MPG'S DAILY RAPSHEET AND BLOTTER  ON THE "GREAT GAME"  - links page

@ www.reficultnias.org
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Editor's note : From now on each daily blog will have several items culled from the past called  "9/11 - From The History File" : It's for those who didn't know, and also for those who forgot....or are trying to forget.

Editor's note - War Update, War Alert, War Warning, Red War Warning and War Imminent - refer to articles regarding the upcoming war with Iran.  In the order they appear as shown above, they  represent less serious to more serious possible threats of war. - mpg
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Monday February 11th 2008 - links page

Psycho Backlash: When Lackeys Attack  ---  http://www.chris-floyd.com/Articles/Articles/Psycho_Backlash%3A_When_Lackeys_Attack/
Must Read - Chris Floyd on a roll, when he gets going, he really gets going....enjoy. - mpg - A quote...."Last week's piece on the elitist depravity unintentionally revealed by Mitt Romney's departure from the presidential campaign ("American Psycho: An Elite Exposed in an Exit Speech")
  ---  http://www.chris-floyd.com/Articles/Articles/American_Psycho%3A_An_Elite_Exposed_in_an_Exit_Speech/  ---  seems to have hurt the feelings of some bootlickers out there, who take great umbrage at seeing Massa disrespected. A (fairly brief) reply to these fretful lackeys can be found after the jump, for anyone who cares."
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The Rise of the Imperial Class - McCain is their avatar, and war is their mother's milk
  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/justin/justin021108.html
Must Read - A quote...."Matt Welch, the new editor of Reason, gave a talk at the Cato Institute about his new book, John McCain: The Myth of a Maverick, in which he sums up the grave danger to the republic represented by the McCain campaign. Welch remarked that McCain is part of the "imperial class," pointing to the politico-military legacy of his father, an admiral, to underscore the point that the putative GOP nominee is revving up his motor to become the most militaristic American president since at least Teddy Roosevelt – perhaps the most belligerent ever."
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Iran shakes pillars of nuclear accord
  ---  http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JB09Ak01.html
Special Note - A quote...."....the problem with proposals of Goldschmidt and other like-minded experts is that they introduce new and potentially larger problems, particularly with respect to the relatively successful non-proliferation regime. For one thing, the UN Security Council's attempt to deprive Iran of the capability to produce nuclear fuel has no legal precedent. Bottom line, this is an anti-NPT initiative that will only lead to an anarchy in rules and the collapse of norms that other nuclear proliferators can take advantage of."
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A tidal wave of misery is engulfing Iraq
  ---  http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174892/michael_schwartz_the_iraqi_brain_drain
A quote...."A tidal wave of misery is engulfing Iraq -- and it isn't the usual violence that Americans are accustomed to hearing about and tuning out. To be sure, it's rooted in that violence, but this tsunami of misery is social and economic in nature. It dislodges people from their jobs, sweeps them from their homes, tears them from their material possessions, and carries them off from families and communities. It leaves them stranded in hostile towns or foreign countries, with no anchor to resist the moment when the next wave of displacement sweeps over them.  --  The victims of this human tsunami are called refugees if they wash ashore outside the country or IDPs ("internally displaced persons") if their landing place is within Iraq's borders. Either way, they are normally left with no permanent housing, no reliable livelihood, no community support, and no government aid. All the normal social props that support human lives are removed, replaced with…nothing."

Just like Katrina - this is how our wealthy elites operate, this is EXACTLY what they wanted to do, this is WHY they started the sectarian wars in the first place. - mpg - For more on this issue
see....
The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/themethod-blog-mpg-050707
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See also....
CHALLENGES 2007-2008:  Iraq Progresses To Some Of Its Worst  ---  http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40637
A quote...."During the surge, the number of Iraqis displaced from their homes quadrupled, according to the Iraqi Red Crescent. By the end of 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that there are over 2.3 million internally displaced persons within Iraq, and over 2.3 million Iraqis who have fled the country. - bold/italics by website author - posted 12-31-07

Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2007  ---  http://www.juancole.com/2007/12/top-ten-myths-about-iraq-2007.html
Must Read - Good summation of what's happened in Iraq during the recent "troop surge". - mpg - posted 12-26-07

New Reports Undercut Claims that Surge Is Working -- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/24/new-reports-undercut-clai_n_78196.html
A quote...."New reporting from Baghdad and Washington has called into question the frequently asserted claim that the military surge in Iraq is working. - In particular, journalists are beginning to point out that despite security gains inside the Iraqi capital, there are concrete signs that the "fragile" peace cited by Gen. David Petraeus over the weekend will not hold once the Pentagon begins reducing troops numbers to pre-surge levels."

It's sort of funny that all this "partitioning" and "sectarian cleansing" of Iraq occurred while the surge was in progress.  Must be one of them there coincidences heh? – mpg - posted 12-21-07
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For more on this see....The US's New Map of the Middle East
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/cachedfiles/newmemap-peters-nwa-cached-092507
See also....US occupation fuels ethnic cleansing and mass repression in Iraq
  ---  http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/aug2007/iraq-a27.shtml
See also....Divide and rule
  ---  http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m37133&s1=h1
See also....Iraqi politicians blast vote in U.S. Senate on partition
  ---  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/01/MNL4SH9N7.DTL
See also....[US] Senate Endorses Plan to Divide Iraq
  ---  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/26/AR2007092601506.html
See also....Kuwait's ruler rejects any partition of Iraq
  ---  http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=
  ---  2007-10-04T091435Z_01_L04504616_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-KUWAIT.xml
See also....Al-Maliki rejects Senate proposal to partition Iraq
  ---  http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/333678_iraq29.html
See also....Iraq's Shiites and Sunnis reject US partition idea
  ---  http://www.signs-of-the-times.org/articles/show/140838-Iraq%27s+Shiites+and+Sunnis+reject+US+partition+idea
See also....US Senate votes to divide Iraq
  ---  http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22490525-2703,00.html
See also....US support Death Sqds
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/usdeathsquads-weblist-cmplt-111406
See also....False Flag Ops - Al-Askari Mosque Bombing
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/falseflagops-weblist-mpg-082006#AL-ASKARI_MOSQUE
See also....US Sponsored Civil Wars
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/ussponsoredcivilwars-weblist-mpg-101107
See also....US Support of Terror
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/ussupportofterror-weblist-mpg-090306
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U.S.-led Sunni militias turn guns on Iraqi police
  ---  http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news/2008-02-11/kurd.htm
A quote...."U.S.-backed Sunni militiamen have killed three police officers and injured three others, an Iraqi security source refusing to be named said.  --  It is the first time U.S.-financed Sunni militias turn their guns against government police forces." -- It's starting. - mpg
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Gates: Iraq Drawdown May Be Delayed
  ---  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/02/11/ST2008021100749.html
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Feb. 11 -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that it "probably does make sense" to pause troop withdrawals from Iraq late this summer after the last of the forces sent in as part of an offensive surge have gone home."  --  This should not come as a surprise to anyone....period. - mpg
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Berlin says it has no plan to boost troops in Afghanistan
  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/12/content_7591405.htm
A quote...."BERLIN, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The German government on Monday denied news reports that it is considering to increase its troop levels in Afghanistan.  --  "There is no such consideration at this time," said Defense Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe at a press conference."
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Iran to privatize $90 bln of energy assets: report
  ---  http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSL0951783020080209?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews
A quote...."DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran plans to privatize 47 firms in its energy sector worth $90 billion and set up a holding company for these assets which it will list on four international exchanges, a National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) executive said."
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Iran banks seek to sidestep US curbs - posted at AntiWar
  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/
  ---  http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/itsonlyfair/ft002.html
A quote...."Iran’s first investment banks will start operating next month, part of Tehran’s strat­egy of opening new banking channels but also part of its effort to circumvent US restrictions on its financial sector.  --  The three banks will also play a key role in Iran’s plans to step up aggressively on the privatisation of national industries including steel, banking, shipping, airlines and telecommunications, said Heidari Kord Zangeneh, deputy finance minister and head of the Iranian privatisation organisation."
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IDF to step up Gaza assassinations
  ---  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/953099.html
A quote...."The Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet internal security service are preparing to step up assassinations against key Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip in response to the continued Qassam rocket attacks against Sderot. The renewed campaign of targeted killings is not likely, at this stage, to include members of the Hamas political leadership."
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'IDF should wipe out parts of Gaza'
  ---  http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m41042&s1=h1
A quote...."Israel will escalate its ground and air operations in the Gaza Strip this week and may begin targeting members of the Hamas political leadership in the wake of intensified Kassam rocket attacks against Sderot, senior defense officials said Sunday."
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A Discussion with Walt and Mersheimer - The Power of the Israel Lobby
  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/ali02112008.html
Special Note - Interview - A CounterPunch Exclusive, Wajahat Ali interviews Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer authors of the incendiary book,
"The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.
  ---  http://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374177724  ---   A quote...."The Anti-Defamation League, which retaliated by publishing "The Deadliest Lies: The Myth of the Israeli Lobby" on the same release date as "The Israel Lobby," lambasted the professors' work as an "anti-Jewish screed: a relentless assault in scholarly guise." However, talking to them in person and later observing their demeanor at a speech followed by question and answer session held at U.C. Berkeley, the two professors both appeared very calm, rational, collected and lacking the stereotypical, passionate vitriol and acidic anger unfortunately espoused by all parties associated with the endless "Israel-Palestine conflict."
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Mubarak hits US
  ---  http://www.arabtimesonline.com/client/pagesdetails.asp?nid=12170&ccid=11
A quote...."CAIRO, Egypt  (Agencies): Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Monday that a continued US presence in Iraq would attract terrorists and threaten the security and stability of the Middle East, according to the state MENA news agency.  --  The remarks, a sharp deflection from Mubarak’s earlier backing for the American role in Iraq, come amid a recent chill in US-Egyptian relations and the Egyptian leader’s increasingly defiant tone."
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Morales Accuses US Official of Spying
  ---  http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jirqN7XJYpCvs7i5LSoHK9GFaHbQD8UOB7281
A quote...."LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — President Evo Morales declared a U.S. Embassy security officer to be an "undesirable person" on Monday after reports that the officer asked an American scholar and 30 Peace Corps volunteers to pass along information about Cubans and Venezuelans working in Bolivia."
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Russia writes off 93% of Iraq's multi-billion dollar debt-2
  ---  http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080211/98955631.html
A quote...."MOSCOW, February 11 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow has cancelled $12 billion of Iraq's debt, or 93% of the total sum owed by the Middle East state, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Monday."

