say that this nation's inhabitants are narcissistic and vain to the nth degree, always needing the world to heap praise and constant admiration on that country, since the Eastern Europe immigrants that migrated to that nation have deluded themselves into thinking the universe revolves around them, after all, a G-d they created says they are the 'Chosen.' -- Praise which usually comes thru the MSM, which confederates control and use to shape public opinion. Except....  Except occasionally a bit of harsh truth slips out, like stories about those 'light unto the world' people kidnapping humans and harvesting their organs...."

Settlement builder Leviev dealt divestment blow
Action Update - Another victory!! - mpg -- A quote...."Press release, Adalah-NY, 25 August 2009 - In another stunning blow to Israeli settlement-builder Lev Leviev, the Israeli business magazine Globes Online has reported that BlackRock Inc., one of the world's largest investment management firms, has divested from Leviev's Africa-Israel Investments. The Globes article follows a similar report by the Norwegian news service Norwatch. The move comes after a nearly two-year-long global boycott campaign of Leviev's businesses that developed in response to the billionaire's construction activities in at least four Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, all of which violate international law, and his abusive labor practices in the diamond industry in Angola and Namibia." - also posted at ElectIntifada -- For more on how to boycott Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg

Netanyahu greeted by angry protestors in London
Action Update - A quote...."Hundreds of people attended the demonstration on Tuesday to protest the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands as UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown held a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu in London. -- The rally began about 30 minutes prior to Netanyahu's arrival at Brown's office on Tuesday, Ynet reported."

Israelis restrict Palestinians' water supply
Real News Video - Special Note - A quote...."World bank report: Israelis have access to four times as much water as Palestinians due to restrictions " -- They steal their land, they steal their gas, they even steal their water.  It all sounds so familiar....oh wait, according to the most recent news releases the Israelis have gone one step further, they even steal the Palestinian's organs, WOW, not even the Nazis tried to do that! - mpg

Israel's 2nd attack on Gaza kills 4
A quote...."Israeli warplanes have attacked near the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip killing at least four and injuring six other people in a second round of attacks since Monday." -- also posted at WarInIraq
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

Spanish judge not approve rupture of constitutional order in Honduras
A quote...."TEGUCIGALPA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Spanish judge Baltazar Garzon said on Tuesday that he does not agree with anything that appears to be a rupture in constitutional order caused by the June 28 coup in Honduras. - Garzon, who arrived here on Sunday night to investigate the human rights situation in Honduras after the coup, is a judge currently seated on the Criminal Court of Spain. - In 1998, he issued an international warrant for the arrest of former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet for alleged torture and killing of Spanish citizens during his tenure."

Honduran presidential hopeful feels pro-Zelaya backlash
A quote...."Before the president was deposed, Elvin Santos seemed likely to win November's election. Now protesters pelt him with insults and eggs." -- Hopefully they were rotten. -- My Gawd!!  A sudden epiphany!!  The US-NRE really IS trying to bring "freedom and democracy" to the whole world....by carefully showing every single person on this planet how NOT to do it!! – mpg

Open Letter to Kenneth Roth -- Why has Human Rights Watch Fallen Silent on Honduras?
A quote...."We are deeply concerned by the absence of statements and reports from your organization over the serious and systematic human rights abuses that have been committed under the Honduran coup regime over the past six weeks. It is disappointing to see that in the weeks since July 8, when Human Rights Watch issued its most recent press release on Honduras, that it has not raised the alarm over the extra-judicial killings, arbitrary detentions, physical assaults, and attacks on the press – many of which have been thoroughly documented - that have occurred in Honduras, in most cases by the coup regime against the supporters of the democratic and constitutional government of Manuel Zelaya. We call on your organization to fulfill your important role as a guardian of universal human rights and condemn, strongly and forcefully, the ongoing abuses being committed by the illegal regime in Honduras. We also ask that you conduct your own investigation of these crimes."

LIVE FROM HONDURAS: Juan and Pedro enter coup resistance
A quote...."In the back room of a natural food and medicine shop in the western Honduran city of Santa Rosa de Copán on Monday afternoon, Narco News director Al Giordano and I met with Catholic priest and shop owner Fausto Milla, who had just returned from a meeting in Managua, Nicaragua with ousted Honduran President Mel Zelaya. A spry 81 year old, Padre Fausto erupted into laughter at the news that Al had been jailed 27 times in the United States and slapped him on the arm."

