Sunday October 21st 2007


It’s the Oil
Must Read - A quote...." Iraq has 115 billion barrels of known oil reserves. That is more than five times the total in the United States. And, because of its long isolation, it is the least explored of the world’s oil-rich nations. A mere two thousand wells have been drilled across the entire country; in Texas alone there are a million. It has been estimated, by the Council on Foreign Relations, that Iraq may have a further 220 billion barrels of undiscovered oil; another study puts the figure at 300 billion. If these estimates are anywhere close to the mark, US forces are now sitting on one quarter of the world’s oil resources. The value of Iraqi oil, largely light crude with low production costs, would be of the order of $30 trillion at today’s prices. For purposes of comparison, the projected total cost of the US invasion/occupation is around $1 trillion."

Iraq to Cheney: ‘Big fat no’ on bases in Iraq. - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."The Iraqi government has “put the U.S. on notice” that they do not want permanent U.S. bases in Iraq, CNN reports today. The message was “delivered directly to Vice President Dick Cheney at the White House” by Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak Al-Rubaie, who told CNN that Iraqis say, “No, big fat no, N-O for the bases in Iraq”

Check out the comments!  They're an absolute joy to read. - mpg
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Iraqi PM outraged over alleged civilian casualties
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki met Sunday with the top U.S. military commander in Iraq to voice his outrage over the reported deaths of Iraqi civilians during a Sunday morning military raid in Baghdad's Sadr City, a government spokesman told CNN."

Hezbollah Warns US Not to Set Up Base
A quote...."BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Hezbollah's deputy leader warned the U.S. on Sunday against setting up a military base in Lebanon, saying the guerrilla group would consider such a move ``a hostile act.''

Iraqi oil output likely to drop, expert says
A quote...."Iraq’s oil production is not stable and all indications are that it is going to fall in the absence of new investments and overhaul of present producing fields, according to Mohammed al-Zaini. - Zaini is one of Iraq’s most known oil experts and his predictions have proved correct in the past. His criticisms of the draft Oil and Gas Law are now taken up by Iraqi groups opposing the legislation. - Zaini said it was extremely difficult for the country to maintain its current oil output of nearly 2 million barrels a day."

No evidence Iran arming Taliban: Afghan FM
A quote...."LONDON: Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said there was no evidence that Iran was supplying weapons to Taliban militants waging a violent insurgency, IranMania reported on Saturday."

Mass Murder in the Horn of Africa By a US ally, of course …
A quote...."Why is the U.S. subsidizing and supporting murder, rape, and systematic ethnic cleansing in the Horn of Africa? The reason: it's all part of our strategy for "victory" in the "war on terrorism."

Opposition Party Wins Poland Election - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."WARSAW, Poland -- A pro-business opposition party that wants Poland's troops out of Iraq ousted Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's government in parliamentary elections Sunday, as Poles opted for leadership offering a more cooperative approach to the European Union."

Poor Bush and the Neocons have lost another "friend" (gang banger), now all they've got left for their "New Mid-East Colonialism Project" is a couple of "French Poodles", it's laughable, it really, truly is. – mpg
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China Ushers Into Position Its Next Era Of Leaders - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."BEIJING, Oct. 22 -- Xi Jinping, the son of a Chinese guerrilla leader who rose through the ranks to become Communist Party chief in business-friendly Shanghai, was designated Monday as the most likely successor to President Hu Jintao as leader of the world's most populous nation."

US intelligence does not show Syrian nuclear weapons program, officials say
A quote...."Cheney hand seen behind leaks of 'misleading' stories - Allegations that a Syrian envoy admitted during a United Nations meeting Oct. 17 that an Israeli air strike hit a nuclear facility in September are inaccurate and have raised the ire of some in the US intelligence community, who see the Vice President’s hand as allegedly being behind the disinformation."

Iraq whistleblower Dr Kelly was murdered to silence him, says MP
A quote...."Weapons expert Dr David Kelly was assassinated, an MP claims today. - Campaigning politician Norman Baker believes Dr Kelly, who exposed the Government's "sexed-up" Iraq dossier, was killed to stop him making further revelations about the lies that took Britain to war. - He says the murderers may have been anti-Saddam Iraqis, and suggests the crime was covered up by elements within the British establishment to prevent a diplomatic crisis."

Rahul Gandhi Interested in Broadening Relations with Cuba
A quote..."Havana, Oct 19 (acn) Indian Congress Party's newly elected General Secretary, Rahul Gandhi, said he would like to broaden bilateral bonds with Cuba. He spoke at a meeting with the Cuban ambassador to his country in Nueva Delhi."
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Attempt on Bhutto Adds to List of Shadowy Attacks
A quote...."KARACHI, Oct 19 (IPS) - 'Jaanisar-e-Benazir' (bodyguards ready to die for Benazir) proclaimed the white t-shirts sported by Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) workers responsible for security around the convoy of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto as she returned to Pakistan on Thursday, after almost nine years of self-exile."

The problem with having all those "shadowy" groups running around (many of them previously funded by the US through the ISI) is that anybody can use them. - mpg
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Bipartisan Perversity: Rebuking the Truth, Mocking the Dead
A quote...."Stark told the absolute truth about Bush; as Buzzflash and others noted, Bush has quite literally turned the war into a matter of mirth, particularly in the infamous "comedy" bit at the White House Correspondent's Dinner, when he hilariously pretended to hunt for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction -- the ostensible reason he had sent thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to their deaths -- behind the curtains and under the sofa in the Oval Office. Not even Hitler or Stalin ever turned war into such a macabre public joke. But Bush did, in front of the national press -- whose high mandarins roared with laughter at the sickening display."

The false Beltway script never changes
Must Read - A quote...."It's the same manipulative, demonstrably false script, uttered by the same mindless purveyors of Beltway idiocy -- the "journalists," the "liberal" pundits, the cowardly Democratic "strategists" hiding behind their anonymity, the Steny Hoyers and the Jay Rockefellers (and it all emanates from the right-wing noise machine, eager to intimidate Democrats into full compliance -- "if you oppose us, you will lose"). What they say over and over is falsified, but they continue to say the same thing over and over and are listened to. And what is happening as a result is exactly what one would expect to happen when one follows advice that has proven repeatedly to be completely wrong, spouted by people whose record would remove them from the realm of credibility if (hypothetically speaking) complete wrongness actually mattered -- this."

CNN Poll: 88% say Rep. Stark should not apologize
Related article - A quote...."CNN is reporting that 88% of those voting in their Friday morning online poll say there is no reason Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) should apologize for remarks blasting President Bush on the floor of the House of Representatives."

For more on this issue see....Democratatis Horibolis Rex
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Thank you, Sir. May I have another?: The Sadomasochism of Representative Democracy
A quote...."It's been a dynamite week for thundering impotence and pain. - One major story led with a ... well, however expected, let's just call it a disappointment: "Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee reached a tentative agreement ... with the Bush administration that would give telephone carriers legal immunity for any [grossly illegal] role they played in the National Security Agency's [more grossly illegal] domestic eavesdropping program."

These Democrats Aren't Our Grandparents' Democrats
A quote...."But here's the real kicker. Ever wonder why Reid and Pelosi are such huge -- GIANORMOUSLY HUGE -- cowards? Stand up, walk into the nearest room with a mirror and take a good long look. Don't stop looking in the mirror until the answer comes. Better pack a lunch because all the known evidence seems to indicate that it'll take most of the Democratic Party's die-hard supporters quite a long time to figure out the answer. - The reason Reid and Pelosi are such GIANORMOUSLY HUGE cowards is because rank-and-file Democrats have become as delusional and sheep-like as any George W. Bush supporter. These people could catch their leaders in bed with farm animals and somehow manage to rationalize it as being perfectly normal behavior."

The Man Who Builds Hillaryworld
A quote...."The pollster and immensely influential tactical adviser at Hillary Clinton's elbow is Mark Penn. Penn's polling played a crucial role in Bill Clinton's recovery from the nadir of 1994, when he joined Team Clinton as part of the rescue party summoned by Hillary Clinton and headed by Dick Morris. Penn has been joined at the hip politically to Mrs Clinton ever since, as a prime adviser of her successful senate bid and now in her drive to capture the Democratic presidential nomination."

Judge may order White House to recover 'lost' e-mails
A quote...."The White House may soon be forced to prove it is not trying to cheat history by destroying archives of untold numbers of internal e-mails, as a federal magistrate has supported a private watchdog's restraining order request."

Destruction of Evidence - Ohio's 2004 Presidential Ballots
A quote...."Overall this blatant destruction of evidence only reinforces the widespread belief that the 2004 election was stolen."