Argentina announces building of second high speed train
  ---  http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=12609&formato=HTML
A quote...."A second high speed train for Argentina was announced last week by President Cristiana Fernandez de Kirchner. Three consortia submitted bids to build the Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata high-speed link."
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State Plans One Billion for Private Security Contractors in Africa  ---  http://www.thought-criminal.org/article/node/1259
A quote...."While attention may be focused on Iraq, the U.S. government is also spending substantial cash on private security contractors in Africa. I had never heard of the AFRICAP contract until today, when I noted that the Department of State is looking to recompete a contract worth approximately one billion dollars to train peacekeepers and provide military logistics in Africa:"  --  They don't call it the Military Industrial Complex for nothing. - mpg
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Bush's Unitary Executive Ends the Rule of Law, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Separation of Powers
  ---  http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/2008/02/bushs-unitary-executive-ends-rule-of.html
Must Read - A quote...."Bush has decreed his "long term plan" for Iraq, committing the US, without Congressional authority, to a permanent presence. His decree is a poke in the eye to the public, the congress, the rule of law! Bush believes himself to be above the rule of law, the authority of Congress and the courts. When England was confronted by Charles I, a monarch who likewise presumed to be above Parliament, the English simply marched Charles out onto an improvised platform at the Banqueting House in Whitehall where they proceeded to chop off his head!
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US to hold 9/11 show trial at Guantánamo
  ---  http://wsws.org/articles/2008/feb2008/911-f12.shtml
A quote...."The US military on Monday announced charges against six individuals it alleges helped plan the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The six prisoners—all of whom have been held incommunicado for more than six years, deprived of any legal rights or representation, and subjected to illegal and abusive interrogation methods—are to be tried in a single trial before a military commission at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for alleged war crimes."
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US accused of using 'kangaroo court' to try men accused of role in September 11 attacks
  ---  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-accused-of-using-kangaroo
 ---  -court-to-try-men-accused-of-role-in-september-11-attacks-781007.html
Related article - A quote...."The United States military announced yesterday that it was bringing death penalty charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five other men suspected of orchestrating the September 11 attacks, and intended to try them under the Bush administration's much-criticised military tribunal system, which is subject only to partial oversight by the civilian appeals system."  --  They tortured the guys for six years, wouldn't let them have lawyers for part of the time, wouldn't let them see the evidence against them, wouldn't let them confront their accusers, wouldn't try them in public...the list goes on and on and on.  Stalin would be proud. - mpg
See also....9/11 Commission controversy
  ---  http://deepbackground.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/30/624314.aspx
See also....9/11 - the big cover-up?  ---  http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/2007/09/911_the_big_coverup.html
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Loss of Civil Liberties Since 9/11  ---  http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/project.jsp?project=lossofcivilliberties
For more on this issue see.... Thirty Five Acts to Restore Americans' Rights 11-10-06 - mpg
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/seventeenacts-blog-mpg-111006
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San Francisco Chronicle Acknowledges ENDGAME By Homeland Security
  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_william__080210_san_francisco_chroni.htm
A quote...."In a rare breath of fresh air, The San Francisco Chronicle has now written an article confirming concentration camps in the United Sates and the possible impact of “Endgame” - and based on the few comments that were made, people don’t want to believe the truth. Unfortunately, Americans are acting the same as the Jews, disabled, and dissidents did during Hitler’s Third Reich, always believing it could never happen to them…"
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A Gravel/Nader Ticket? You Say You Want A Revolution?
--- http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_timothy__080211_a_gravel_2fnader_ticke.htm
A quote...."I received an e-mail from the Gravel campaign and in it was a petition to start a Gravel/Nader or Nader/Gravel ticket. I signed that petition. I realize that many people believe that Nader is a “spoiler” but I think differently. The problem lies not with Ralph Nader, but with the Democratic Party. The way I justify my argument is that if the Democrats would stop presenting us with the Military Industrialist Complex candidate “du joir”, then we could rally around a candidate we could all support."
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Diebold Admits Overstating '07 Election Revenue by 300%; Announces 5% Workforce Layoff as Feds Continue Investigations and Stock Price Keeps
Falling 
  ---  http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5669  ---  A quote...."Following a short "dead cat bounce" at the end of last month, after a precipitous six-month stock price plunge devaluing the company's net worth by more than 50% since an insider sell-off last August, Diebold's fortunes began turning south again late last week as they were forced to begin restating previously-inflated revenue figures from 2006 and 2007."  --  You see, cheating the voters of this country is perfectly OK, but cheating wealthy share holders?  Big mistake! - mpg
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Mortgage Crisis Spreads Past Subprime Loans
  ---  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/business/12credit.html
A quote...."The credit crisis is no longer just a subprime mortgage problem. - As home prices fall and banks tighten lending standards, people with good, or prime, credit histories are falling behind on their payments for home loans, auto loans and credit cards at a quickening pace, according to industry data and economists."
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Global stock market losses in Jan reach 5.2 trillion US dollars
  ---  http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=12608&formato=HTML
A quote...."Fears of a global slowdown triggered by US housing market problems wiped 5.2 trillion US dollars off global stock markets in January, analysts estimate. According to ratings firm Standard and Poor's, 50 out of 52 share indexes around the world ended the month lower. (5.2 trillion is equivalent to two GDP of France)."
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The Arc of Insurgencies - An End Foreseen?
  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery02112008.html
Book Review - This is William Polk's book, "Violent Politics---  http://www.amazon.com/Violent-Politics/dp/B000SIV10M  ---  A quote...."A WISE person once said: "A fool learns from his experience. An intelligent person learns from the experience of others." To which one could add: "And an idiot does not even learn from his own experience."  -  So what can we learn from a book which shows that we do not learn from experience?"
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Sunday February 10th 2008 - links page

The Chicken Doves: Elected to end the war, Democrats have surrendered to Bush on Iraq  ---  http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/12725
Must Read - A quote...."Quietly, while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been inspiring Democrats everywhere with their rolling bitchfest, congressional superduo Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have completed one of the most awesome political collapses since Neville Chamberlain. At long last, the Democratic leaders of Congress have publicly surrendered on the Iraq War, just one year after being swept into power with a firm mandate to end it."
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Uniting to stop election horror: Moving beyond lesser evils  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2939.shtml
Some quotes...."Every election we get a worse president than the previous one, and we are on the verge of another catastrophic selection.  --  The system is designed to give us little hope for anything better than the lesser of evils, with the hopelessness menacing wider and deeper every four years. If you don’t vote for Hitler, you get Satan. At least Hitler’s human, you are told, and you will regret it if you don’t vote for the only one with a realistic chance to stop the hoofed one."  --  "Some of us have wondered if Ralph Nader could be talked into being a running mate for the Green Party candidate? - We would not likely win with such a candidate in a race against Republocrat candidates who have all the free mass media and billions of dollars in
 bribes   ---  from Forces of Greed   ---  that don’t give a damn about this country or its people. - But we could sleep better at night knowing we have begun to build for the future  --  Editor's note: If he were to read it, Mr. Reficul would find this article to be amusing. - mpg
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Rupert Cornwell: Out of America  ---  http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/rupert-cornwell-out-of-america-780404.html
A quote...."Whoever wins the presidency will most likely fail to take on the unholy trinity of arms manufacturers, the Pentagon, and Congress"
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Adrian Hamilton: Nato should not be fighting this war in Afghanistan
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/adrian-hamilton/adrian-hamilton-nato-should-not-be-fighting-this-war-in-afghanistan-779753.html
A quote...."As the defence ministers of Nato meet in Vilnius, and Condi Rice and David Miliband descend on Afghanistan as part of their effort to shore up the Nato campaign in the country, someone ought to be asking the question: "What the hell is a North Atlantic alliance doing in a north Asian country at all?"
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Standoff in an Iraqi province  ---  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq10feb10,1,3132219.story
A quote...."BAGHDAD -- A potential security crisis loomed Saturday in troubled Diyala province as significant numbers of a U.S.-funded force of Sunni fighters left their posts, demanding the ouster of the provincial police chief."
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Contractor deaths up 17 percent across Iraq in 2007  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/155981
A quote...."WASHINGTON — The number of civilian contractors reported killed in Iraq jumped 17 percent in 2007 and accounted for more than one in four deaths associated with the U.S. occupation last year."
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El Salvador may pull 'almost all' troops from Iraq  ---  http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N05341756.htm
A quote...."SAN SALVADOR, Feb 5 (Reuters) - El Salvador, the only Latin American country which still has troops in Iraq, is prepared topull out most of its 280 soldiers there amid growing opposition at home to the U.S.-led war."
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King of Jordan goes to Moscow to discuss Iraq, Mideast situation  ---  http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080210/98854865.html
A quote...."MOSCOW, February 10 (RIA Novosti) - King of Jordan Abdullah II arrives in Moscow on a two-day visit on Sunday to discuss the situation in Iraq, Iran and the Middle East, a Russian presidential aide said."
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Chavez Threatens To Cut Off Oil Sales To U.S.  ---  http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=5544
A quote...."CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez on Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States if Exxon Mobil Corp. wins court judgments to seize his government's assets."
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Peace Corps, Fulbright Scholar Asked to 'Spy' on Cubans, Venezuelans  ---  http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=5540
A quote...."In an apparent violation of U.S. policy, Peace Corps volunteers and a Fulbright scholar were asked by a U.S. Embassy official in Bolivia "to basically spy" on Cubans and Venezuelans in the country, according to Peace Corps personnel and the Fulbright scholar involved."
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Framing Muslims in Turkey, Britain, Egypt and the Good Old USA  ---  http://www.jonesreport.com/article/02_08/070208_framing_muslims.html
More on the Turkey/Gladio connection. - mpg
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Bugged: British Prisons Spy On Lawyers, Visitors  ---  http://winterpatriot.blogspot.com/2008/02/bugged-british-prisons-spy-on-lawyers.html
A quote...."In the UK, the Telegraph has yet another blockbuster story about yet another way in which the rule of law has been eviscerated since 9/11 -- not by terrorists (who could never do such a thing) but by governments: "
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Suchitoto 13: El Salvador’s “American-made” Terrorism Act in Corporate Play  ---  http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/12750
A quote...."In 2001 El Salvador replaced the colon with the U.S. dollar as its national currency. In 2006 its right-wing government replaced lawful dissent with U.S. inspired anti-terrorism legislation as its national policy. In return, the Salvadoran people are offering Americans an object lesson in the value of our Bill of Rights when dollar meets dissent.  --  On the morning of July 2, 2007, an estimated 400 Salvadorans who were waiting for buses to take them to the small town of Suchitoto to attend a public forum on the privatization of water utilities were accused of blocking the road and were attacked by riot police firing rubber bullets and tear gas. Two women and one man were arrested."
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There’s Nothing Mainstream About the Corporate Media  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/10/6968/
A quote...."As we stumble toward another presidential election, it’s never been more clear that our political process is being warped by a corporate stranglehold on the free flow of information. Amidst a virtual blackout of coverage of a horrific war, a global ecological crisis and an advancing economic collapse, what passes for the mass media is itself in collapse. What’s left of our democracy teeters on the brink."
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Lies, Damn Lies and the Murdoch Empire  ---  http://baltimorechronicle.com/2008/020708Lendman.shtml
A quote...."For Big Media, truth is a scarce commodity and in times of war it's the first casualty, or as esteemed journalist John Pilger noted: "Journalism (not truth) is the first casualty (of war). Not only that: it('s)....a weapon of war (by its) virulent censorship....by omission (and its) power....can mean....life and death for people in faraway countries, such as Iraq."
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Some Of The Outrageous - Lies About 9/11  ---  http://www.countercurrents.org/lopisi080208.htm
A quote...."It is hard to pick a place to start in terms of talking about the most outrageous lies that the Bush administration and the 9/11 Commission have presented to the people in this country as a reason to attack Afghanistan and Iraq and to launch a "fake war on terror"
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September 11th Advocates ('Jersey Girls') Comment on the Impending Release of Philip Shenon's Book
  ---  http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20080208124540324
A quote...."Philip Shenon's new book, The Commission: *  ---  http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/960  ---  The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation, serves to justify our suspicions and the concerns of the Family Steering Committee, that we attempted to publicly air during the course of the 9/11 Commission's tenure." -- *Link added by website editor.
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Using the Internet as a weapon
  ---  http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/john-dvoraks-second-opinion-middle/story.aspx?
  ---  guid=%7B6FD0D324-8FF9-4900-BCA9-614914BA3E87%7D&dist=hplatest
A quote...."BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Nobody knows what caused the cut cables in the Mediterranean that interrupted Internet service to parts of the Middle East last week, but there are now conspiracy theories galore written by bloggers and pundits."
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Chinese cut off from internet  ---  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1162550.stm
A quote...."Damage to an undersea cable has cut millions of Chinese off from the internet, and the problem could take weeks to fix. - China Telecom has said that a major cable was cut at about 0800 local time (0000 GMT)."