Toppling a Coup, Part VI: Electoral, Armed, or Something Else
A quote...."AUGUST 25, 2009, LA CEIBA, HONDURAS: Over the entrance to the three story building that is headquarters to the Organization for Ethnic and Community Development (ODECO, in its Spanish initials) are these words: “Buscamos voces que acallen el silencio.” -- “We Seek Voices that Hush the Silence.” -- For seventeen years, ODECO and the man the organization calls its principal strategist, Celeo Alvarez Casildo, have built what is evidently the largest and most advanced project of community organizing anywhere in (and one that reaches across a wide geographical swathe of) Honduras."
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More on the Iranian Election.....

Reformist Inmate Admits Link with Soros Foundation
A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- Saeed Hajjarian, a prominent reformist figure, confessed during an open court hearing here in Tehran on Tuesday that he has held meetings with a representative of the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute in a bid to stage a velvet revolution in Iran. "

Iran Continues Trial of Post-Election Detainees
Photo Gallery
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Obama Raises 2010 Deficit Estimate to $1.5 Trillion (Update3)
A quote...."Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. unemployment will surge to 10 percent this year and the budget deficit will be $1.5 trillion next year, both higher than previous Obama administration forecasts because of a recession that was deeper and longer than expected, White House budget chief Peter Orszag said."

Fed Must Release Reports on Emergency Bank Loans, Judge Says
A quote...."Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve must make records about emergency lending to financial institutions public within five days because it failed to convince a judge the documents should be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act."

Biggest Beneficiary Of Cash For Clunkers To Cut Capacity By 10%
A quote...."In a stark example of how it "should" be done, the recently terminated cash for clunkers subsidy for overleveraged US consumer to purchase Japanese cars, has allowed companies such as Toyota, Honda and Hyundai to push forward a significant amount of their sales, while relying less on the back end of their production curve. Indeed, as Detroit News recently reported, of the five major beneficiaries of Cash for Clunkers, 4 were Japanese cars, with Toyota representing 19.2% of all cars sold under the program. And now that they got their sales out of the door, they are winding down capacity."

Baltic Dry Index Down 45% From High in June
Chart - A quote...."Some investors see the Baltic Dry Index, a proxy for the shipping rates for dry bulk cargoes, as an indicator of international trade activity. BDI is admittedly noisy, and so needs to be interpreted along with other information."

Home prices rise for second month in a row, up 1.4%
This is the good news, however the bad news is that there's a huge, vast, hidden, and growing amount of unsold and/or what should have been foreclosed inventory out there, which neither the Banksters nor present home sellers want to talk about.  It will overhang this market for years....if not a lot longer. - mpg -- A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The prices of single-family homes in 20 major cities rose a not-seasonally adjusted 1.4% in June, the second increase in a row after falling every month for three years, according to the Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's."

Health Insurance Premiums Have Increased 119% Over The Last Decade
A quote...."Although many right-wingers will tell you that the current health care system works fine, the majority of Americans are happy with the plan they already have, and only a small number of uninsured people would benefit from reform....we [all] know that's just not true."

US 'far behind other countries in Internet speed'
A quote...."The United States has not made significant progress in Internet connection speed as it stands 28th in the world, according to a new US report."

Wegelin bank to pull out of US
A quote...."In a letter to investors it said Swiss banks were likely to find themselves in an untenable position, as they would be expected to know which clients were liable to pay US tax – "an impossible undertaking", given the lack of clear definitions in the matter. -- The danger of inadvertently making false declarations to the US tax authorities will be too great, it explained. -- It added that it believes the US overestimates its attraction as a financial centre, and is advising its clients to get out of all US securities."

Monday August 24th 2009

"Enough Already"
Must Read - "By Cindy Sheehan -- August 24, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- -“Enough already? ” Hmmm…I don’t know Charlie Gibson and I don’t pay any attention to his career, but I seem to agree with him on this one: “Enough already.” -- Enough with the killing, torturing, wounding and profiting off of the backs of our troops and off of the lives of the people of Iraq-Af-Pak: as our brothers and sisters in Latin America say: “Basta!” -- Somehow, I don’t think that this is what Charlie Gibson meant, though. I am sure that he just wants me to go away like most of the rest of the anti-war movement has done under the Obama presidency."