It was, along with the 2000 election.  The current occupiers of the White House do not legally belong there. - mpg
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False Flag Ops. - Pre-Meditated First Strike - Martial Law - Avoided....for now
The Barksdale / Minot / B-52 / TOPOFF 4 and Vigilant Shield 08 / Cyber-Strike / Loose Nukes Incident /

Editor's special note: It looks like Cheney jumped the gun on this whole issue.  The Cyber Command isn't going to be completed till 2009 and he would still need to "stage an incident" in the US to get people sufficiently motivated to start another war because despite all the recent propaganda, people just aren't blood thirsty enough to launch an unprovoked nuclear first strike against Iran....yet. Perhaps he was rushed for some reason?

He still has time though, with some more cooperation from the New York Times and the Washington Post, and additional prep work at Barksdale's CyberStrike Command....he could pre-position some more forces in the Middle East, ramp up some additional propaganda, do something about poor old George (lets face it, George really isn't all that useful any longer is he?), let the economy sag a little more, stage and "incident", and presto....he could become this country's first dictator.

This editor still has high hopes for him. - mpg

Barksdale group commander among officers disciplined
A quote...."Col. Todd Westhauser, commander of the 2nd Operations Group at Barksdale Air Force Base, is one of four top officers relieved of duty in the wake of a late-August incident involving a Barksdale bomber and an unscheduled nuclear munitions transfer."

New commander named at Minot Air Force Base
A quote...."MINOT (AP) - The military has named a new commander at Minot Air Force Base in the wake of a cross-country flight of a B-52 bomber armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles."

Wing decertified, COs sacked for nuke mistake
A quote....The Air Force relieved the 5th Munitions Squadron commander at Minot immediately after the incident. On Friday, it announced that three more commanders have been sacked. They are:

• Col. Bruce Emig, wing commander, 5th Bomb Wing, Minot Air Force Base;
• Col. Cynthia M. Lundell, commander, 5th Maintenance Group, Minot Air Force Base; and
• Col. Todd C. Westhauser, commander, 2nd Operations Group, Barksdale Air Force Base.

Air Force Cyber Command Provisionally at Barksdale
A quote...."The Air Force Cyber Command will be headquartered, at least on an interim basis, at Barksdale Air Force Base"

Bases compete for cyber command HQ
A quote..."Barksdale has another advantage. In November, Wynne said the 8th Air Force “with its long and strategic deep strike heritage” would be in charge of the new cyber command. That means the 8th Air Forces’ Lt. Gen. Robert Elder was given the job of searching all Air Force commands to find personnel for the new mission."  - bold/italics by website author

Planners hang hopes on Barksdale's cyber future
A quote...."The former Alden Plantation is where they hope to build a 58-acre cyber innovation center to complement Air Force Cyber Command, just formed at Barksdale Air Force Base. Using up to $50 million from Bossier City and Bossier Parish and $50 million from Louisiana, the center would be an enticement to the Air Force to locate a potential new major command headed by a four-star general here."

Air Force Explores the Next Frontier
A quote...."The Air Force announced in November it would create the Cyber Command, to be headquartered at the 8th Air Force at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and named Lt. Gen. Robert Elder the new organization’s first chief. According to Air Force budget documents released Feb. 5, the command will formally begin operations in May and be fully operational by October 2009.

More Articles On This Topic -  Newsfeed

1. Air Force Refused to Fly Weapons to Middle East Theater - Salem-News.Com
2. Officers May Be Fired Over Nuke Incident - Breaking News: The Post Chronicle
3. US Air Force plans to fire officers in mistaken flight with nuclear weapons - International Herald Tribune
4. Firings expected over B-52 nukes incident
5. Source: Firings likely in transport of nuclear warheads across U.S. - CNN.com
6. KFYR-TV North Dakota's NBC News Leader
7. Officers in on B-52 flight may be fired -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY
8. Aero-News Network: The Aviation and Aerospace World's Daily/Real-Time News and Information Service

For more on this see Barksdale / Minot B-52 Incident

See also...False Flag Ops - Barksdale / B-52 Loose Nukes Incident  -  for a complete list of all articles
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Housing Flameout: California falls into the sea
A quote...." We are now beginning to see the first signs that the listless housing bubble has sprung a leak and is careening towards earth. This week’s news from Southern California confirms that home sales have plummeted a whopping 48.5% from the previous year. This represents the biggest decline in home sales since the industry began keeping records more than 20 years ago. Sales are at a standstill and builders and homeowners have begun slashing prices in desperation. (See you tube “Central California Housing Crash:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVFBojFJTZM )"

Just How Much Trouble is the US Economy In?
A quote...."The article also provides data from the US Treasury Department showing unprecedented outflows of $163 Billion from all forms of US investments. Asian investors alone dumped a stunning $52 Billion worth of US treasury bonds. It is the first time in years that foreigners have even sold more treasury certificates than they have purchased, and now they are dumping them like crazy. This means they think the value of the dollar will keep falling, so the sooner they cash in, the more money they are going to get."

Nobel Prize Sees What Market-Fundamentalists Don’t
A quote...."The reality-based community got a little boost recently with the announcement of the 2007 Nobel Prize in economics. - Three Americans, Eric Maskin, Roger Myerson and Leonid Hurwicz, shared the honor for their work in mechanism design theory, which studies under what conditions markets work well or don’t. Sneak preview: They do better with private than with public goods."

Brazil slams IMF handling of US credit crisis
A quote...."Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega slammed the International Monetary Fund Saturday for having been lax in its handling of a US housing-related credit crisis that roiled global markets."

Just think of what would happen if the IMF imposed the same austerity measures on the US that the US banks were perfectly willing to have imposed on all those other countries south of our border who got into economic difficulties, many of them because they were foolish enough to do business with US banks in the first place.  But of course turnabout is never fair play in the US, our wealthy banking elites are “special” and the rules they apply to others don't apply to them ...to phrase this as delicately as possible, their rules are..."flexible" - mpg
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IMF Misses Epoch-Making Changes in the Global Economy
Related article - Speaking of which, if you deal with or borrow from the IMF or World Bank you have only yourselves to blame for what happens to you or your people. - mpg

IMF growth forecast not as good as it looks
A quote...."The expansion in the world economy over the next year is heavily dependent on just three regions: China, Russia and India. The IMF calculates that these three economies alone accounted for one-half of global growth in the past year, with expansion also taking place in other so-called emerging market economies."

Worldwide FDA-Created GM Crops Health Crisis
A quote...."Government officials around the globe have been coerced, infiltrated, and paid off by the agricultural biotech giants. In Indonesia, Monsanto gave bribes and questionable payments to at least 140 officials, attempting to get their genetically modified (GM) cotton approved. [1] In India, one official tampered with the report on Bt cotton to increase the yield figures to favor Monsanto. [2] In Mexico, a senior government official allegedly threatened a University of California professor, implying “We know where your children go to school,” trying to get him not to publish incriminating evidence that would delay GM approvals. [3] While most industry manipulation and political collusion is more subtle, none was more significant than that found at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)."

Soyuz spaceship undocks and starts flight to earth
A quote...."KOROLYOV, Moscow Region, October 21 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Soyuz spaceship with three cosmonauts aboard undocked from the International Space Station on Sunday at 11.14 MT and started its flight to the earth, Itar-Tass learnt from spokesman of the Mission Control Centre Valery Lyndin."

Saturday October 20th 2007

No posts - mpg

Friday October 19th 2007

>>>  Barksdale / Minot B-52 Incident  <<<

Nukes Over America: All A Stupid Mistake. Sure it Was
Must Read - Some quotes...."The Air Force’s Friday report on the August 29-30 nuclear weapons incident which saw six armed cruise missiles flown across the continental US in launch position on a B-52H bomber leaves all the big questions unanswered, attempting to shuck the whole thing off as an “unacceptable mistake.”

"How can it be that Air Force ground crew people at Barksdale could spot the nukes in a flash while nobody at Minot—not the workers who mounted the warheads on the missiles in the heavily guarded bunker, not the guards who are supposed to guard those weapons with their lives and prevent any unauthorized removal from the bunkers, not the ground crew that loaded them onto the plan, and not the pilot and crew of the bomber, who are supposed to check every missile before they take off—noticed they were nuclear warheads?"

"Nobody, apparently, asked the Air Force either about six mysterious violent deaths of Air Force personnel from Minot and Barksdale, and from a mysterious Air Force Special Commando Group, all of which occurred in the days and weeks immediately before, during and after the incident. Two of those deaths—of the Special Commando Group officer and of a Minot weapons guard—were reportedly “suicides.”"