The two articles shown above have been categorized as a War Alert
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Major Siegelman update...  ---  http://www.atlargely.com/2008/02/major-siegelman.html
A quote...."Okay, folks, whatever you did with your calls and emails, what I have now learned is that the finished product (finished for some time) by 60 Minutes was finally screened for CBS corporate this past Friday. Now let's not all give up and go home with a victory just yet. We have work still to do, because until the show airs, we have not yet won. I would urge you to continue to call CBS corporate expressing your interest in this story."
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Five Omaha policemen implicated in deception and false testimony in COINTELPRO case against Black Panthers
  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_michael__080208_five_omaha_policemen.htm
A quote...."Two leaders of the Omaha chapter of the Black Panthers' National Committee to Combat Fascism, Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa (formerly David Rice), are serving life sentences for the 1970 bombing murder of Omaha Police officer Larry Minard.  Officer Minard was killed at a booby-trapped vacant house while answering a call about a woman screaming.  Police arrested 15 year-old Duane Peak for the murder who quickly implicated Poindexter and Langa in exchange for a reduced sentence. Peak, the confessed killer, walked free in 1974.  Poindexter and Langa remain behind bars and both deny any involvement in the crime."
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Brazil’s industrial output in 2007 second best of decade  ---  http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=12597&formato=HTML
A quote...."The government’s IBGE statistics institute points out that industrial output was up in 21 of 27 sectors averaging 6% in 2007 compared to 8.3% in 2004, 2.8% in 2006 and 3.1% in 2005. Leading sectors were the automotive industry, 15.2% and the production of machinery and equipment 17.7%."
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Tricom breakdown exposes fragility of Australian share market  ---  http://wsws.org/articles/2008/feb2008/tric-f11.shtml
A quote...."Australian share market indexes have fallen sharply since the beginning of the year, with share prices down more than 11 percent for the year and over 15 percent since their November peak. This is a worse performance than on Wall Street. Market volatility was compounded at the end of January when a prominent stockbroking firm, Tricom, was unable to make its scheduled midday payments for its share purchases for two days in a row.  --  Tricom became the first stockbroker to fail to settle its accounts since 1975."
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How Big Media Hides the Real Economic News  ---  http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/how-big-media-hides-real-economic-news
A quote...."The key finding in that report is that the total number of hours worked (and paid) in non-farm businesses during the fourth quarter of 2007 fell at an annual rate of 1.5 percent. Indeed, the total number of hours worked in the fourth quarter was less than in the fourth quarter of 2006. The report shows total non-farm jobs also falling at a 0.5 percent annualized rate in Q4 and rising by only 0.4 percent year over year. - Furthermore, after adjusting for the increased costs of gasoline, health care, etc., real average (not median) salary and benefit compensation for all U.S. workers fell at an annualized rate of 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter and by 0.3 percent year over year."
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Saturday February 9th 2008 - links page

America’s Blinders  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19309.htm
Must Read - From the history file, first Published April 2006 Issue Of The Progressive Magazine. - A quote...." 08/02/08 "ICH" -  Now that most Americans no longer believe in the war, now that they no longer trust Bush and his Administration, now that the evidence of deception has become overwhelming (so overwhelming that even the major media, always late, have begun to register indignation), we might ask: How come so many people were so easily fooled?  --  The question is important because it might help us understand why Americans—members of the media as well as the ordinary citizen—rushed to declare their support as the President was sending troops halfway around the world to Iraq."
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The New Authoritarians  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_dan_feje_080209_the_new_authoritaria.htm
A quote...."We need a change in nomenclature. Those who continue to support the administration's radical theory of executive power are properly described as authoritarians. Once upon a time they may have been conservative but I think it's safe to say that circa February 2008 conservatism has been orphaned by its ostensible champions. As a philosophy for governance it has no meaningful support on the national stage and hasn't for years. I won't dwell on long-forgotten odes to small government and fiscal responsibility, the counseling of prudence and pragmatism in foreign affairs, or reverence for tradition and precedent in conducting the nation's business. All of it deserves more attention and the erstwhile conservatives served us all very poorly by abandoning it, but what bothers me most is their enthusiastic embrace of militarism, torture, fearmongering and a near-voyeuristic obsession with surveillance."
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Documentary: Military brass frequently viewed hooded, shackled detainees
  ---  http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Documentary_Military_brass_frequently_viewed_hooded_0209.html
A quote...."Flying in the face of statements members of the Bush Administration have made denying the use, and advocacy, of torture in their war effort, evidence of brutal treatment of captives continues to accumulate.  --  PBS' Bill Moyers delves into Oscar-nominated documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side," highlighting an Afghan taxi driver who was detained and beaten to death by American forces."
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Moyers on Taxi to the Darkside  ---  http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02082008/profile4.html
Related article - A quote...."Enhanced interrogation. Black sites. Extraordinary rendition. Enemy combatant. These are just a few of the new terms making their way into the American vocabulary.  --  In 2003, the abuses at Abu Ghraib leaked to the press and the world. Since then, a steady stream of reports has suggested that some American agencies have used a network of secret prison, extraordinary renditions and brutal interrogation tactics on suspected terrorists."

Watch the Video  ||  ---  http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02082008/watch.html
Listen to the Podcast  ||  ---  http://www-tc.pbs.org/moyers/rss/media/BMJ-1144.mp3
Read the Transcript  ||  ---  http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02082008/transcript1.html
Comment  ||  ---  http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/
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Five Years Later, Direct Action - To Stop The War Reemerges  ---  http://www.countercurrents.org/campbell080208.htm
A quote...."After more than a decade of military aggression and genocidal sanctions, on March 19, 2003, the United States launched it's most recent attack against the people of Iraq. The following day, the people of the world took to the streets in protest. More than 20,000 turned out in San Francisco to take part in coordinated, nonviolent direct actions which shut down the Financial District of the city. Additional targets included military recruitment centers, the Bay Bridge and the Federal Building. Actions continued on March 21 and in the end more than 2,200 people were arrested with virtually all charges being dropped."
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Mukasey's law...  ---  http://www.atlargely.com/2008/02/mukaseys-law.html
A quote...."The Attorney General of the United States quite literally turned to the Nazi defense in order to argue why he won't allow the Department of Justice to investigate war crimes committed by US military and intelligence personnel under the orders of the US President. The argument that Mukasey presents is summarized in this Boston Globe article as follows:"
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Another Act of War  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/prather/?articleid=12338
A quote...."In June of 2004, a neo-crazy media sycophant at Reuters (Charbonneau) reported that unidentified "diplomats and nuclear experts" had told him that "an experimental high-tech intelligence technique developed by the United States" had detected what sounded like the whine of gas-centrifuges, spinning at supersonic speeds, operating "somewhere" in Syria."
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Deep State Coup Averted in Turkey  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/deliso/?articleid=12332
A quote...."On 22 January, Turkish police arrested 33 individuals, some connected with the military, in the largest concerted action against the "deep state" – that shadowy underworld linking extremists and criminals from the spheres of military, political, judicial and the academy. Some were accused of belonging to an ultranationalist group, Ergenekon, that was allegedly "preparing a series of bomb attacks aimed at fomenting chaos ahead of a coup in 2009 against Turkey's center-right government, whose European Union-linked reforms are opposed by ultranationalists."