Where is the Anti-War Movement in the Age of Obama?
Must Read - A quote...."It appears that most liberal opponents of the wars in the Middle East/ Central Asia have ceased their opposition with the Obama presidency. The liberal Democrats who abhorred Bush’s war policy (and most grass roots liberal Democrats did vehemently oppose the Bush war policy although this was not always the case with liberal politicians and media figures) apparently were simply opposed to wars led by Republicans. As Byron York, a conservative, writes in the first article below: “For many liberal activists, opposing the war was really about opposing George W. Bush. When Bush disappeared, so did their anti-war passion.” Anti-war protest leader, Cindy Sheehan, agrees completely, stating: “The ‘anti-war’ ‘left’ was used by the Democratic Party. I like to call it the ‘anti-Republican War’ movement.”

Joe Bageant: How much freedom can one man stand?
Must Read - A quote...."....as American culture and society became more complex with more moving parts, it became more distracting. Decades ago we reached the point where the level of distraction was so high that few were capable of navigating it with enough individual consciousness intact to reflect upon, much less question the nature of our national environment. Like the rest of the planet, Americans mostly respond to the world as it is presented to them each day. But the world as it is understood by Americans now comes through many layers of distorted filters, most of them purposefully distorted for economic financial gain by one overarching entity or another. So much so as to be atomized, kaleidoscopically diffracted. One cannot identify even the simplest object through a kaleidoscope. Bedazzled, disoriented and detached from reality, we are rendered effectively blind — thus easily directed and managed. So we listen to the few loud voices to the many and disregard any dissent as background noise."

You Have No Choice - You Have Owners - (YouTube - 3 min 17 sec - Oct. 07, 2008)
Video - From the History File - A quote...." There’s a reason that education sucks, and it’s the same reason it will never ever ever be fixed. It’s never going to get any better, don’t look for it. Be happy with what you’ve got. Because the owners of this country don’t want that. I’m talking about the real owners now, the big, wealthy, business interests that control all things and make the big decisions. -- Forget the politicians, they’re irrelevant.... -- *George Carlin*

Continuity Über Alles: Massaging the Message in Afghanistan
Special Note - A quote...."Continuity, continuity, in all things, continuity. -- This has been the battle cry of Barack Obama's administration, especially when it comes to waging the Terror Wars -- and trying to manipulate public opinion about these intractable conflicts. -- As Stars and Stripes reports, Obama is paying millions to a shadowy PR firm to "vet" the political leanings of journalists reporting on his ever-expanding "Af-Pak War." This happens to be the same PR firm used by the Bush-Cheney regime to help mislead the nation into the murderous war of aggression against Iraq: the Rendon Group. S&S: - bold by website editor - also posted at Uruknet -- For more on those presstituting whores over at the Rendon Group, take a look at the following weblist, the Rendon Group's whorehouse has been right at the top of the US Fake Intel / Propaganda database  for a very long time. - mpg

Man who sold Iraq war now vetting embedded journos: report
Related Article - A quote...."A public relations firm that organized the opposition to Saddam Hussein during the 1990s and “coerced” journalists during the run-up to the Iraq war is now vetting at least some embedded journalists in war zones to keep out those who have a history of writing negative stories about the US military, a new report claims."

In another U-turn, Obama upholds Bush's rendition policy
A quote...."The US President Barack Obama makes another U-turn, recycling the Bush administration's controversial 'extraordinary rendition' exercise." - also posted at OhBummer

Lebanese man is target of first rendition under Obama
A quote...."Contractor Raymond Azar is arrested in Afghanistan, hooded, stripped and flown to the U.S. His alleged crime? Bribery. A human rights activist calls the case 'bizarre.'"

Report: CIA Used Power Drills, Guns, Threats Against Children
A quote...."CIA officers used power drills, mock executions and threats against children in often futile attempts to break high-value al Qaeda targets, according to portions of a 2004 report by the CIA inspector general that was made public today."

CIA threats to detainees' families exposed
A quote...."An internal CIA report published yesterday reveals a host of incidents in which its interrogators went far beyond acceptable bounds, including threatening an al-Qaida leader that his children would be killed and hinting to another suspect that his mother would be raped in front of him."