It's About That Mutiny: Air Force Covers Its Tail With Transparent Feathers
Must Read - A quote...."The US Air Force has decommissioned five officers and barred 65 others from handling nuclear weapons after what has been called an investigation into what has been called a series of mistakes which led to a B-52 flying from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale AFB in Louisiana last August."

Names of the Dead : Quoted from....Nuke transportation story has explosive implications

Airman First Class Todd Blue, 20 years old, died Wyethville, Virginia, September 12
Two people from Barksdale Air Force Base, died Caddo Parish, Louisiana, September 15
Airman Adam Barrs, aged 20, killed in an auto crash in Minot, July 5
Air Force 1st Lt. Weston Kissel, 28, B-52 pilot assigned to the 23rd Bomb Wing at the Minot base, killed in a motorcycle crash in Tennessee
Air Force Capt. John Frueh, found dead in Skamania County, Washington state, September 2

For more on this see issue....False Flag Ops - Barksdale / B-52 Loose Nukes Incident

See also....
6 Air Force People Die Mysteriously After Reporting Nuclear Incident
TOPOFF 4 and Vigilant Shield 08: a view from the "feverish fringe"
Navy veteran questions why six nuclear missiles were flown on combat aircraft to staging area for Middle East
The Kennebunkport Warning And The Rogue B-52 - Confirmation With A Vengeance
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Hillary's Mystery Money Men
A quote...."Political junkies will recall Quasha as the controversial figure who bailed out George W. Bush's failing oil company in 1986, folding Bush into his company, Harken Energy, thus setting him on the path to a lucrative and high-profile position as an owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, and the presidency. The persistently unprofitable Harken--many of whose board members, connected to powerful foreign interests and the intelligence community, nevertheless profited enormously--faced intense scrutiny in the early 1990s and again during Bush's first term. - Now Quasha is back--on the other side of the aisle. Operating below the radar, he entered Hillary Clinton's circle even before she declared her candidacy...."

>>>  Democratatis Horibolis Rex  <<<

Rocky road ahead for Senate's gift of telecom immunity
Related article - A quote...."Update: Feingold vows to use 'every tool at my disposal' to block telecom immunity, protect privacy; Dodd says will filibuster"

And....Rep. Pete Stark's Unbelievable Comments - (YouTube - 22 sec - 10-18-07)
A quote...."Pete Stark (D-CA), "But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement."

Oh My God.... two Democratatis Horibolis Rexs have been spotted on Capital Hill (and not one of the lesser cross bred DemoRepub familareous-sycophantis-contemptuous half breeds either) This in and of itself was a singular event, the incredible rare simultaneous sighting of two of them....within the same week!

But adding to the pleasure of those who habitually choose to watch the macabre and repugnant habits of the beltway swamp dwellers was the fact that they were actually making fighting noises, sounds not heard for more than two decades in these parts.

Many had thought this particular breed to be long extinct, yet there they were, in rare fighting form, courageously challenging the lowest of the night crawlers and the slimiest of the slitherers to emerge from their dens to do battle with them.  And unlike the well known mimickers who pretend to be from this species.... Putrideous Pelosianas and the even more disgusting and repellent Clinging Clintonosus, destructive variants which have disappointed so many who thought the beltway's natural balance would one day be restored, only to watch helplessly while these pernicious and destructive false varieties did even more damage…these two particular examples of Democratatis Horibolis Rexs appear to be the real thing.

Perhaps there'll be more sightings? – mpg
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Comcast Accused Of Setting Precedent To Scrap Net Neutrality
A quote...."ISP revealed to be covertly interfering with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online  -   It has been confirmed that Comcast, the second largest ISP in the U.S., has been employing technology to block some some of its high-speed Internet users attempting to share files online, setting a precedent to overturn the established tradition of treating all internet traffic equally."

For more on this see....The Last Bastion of Freedom is Falling - 05-30-06 - mpg
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U.S. Asserts State Secrets, Seeks to Dismiss CIA Case (Update2)
A quote...."Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit claiming a Boeing Co. unit falsified flight plans to disguise the Central Intelligence Agency's transporting of terrorism suspects to secret prisons overseas. - The Justice Department today asked to intervene in the case to protect state secrets. The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in May, claims Jeppesen Dataplan helped to transport terrorism suspects on more than 70 flights to countries where they weren't protected by U.S. law and were tortured during interrogation."

For more on this see....Boeing's Side Business
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Tomgram: Do We Already Have Our Pentagon Papers?
A quote...."They can't help themselves. They want to confess.  -  How else to explain the torture memorandums that continue to flow out of the inner sancta of this administration, the most recent of which were evidently leaked to the New York Times. Those two, from the Alberto Gonzales Justice Department, were written in 2005 and recommitted the administration to the torture techniques it had been pushing for years. As the Times noted, the first of those memorandums, from February of that year, was "an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency." The second "secret opinion" was issued as Congress moved to outlaw "cruel, inhuman, and degrading" treatment (not that such acts weren't already against U.S. and international law). It brazenly "declared that none of the C.I.A. interrogation methods violated that standard"; and, the Times assured us, "the 2005 Justice Department opinions remain in effect, and their legal conclusions have been confirmed by several more recent memorandums."

Republicans Slam Stark for War Comments
More on Stark's stance. - mpg

Panel: Blackwater tried to seize 2 Iraqi aircraft
A quote...."WASHINGTON — Blackwater USA tried to take at least two Iraqi military aircraft out of Iraq two years ago and refused to give the planes back when Iraqi officials sought to reclaim them, according to a congressional committee investigating the private security contractor"

Shared Values Revisited - A Case Study in the Limits of Propaganda
A quote...."Twenty or fifty years from now, scholars wishing to understanding the relationship between the United States and the rest of the world will certainly be interested in studying the "Shared Values" campaign. As my professor friend wrote back after finding the videos, "The ads are a great teaching tool about propaganda." Like most propaganda, they tell us a great deal about how the propagandists see themselves as well as how they want to be perceived by others."

PJB: Who Restarted the Cold War?
A quote...."Missing from the prosecution’s case, however, was the motive. Why has Putin’s Russia turned hostile? Why is Putin mending fences with China, Iran and Syria? Why is Putin sending Bear bombers to the edge of American airspace? Why has Russia turned against America? For Putin’s approval rating is three times that of George Bush. Who restarted the Cold War?"

Decline of the Old Right
A quote...."After the death of Taft and as the Eisenhower foreign policy began to take on the frozen Dullesian lineaments of permanent mass armament and the threat of "massive nuclear retaliation" throughout the globe, I began to notice isolationist sentiment starting to fade away, even among old libertarian and isolationist compatriots who should have known better. Old friends who used to scoff at the "Russian threat" and had declared The Enemy to be Washington, D.C. now began to mutter about the "international Communist conspiracy." I noticed that young libertarians coming into the ranks were increasingly infected with the Cold War mentality and had never even heard of the isolationist alternative. Young libertarians wondered how it was that I upheld a "Communist foreign policy."

Blackwater and Haditha - A Tale of Two Atrocities
A quote...."The recent public outrage over the conduct of Blackwater Security mercenaries in Iraq, after an unprovoked massacre of at least 17 Iraqi civilians in western Baghdad has been heartening; unfortunately, there has been virtually no attention a far more important concurrent development -- the ongoing collapse of the military prosecution in the Haditha massacre."

We’re in the midst of the most radical privatization agenda in our nation’s history….
Related Article - A quote...."....and we watched as the Bush administration then began to escalate the rhetoric. And it became clear that they were gonna lay siege to the city of Fallujah And what happened in the aftermath is well known. The– the US military was ordered to destroy the city. Hundreds of Iraqi civilians were killed. A number of US troops. And I began from a very simple question. How on earth were the lives of four corporate personnel– not US soldiers, not humanitarian workers. But how were the lives of these four corporate personnel worth the death of an entire Iraqi city? That siege had an incredibly devastating impact on events on the ground in Iraq. It gave rise to the Iraqi resistance. Fueled it. Attacks escalated against US forces. And it was– it was really the moment that the war turned over the deaths of these four Blackwater guys.

Bill Moyers talks [to] journalist Jeremy Scahill, Part 1
Must View -Video - Available in || Quick Time Sml  || Quick Time Lrg || WMP Sml || WMP Lrg  ||  Transcript  ||
A quote...."Jeremy Scahill has been covering Blackwater for THE NATION and other publications for more than three years. He is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute, and is the author of BLACKWATER: THE RISE OF THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL MERCENARY ARMY, published by Nation Books. He is also an award-winning investigative journalist and correspondent for DEMOCRACY NOW!."