See also....Mass Arrests Expose Operations of Turkey’s “Deep State” - posted 02-07-08
  ---  http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373933
See also....Gladio – Death Plan For Democracy - posted 02-07-08
  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19305.htm
See also....False Flag Ops
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/falseflagops-weblist-mpg-082006
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Egypt walks a dangerous tightrope over Gaza --  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080209.wgaza09/BNStory/International/home
A quote...."CAIRO and JERUSALEM — When Mohammed Abu Treika scored a key goal against Sudan in an African Cup match last week, he endeared himself to millions of fans in this soccer-mad country. But it was what he did next that made him a true national hero.  --  As banks of television cameras zoomed in on him, Mr. Abu Treika celebrated his goal by pulling his red Egyptian national team sweater over his head. (YuTb - 23s - 020508) 
  ---  http://youtube.com/watch?v=TRvsO3FnPGI  ---  Underneath was a plain white T-shirt emblazoned with a simple slogan, written in English and Arabic: “Sympathize with Gaza,” it read." -- link added by website editor (the song is in Arabic, content is unknown and is not the responsibility of this editor.)
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Abbas says no to agreement with Hamas  ---  http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=875&thisview=item
Video - A quote...."Osamah Khalil: Egypt trying to push agreement between Abbas and Hamas"  --  "Mishuk Munier, presenter: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leaders to Cairo on Wednesday for separate talks. The meetings were called in an effort to resolve the political crisis caused by the opening of the Gaza border by militants last week. Barriers had been blown up by Hamas in an attempt to provide relief from the blockade and embargo of the Gaza Strip."
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Association of Journalists of new Iraqi anti-occupation  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/155949
A quote...."Launched in Baghdad the Iraqi Journalists Association, a new formation for the Defence of Iraqi Journalists and support them indigent and printing studio made after occupation authorities and their governments to solve the four sources of livelihood, the Ministry of Information in 2003."

For more on what's going to happen to these guys see....
US - Killing the Messenger  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/uskillingthemessenger-weblist-mpg-112907
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‘Americans have got her [Benazir Bhutto] eliminated’  ---  http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=162969
Interview - Tehelka Magazine interviews former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Hamid Gul (posted in the Tehran Times) - A quote...."These are two things the Americans very badly want. One is a pre-emptive doctrine which has not yet been consummated. Even Musharraf has been resisting a direct ingress, howsoever pro-America he might be. So, how could Benazir do this? How could she hand over AQ Khan to them?  --  But she came and in the 70 days she spent, not once did she mention either AQ Khan or the Taliban. She had drifted from the agenda and no wonder Musharraf said before and after her death that the lady had broken her promises."  --  *Hamid Gul*
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ROMANIA:  Powerless in the New Cold War  ---  http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41130
A quote...."BUCHAREST, Feb 8 (IPS) - With new Cold War rhetoric emerging all around, Romania and Bulgaria are more uncertain than ever about their foreign policy."
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Gazprom threatens to halt gas supplies to Ukraine on Feb. 12  ---  http://en.rian.ru/world/20080208/98788278.html
A quote...."MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russian energy giant Gazprom warned Friday that it could halt natural gas supplies to Ukraine at 10:00 a.m. [7 a.m. GMT] on February 12 over Kiev's outstanding debt for gas deliveries."
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Vladimir Putin heralds start of 'new arms race'  ---  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/09/wruss109.xml
A quote...."We are being forced to take retaliatory steps. Russia has and always will have a response to these new challenges. In the near future, Russia will start production of new weapons systems that will not be inferior and in some cases excel those held by other countries." --  "This was necessary to defend Russia from unnamed foreign powers who, he [Putin] claimed, were bent on controlling the world's natural resources."

Just can't guess which country he's talking about, after all the US is here to bring "freedom and democracy" to the world. - mpg
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Discovery Channel Drops Plans To Air ‘Taxi To The Dark Side’ Because It Is Too ‘Controversial'
  ---  http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/08/gibney-taxi-discovery/
A quote...."Taxi to the Dark Side, a documentary about an innocent Afghan taxi driver tortured to death by U.S. officials at Bagram Air Base, has received wide critical acclaim since its debut in April at the Tribeca Film Festival. The New York Times’s A.O. Scott said, “If recent American history is ever going to be discussed with the necessary clarity and ethical rigor, this film will be essential.”  --  See also....

60 Minutes Caves to Pressure from White House on Siegelman Story
  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_larisa_a_080205_60_minutes_caves_to_.htm
A quote...."Well folks, seems that 60 Minutes is postponing (read "killing") its Siegelman story. The excuse I am told for this lapse in ethics is that the network needs more time to vet the whistle-blower, Dana Jill Simpson. You see, the reason the network suddenly needs more time to vet Simpson is that the White House has launched a direct campaign inside CBS to discredit her and just to make sure the dirt sticks, they have called in some favors too.  I am told that Senator Jeff Sessions has been instructed to help the White House discredit Simpson as part of his "Senatorial" duties. Nice system of government we have here, eh?"

Ahhhh, our ever so faithless, spineless, craven, cowardly, faux-news, pressitutes do it again.  Aren’t they disgusted with being on bended knee all the time, don't those guys in the so-called "fourth estate" ever get sick and tired of  being a bunch of sycophantic lackeys? 

Don’t they have any pride left at all? - mpg - posted 02-05-08
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Obama Sweeps Clinton in ‘Crushing’ Fashion - Takes Washington State, Nebraska, Louisiana, and Virgin Islands
  ---  http://progressivedailybeacon.com/pdb/?p=131
A quote...."The Clinton campaign promised to halt Obama’s momentum within the next 72 hours. How? The only possibilities are to go strong Rove-like negative OR to announce a host of pledged support from Super-Delegates (call it the, “If you can’t win the popular vote, get appointed by the rich and powerful” campaign). The Clintons need to do something though, because the upstart Junior Senator from Illinois mopped the floor with the powerful Clinton campaign machine:"
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Is Dennis Kucinich Getting McKinney'd  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_kevin_ze_080208_is_dennis_kucinich_g.htm
A quote...."On the Hill some call it being McKinney’d – the treatment Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney received when she was in Congress.  Twice, rather than protecting the incumbent, the Democrats put up well funded challengers against her.  Now, it looks like Dennis Kucinich may be facing the same treatment in Cleveland."  --  See also....

Kucinich Under Fire  ---  http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080207_kucinich_under_fire/
A quote...."The FEC [Federal Election Commission] reports released last week show that in the Democratic primary, I am currently being outspent by a margin of 5-1.  --  Corporate Cleveland has organized its considerable resources behind a candidate who has had a three-week television campaign of a “Swift-boat"-type distortion of my record. I have always felt that the seat never belonged to me, but belongs to working men and women and their families, who are entitled to representation in the Congress, especially given the corporate domination of both political parties." -- *Dennis Kucinich*

Kucinich spoke the truth and to our elites that is something that can NEVER be tolerated....or forgiven. - mpg - posted 02-08-08
 - See....The Strength of the New Roman Empire - 10-07-07 - mpg
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/liesoftheempire-blog-mpg-100707
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Wheat Surges to Record as U.S. Supply May Drop to 60-Year Low - http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTrp83Ld88ds&refer=home
A quote...."Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat rose to a record for a third day on the Chicago Board of Trade as the U.S. forecast its lowest inventories in 60 years."
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G-7 Says Growth May Weaken, Market Turmoil to Persist (Update3)
  ---  http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ai6TAXb7ea8U&refer=home
A quote...."Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Group of Seven policy makers said the U.S. economy may slow further, eroding global growth, and officials forecast more financial-market turmoil."
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FDIC Prepares For Bank Failures With Policy Paper  ---  http://www.thought-criminal.org/article/node/1250
A quote...."Part 1 proposes a rule governing how and at what point deposit account balances would be determined in the event of an insured depository institution failure. This part would apply to all insured depository institutions.  --  Part 2 proposes requirements to facilitate the process for determining the insurance status of depositors of large insured depository institutions in the event of failure."
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US dollar continues free fall against Latin currencies  ---  http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=12595&formato=HTML
A quote...."With the exception of Venezuela and Argentina that have government administered exchange rates, in the rest of the main Latinamerican money markets the depreciation of the US dollar continues with no end in the short term according to the latest data."
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OPEC may switch to euro  ---  http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL0882239220080208
Special Note - A quote...."DUBAI (Reuters) - OPEC may abandon the dollar for pricing oil and adopt the euro but any such switch will "take time", OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri was quoted as saying by a weekly magazine."
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Credit Crisis: Precursor of Great Inflation  ---  http://www.mises.org/story/2863
Special Note - A quote...."According to the Austrian Monetary Theory of the Trade Cycle it is the government-run money-supply monopoly that has not only caused the crisis; the theory also diagnoses that rate cuts will not solve the crisis, but will make it even worse."