A Thousand Little Gitmos
Special Note - A quote...."By Petra Bartosiewicz -- The last person to see Syed Mehmood Hashmi as a free man was his friend Mohammed Haroon Saleem, who on June 6, 2006, drove Hashmi to London's Heathrow Airport, walked him to the security checkpoint, and watched him hoist his bag and head for the gate. But Hashmi never made his flight. At passport control, constables pulled him from the line and told him they had an extradition warrant on behalf of the US government. He was to be charged with aiding Al Qaeda."

Scott Horton Interviews Petra Bartosiewicz
Audio Interview - Special Note - Related Article - A quote...."Freelance journalist Petra Bartosiewicz discusses her MotherJones article “A Thousand Little Gitmos,” the low barrier of material support to terrorism charges, secret evidence used by government prosecutors and FBI sting operations that create crimes out of thin air."

Blackwater Accused of Creating 'Killing Program
A quote...."A memo obtained by SPIEGEL indicates that cooperation between the CIA and private security firm Blackwater was deeper than previously known. SPIEGEL has uncovered further details about a plan to set up squads for targeted killings of suspected al-Qaida leadership in Afghanistan." -- also posted at RougeGov

Lockerbie And The Finanacing Of 9/11
A quote...."1. In the Lockerbie case, all the evidence against Megrahi has apparently been shown to be fake. (LOCKERBIE BOMBING EVIDENCE ‘PLANTED’ – Mail on Sunday 21 December 2008)  ---  There is a growing belief that the CIA used its own agents to bring down PanAm 103.  ---  The chief suspects, Khaisar Haddad and Abu Nidal of the PFLP-GC, reportedly worked for the CIA. Ahmed Jibril of the PFLP-GC had links to CIA-asset and drugs dealer Monzer al-Kassar."

Hundreds of 9/11 first responders die of cancer
Contains Video -- A quote...."New York's emergency services were among the first on the scene of the 9/11 disaster but put their personal safety in jeopardy. Those involved in the rescue and clean-up operation quickly became national heroes. -- But now 85 per cent of them are suffering from lung diseases which they say were caused by the huge clouds of dust. Those people are now calling on the state for medical support. -- So far the US government has refused to help." -- also posted at DProgram

Iranians Seek Out Abuses By U.S.
A quote...."TEHRAN, Aug. 23 -- Iranian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Sunday for a bill creating a $20 million fund intended in part to expose human rights violations by the United States, the ILNA news agency reported. -- Passage of the bill suggests the depth of mistrust that remains between the nations as Iran faces a September deadline to respond to President Obama's offer for talks. Iranian lawmakers said the legislation was in retaliation for what they consider similar action by the United States."  - also posted at RogueGov - Just twenty million?!?!  It'll take BILLIONS to categorize the tens of millions of lives the US-NRE has destroyed, snuffed-out, tortured, sexually abused, robbed, and deceived across the length and breadth of this planet.  Iran better be careful, this could become a full blown, time consuming and extremely expensive project....they could go bankrupt just gathering and documenting all the stupendous amounts of information already available. – mpg
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Radioactive US weapons taking toll in Iraq
A quote...."Years after the US attacks on Iraq, people in the Persian Gulf state are suffering form the consequences of radioactive contamination caused by the use of depleted uranium."

Shiite Fundamentalist Coalition Announced
A quote...."Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that five major Shiite fundamentalist parties along with some other personalities and small parties have announced the National Iraqi Alliance, the successor to the United Iraqi Alliance that had grouped the same parties plus the Islamic Mission (Da'wa) Party of current prime minister Nuri al-Maliki. -- This move could keep Nuri al-Maliki from winning another term-- and could therefore affect the relations of the Iraqi government with American military commanders."

Shiite groups announce new alliance minus Iraqi PM
A quote...."BAGHDAD – Major Shiite groups have formed a new alliance that will exclude the Iraqi prime minister, lawmakers said Monday, a move likely to stoke fears of increasing Iranian influence and shake up the political landscape ahead of January parliamentary elections."