9-11 New World Rising (Final Director's Cut) - (Google - 1 hr 22 min - Oct 18, 2007) posted @ InfoWars
A quote...."A new place for 9-11 films,9-11 new world rising explores not only the imposiblility of the official story of 9-11 but also names names of  ... all » the key suspects who stood to gain from the black operation that was September 11th 2001.And wish to usher in a "new world order". But also shows what YOU can do to take action to alert others of the goals set forth after 9-11 in an attempt for global domination."

For more on this see....9/11 & It's Fallout - Videos
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Why I know weapons expert Dr David Kelly was murdered, by the MP who spent a year investigating his death
A quote...."Naturally enough, Bush and his administration were hugely grateful for Blair's decision to join the United States in its invasion of Iraq. That invasion was supposed to lead to the discovery and disposal of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and make the world a safer place. - But as Blair was lapping up the grateful plaudits from the U.S. Congress on July 17, 2003, the man who had done more than almost any other individual on earth to contain the threat from WMD lay dead in the woods at Harrowdown Hill in Oxfordshire."
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Thursday October 18th 2007

The Washington Bubble
A quote...."George W. Bush has finally caught Richard Milhous Nixon. It was a historic race but Bush has finally caught him from behind. George Bush now stands at a 24% approval rating in the latest Zogby poll. That is the same approval rating that Richard Nixon had the day he walked out of the White House in shame." - bold/italics by website author

And it didn't make a bit of difference to the DemoRepubs in congress, see articles shown below. - mpg
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Senate and Neocons Agree to Carve Up Bill of Rights
A quote...."It’s now official, the entire Senate is criminally complicit in undermining the Fourth Amendment. - Senate Democrats and Republicans reached agreement with the Bush administration yesterday on the terms of new legislation to control the federal government’s domestic surveillance program, which includes a highly controversial grant of legal immunity to telecommunications companies that have assisted the program, according to congressional sources,” reports the CIA’s favorite newspaper, the Washington Post.

Democrats Caving To Bush: Agree On Terms of Spying Bill
A quote...."Senate Democrats and Republicans reached agreement with the Bush administration yesterday on the terms of new legislation to control the federal government’s domestic surveillance program, which includes a highly controversial grant of legal immunity to telecommunications companies that have assisted the program, according to congressional sources.  - bold/italics by website author

Do the crime....than you'll have to do the....get the DemoRepubs to grant you immunity - mpg

For more on this sort of behavior see....

Immunity From War Crimes - (YouTube - 1 min 53 sec - September 14, 2007) - posted at ICH
Must View - Congress has just pardoned Bush and his entire administration for any war crimes connected with the mistreatment of detainees. - posted 09-24-07

Unbelievable! - mpg
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Clinton bucks the trend and rakes in cash from the US weapons industry
A quote...."The US arms industry is backing Hillary Clinton for President and has all but abandoned its traditional allies in the Republican party. Mrs Clinton has also emerged as Wall Street's favourite. Investment bankers have opened their wallets in unprecedented numbers for the New York senator over the past three months and, in the process, dumped their earlier favourite, Barack Obama."

So that explains why three months ago good 'ol "Bombs away O-Bomb-a" suddenly started talking like he was with the Cindy Sheehan crowd, he wasn't getting enough money from the MIOC elites. - mpg
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Breaking the Taboo: Why We Took On the Israel Lobby
Interview - Eirc Chinski interviews John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt -  A quote...."Eric Chinski, the editor of John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt’s provocative new bestseller, asks the authors whether their book is good for the Jews and good for America. This interview originally appeared on the Web site of the publishing house Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Thanks to TruthDig for resurfacing it."

Rip Van Winkle Wakes up in Toad Hall.
Related article - A quote...."The country is finally getting its act together. It’s haphazard but wide-spread. You can hear the hunting horns in the distance; the baying of the hounds. The foxes were running in a pack but they’re splitting off into every direction now. These foxes have human faces with all the characteristics of foxes. You know who I am talking about."
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Canada: Throne Speech Threatens to Extend the War
A quote...."Yesterday's Throne Speech poses a direct challenge to you and me, and everyone who wants to end Canada's war in Afghanistan. - Stephen Harper's plan to continue Canada's combat role has become crystal clear. He is trying to extend the war by another two years."

Putin Says U.S. Wants Iraq's Oil
A quote..." 10/18/07 "AP" -- --- MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin, in his latest jab at Washington, suggested Thursday that the U.S. military campaign in Iraq was a "pointless" battle against the Iraqi people, aimed in part at seizing the country's oil reserves." - italics by website author

By the way the other "part" is to establish a permanent presence in the Middle East.  A policy that is highly destructive, counterproductive, expensive, illegal and of course morally wrong....colonialism as a national policy should have died out in the early twentieth century.  Something our elites just haven't learned yet.

Also before you scoff at Putin's remarks, the following list of people have also said the Iraq invasion was about the oil; Bush, Kissinger, Greenspan, Gen. John Abizaid, Paul Wolfowitz, John Howard and many, many others. – mpg
 
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US Will Tip Its Hand Before Attacking Iran
War Update - A quote...."If Bush and Cheney attack Iran, we will almost certainly know it's coming.  For months prior to the invasion of Iraq, even while the corporate media bombarded us with the pretense that Bush and Cheney had not yet decided on war, other stories further back in the pages of newspapers and on the internet informed us, or should have informed us, that an attack was coming."

Freedom's Watch targeting Iran
War Update - A quote...."If the U.S. undertakes military action against Iran, you can credit such longtime neoconservatives as Norman Podhoretz, William Kristol, Michael Ledeen and the swarm of ideologues buzzing about Washington's right wing think tanks. You can also credit Pastor John Hagee and his Christians United for Israel, a Christian Zionist outfit with unbending support for Israel. And credit also the billionaire and multimillionaire founders of Freedom's Watch for helping smooth the way."

Oil near new $90 high as dollar sinks, funds buy
War Warning - A quote...."SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil held firm within sight of its new $90 high on Friday as another slump in the U.S. dollar to a record low and rising fears over pre-winter fuel stocks lent support to an over 13 percent surge in under two weeks."

Why is this a war warning?  Oil's new trading highs may be a sign of a "war risk premium" with Iran.
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Putin wants US date to quit Iraq
A quote...."Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the US should set a date for a withdrawal from Iraq."

Ha, ha, ha...hooooo, ho, ho.  Who knew Putin was such a comedian?...."set a date for withdrawal from Iraq", now that's funny.  Notice his picture; even he thinks it's totally hilarious. – mpg
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The Iron Law Of Institutions, In History
A quote...."....I believe the Iron Law of Institutions will almost never steer you wrong if you're trying to understand human behavior. It certainly explains events like this, which recur throughout history."

Trickle-down Tyranny in DuPage County
A quote...."Natural repugnance would compel reflective Americans to oppose warfare, a moral obligation. Given our history since 1945, the greedy, amoral elite who surreptitiously run this country have been enormously successful – America developed a predictable propensity for serial warfare. The public, swayed by a group think, flag-waving, false allegiance mentality, has become anesthetized to the bloody, reprehensible realities of war wherein governments have senselessly slaughtered millions of people in the name of peace."

For more on the lies our elites tell see....Fake Intel
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MSM Buries Military Dissent on Iraq
A quote...."Last summer when two pro-Iraq War pundits returned from a Pentagon-guided tour of Iraq, the New York Times gave them prime op-ed space to re-invent themselves as harsh war critics who had been won over by George W. Bush’s “surge.”

Lebanese newspaper: If the government [doesn't] tell the truth about the American base in Lebanon, we will publish the secret documents - (Well you know the first action isn't going to happen, so why wait for the second? - mpg)
A quote...."There is nothing exclusive about Debka’s report "Exclusive: The US plans new military presence in Lebanon including big air installation close by Syrian border" we already know that long time ago (see: The plan is a US-NATO military bases in Tripoli-Lebanon.) - The new thing didn’t came from Debka but from Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir, which Debka stole their report from."

US Navy Begins Training Deployment to West Africa
A quote...."A U.S. Navy ship leaves Tuesday for a seven month deployment to West Africa as part of increased U.S. military engagement with the continent following a series of regional meetings and requests. But in his first news conference since becoming the first head of the new U.S. Africa Command two weeks ago, General William Ward says the question of where to put his headquarters may not be answered for some time. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon."

Well ladies and gentleman, boys and girls....brace yourselves, the African wars are about to start soon. - mpg
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Venezuela fears military aggression from the USA
A quote...."BUENOS AIRES -- Europeans and North Americans tend to think of Latin America as a distant, rather mysterious and miserable continent, somewhere “down there,” inhabited by child-like peoples who spend their time in siesta and song. The most common image is of an uncertain place that for some reason is meaningless in the rest of the world."