But if it doesn't create some inflation, our elites will have to start another war - mpg
See....Effective Fed Funds Rate 03-24-07 - mpg
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/cachedfiles/fedfundschart-photopg-cached-032407
See....The Scourge of the Wealthy - Deflation / The Balm of the Wealthy - War - 09-30-06 - mpg
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/scorge&balm-essay-mpg-093006
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Friday February 8th 2008 - links page

American Psycho: An Elite Exposed in an Exit Speech
  ---  http://www.chris-floyd.com/Articles/Articles/American_Psycho%3A_An_Elite_Exposed_in_an_Exit_Speech/
Must Read - Chris Floyd, at his vituperative best, ferociously skewering our wealthy elites. - mpg - A quote...."If you would like to see just how sick the American elite really is – how morally depraved, how intellectually diseased, how addicted to the taste of human flesh, the scent of human blood, and the sight of human suffering – then you need go no further than the speech given by Mitt Romney to the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 7, 2008."
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Top US Lawyer And UNICEF Data Reveal Afghan Genocide  ---  http://www.countercurrents.org/polya080208.htm
A quote...."The United States invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 with the ostensible excuse of the Afghan Government’s “protection” of the asserted Al Qaeda culprits of the 9/11 atrocity that killed 3,000 people. In the light of as many as 6.6 million post-invasion excess deaths in Occupied Afghanistan as of February 2008 (see below), it is important to consider the major problems with this Bush-ite and neo-Bush-ite version of events as summarized below:"

A note to every single country out there....this is what will happen to you if you do "business" with America's elites, it will happen every single time guaranteed.  It's your choice and if you choose wrong, it will inevitably lead to your people's destruction....just ask the Iraqis. - mpg
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IRAQ: More Bombing Creates New Enemies  ---  http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m40985&s1=h1
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Feb 8 (IPS) - Now that the smoke has cleared and the rubble settled, residents of a group of bombed Iraqi villages see the raid as really a U.S. loss.  --  Many Iraqis view the attack Jan. 10 by bombers and F-16 jets on a cluster of villages in the Latifiya district south of Baghdad as overkill.  --  "The use of B1 bombers shows the terrible failure of the U.S. campaign in Iraq," Iraqi Major General Muhammad al-Azzawy, a military researcher in Baghdad, told IPS. "U.S. military and political tactics failed in this area, and that is why this massacre. This kind of bombing is usually used for much bigger targets than small villages full of civilians. This was savagery."
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Dahr Jamail: Beyond the Green Zone  ---  http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m40977&s1=h1
Interview - Uruknet interviews journalist Dahr Jamail - A quote....Uruknet: "Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have indicated that US troops are not going to be withdrawn in any significant manner in the first term of a presidency. What do you think would happen if the US did withdraw immediately from Iraq?"

Dahr Jamail: "We have a specific example of what would likely happen throughout Iraq if the US were to withdraw completely. When the Brits recently pulled out of their last base in Basra City late last year, The Independent reported that according to the British military, violent attacks dropped 90 percent. I think that goes to show that the Brits down in Basra, like the Americans in central and northern Iraq, have been the primary cause of the violence and the instability."
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Iraq Sunni insurgents turn to armor-piercing bombs  ---  http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=37151
Website editor's note:  This article is a classic example of the Pentagon's utter inability to produce convincing propaganda.  The Pentagon, as they have throughout this long war, has continually shown they are  making it up as they go along.  For those who have been paying the slightest attention to current events you will have noticed that when the Bush administration wants to ratchet up pressure against Iran, a sudden plethora of articles will appear blaming them for any and all unwanted activities in Iraq.

One egregious example of this policy is when the Pentagon and the Neocons, demonstrating their usual stupidity and their lack of concern for the "facts", aided and abetted by the American people’s peculiar inability to perceive reality, implied for almost a full three years....that's THREE SOLID YEARS during the US's occupation of Iraq, that it was the Iranians who were supporting the Sunni insurgents.  Assertions so grievously stupid, so contrary to reality, that after receiving a steady barrage of relentless and remorseless criticism during those three years they finally gave them up and grudgingly stopped making them....whereupon they promptly started blaming the Shia for many of the attacks.

They  did so of course because it’s obviously easier to convince everyone that the Iranians are supplying the Shia with weapons rather than the Sunni -- whether they’re actually supplying them or not is of course completely irrelevant.

It took them that long to figure out how stupid they looked. They are dumber than dumb....and yet they continue with more of their inane and pathetic attempts with this juvenile propaganda.  It truly is embarrassing.

For more on this entire issue see....
Fake Intel - IED's & EFP's   ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/fakeintell-weblist-mpg-090206#IEDS__EFPS
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Mosul showdown looms without key local allies for Pentagon  ---  http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/middle_east/view.bg?articleid=1072239
A quote...."MOSUL, Iraq - Iraqi and American commanders are preparing for a prolonged — and possibly pivotal — fight against al-Qaida [a.k.a. anybody apposed to the occupation] in Iraq in this vital northern hub. But they are missing an essential tool used to uproot insurgents elsewhere: groups of local Sunni fighters."
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U.S. military loses records for bin Laden's driver  ---  http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=51604
A quote...."GANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - The U.S. military has ["lost"] a year's worth of records describing the Guantanamo confinement of Osama bin Laden's driver, a prosecutor said at the Yemeni captive's war court hearing on Thursday."

Sure they did, the White House "loses" ten million e-mails, the FAA "loses" tapes regarding 9/11 (and was actually caught destroying them) , the CIA also gets caught destroying interrogation tapes, the US military "loses" a years worth of records (along with a few "disappeared" prisoners they say), and the list goes on and on and on.

Heads up to all you guys, NO ONE believes you anymore, none of you have an ounce of credibility or a shred of integrity left. None, all gone, not even the dumb, drooling, morons watching FAUX-News believe you anymore.

It's over; put a fork in it...it's done. – mpg
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Speakers at Academy Said to Make False Claims  ---  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/us/07muslim.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
A quote...."The Air Force Academy was criticized by Muslim and religious freedom organizations for playing host on Wednesday to three speakers who critics say are evangelical Christians falsely claiming to be former Muslim terrorists." -- bold/italics by website author.

They're not making this up. - mpg
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Hersh: Israel pressed me to agree Syrian site was nuclear  ---  http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Sy_Hersh_Israeli_raid_on_Syria_0208.html
A quote...."A new article by veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh offers a detailed examination of the claims that Israel bombed a nuclear facility under construction in Syria last September and finds that none of the evidence stands up to scrutiny."
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Geopolitical rebirth  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2934.shtml
A quote...."Solidarity flourishes the more adverse our external reality gets. Somehow during hardship, as humans we have an innate intuition which draws us closer to each other."
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Venezuela Bites Back at ExxonMobil
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/feb2008/db2008028_610672.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives
A quote...."The head of Venezuela's state oil company accused ExxonMobil (XOM) of trying to "take the country hostage" and said on Feb. 8 that Venezuela would seek to overturn court orders freezing more than $12 billion of the company's assets. The statement was the latest twist in a dispute with ExxonMobil over the oil giant's demand to be compensated for the nationalization of two projects it had in the South American country."
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Does The Brownshirt Party Have Aces Up Its Sleeve?  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19308.htm
A quote...." 08/02/08 "ICH" -- -- The Brownshirt Party has chosen John “hundred year war” McCain as its presidential candidate. Except for Cheney, Norman Podhoretz, and billy kristol, McCain is America’s greatest warmonger.  --  In a McCain Regime, Cheney will be back in office with another stint as Secretary of War. Norman “Bomb-bomb-bomb-Iran” Podhoretz will be Undersecretary for Nuclear War with General John “Nuke them” Shalikashvili as his deputy. Rudy Giuliani will be the Minister of Interior in charge of Halliburton’s detention centers into which will be herded all critics of war and the police state. billy kristol will be chief White House spokesliar."
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The Armageddon Shuffle  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19312.htm
A quote...." 08/02/08 "ICH" -- -- War drums are once again pounding in America; this time the target is Iran.  Iran is a rogue state, they say, hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons, headed by a Hitler-like lunatic who calls the holocaust a fairy-tale and who vows to wipe Israel off the map.  A US naval fleet has moved within close proximity of Iran and economic sanctions have been levied.  If not for the blowback from 17 years of US genocide in Iraq – which is crippling the US’ military, literally and figuratively, no doubt US leaders would have already begun raining bombs on Iran."
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Sieg Heil, TSA  ---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/akers/akers79.html
A quote...."Ah, the Nazis. Modern America knows few epithets more vile. You can insult a man’s mother, wish rape on him, liken him to the hinder part of the alimentary canal. But don’t compare him to Germany’s totalitarians, even if he works for their contemporary counterparts, unless you want a fight – and a frisk from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)."
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Particide In Six Easy Steps - Diligent Democrats Demonstrate Dumbness Daily  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19318.htm
Must Read - Oh this is good....it's so sad, but so true - mpg - A quote...."  08/02/08 "ICH" -- -- Suppose you had a political party you were trying to get rid of.  How would you do it? - Would you give it some cement shoes and toss it into the bay?  Would you roll it up in a carpet and drag it into the trunk of your car in the middle of the night?  Would you put out a contract on it?"
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Kucinich Under Fire  ---  http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080207_kucinich_under_fire/
A quote...."The FEC [Federal Election Commission] reports released last week show that in the Democratic primary, I am currently being outspent by a margin of 5-1.  --  Corporate Cleveland has organized its considerable resources behind a candidate who has had a three-week television campaign of a “Swift-boat"-type distortion of my record. I have always felt that the seat never belonged to me, but belongs to working men and women and their families, who are entitled to representation in the Congress, especially given the corporate domination of both political parties." -- *Dennis Kucinich*

Kucinich spoke the truth and to our elites that is something that can NEVER be tolerated....or forgiven. - mpg

See....The Strength of the New Roman Empire - 10-07-07 - mpg
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/liesoftheempire-blog-mpg-100707
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A Long Story  ---  http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020808M.shtml
A quote...."The economic news has been fairly dire this week. The credit crunch is getting worse, and a widely watched indicator of trends in the service sector - which is most of the economy - has fallen off a cliff. It's still not a certainty that we're headed into recession, but the odds are growing greater."
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White House Plan Sets Up Depression  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_mike_col_080208_white_house_plan_set.htm
A quote...."The White House mortgage rescue plan to aid subprime borrowers sets in motion a series of events that could send the U.S. economy reeling into a depression, should the government not require lenders to freeze interest rates for many borrowers."
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U.S. economy's descent steepens  ---  http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=5530
A quote...."LONDON: Job losses and a contraction in the business sector where more than 80 percent of Americans work show that the angle of descent for the U.S. economy is steepening."
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Bear Stearns Faces Indictment Over Collapsed Hedge Funds  ---  http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=5527
A quote...."Bear Stearns may be in serious legal jeopardy over the collapse of two credit hedge funds last year.  --  Already facing hundreds of millions in claims from aggrieved investors, who lost $1.6 billion in the High-Grade Structured Credit Fund and a more levered sister vehicle, the Wall Street firm is now facing the prospect of a federal indictment."
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Thursday February 7th 2008 - links page

Straight Talk and Militarist Madness  ---  http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/02/05/straight-talk-and-militarist-madness/
A quote...."In the New Hampshire primary, exit polls revealed that 38 percent of those voting in the Republican primary who “strongly disapprove” of the war in Iraq cast their ballot for John McCain. In Michigan, 35 percent of those strongly disapproving of the war cast their ballots for him. Somehow, McCain’s repeated indications that he would be more favorably inclined toward war than the current president haven’t broken through the fog of media adulation that surrounds the Arizona senator."
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War cost in 2009 put at $190bn  ---  http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/war-cost-in-2009-put-at-190bn/2008/02/07/1202234065083.html
A quote...."US DEFENCE Secretary Robert Gates, pressed to estimate total war costs, has said that Iraq and Afghanistan operations could cost $US170 billion ($A190 billion) next year but warned that the figure was likely wrong."
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Buchanan: John McCain ‘Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi’  ---  http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/buchanan-gandhi-mccain/
Video - A quote...."    BEGALA: If McCain wins, he’s running for a third term for Bush. He wants to make Bush’s Iraq war permanent, Bush’s economic program permanent.  --  Buchanan concluded the segment by arguing that McCain “will make Cheney look like Gandhi.” Watch it:"
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Gates to `Nag' NATO to Fight in Southern Afghanistan (Update1)  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=a7eObu_Cn.eo&refer=uk
A quote...."Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- NATO will struggle today to heal divisions over the campaign in Afghanistan, with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates vowing to ``nag'' European allies to confront insurgents in the battle-scarred south of the country."