US plans long-term training center for war in Afghanistan
Special Note - A quote...."The US plans to launch an intelligence organization at US Central Command that will train military officers, covert agents and analysts who will commit to Afghanistan and Pakistan for 10 years." - bold by website editor - Read it and weep all you Obama worshippers. The Neocons did it!  Yeeeehaaaa! They WON!!  Endless war and endless profits for them for more than a decade (to start with) while all you idiots out there pay for their war flings with your tax dollars.  And your so-called Pope of Hope, a.k.a. "Bombs Away O-Bomb-a" is on board with the whole ENTIRE program.  Way to go folks, way to go.  Just keep being a bunch of dumb saps and keep right on voting for those DemoRepubs. Keep doing the same damn stupid thing over, and over again. - mpg

War to escalate after Afghan election - Article also posted at GlobRsrch
Oh Yeah!  Say it ain't so all you Obamatrolls! - mpg -- A quote...."In the wake of last Thursday’s election in Afghanistan, the US establishment is proceeding with plans for a further expansion of the war. Regardless of which candidate is ultimately installed as the president, their primary task will be to collaborate in stepped-up attempts to crush the growing armed resistance to the US-led occupation in Afghanistan and the border regions of Pakistan."

Germany's Steinmeier Calls for [Afghanistan] Withdrawal Plan
A quote...."German Chancellor Angela Merkel's challenger in the federal election, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, says it's time to think about a timeframe for withdrawing the country's troops from Afghanistan, where the Bundeswehr has been deployed since 2002."

U.S. helicopters violate Pakistan's airspace: report  - Everyone's said it, soon the US-NRE will be in Pakistan.
Full quote...."ISLAMABAD, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- United States gunship helicopters Monday violated the international border and intruded into Pakistani territory, official sources said. -  Sources told the local NNI news agency that the helicopters entered northwest Pakistani airspace at 0835 GMT at Khyber tribal region. - The gunship helicopters crossed into Pakistani air space for a kilometer, flying for five minutes and went back to Afghanistan, officials said. -  The unexpected intrusion by U.S. helicopters spread fear among the local residents, NNI said."

Lockerbie: what’s justice got to do with it? - link posted at AntiWar
A quote...."....Libya has always denied involvement in the attack. Other countries, most notably Iran, had plausible motives for wanting to bomb the plane. Whatever the truth, it was politically convenient for the Western powers to have Libya take the blame. In November 1991, indictments were issued against al-Megrahi, the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, the station manager for LAA in Malta, where the Pan Am 103 bomb was alleged to have been planted on a connecting flight."

Fighting in Yemen escalates - link posted at AntiWar
A quote...."Reporting from Cairo - Fighting in the mountains of northwestern Yemen intensified Sunday as the government announced that it had killed more than 100 Shiite Muslim rebels, and humanitarian organizations voiced alarm over an estimated 100,000 people who have fled their homes since the conflict flared nearly two weeks ago."

Iran Discovers 8.8 bln Barrels of Oil in Sousangerd Field
A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari on Monday announced discovery of 8.8 billion barrels of crude oil during2 recent drillings in the Sousangerd field in southwestern Iran. "

The US and NATO seek to balkanize the Caucasus
A quote...."War clouds refuse to disperse a year after Georgia waged war against Russia. On the anniversary of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s ill-fated invasion of South Ossetia 8 August, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev warned: “Georgia does not stop threatening to restore its ‘territorial integrity’ by force. Armed forces are concentrated at the borders near Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and provocations are committed,” including renewed Georgian shelling of the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali." -- also posted at BLN

Politicians should act in the interest of their state and their people”
Interview - Special Note -- The ends however, do not ever justify the means.  In fact, the means will invariably and inevitably shape the ends and if you take the wrong path, it can be costly to a state and its people. - mpg -- A quote.... "Oksana Buryak:  "Mr Kvitsinsky, is the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact a disgrace for Russia, or is it a victory of Soviet diplomacy?"

Yuly Kvitsinsky:  "The pact was timely and essential. At the time, it was legitimate and realistic in terms of political strategy. It would be appropriate to revise the rash decisions of the Second Congress of Soviet People’s Deputies, which criticized it for being immoral and for violating international law. Both chambers of the Russian parliament should make relevant statements with more sober assessments."

"By the late 1930s, especially after the Munich conspiracy, the U.S.S.R. had practically found itself in international isolation. This situation was dangerous for the U.S.S.R., all the more so since the Axis powers have started unleashing one armed conflict after another. For this reason, the pact was a brilliant step on Stalin’s part. It allowed the Soviet Union to reach many goals, and practically preordained the formation of the anti-Hitler coalition after Germany attacked the U.S.S.R. on June 22, 1944." -- For more on this issue see articles shown below....