A summit of postponed problems
A quote...."MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political correspondent Pyotr Goncharov) -Vladimir Putin has said that he was pleased with his historic visit to Iran, the first by a Russian head of state since 1943."

PetroChina becomes world’s second largest company
A quote..."China’s main oil coporation, government owned PetroChina Co. Ltd. shot past giant General Electric Co. to become the world's second-largest company. After its stock rose 13% on hopes of big new oil discoveries, the company's market value reached more than 430 billion US dollars, second only to Exxon Mobil Corp.'s 518 billion."

Four groups after ESSO assets in South America
A quote...."Brazil’s Petrobras, Venezuela’s PDVSA and two Argentine groups are interested in acquiring US oil coporation Esso assets in South America, reports El Cronista, a business newspaper from Buenos Aires."

Features and advantages of the BrahMos supersonic missile. INFOgraphics
A quote...."In 1998, Russia and India established a joint venture, BrahMos Aerospace, to design, develop, produce and market a supersonic cruise missile. Sea-based and land-based versions of the missile have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and Navy."

Claims of secret CIA jail for terror suspects on British island to be investigated
A quote...."Allegations that the CIA held al-Qaida suspects for interrogation at a secret prison on sovereign British territory are to be investigated by MPs, the Guardian has learned. The all-party foreign affairs committee is to examine long-standing suspicions that the agency has operated one of its so-called "black site" prisons on Diego Garcia, the British overseas territory in the Indian Ocean that is home to a large US military base."

For more on this see....Fun & Torture - It's a Pleasure. - 02-03-07 - mpg
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Charleston Police Department trained with Blackwater USA
A quote...."October 18, 2007 – According to investigative reporter Wayne Madsen, Blackwater USA has provided training to at least fifty-three police departments from across the United States.  The City of Charleston (SC) Police Department was listed in Madsen’s report."

France's Glamorous First Couple Divorces - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."PARIS - France's glamorous First Couple is no more. - President Nicolas Sarkozy and his elegant but enigmatic wife, Cecilia, called it quits and abruptly announced their divorce Thursday after months of speculation about their marriage.

The world's newest Bush "poodle" has to make way for his new love.  Bush should be ashamed of himself, as soon as he dumps Blair, he goes catting around (or should that be dogging around) and picks himself up a new beaux.

For more on this see....Bush and Blair's Endless Love - QT video
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Transport strike brings France to a standstill
A quote...."Transport workers striking in defence of their pensions brought France’s rail, bus and urban transport system to a virtual standstill on Thursday. The Gaullist government headed by President Nicolas Sarkozy is pushing through a reform that would dismantle the rail workers’ retirement scheme—the regimes spéciaux."

750,000 Americans Take 50% Drop in Social Security
A quote...."Don’t worry about losing your Social Security benefits in 2040 or 2050. Three quarters of a million American citizens are already losing theirs."

 The US dollar faces and “extended period of decline”
A quote...."The US dollar is in the midst of an extended period of decline which is forecasted to continue until the third quarter of next year according to the US Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI quarterly forecast."

Wednesday October 17th 2007

Despotism (1946) Encyclopedia Brittanic...(Google - 9 min 56 sec - Feb 22, 2006) posted @ ICH
Must View - A quote...."Measure how a society ranks on a spectrum stretching from democracy to despotism. Explains how  ... all » societies and nations can be measured by the degree that power is concentrated and respect for the individual is restricted. Where does your community, state and nation stand on these scales?"
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The Coup Started Before September 11, 2001
A quote...."For some it is no surprise that the illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens began prior to September 2001. The Bush administration went into office with the plan to "transform" the power of the president with its attempts to implement the "unitary executive." It was clear from the start with the refusal to release past presidential records as required by law, and then the refusal to obey a court order to release information regarding Cheney's energy "advisors." The statement from former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio that Qwest had denied an NSA order for calling records in February 2001 has opened a door on the lie."

A Rush to Threaten
A quote...."Limbaugh Brags About Threatening Children of Journalist Writing Unflattering Story About Him:"

Will Democrats Commit Political Suicide in 2008?
A quote...."This evening, a little more than a year out from the next presidential election and only a few months before the first primaries, I want to talk about three overview subjects: 1) The imploding CheneyBush Administration, and the dangerous actions of that cornered, wounded beast. 2) The ongoing Iraq Occupation and the impending attack on Iran. 3) The positive and negative nature of current Democratic Party policy, including some discussion about the leading contenders for the nomination.

After Comments, U.S. Terror Chief [Scott Redd] Resigns
A quote...."Three days after Americans saw the Bush administration's counterterrorism chief say the Iraq war has likely not made the United States safer from terrorism, the official announced his resignation, citing health reasons."

We should all have sympathy for Scott Redd; after all, it really is confusing for sycophantic little lackeys like him to discern Bush's policy of the day.  Some days the administration wants Americans to be terrified, especially on days when they're having spineless DemoRepubs in congress vote on eviscerating our nation’s constitution and bill of rights

Other days they want to downplay terrorism when they're describing how their current policies of bombing everyone in the Middle East will make the people in that region love us and want to embrace our version of "freedom and democracy"

What's the poor, lowly, amoral, groveling, boot licking, bureaucratic, little terd supposed to do?  After all if he can't figure out Bush's policy....no one can. - mpg
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The “Fix” - posted @ ICH
Must Read - A quote...." 10/17/07 "ICH' -- -- There is quite a lot of interesting, but wild, speculation running around the blog-o-sphere, progressive circles and just plain dinner conversation these days about whether BushCo will allow a peaceful and constitutional transfer of Executive power in the ’08 elections."
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‘The Moment Has Come to Get Rid of Saddam’
A quote...."Surely one of the agonizing attributes of our post-September 11 age is the unending need to reaffirm realities that have been proved, and proved again, but just as doggedly denied by those in power, forcing us to live trapped between two narratives of present history, the one gaining life and color and vigor as more facts become known, the other growing ever paler, brittler, more desiccated, barely sustained by the life support of official power."

Will We Fall For War Vs. Iran?
A quote...."It would appear, according to news reports, that the hard-liners in the Bush administration, led by the vice president, are pushing for a war with Iran. The tactics are the same. Once you’ve played the fear card to start one war, the second time is easier."

The Washington Post Continues to Shill for Bush and Republicans
A quote...."In the lead-up to the Iraq War, the Washington Post willingly allowed their paper to be used as a propaganda outlet for the Bush Administration. Later, after there were 150,000-plus U.S. kids trapped in the Middle Eastern quagmire, the Post admitted its part in the crime of having lied the nation into war. The WaPo confessed that prior to the war the paper had a mountain of evidence contradicting the White House's claims of Iraq WMD and Saddam-Osama ties, but that the editors -- if it was printed at all -- buried the truth deep within the folds of the paper. Bush administration lies, of course, ALWAYS received the front page treatment."

Face-Off: Airbrushing Accountability in the Terror War
A quote...."Here's the Terror War ethos in action: when the security forces are caught red-handed in a flagrant act of, literally, overkill -- in this case, the totally unprovoked, multiple shooting to death of an innocent man in a London subway -- they will resort to any measure to avoid the consequences for their action. The BBC reports: - Police have been accused of manipulating a photo of Jean Charles de Menezes so it could be compared to that of one of the 21/7 bomb plotters. The image had been "stretched and sized" to form a composite image of the Brazilian and Hussain Osman to show the jury, prosecutors told the Old Bailey."
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Regarding the four articles shown above

A Remarkable Achievement
10-17-07
mpg

Don't they have ANY pride?  Don't they have ANY conscience?  Every single incident of "terrorism" appears to have been forged or allowed to "go forward", or even initiated by the security forces of the United States or Britain.  Every single act uncovered so far of US military malfeasance in Iraq has always begun with some attempt at a cover-up. Every single piece of evidence produced for the gullible public by the "intelligence community" or "security forces" of the United States and Great Britain in their reckless rush to war has later proved to be at best, an inflated piece of dubious and suspect information cherry-picked by those in charge, or at worst, a series of fantasies deliberately manufactured out of thin air.

Every single item printed in our mass-media, broadcast on our faux-news networks, or spewed out by this nation's five corporate conglomerates has consistently turned out to be wrong, false or a cold calculated lie.

Everything these people have told their respective national citizenry.....in the end has turned to dust.

Every single thing.  It's a remarkable one hundred percent record of mendacity, and the worst part of it all is that our elites don't even bother to occasionally throw in a little bit of truth to keep us guessing and off balance.  They're that sure of themselves, they're that arrogant and contemptuous of the citizens in their societies.  And why shouldn't they be, the "little people" keep repeating the lies they're told day after day after miserable day.  They keep buying and consuming the mass-media swill served up to them by our elites and by so doing, practically begging their elites to continue to treat them with contempt.