NATO members see absolutely no reason to spend more blood and treasure so Gate's MIOC buddies can get some pipelines through Afghanistan.
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/priorwarresource911-weblist-mpg-091106  ---  mpg
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Mass Arrests Expose Operations of Turkey’s “Deep State”  ---  http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373933
A quote...."The detention in Istanbul last week of alleged members of a shadowy Turkish ultranationalist group has revived charges that elements within the Turkish security apparatus have long tried to destabilize the country through a campaign of bombings and assassinations. These allegedly include false flag operations that have been attributed to Kurdish separatists and violent Islamists."
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Gladio – Death Plan For Democracy  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19305.htm
A quote...."07/02/08 "ICH" -- -- Last week, a secret paramilitary group (formerly?) allied with America was busted in Turkey. Thirteen members of a shadowy right-wing group in Turkey were charged with "forming an armed terrorist group in order to provoke members of the public into armed revolt against the government."  http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373933

For more on this see....
False Flag Ops  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/falseflagops-weblist-mpg-082006
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The Tesseract Archipelago...  ---  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandrovna/the-tesseract-archipelago_b_85482.html
A quote...."The Bush administration has indeed accomplished a mission, intended or not, to recreate the United States into a super-power demon, a super-power monster, a super-power consuming itself and everything around it.  A country that has secret prisons within secret prisons built on an island belonging to the very type of government we claim to be the opposite of is not a democracy."
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Moussaoui prosecutor kept CIA tapes secret  ---  http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-02-06-cia-tapes_N.htm
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) — The lead prosecutor in the terror case against Zacarias Moussaoui likely knew the CIA destroyed tapes of its interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects more than a year before the government acknowledged it to the court, newly unsealed documents show."
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Big Media and The New World Order - The Murdoch Empire  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8024
A quote...."For Big Media, truth is a scarce commodity and in times of war it's the first casualty, or as esteemed journalist John Pilger noted: "Journalism (not truth) is the first casualty (of war). Not only that: it('s)....a weapon of war (by its) virulent censorship....by omission (and its) power....can mean....life and death for people in faraway countries, such as Iraq."
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Prosecutor Sought for White House Probe  ---  http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7281683,00.html
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) - An advocacy group on Monday sought a criminal probe of the White House over millions of possibly missing e-mails, saying someone may have deliberately deleted them to conceal involvement in a potential crime."
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Bush Goes After FOIA  ---  http://www.alternet.org/blogs/rights/76220/
A quote...."Remember that time the Office of Drug Control Policy told a student that it would take 200 years to file his FOIA request? - "Please note that the General Counsel is predisposed," the letter read. "Consequently, we must enlarge to June 22, 2207 the time provided for his final determination." (Or as Wonkette put it: "ODCP Promises to Get Back to You in the Far Future, If Man is Still Alive.")
  ---  http://wonkette.com/politics/i.ve-seen-the-future%2C-baby%2C-it-is-murder-dept%27/
  ---  odcp-promises-to-get-back-to-you-in-the-far-future-if-man-is-still-alive-268283.php
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Sen. Rockefeller Lets Slip the Spying Truth: Drift Nets [on the Internet] To Be Legalized --  http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/02/sen-rockefeller.html
A quote...."Rockefeller makes clear that the impending changes to the law aren't about making it easier for the National Security Agency to listen in on a particular terrorism suspect's phone calls. Instead, the changes are about letting the nation's spooks secretly and unilaterally install filters inside America's phone and internet infrastructure."
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Fun and games with terrorist threats  ---  http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/02/05/terrorism/index.html
False Flag Warning - A quote...."This is really, really scary. We better forget about checks and balances and oversight and restraints of any kind and everything else and just make sure that the President can spy on our emails and telephone calls with no oversight, otherwise Al Qaeda is going to slaughter us in our Homeland. And we also better make sure that telecommunications corporations don't have consequences when they break the law, otherwise we're doomed, because Al Qaeda is coming."
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Exclusive! The FBI Deputizes Business  ---  http://www.progressive.org/mag_rothschild0308
Must Read - False Flag Warning - Special Note - Action Alert !!!!- A quote...."Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does—and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to “shoot to kill” in the event of martial law.  --  InfraGard is “a child of the FBI,” says Michael Hershman, the chairman of the advisory board of the InfraGard National Members Alliance and CEO of the Fairfax Group, an international consulting firm." - italics/underline by website author

Soon all of us will know the identities of these "card carrying" members of this secret conspiracy.  These people are attempting to subvert the constitution and laws of the United States.

If ANY of these people are involved in any way in another attack on the US, they will be guilty of treason. - mpg
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posted 12-21-07
9/11 - From The History File...OpEdNews Directory 9/11 info
  ---  http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/directory.php?bid=3652
Scientific Poll: 84% Reject Official 9/11 Story
  ---  http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=24275
Bush, Rice and the Genoa Warning - Documenting a demonstrable falsehood
  ---  http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20040527222832444
Willie Brown got low-key early warning about air travel
  ---  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/09/12/MN229389.DTL
Condoleeza Rice Warned Willie Brown Not To Fly On 911
  ---  http://www.rense.com/general50/wwse.htm
The Rice/Zelikow Connection: The Kean Commission and its Conflicts of Interest
  ---  http://www.911truth.org/article_for_printing.php?story=20040527201054793
9/11: Public Officials Warned - [not to travel on 9/11]
  ---  http://www.prisonplanet.com/911/warned.htm
posted 11-23-07
9/11 - From The History File...
THE CASE FOR FBI HEADQUARTERS COMPLICITY IN 9/11
  ---  http://www.newswithviews.com/public_comm/public_commentary16.htm
How the FBI Let 9/11 Happen
  ---  http://www.reason.com/news/show/36676.html
9/11 “Incompetence”, Sabotage, and Promotions
  ---  http://arabesque911.blogspot.com/2007/11/911-incompetence-sabotage-and.html
Has FBI promoted 9-11 ball-dropper?
  ---  http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27876
FBI rewarding incompetence?
  ---  http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30426
FBI agent slams bosses at Moussaoui trial
  ---  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1600016/posts
posted 12-09-07
9/11 - From The History File...Judicial Watch Releases New FBI Documents: Osama bin Laden May Have
  ---  http://www.judicialwatch.org/6322.shtml
Chartered Saudi Flight Out of U.S. after 9/11
  ---  http://www.judicialwatch.org/6322.shtml
FBI's 9/11 Saudi Flight Documents Released
  ---  http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062207A.shtml
Flights 9/11
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/flights911-weblist-mpg-081906
Agent Faults FBI on 9/11
  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0321-11.htm
Complete 911 Timeline - The Phoenix Memo and Related Investigations
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&projects_and_programs=phoenixMemo
Coleen Rowley's Memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller
  ---  http://www.apfn.org/APFN/WTC_whistleblower1.htm
911- Government Prior Knowledge
  ---  http://www.apfn.org/APFN/WTC_whistleblower1.htm
Congressman: FBI Ignored Repeated Warnings
  ---  http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/12/23/113839.shtml
FBI Knew Terrorists Were Using Flight Schools
  ---  http://www.prisonplanet.com/fbi_knew_terrorists_using_flight_schools.html
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Breaking Taboos In the Search For Truth - Arun Gandhi's Pursuit of Peace  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8030
A quote...."The fact that the fifth grandson of legendary peace activist Mahatma Gandhi, should be forced to resign as head of his own peace institute in the United States, after critical remarks he had made about Israeli policy, should set alarm bells ringing -- not one, but two sets of bells."
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We cannot defend freedom abroad while undermining civil liberties at home  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2933.shtml
A quote...."These are, sadly, times when opportunists try to advance their fortunes without regard to other people’s rights, bigots hide behind the language of patriotism, and freedom is curtailed in the name of security. It is under such conditions that civil liberties and the right to dissent become exceedingly important, as free and open debate becomes essential for pursuing the best course of action."
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Super Tuesday: Why I voted for Kucinich  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2931.shtml
A quote...."Some people would call this a wasted vote. But I don't think so. I voted for the person I thought was best fit to be president. That's what you are supposed to do in an election: vote for the person you think is best qualified. If all I wanted to do was to pick the winner, I would have done better to seek out a bookie and place a wager rather than cast a ballot. At least that way, if I picked the winner, I would have gotten some money.  --  My Kucinich vote was more than an act of idealism. It was a protest against the way elections are conducted in this country. Specifically, it was a protest against the way the corporate media, with the complicity of the leading candidates, can ignore some people who are running, and stop the momentum of their ideas and campaigns...."
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On-line campaigners seek to "Stop Blair" becoming EU president (Update: Petition at www.stopblair.eu)
  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/155690
A quote...."(BRUSSELS) - An on-line campaign to stop former British prime minister Tony Blair from becoming European Union president is gathering pace long before the job is even created.  --  Once the EU's Lisbon treaty is fully ratified next year, the prestigious post is to replace the EU's current presidency system which involves member states taking six-months turns at the job."
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Choosing for Us  ---  http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20080207_choosing_for_us/
A quote...."There’s an ugly possibility out there: The Democratic race could be so close it would be decided by the 796 super delegates (governors, members of Congress and the like) and not the people who voted and caucused. Party Chairman Howard Dean says he will do everything possible to avoid such a turn of events and Democratic strategists mostly agree that it would be a disaster for the party, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the super delegate notion to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday."