Molotov “never regretted” signing pact with Nazis - grandson
Russia should be open about pre-war Nazi-Soviet pact
The Soviet Union’s ‘short-sighted’ pact with the Nazis

Rethinking Venezuelan Politics
A quote...."Hugo Chavez has become the face of Venezuela. But if we are to understand the ongoing debate over strategies for change in Latin America, we must step back from the avalanche of Chavez headlines and examine what is happening on the ground around Latin America’s most visible leader. Indeed, an analysis of concrete developments in Venezuela sheds light on the viability of movements and struggles in developing countries that aim to transform their respective societies and challenge"

RIGHTS-ARGENTINA:  The Unfinished Story of the "Disappeared"
A quote...."BUENOS AIRES, Aug 24 (IPS) - "The night of Oct. 23, 1976, nearly 33 years ago, was the last time I saw my son Pablo. He was 17 years old, and he was terrified. Since then I have had no reliable news about his fate. My family and I have been left at the mercy of the anguished torments of our imagination."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Newspaper admits no [hard] proof of organ theft
A quote...." A SWEDISH newspaper admitted overnight it did not have proof for an earlier story alleging Israeli soldiers had trafficked the organs of Palestinians, which sparked a diplomatic row with Israel. -- In an editorial headlined "The week the world went crazy'', Aftonbladet chief editor Jan Helin wrote that the first article on the case published last Monday "lacked'' proof of any organ theft. -- "I'm not a Nazi. I'm not an anti-Semite. I'm a responsible editing executive who gave the green light to the publication of an article because it asks a number of pertinent questions.''

Swedish author clarifies article on stolen organs
A quote...."Donald Bostrom [the guy on the hot seat] offers clarification on his article They plunder the organs of our sons, which caused controversy in Israel for claiming that Israeli soldiers kidnap Palestinians to steal their organs.
 -- In an interview with Press TV the Swedish freelance journalist said that his article was based on his observations and claims of the Palestinian families who lost their loved ones in 1992, during the first Palestinian uprising."

Palestinian news agency 'confirms' organ snatching story
A quote...."The Bethlehem-based Palestinian news agency Ma'an published a report over the weekend which it said confirmed allegations that IDF soldiers kill Palestinian civilians to harvest their organs. - The charges appeared last week in Sweden's left-leaning Aftonbladet newspaper and have since been widely quoted in Palestinian and Arab newspapers." -- Somebody, somewhere, at some point, is going to have to get more documentation to help support this story. - mpg

Kawther Salam - The Body Snatchers of Israel
A quote...."(photo: numbered graves in secret cemetery in Israel) Independently of the recently published article of the Swedish journalist Donald Boström about the Israelis murdering Palestinians in order to harvesting of organs for sale, and independently of the hysteric screeching and born to kill.jpegdenials by the Israelis, I want to present my readers what I witnessed, saw, observed and heard during my 22 years of journalistic work under the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. My personal experience confirms what Mr. Boström wrote: while I do not know the particular case which he describes, it is typical for what the Israelis do in Palestine all the time, what is “normal” since the early seventies."

ILLEGAL ORGAN TRADING~It's Israel's Fault NOT Sweden
A quote....The story of 19 year old Bilal Achmed Ghanan has brought more scrutiny onto Israel's illegal organ trade operation. We now know that Israel's blakc market organ trading stretches outside of the US state of New Jersey and directly into Palestine."

Guardian investigation uncovers evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza
Alt - Alt - Alt - (YuTb - 7m58s - 03/24/09) -- Must View Videos - The Guardian gathered testimony of missile attacks by Israeli drones on clearly distinguishable civilian targets. In one case a family of six was killed when a missile hit the courtyard of their house. Israel has not admitted to the use of More.. drones but military experts say their optical equipment is good enough to clearly identify individual items of clothing worn by targets. -- For more on this issue see....Gaza Invasion of 12/27/08

Israel’s Terror Inside (Trailer) - Alt - (YouTube - 5 min 48 sec - August 23, 2009)
Must View Trailer - A quote...."Max Blumenthal and the Daily Nuisance present the trailer for their forthcoming documentary exposing rising repression inside Israel as the country moves rapidly towards authoritarianism. An activist faces jail for blocking bulldozers; the Knesset attempts to criminalize the Nakba and all opposing “Jewish and democratic” state; feminists investigated for incitement to draft dodge; Palestinian-Israelis arrested for election protest — where is Israel going? Featuring interviews with Ezra Nawi, Breaking the Silence, Sameh Jabarin, Naomi Chazan, Bi’ilin Popular Committee, New Profile and others facing extreme repression from Israel’s right-wing government."