In many dystopian fantasies the "people" are involuntary force fed lies by their totalitarian governments and many writers thought that this was as low as a society could go.

It's not....we as a people have achieved a new measure of the degradation of truth and our self respect.  Our citizens part with their hard earned cash to ingest this swill because they want to be lied to, to be treated like little children, because it comforts them, because they want to be infantilized, because they need to conform.

It's hard to imagine how one could become more servile, more agreeable to one's own slavery than to voluntarily place one's own mind in chains.  No society of "free men" could ever become as base as that.  We have achieved a new distinction on the road to tyranny; we willingly pay our masters for our own servitude.

A remarkable achievement. - mpg
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Former UN Official: US blocked certification that Iraq had no WMDs in 1990s
A quote...."In an interview with journalist Andrew Cockburn, former UN official Rolf Ekeus revealed that in 1997, the US acted to prevent UN officials from certifying that Iraq had complied with UN resolutions demanding that it destroy its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and infrastructure."

Counterinsurgency American-Style
A quote...."When the Pentagon rolled out its new Iraq product line-the re-minted counterinsurgency doctrine of winning "hearts and minds" that had been shelved after Vietnam-branded it "the surge" and anointed Gen. David Petraeus as chief product spokesperson in early 2007, the main question was: who would buy?"

The Case of Mohamed Jawad
A quote...."Alone in the civilized world (and, it should be noted, in most other countries regarded as barbaric dictatorships), the US administration has a penchant for ignoring international laws regarding the legal distinctions between adults and children, subjecting teenagers, in Afghanistan and Guantánamo, to brutal detention without charge or trial, and, in the case of Omar Khadr, who was 15 years old at the time of his capture, also hauling him up before a lawless show trial by Military Commission, designed to prevent all mention of torture by US forces, and to secure a pre-ordained verdict of guilt. Dozens of teenagers--some as young as 12 or 13--have been held in Guantánamo over the years, but until now Khadr was the only one to face a trial." - bold/italics by website author

Inquiry urged on Hunt Oil contract in Iraq
A quote...." WASHINGTON – Democratic lawmakers moved Monday toward investigating Hunt Oil's oil exploration contract in Iraq, saying the company's ties to President Bush raised questions about whether it had insider information that helped it reach the deal."

For more on this see...War Resource 9/11 - Hunt Oil
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Chavez's Billion-Dollar Snub of the U.S.
A quote...."Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez can't be accused of letting economic realities derail his energy policies, especially if it helps him snub the U.S." - bold/italics by website author

Let's check out those "economic realities" shall we?

Do "business" (if one could call it that) with Big Oil and if these companies would pay the same price as China (whoever believes that is a complete idiot) and if they wouldn't try to overthrow or bribe whatever government was in Venezuela at the time to take over the oil fields and rip off as much as they can (whoever believes they wouldn't is a complete idiot) and if the Venezuelan people were willing to take the risk of what happened to Iraq, happening to them should they "disagree" at some point with future US policy (four million plus refugees, over one million dead, three to four hundred billion dollars in damage to that country's infrastructure)....

Than sure...."economic realities" would dictate Venezuela should do "business" with the US's Big Oil.

Does anyone think Chavez is THAT stupid?  Anyone?
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The Forgotten Refugees Of The U.S. War On Iraq
This is your fate if you deal with US corporations. - mpg

Naomi Klein -- Shocking the World Bank and IMF Crowd With Her Analysis of 'Disaster Capitalism'

A quote...."A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW

    The window of opportunity opens up, and it is deliberately exploited, whether it's using a window of opportunity in New Orleans to close down housing projects, or using the chaos of civil war in Iraq to ram through an oil privatization law.

    -- Naomi Klein, author, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
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Parliament in Turkey Votes to Allow Iraq Incursion
A quote...."ISTANBUL - Turkey’s parliament voted today to give the government authority to send troops into northern Iraq, moving this NATO country one step closer to a military confrontation with Iraq over Kurdish rebels who hide there.1017 08 - Turkish lawmakers voted 507 to 19 in favor of the motion, which was supported by all but one of Turkey’s political parties and seemed to broadly reflect the wishes of the Turkish public" - bold/italics by website author

WOW!  That sounds just like our Congress when they voted to authorize an attack against Iran, isn't it just great to see endless and growing war....all started by the filthy rich of our own country?  They must be so proud of themselves. - mpg
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Caspian summit a triumph for Iran
A quote...."Few regional summits have drawn closer attention, by both the media and world governments, than this week's summit of leaders of Caspian littoral states in Tehran. - The two day summit, coinciding with twin nuclear crises and escalating US-Iran tensions relating to Iraq and the Middle East, is bound to be regarded as a milestone in regional cooperation, with serious ramifications for a broad array of issues transcending the Caspian Sea region.

Iran jails its conscience
A quote...."A man is being kept in solitary confinement in cell number 209 of sinister Evin prison in Tehran. His crime: he's Iran's top human rights activist."

Both Russia and Iran are being silly, they suspect the lone voices of criticism because they've become acutely aware of all the vast conspiracies and plans being implemented to "get them" (or more specifically, their oil).  Well they're right about that, but you don't help yourselves or your people by becoming rigid, inflexible and afraid of "the lone voice of conscience."

Instead you help yourselves by exposing and publicly condemning those with connections to the conspiracies.  Don't be afraid, stand your own ground, trust your citizens’ judgment, enable and encourage them to defend themselves, include them in the process and show them just how terrible the consequences are for those countries and peoples who become deceived by the thugs out there running the "Great Game".....consequences to countries and peoples like Iraq for instance. – mpg
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Man Tasered, Shot With Bean Bag Rounds For Filming Warrantless Police Search
A quote...."Acquitted Portland man sues after cops stated camera "could be used as a weapon" - A man from Portland Oregon is suing police for unlawful seizure with excessive force after officers fired a Taser and bean bag rounds at him when he refused to stop filming a warrantless search of his neighbour's property last year."

Man wins $4 mil. in case vs. cops
More Tales of the NRE - (New Roman Empire) - A quote...."The Chicago Police Department has agreed to pay $4 million to a 23-year-old man who says police shoved a screwdriver into his behind."

Super Capitalism Super Imperialism - PART 1: A Structural Link - PART 2: Deregulation: Global War on Labor
A quote from Part 2...."US workers squeezed by government and employers  --  While the tax, trade, wage and benefits policies were being implemented top down during the two decade between 1980-2006 under four presidents from both parties, deregulated corporate policies and practices that further contributing to the growing income inequality gap were being simultaneously overhauled from the bottom up, shifting from full-time, permanent jobs to part-time, temporary, and independent contract work. Growing consistently since the 1980s, more than 44 million of the 137 million employed workforce in the US, close to one third, are now part time, temporary, and contract workers earning 60-70% of the pay of full-time workers and typically 20% of the benefits."

US government brokers scheme to bail out Wall Street banks
A quote...."The three biggest US banks on October 15 announced a plan, brokered by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, to amass $80 billion to $100 billion in capital to prevent the collapse of highly speculative investment funds, which could in turn trigger a meltdown on financial and stock markets and cripple major Wall Street banks."

What Was Behind the Honey Bee Wipeout?
A quote...."Everyone has a theory why the honeybees started dying off. Try malnutrition."

Tuesday October 16th 2007

The Most Dreaded Enemy of Liberty - posted at ICH
A quote...."

"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. . . . [There is also an] inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and . . . degeneracy of manners and of morals. . . . No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare. . . . *James Madison* - Fourth President of the United States (1809–1817), and one of the "Founding Fathers" of the United States and it's Constitution.

In The Kingdom Of Fear
A quote...."For six long years, Bush has "water-boarded" all who oppose him -- especially those in Congress -- with a steady stream of 9-11. Each speech is laced with visions of 9-11 -- 9-11 horror just over the horizon, 9-11 around each corner, 9-11 behind each tree. "Fear Itself" is the only option on the Bush-Cheney table, and they have used it relentlessly, not only to wage genocidal war in order to gain control of the world's resources, but to seize dictatorial power and to control the quivering masses. Constant and repetitive warnings and false-flag alerts, evidence of plotters and planners skulking among us, hateful ideologies swirling above us like mushroom clouds -- is it any wonder our elected representatives, once inside the Kingdom of Fear, lose all sense of direction, the ability to reason?"