Again !!  Nancy Pelosi betrays the people!  She's not even a a DemoRepub, she's a closet Neo-Roman Neocon! - mpg
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Shift in Tactics Aims to Revive Struggling Insurgency  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/155771
Special Note - A quote...."From internal documents and interviews with members of al-Qaeda in Iraq, a picture emerges of an organization in disarray but increasingly aware that its harsh policies — such as punishing women who don't cover their heads — have eroded its popular support. Over the past year, the group has been driven out of many of its strongholds. The group's leadership is now jettisoning some of its past tactics to refocus attacks on American troops, Sunnis cooperating closely with U.S. forces, and Iraq's infrastructure."

In other words al Qaeda is switching to an anti-American insurgency strategy while playing down their Wahhabist extremist philosophy.  As such they will no longer serve the US elites' or the Saudi Royals' interests as agent provocateurs in the Middle East and will therefore be discarded.  Expect to see a sudden upsurge in arrests in Saudi Arabia along with a concurrent cut-off in funding from that kingdom.

This will be touted by al Qaeda's former backers
 (the MIOC elites and the Bush family)  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/ussupportofterror-weblist-mpg-090306  ---  as "progress". - mpg
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Taliban declares cease-fire in Pakistan  ---  http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2008/02/07/taliban_declares_cease_fire_in_pakistan/
A quote...."ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - After weeks of escalating battles with government troops, Taliban militants yesterday declared a cease-fire - a move likely to frustrate US officials who have urged Pakistan to act decisively against Islamic radicals ensconced in the country's tribal belt."
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Secret talks led to Pakistan cease-fire  ---  http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=36995
A quote...."Two Pakistani officials said Thursday that their government held secret talks with Taliban fighters and tribal elders near the Afghan border before a cease-fire just announced by the militants.  --  The officials familiar with the talks said they took place at an undisclosed location in South Waziristan, a semiautonomous region that is home to scores of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, many of whom fled there from neighboring Afghanistan after the U.S-led invasion in 2001."

The Pakistanis are finally learning -- for more on this issue see....
It Will Happen Every Single Time  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/rapsheetarch/mpgrap-122407-010108#EVERY_TIME
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Russia and India perfect BrahMos  ---  http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080207/98636607.html
A quote...."MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Andrei Kislyakov) - Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov arrives in India on February 12 for the opening ceremony of the Year of Russia in India."
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Russian naval task force completes exercise in the Atlantic  ---  http://en.rian.ru/photolents/20080204/98302515.html
Photo Gallery - You'll need high-bandwith. - A quote...."A Russian naval task force completed two-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic. The operation was the first large-scale Russian Navy exercise in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean in 15 years."
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The Demise of the American Middle Class  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19304.htm
A quote...." 07/02/08 "ICH" -- - - American as well as all western white and blue collar workers will soon realize that they will either have to decrease their wage demands to conform with "global standards" or chose jobs in the service sector. These global standard wages are now being set by worker in India and China, where average hourly wages are about 65 cents and one dollar respectively. The high paying jobs created in Mexico under NAFTA, the whopping $3.50 per hour ones, are moving to China because even this princely wage level is much too generous according to U.S. businessmen."  --  bold/italics by website author
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Treasury and IRS Agree; Pension Freezing is Legal!  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mike_fol_080207_treasury_and_irs_agr.htm
A quote...."Karen Friedman, a policy director at the Pension Rights Center said, "These companies that traditionally did right by workers have given a green light to other companies. This opened the floodgates. It became permissible." Director Friedman has compiled a list of more than 75 companies freezing pensions in the wake of the IBM and Verizon moves."
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How an Iranian 'Oil Bourse' Threatens the American Empire  ---  http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/
Special Note - A quote...."It's been over seven years since the US had real or competent leadership and now a neo-ape man may precipitate our return to the cave! Iran's planned oil bourse threatens not only Bush's simplistic view of the world, it strikes at the the coffers of "big oil". Isolated by mysteriously cut internet cables, Iran --if it is not nuked --will this month begin trading oil in currencies other than the dollar. Bush's cave man response: Nuke Iran! Kill, kill!"
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The Bush Bust of '08 - “It's All Downhill From Here, Folks”  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19307.htm
Must Read - A quote...."On January 14, 2008 the FDIC web site began posting the rules for reimbursing depositors in the event of a bank failure. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is required to “determine the total insured amount for each depositor....as of the day of the failure” and return their money as quickly as possible. The agency is “modernizing its current business processes and procedures for determining deposit insurance coverage in the event of a failure of one of the largest insured depository institutions.” (http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2008/fil08002.html#body)
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Slumping sales signal US recession; slowdown spreads to Europe  ---  http://wsws.org/articles/2008/feb2008/econ-f08.shtml
A quote...."Extremely weak retail sales reports on Wednesday and Thursday provided additional evidence that the US economy is sliding rapidly into recession. The indicators of falling consumer spending were joined by reports that the US housing slump continues to deepen."
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Signs of a recession? INFOgraphics  ---  http://en.rian.ru/infographics/20080117/97203175.html
Graphic - A quote...."The world economy could face stagnation not because of ever-growing energy prices, but due to a global financial crisis."
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Olmert to hold emergency meeting on dollar rates  ---  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3503831,00.html
A quote...."Slipping dollar rate, subsequent industry losses prompt PM to call emergency meeting with finance minister, trade and labor minister, governor of the Bank of Israel and head of National Economic Council to discuss possible countermeasures"
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"Euros Accepted" signs pop up in New York City  ---  http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0655798320080206
A quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain't what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise."
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Catholic Church Crisis Could Have Been Avoided  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_sherwood_080207_catholic_church_cris.htm
A quote...."The Roman Catholic Church is facing an unnecessary crisis “that could have been averted if the overriding priority in recent years had been the welfare of the church’s children rather than the welfare of its priests and its assets,” a prominent religious authority writes."
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Finally, a Candidate We Can Trust! - Our Blob in the White House  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/day02072008.html
And now for some humor - mpg - A quote....In a move that may indicate some internal disarray within the GOP, Karl Rove, former Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bush, called a press conference today to announce a new candidate in the Republican Party's lineup of Presidential contenders.  --  "McCain, Romney, they're OK," said Mr. Rove, renowned for his ingenious campaign strategies. "But we need a candidate that has truly suffered; one that has faced down prejudice and loathing; a candidate that embodies all things to all people while proudly personifying our American system of free enterprise. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you--The Blob."
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Wednesday February 6th 2008 - links page

Second Largest City In Iraq About To Get The Fallujah Treatment  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/155630
A quote...."It seems that the US occupation is about to embark on a new spate of war crimes in northern Iraq against 'AlQaeda', a translation of which would be any sunni, shiia or kurd who opposes the occupation in the first place. Mass murder in Iraq is following a novel template - pre announced genocide, with commanders promising widespread death, destruction and mass displacement. Mosul will thus join the list of cities with Najaf, Haditha and Fallujah to be flattened while the residents flee the carnage if they're lucky or be instantly branded 'Al Qaeda' if they find themselves dead in the streets."
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What they call “victory in Iraq”  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/155679
A quote...."On February 3, the U.S. military reported that it "accidentally" killed nine civilians and wounded at least three more in a bombing raid the day before south of Baghdad that was supposed to target a group called Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia. According to Iraqi police, among the dead and injured were civilian Sunni guardsmen who the U.S. military had contracted with to go after insurgents.  --  This "accident" is very much the inevitable result of a terrifying escalation in bombings being carried out by the U.S. military ."The U.S. military conducted more than five times as many air strikes in Iraq last year as it did in 2006," reported the Washington Post. That's 1,447 bombs dropped on Iraq in 2007, an average of nearly four a day, compared with 229 bombs, or about four each week, in 2006."
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Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to detail war crimes in upcoming hearings  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2925.shtml
A quote...."The emergence of Vietnam Veterans Against the War was pivotal in building decisive opposition to Washington's Southeast Asian folly.  --  When kids who'd left home as gullible believers in U.S. foreign policy myths returned as embittered witnesses to grim truths about imperialism, their family and friends -- and complete strangers -- were compelled to listen to what they angrily had to say."
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Connecting The Many Undersea Cut Cable Dots
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/cachedfiles/connectinthemanyunderseacutcables-sauder-cached-020608
A quote...."The last week has seen a spate of unexplained, cut,  undersea communications cables that has severely disrupted communications in many countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. As I shall show, the total numbers of cut cables remain in question, but likely number as many as eight, and maybe nine or more. "
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Unexplainable Cutting Of Internet Cables Points To Sabotage  ---  http://infowars.net/articles/february2008/060208Cables.htm
A quote...." The cutting of multiple undersea cables in several different locations hundreds of miles apart continues to arouse suspicion and stir speculation.  --  It seems that the activity represents, at the very least, a warning shot across the bows of certain Middle Eastern and Asian nations, and may even signify the imminence of a major geopolitical event."
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Where is the USS Jimmy Carter?  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/155579
A quote...."The Jimmy Carter, interestingly, is purpose built where its predecessors were regular attack subs modified for specific jobs. USS Parche was equipped with a set of pick-up arms designed to rip an armoured fiber-optic cable from its meter deep trench and tap into it. As a matter of certain knowledge, the USN did exactly that with submarines on Soviet undersea copper cables during the cold-war. They conducted a successful tap on the Soviet navy's Pacific Fleet headquarters when they tapped an undersea cable in the Sea of Okhotsk, which was discovered by the Soviets and another of the Kola Peninsula tapping into the Soviet Northern Fleet headquarters which remained undiscovered."