Gaza: The horror ignored by western hypocrisy
A quote...."The Israeli blockade of Gaza Strip, now in its third year, has shown the extremely deep seated hypocrisy in what is put forth as pristine, faultless, superior “western values.” Westerners have been inoculated against any sympathy for the victims by the skillful portrayal in the western corporate media of them as perpetrators and mad suicide bombers, instead of people in the midst of a serious crisis of human dignity and people fighting for the right to live on their own land. Rather than feeling sympathy, the westerner at best has been taught that “both sides are at fault” and that people should “stop killing each other.” -- also posted at AtheoNews & WarInIraq

MIDEAST:  Settlers Push Palestinians to Sleep on the Street
A quote...."EAST JERUSALEM, Aug 24 (IPS) - Israel's continued policy of Judaising East Jerusalem in order to establish facts on the ground before the future of that part of the city is decided, has left dozens of Palestinians homeless and sleeping on the streets."

British firefighters call for boycott of Israel
Action Alert - A quote...."The British Fire Brigades Union (FBU), which represents 85% of firefighters and support staff in Britain, plans to move motions at the Trade Union Congress’s (TUC) annual congress in September for the British trade union to work to increase Israel’s international isolation." -- also posted at AtheoNews -- For more on how to boycott Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg

Settlers Push Palestinians to Sleep on the Street
A quote...."EAST JERUSALEM, Aug 24, 2009 (IPS) - Israel's continued policy of Judaising East Jerusalem in order to establish facts on the ground before the future of that part of the city is decided, has left dozens of Palestinians homeless and sleeping on the streets."
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

Military coups and US bases: The threat to Latin American democracy
A quote...."The coup d’etat carried out by the generals and their civilian front men in Honduras on June 28 poses an immediate threat to the Venezuelan revolution and the international Bolivarian movement for unity and social change throughout Latin America. -- An attack on any progressive Latin American government, and in particular a member of the Bolivarian Alliance for Latin America (ALBA – the nine-nation, anti-imperialist alliance initiated by Venezuela and Cuba, which Honduras joined last year), is a danger to all people’s governments in the region."

The Learning Curve of the Teachers vs. the Honduras Coup
A quote...."AUGUST 23, 2009, SABA, HONDURAS: The classrooms were empty but the assembly hall was full. Last Thursday afternoon, more than two hundred striking schoolteachers and other members of the civil resistance from the northeastern state of Colón gathered at the city high school to chart their next steps."

Honduran radio station broadcasts again: director
Full quote...."MANAGUA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Honduran radio station Radio Globois broadcasting again after attackers pulled the plug on it Sunday, its director announced Monday. -- David Romero said the station was "alive," and no one was to silence it. -- Men in facemasks entered the radio station Sunday night and destroyed the equipment during the broadcast of a concert promoted by the National Front of Resistance. The resistance group is against the June 28 coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya. --     Romero told Nicaragua's official radio La Nueva Radio Ya that for the most part, Radio Globo's broadcast had been restored. Yet it would take many weeks before the restoration was complete. -- Radio Globo is owned by two of Zelaya's supporters, Eduardo Maldonado and Alejandro Villatoro."

What's at stake in the fight against the coup?
A quote...."Antiwar activist Shaun Joseph is recently returned from Honduras as part of a weeklong International Mission for Solidarity, Accompaniment and Observation. Along with Providence, R.I., City Council member Miguel Luna, he wrote a journal for SocialistWorker.org, describing the conditions they saw in the wake of a coup against the democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya--and the broad resistance against the coup makers.
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More on the Iranian Election.....

Iran tries more post-vote saboteurs on Tuesday
A quote...."Iran will hold the fourth round of trials for those allegedly involved in the recent unrest that was sparked in the aftermath of the country's 10th presidential election. -- The fourth trial session was initially scheduled for Wednesday, August 19, but was postponed to Tuesday, August 25, due to a request by lawyers of the defendants."