It's the resistance, stupid
Must Read - A quote...."The ultimate nightmare for White House/Pentagon designs on Middle East energy resources is not Iran after all: it's a unified Iraqi resistance, comprising not only Sunnis but also Shi'ites. - "It's the resistance, stupid" - along with "it's the oil, stupid". The intimate connection means there's no way for Washington to control Iraq's oil without protecting it with a string of sprawling military "super-bases". - The ultimate, unspoken taboo of the Iraq tragedy is that the US will never leave Iraq, unless, of course, it is kicked out. And that's exactly what the makings of a unified Sunni-Shi'ite resistance is set to accomplish."

Russian Press Blasts Anglo-Saxon Terrorist Controllers
Must Read - A quote...."In Guardian correspondent Jonathan Steele’s account of the meeting with Putin, this is the Russian President’s response to the US and UK on the question of negotiating with the Chechen guerrillas of Aslan Maskhadov: “Why don’t you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace? You find it possible to set some limitations in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk to people who are child-killers?” (London Guardian, September 7, 2004)"

Editors note : No  US official would ever meet with bin Laden directly....that's what the Saudi Royals and Pakistan's ISI are for.  And the Neocons got everything they wanted....it was called 9/11. - mpg
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9/11 - From The History File...PTECH, 9/11, and USA-SAUDI TERROR - Part I
PTECH, 9/11, and USA-SAUDI TERROR PART II
Is MITRE Corp. The Trojan Horse of 9/11?
Cheney, The OODA Loop, and 9/11
The PROMIS of 9/11 and beyond
97. Promis connections to Cheney and 9/11 confirmed......
Michael Chertoff and the sabotage of the Ptech investigation
Crossing the Rubicon Simplifying the case against Dick Cheney
THE FAA KNEW!
New 9/11 Facts -.- Who Knew about Disappearing Jets and Military Response
Exclusive excerpt: The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America
What Really Happened 911
9-11 Questions - What Really Happened
9-11 Resarch - Top Anomalies
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NIST Admits Total Collapse Of Twin Towers Unexplainable
A quote...."The National Institute for Standards and Technology has been forced to admit that the total free-fall collapse of the twin towers cannot be explained after an exhaustive scientific study, implicitly acknowledging that controlled demolition is the only means by which the buildings could have come down."

'Many in the US Military Think Bush and Cheney Are Out of Control'
War Warning - A quote...."In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, the Amsterdam-based military historian Gabriel Kolko talks about the prospect of war with Iran and argues that many in the US military now view the White House as being 'out of control.'"
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Top Air Force Official Dies in Apparent Suicide
Some quotes...."The official, Charles D. Riechers, 47, came under scrutiny by the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month after the Air Force arranged for him to be paid $13,400 a month by a private contractor, Commonwealth Research Institute...."  -  "....Mr. Riechers, a retired Air Force officer and master navigator, provided technical advice on several programs including converting commercial aircraft to military using and modernizing the C-130 transport plane." - See related article below

Air Force leaders discuss need to control cyberspace
Somer quotes....""When we went into battle in the past, it was the haves versus the have-nots," said Rich Byrne, vice president for Command and Control Programs at the MITRE Corp., stressing that the Air Force could then rely on simply having better pilots and equipment than its adversaries. "Now, it's much more a battle of wills versus will-nots." - Charles Riechers, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition and Management, emphasized that system interfaces have to be interchangeable. He said the Air Force is even willing to pay a premium for systems designed with these "sub-optimized" interfaces." - see also....

Air Force Arranged No-Work Contract: Experts Question Official's Deal With Nonprofit
Air Force Told to Detail No-Work Contract Deal
Air Force No-Work Contract
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Top Ten US military Contractors - CorpWatch
The top ten bad guys. - mpg

Reporter For Post Is Fatally Shot In Baghdad
A quote...."Iraqi police officers said they believed Saif Aldin was killed by Sunni men belonging to the nascent organization known as the Awakening Council, a tribal organization aligned with the U.S. military that started in the western province of Anbar and has spread to parts of Baghdad. Iraqi government officials have accused these Sunni tribesmen of abusing their partnership with the Americans to kill and kidnap residents."

America's own unlawful combatants?
A quote...."WASHINGTON -- As the Bush administration deals with the fallout from the recent killings of civilians by private security firms in Iraq, some officials are asking whether the contractors could be considered unlawful combatants under international agreements."

Nuclear Deal With India May Be Near Collapse
A quote...."A controversial nuclear deal between the United States and India appears close to collapse after the Indian prime minister told President Bush yesterday that "certain difficulties" will prevent India from moving forward on the pact for the foreseeable future. - The main obstacle does not involve the specific terms of the agreement but rather India's internal politics, including fears from leftist parties that India is moving too close to the United States, according to officials and experts familiar with the deal. Besieged over the past two months by growing opposition to nuclear energy cooperation with the United States, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicated over the weekend that he would rather save his coalition government than the nuclear pact."

The Indian people have kept their honor intact. - mpg
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EU fails to agree on Iran sanctions - France fails to sway EU counterparts on new Iran sanctions strategy
A quote...."European Union nations failed to agree Monday on new sanctions against Iran meant to get Tehran to halt part of its nuclear program that European and other nations fear could be used to make atomic weapons. - An effort by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to get the 27-nation EU to push ahead with more sanctions -- outside of the United Nations -- failed to get widespread support, diplomats said."

Bush's newest bunch of "poodles" just can't quite seem to get the job done. - mpg
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Verizon provided data to Feds 720 times without court order or determining its legality
A quote...."As Congress debates whether to shield phone and Internet companies from lawsuits alleging they mishandled customers' private records, Verizon, the nations second-largest telecommunications firm, said it has provided telephone and Internet records to federal investigators hundreds of times since 2005."

For one company, FISA wiretaps carry a $1K pricetag
A quote...."Although the scope of surveillance conducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act remains shrouded in secrecy, newly disclosed documents show the costs one company charges the government to eavesdrop on customers."

For more on this see....The Last Bastion of Freedom is Falling - 05-30-06 - mpg
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Gore Derangement Syndrome
A quote...."On the day after Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize, The Wall Street Journal’s editors couldn’t even bring themselves to mention Mr. Gore’s name. Instead, they devoted their editorial to a long list of people they thought deserved the prize more."
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Oil Futures Hit High of $88 a Barrel
War Warning - A quote...."Crude oil for November delivery rose as much as $2.07 to $88.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange during midday trading after jumping nearly 3 percent yesterday. Oil futures, which have gained $9 in the past six trading sessions, are up more than 43 percent this year."

Experts Fear Repeat Of 1929 Economic Crash
A quote...."Two prominent economic experts have warned that "insiders with conflicts of interest" allied to the Fed's policy of tanking the dollar to bail out Wall Street could lead to a repeat of the economic crash of 1929, during a segment on Bill Moyers' PBS show."

See....Standard Disclaimer
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Home builders' confidence falls to 16-year low
A quote...."The market probably won't turn around until next year, said David Seiders, chief economist for the builders. "We expect housing to exert a drag on economic growth during the balance of 2007."

It's Time For The Banks To Face The Hangman - posted at ICH
A quote...."Officials in the Treasury Dept----working with their colleagues at Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America---have concocted a scheme to rescue the banks from their massive losses in mortgage-backed securities. The group is planning to set up a $100 billion emergency fund which will purchase non-performing assets for short term debt. In truth, the fund is a bailout which provides the financial giants with an excuse for not reporting their enormous losses from bad bets."

Airbus delivers its first A380 superjumbo to Singapore Airlines
A quote...."TOULOUSE, France: There were no Jacuzzis or bowling alleys. No casinos or gyms. But the chilled bottle of Champagne perched on an elegantly laid-out double bed said it all. - Singapore Airlines showed off the interior of its first A380 superjumbo jet in an elaborate ceremony here Monday, bringing an end to a decade of anticipation of what the airline has always said would be a step up in the level of quality and comfort in long-haul air travel."

Big [US] Corporate Push: Corporations DEMAND that Americans Eat Sh-t
A quote...."Corporations would like to irradiate as much of our food as possible, because it reduces one's chances of serious illness or death on account of eating sh-t."

Just about says it all doesn't it?  It really sums up our nation's wealthiest one percent and their attitude toward the rest of us "little people". - mpg

Monday October 15th 2007

Sun Sets Early on the American Century
Must Read - Some quotes..."The disastrous outcome of the invasion and occupation of Iraq has caused a crisis in the power elite of the United States deeper than that resulting from defeat in Vietnam 30 years ago. Ironically, it is the very coalition of ultranationalists and neo-conservatives that coalesced in the 1970s, seeking to reverse the Vietnam syndrome, restore U.S. power and revive the will to victory that has caused the present crisis."

The 41st kilometer: Gaza, "A Zoo"
A quote...."A zoo. This is one of the ways that Palestinians describe the conditions under which nearly 1.5 million of them have been living: in an area of some 360 square kilometers, closed in on three sides by sophisticated barbed-wire fences, concrete walls and military lookout towers, and to the west by Israeli navy ships that seal them off from the sea. Overhead, in the sky, unmanned aircraft and hot air balloons continually photograph whatever happens inside this closed cage, which has seven gates connecting it to the world, all of which are sealed off almost hermetically."

Would not the Warsaw Ghetto by any other name be as vile and bitter as that which the Israeli people have now constructed on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea?

The lost tribe of Israel, savaged for their separateness by the very Europeans who now cynically support these barbaric policies, in an effort to pay homage to those so brutally mistreated, and to help prevent any such acts in the future, once solemnly promised to themselves and to the rest of the world.... "never again"

A promise they could not keep. - mpg
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The Question of Suffering - posted at ICH
10/15/07 "ICH" -- -- How could an Intelligent Being allow such cruelty?  -  A most valid, most important, and most relevant question. - To start with, I am afraid that by talking about this topic, it would be very difficult to be objective. We won't be able to discuss it from a purely scientific perception. - We can't -even if we wanted to- be objective; as this issue entails feelings, emotions, philosophy, personal experience. Therefore I find that –here- I can't be anything other than subjective; reflecting on my own personal life and my personal experiences.

Ich Bin Ein Berliner (That goes for you too)
Great chart comparing what happened to Germany as it descended into Hitler's nightmare with that of our own decent into the Neocon's nightmare. - mpg

Ralph Nader: Things Are a Lot Worse than We Thought! - (YouTube - 3 min 26 sec -Oct. 11, 2007)
Must View - Related video - A quote...."Ralph Nader, activist, author and lecturer, shared his views in the matter of the "Next Steps for the Peace Movement," at a panel discussion on Oct. 11, 2007. The event was held at Bus Boys and Poets, in Washington, D.C. It was a fundraiser for DemocracyRising.US."

NSA Spying: What Did Pelosi Know?
Related article - A quote...."House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has admitted knowing for several years about the Bush administration's eavesdropping on Americans without a court warrant. She said she was briefed on it when she was ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. But was she told that the illegal surveillance began well before 9/11?"
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Time to Ban Weaponized Uranium
A quote....

"There is no safe level of exposure and there is no dose of (ionizing) radiation so low that the risk of a malignancy is zero.

The Veterans Administration seems always on the defensive to make sure the victims are not compensated."

"These quotes by Dr. Karl Z. Morgan, one of the founders of the field of health physics who also served as radiation safety director at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 1944 to 1971, provide a context for a discussion of depleted uranium - DU."
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Just Say No to The U.S. - posted at ICH
A quote...." 10/15/07 "ICH" -- -- - The Middle East has endured invasions, occupations, genocide, and ethnic cleansing by European colonialism, Communism, Nazism, Fascism, Zionism, and now Americanism, the sole remaining super power in the world. Hegemony, not spreading democracy, was the prime goal of all such powers. When England and France ruled the MidEast between World War I and II neither was concerned with democratizing the region, rather they installed kings and puppet regimes. After World II, the U.S. inherited the Persian Gulf from England, yet not until Bush's democratization through gun diplomacy did the U.S. belatedly and hypocritically proclaims democratization� of the MidEast as a strategic objective. America fears democracy in the MidEast lest Islamists carry the day."

Former Centcom General: 'Of course' Iraq is about oil
A quote...."During a round table discussion on the Fight for Oil, Water and a Healthy Planet at Stanford University on Saturday, Gen. John Abizaid (Ret.), the former CENTCOM Commander, said that of course� the Iraq war is about oil

For more on this see...War Resource 9/11
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2001 Energy Task Force Meetings Participants
A complete listing of participants - for more on this see....War Resource 9/11 - Energy Task Force

Michael Rubin: Neocon Bunting on Giuliani's Dog and Pony Show
A quote...."Astute political commentators realize Rudy Giuliani doesn't stand a chance of becoming the next commander and decider guy, as that position is reserved for a Democrat, most likely Hillary Clinton. Our rulers are fond of the musical chairs process, selecting a Republican one term and a Democrat the next, providing the illusion we are throwing out the bums, when in fact we are voting for the same old globalist one-worlders."

Bush Planted Canned News Spots on U.S. Stations
A quote...."For years, we've been hearing about big companies increasingly taking over the American news business, as well as media execs jumping into bed with government higher-ups, but this report about the federal government and major corporations actually producing and planting prepackaged news� stories in outlets around the country raises the Big Brother threat level to at least Orange."

Handcuffed, Assaulted, Ticketed By Cop For Distributing 9/11 DVD's
A quote..."A Michigan man was harassed, handcuffed, assaulted, branded "unpatriotic" and subjected to an unconstitutional search of his vehicle during which drugs were allegedly planted, before being ticketed by a police officer for the apparent crime of freely distributing DVD's about 9/11 truth earlier this month."
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Hillary wins, scam or not, and there's nothing you can do about it
A quote...."

She was practiced at the art of deception,
I could tell by her blood-stained hands
 -- Mick Jagger, You can't always get what you want

"In a desperate attempt to keep the country in the hands of National Security State stalwarts, corporate media are pushing the "inevitability of Senator Hillary Clinton as the choice of the Democratic Party. - Hillary will ensure that the war continues unabated, health care will remain in the hands of the medical mafia, and the lion's share of revenues will continue to go to ruling transnational investors who finance our political campaigns at the expense of the public interest."
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Clinton would use violence against Tehran
War Update - Related article - A quote...."Hillary Clinton today moved to secure her position as the most hawkish Democrat in the 2008 presidential race, saying she would consider the use of force to compel Iran to abandon its nuclear programme."

PJB: Unfit for Command
A quote...."Observing Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a Democratic House imperil a U.S.-Turkish alliance of 60 years“ by formally charging Turkey with genocide in a 1915 massacre of the Armenians“ the question comes to mind:"

The New World Order and education
A quote...."This article is about negative changes in education that cannot be explained by any competent, professional justification. Although reasons are being given to rationalize them, a quick summary of these changes, shown in a larger political context, is alarming. The fact that all of them started after the collapse of the Soviet Union and all point in one direction indicates deliberate sabotage."

The Republicans' Petty, Hate-filled, Envy-Driven Attack on Al Gore
A quote...."Republicans are hateful, small and petty people by nature. Based seemingly upon some dysfunctional and bizarre principle, Republicans reflexively despise anything, everything and anybody that could somehow benefit humanity."

Condoleezza Rice ceases to perceive her deception, lies with sincerity
A quote...."Is it possible that Rice is so blind that she cannot see the parallels between the power amassed in the Kremlin, and the power amassed in the White House?  Her hypocrisy is an embarrassment to the United States on the world stage.   - Or is it that Condoleezza Rice has simply ceased to perceive her deception?  Does she lie to herself with sincerity as the only remaining defense to justify her collaboration with what amounts to a criminal administration?  Putin's power a problem?  Maybe it is in Russia.  However, what about Bush's power?  What about Cheney's power?  We have our own power problems in the United States.  Yet Rice is at home kicking with her hind legs while she licks with her tongue“ a Russian proverb defining a hypocrite."

Iraq “ What Happened, Why and What Do We Do Now?
In the second half of 2002, a total of 27 different reasons were given by the administration or by Congresspersons as to why we needed to go into Iraq as soon as possible. I know this because a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign wrote her senior honors thesis entitled "Uncovering the Rationales for the War on Iraq: The Words of the Bush Administration, Congress and the Media from September 12, 2001, to October 11, 2002." Devon Largio did a detailed analysis identifying 23 different reasons put forth by the administration, and 4 more put forth by various congressmen in the run up to war. - That's a lot of reasons. In the infamous words of then deputy secretary of defense and leading neoconservative thinker Paul Wolfowitz, "WMD became the reason upon which we could all bureaucratically agree." - Now, many people in the Pentagon, at CIA, at State, across this country and around the world knew that a lot of the reasons put forth were invalid, not true, or to be generous, were the result of a narrow political interpretation of a small and known to be uncertain data set."

Brown County Republican Party chairman faces child enticement charges
More tales from the (N.R.E) - New Roman Empire. - mpg

Anarchy, or Spontaneous Order, on the Streets of Saigon
A quote...."Saigon's thoroughfares are a breath-taking sight. The tree-lined boulevards teem with motorbikes moving in every direction, competing with the Vietnamese pedicabs known as "cyclos" (xích lô), lovely áo dài-clad lasses and others on bicycles, and the occasional car or truck. The scene becomes even more remarkable upon first viewing an intersection."

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101507 -102107 - links page

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