Commander Blasts US for Plotting Velvet Revolution in Iran
A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Commander Rear Admiral Morteza Saffari on Monday lashed out at the US for hatching plots to stage a velvet revolution in Iran, referring to the recent post-election events in the country." 
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Zero Hedge Claims that the Federal Reserve ITSELF Traded Over a Trillion Dollars Worth of Derivatives in March Alone -- Financial Alert - Charts - You know Zero Hedge, the popular website which has broken major stories like Goldman's dominance of high-frequency trading. - Some say that Zero Hedge occasionally breaks stories before adequately fact-checking them. I don't know whether that is true or not, but I do know that - in the months I've been reading the site - ZH has broken a number of major stories which:


"Zero Hedge is now claiming that the Federal Reserve itself traded over a trillion dollars worth of derivatives in March alone:"
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Crisis of Solvency or "Double-dip Recession" -- posted at GlobRsrch
A quote...."In an essay entitled "The risk of a double-dip recession is rising", Nouriel Roubini affirms two important points:"
"In other words, Roubini is confirming what Anna Schwartz and many others have said: that the problem is insolvency, more than liquidity, that the government is fighting the last war and doing it all wrong, and that we should let the insolvent banks fail."
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80 U.S. Bankrupt Bailed Out Banks This Year, Hitting Depression Era Level
A quote...."Georgia and Alabama banks with combined assets of $927 million were seized by regulators, pushing the tally of failed U.S. lenders this year to 80 amid the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. -- State regulators shut CapitalSouth Bank of Birmingham, Alabama, and First Coweta Bank of Newnan, Georgia, and the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision closed ebank, an Atlanta-based Internet lender. The three banks had $841 million in deposits, and the failures will cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. $262 million, the agency said today in news releases. A total of 18 Georgia banks collapsed this year, 23 percent of the total."

Dough for Dumps?
A quote...."After having given away billions faster than even the optimists had anticipated, it was announced today that the federal government's "Cash for Clunkers" program is coming to an early end. But, based on the standards of economic analysis which prevail in Washington, Wall Street and academia, the program must be considered a master stroke of public policy. These experts will tell you that by mandating that citizens destroy older (but still working) vehicles to receive $4,500 toward the purchase of a new car, the program not only revved up the economy by encouraging Americans to borrow more, but it may have, perhaps, made some great strides in saving the planet by reducing carbon emissions."

Sunday August 23rd 2009

No posts. - mpg

Saturday August 22nd 2009

Network - Money speech - (YouTube - 4 min 19 sec -  Added:  August 26, 2007)
From the movie "Network" - 1976 satire - Here, made known to you lowly mortals as inscribed in the Great Book of Lex Duodecim Tabularum, contained within the secret Thirteenth Table “Amor Nummi”, is written the sacred prayer of the Neo-Liberals  -- Praise the Almighty Corporation!! For I have seen the coming of His glory, the shining of His guiding light.  He is here to punish the unbelievers who doubt His powers, He is here to show His infinite strength of arms against those who are wicked, those who do not worship the blessed token He has placed here on Earth to serve His needs, the Mighty Dollar. Behold as He unleashes His righteous wrath against those who trespass against His bottom line, as He spares not the rod, the Mighty Military Industrial Complex, against all those who are led astray from the true path of endless profit by their lack of faith.  Watch in wonder as His blessings rain down upon this world bringing fire and death to those Corporatless heathens who still occupy His lands.  Witness their terrible downfall for their retched failure to recognize His Holiness and pay proper tribute. Tremble in Awe and Rapture as thee Almighty Corporation rightly assumes complete dominion over this earthly plane....Hallelujah!! Hallelujah!!....praise thy Corporation for His Kingdom has come and we are finally saved my brothers and sisters...we are all finally saved!! - mpg - posted 03-30-08

"Why Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world... but for Wales?"

Friday August 21st 2009

No posts. - mpg

Thursday August 20th 2009

Just think about it this way folks, for every dollar the US-NRE [or Britain's] Military Industrial Complex  gives to support terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, it generates for itself about two hundred dollars in funding for the "war on terror".  That's a pretty good rate of return, and a very well designed, highly profitable business model. - mpg - posted 03-03-09