These actions are considered to be a War Alert - mpg
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U.S. commander says Iran not involved in hostilities in Iraq  ---  http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=162746
A quote...." PARIS (IRNA) -- The U.S. commander in Iraq’s central province of Diyala has said he has witnessed no hostile act from the Iranian side in the region over the past 10 months, a French weekly reported on Monday."
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Iran General Staff fear U.S. attack while Bush in power  ---  http://en.rian.ru/world/20080206/98564293.html
A quote...."TEHRAN, February 6 (RIA Novosti) - A U.S. military attack on Iran is possible while George Bush is U.S. president, a deputy chief of Iran's General Staff said Wednesday."
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IAEA chief warns against military action to solve Iranian nuclear issue  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/05/content_7572483.htm
A quote...."CAIRO, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Visiting UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Monday warned against a military action to solve the Iranian nuclear issue, the Egyptian official MENA news agency reported."
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Ahmadinejad Withdrawing Nuclear Proposal  ---  http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iKtCo5Zqs29gzkM-jkFrS2vYrnkQD8UKAQ2O1
A quote...."PARIS (AP) — Iran's president says he is withdrawing a proposal made in 2005 for an international consortium to enrich uranium — the fuel for both nuclear bombs and power plants — inside his country."
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Iran launches 5 electronic warfare equipment production lines  ---  http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=162748
A quote...." TEHRAN -- Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa-Mohammad Najjar attended the inauguration ceremony for five production lines for electronic warfare equipment, including radar systems, in Shiraz on Tuesday."
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S. Africa protests plan to sanction Iran  ---  http://www.adn.com/24hour/world/story/305931.html
A quote...."South Africa on Tuesday protested a "rush" by the five veto-wielding Security Council members to adopt new United Nations sanctions against Iran, saying it wants to wait for a report from the U.N. nuclear agency later this month."
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Another blow for 'headless' India-US deal  ---  http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JB07Df04.html
A quote...."BANGALORE - The India-United States nuclear deal has received another jolt with key interlocutors in its negotiation leaving their posts. Close on the heels of US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and Washington's point-person in the nuclear negotiations, Nicholas Burns, announcing his retirement has come an announcement from India's ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, that he is putting in his papers."
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India buys Lockheed aircraft in breakthrough deal  ---  http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=34421
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - India has agreed to buy six Lockheed Martin Corp C-130J military transport planes in a breakthrough deal with the United States worth about $1 billion, opening a door to closer strategic ties, U.S. officials said Tuesday."
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The presidential elections in Serbia and Russia are giving the West a bad case of indigestion  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2926.shtml
A quote...."The post-Soviet New World Order project is continuing to suffer setbacks with two new old thorns -- Serbian Democratic Party’s Boris Tadic on 3 February, who was narrowly re-elected, beating the Radical Party’s Tomislav Nikolic, and Dmitri Medvedev, the United Russia candidate, who leads his opponents in the presidential election scheduled for 2 March with a healthy 75 percent popularity rating."
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Chavez Presents His Government’s Achievements for 9th Anniversary in Office  ---  http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/3124
A quote...."Caracas, February 4, 2008 (venezuelanalysis.com/RNV) -- Upon the completion of nine years in office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez presented what he considered to be some of the main economic achievements of his government. Among these were the lowering of inflation, of poverty, and of inequality, and the increase in school attendance and in access to drinking water, among other things."
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Wrecking America For Amusement  ---  http://www.rense.com/general80/amuse.htm
A quote...."On a country-wide level, the ultra-rich causing the oppression will completely lose the trust of the people. A revolution is sure to follow when people wake up and realize just who it was that hurt them. Look at what happened in Europe over millennia. But perhaps the ultra-rich get a thrill out of taunting the masses with oppression."
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Thy Neighbor’s Stash
  ---  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/books/review/Gross-t.html?ex=1343880000&en=
  ---  d6ed4c8d594254bd&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
From the history file - Published: August 5, 2007 - A quote...."That shifting perception combines with the powerful driving force of “relative deprivation.” When asked whether they’d rather have a 4,000-square-foot house in a neighborhood of 6,000-square-foot McMansions, or a 3,000-square-foot home in a zone of 2,000-square-foot bungalows, most people opt to lord it over their neighbors." - italics by website author.
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C.I.A. Destroyed Tapes as Judge Sought Interrogation Data  ---  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/washington/07intel.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
A quote...."WASHINGTON — At the time that the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed videotapes of the interrogations of operatives of Al Qaeda, a federal judge was still seeking information from Bush administration lawyers about the interrogation of one of those operatives, Abu Zubaydah, according to court documents made public on Wednesday."
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Willie Nelson: I Question Official Sept. 11 Story  ---  http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/16628/Willie_Nelson_I_Question_Official_Sept_11_Story
A quote...."I saw those towers fall and I’ve seen an implosion in Las Vegas, there’s too much similarities between the two. And I saw the building fall that didn’t get hit by nothing,” the singer-songwriter said. “So, how naive are we, you know, what do they think we’ll go for?”
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'Mysterious' bird flu baffles Indonesian scientists   ---  http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jc32ZawRXIdCMbTiSHPrEfu8RXpQ  ---  06 Feb 2008 Indonesian scientists and officials said they were baffled by the "mysterious" behaviour of the [US Army] ---  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3719990.stm  ---  bird flu virus here, which has already claimed nine lives this year in the world's worst-hit nation. Indonesia has reported 126 cases of H5N1 bird flu, 103 of them fatal, since 2005.  --  Posted at CLG  ---  http://www.legitgov.org/
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New travel document requirements for USA citizens  ---  http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=51422
A quote...."Under new regulations and procedures announced to take effect over the next month, citizens of the USA will, for the first time, be required to obtain USA government permission in order to return home to their own country from abroad -- from anywhere else in the world, by air or sea or land."
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Getting rid of this odious law is act number fifteen in the....
Thirty Five Acts to Restore Americans' Rights  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/seventeenacts-blog-mpg-111006
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Mythbusting Canadian Health Care -- Part I  ---  http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/mythbusting-canadian-health-care-part-i
A quote...."I'm both a health-care-card-carrying Canadian resident and an uninsured American citizen who regularly sees doctors on both sides of the border. As such, I'm in a unique position to address the pros and cons of both systems first-hand. If we're going to have this conversation, it would be great if we could start out (for once) with actual facts, instead of ideological posturing, wishful thinking, hearsay, and random guessing about how things get done up here."
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France is healthcare leader, US comes dead last: study  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19036.htm
From the history file - A quote...."WASHINGTON (AFP) — Tue Jan 8, 2:13 PM ET — France is tops, and the United States dead last, in providing timely and effective healthcare to its citizens, according to a survey Tuesday of preventable deaths in 19 industrialized countries. - The study by the Commonwealth Fund and published in the January/February issue of the journal Health Affairs measured developed countries' effectiveness at providing timely and effective healthcare."
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The Winter of Our Discontent - Election season, 2008  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12322
A quote...."This is one election season in which the conventional wisdom is no sooner formulated than it is refuted by events: Hillary was "inevitable" – now she's content to hold her ground. Rudolph Giuliani was the "frontrunner" in the national polls – today he's a laughingstock, who earned the distinction of paying the most cash ever for a single delegate. As I put it at the tail end of last year, the theme of election season '08 is the collapse of the alleged frontrunners."
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Freaking doomed by doubling power  ---  http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JB06Dj05.html
A quote...."Dave Gonigam at The Desidooru Saloon reports that it looks like the "economic stimulus plan" being formulated and enacted by the government will "result in tax rebates of $300 per person, $600 per couple, just like when the same scheme was used in 2001".  --  The funny part is that Gonigam notes that, "$300 per person did nothing to goose the economy in 2001, and it'll do even less now."
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Gulf states ‘to drop’ dollar peg on Fed Reserve action  ---  http://www.thought-criminal.org/article/node/1239
A quote...."DUBAI: Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will be forced to revalue their currency pegs this year following the dollar’s declines and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts, Bear Stearns has said.  --  Five Gulf nations lowered interest rates last week in step with the US to keep their links to the dollar even as inflation accelerates. When Saudi Arabia left rates unchanged after the Fed’s Sept. 18 reduction, the riyal rose to a 20-year high."
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The dollar’s reserve currency role is drawing to an end  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8021
A quote...."It is difficult to know where Bush has accomplished the most destruction, the Iraqi economy or the US economy. - In the current issue of Manufacturing & Technology News, Washington economist Charles McMillion observes that seven years of Bush has seen the federal debt increase by two-thirds while US household debt doubled."
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Tuesday February 5th 2008 - links page

George W. Bush's Resumé: This individual seeks an executive position. He will be available in Jan 2009...
  ---  http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m40881&s1=h1
Must Read - A quote...."This individual seeks an executive position. He will be available in January 2009, and is willing (and hopeful) to relocate."  --  It's truly stunning how many "firsts" George Bush has achieved! - mpg
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Five Years for Powell -- and VIPS  ---  http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/020508b.html
A quote...."A handful of former CIA intelligence officers formed VIPS in January 2003, after we could no longer avoid concluding that our profession had been corrupted to “justify” what was, pure and simple, a war of aggression.  --  Little did we know at the time that a month later Colin Powell, with then-CIA Director George Tenet sitting conspicuously behind him, would provide the world a textbook example of careerism and cowardice in cooking intelligence to the recipe of his master.  --  It was hardly Powell’s first display of abject obedience."
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Colin Powell's Fateful Lies  ---  http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/020508a.html
A quote...."Editor’s Note: Five years ago, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell went before the United Nations Security Council – and the world – to make a case for war that wasn’t true. He falsely claimed that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction.  --   The importance of Powell’s speech cannot be overstated. It effectively sealed the deal for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, at least as far as the American news media and opinion leaders were concerned."
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Why Were The Tapes Destroyed?  ---  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19277.htm
Special Note - A quote...." 04/02/08 "ICH" -- --  Is the torture issue a red herring? The 9/11 Commission was not tasked with investigating interrogation methods or detainee treatment. The commission was tasked with investigating al Qaeda’s participation in the 9/11 attack and determining the perpetrators of the terrorist event. There was no reason to withhold from the commission video evidence of confessions implicating al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.  --  Was the video evidence withheld from the 9/11 Commission because the alleged participants in the plot did not confess, did not implicate al Qaeda, and did not implicate bin Laden? Does anyone seriously believe that evidence of confession would not have been revealed--evidence that could have foreclosed what has become a massive industry of 9/11 truth seekers involving large numbers of highly credible persons?"
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9/11 widows call for new investigation after revelations of White House, commission ties
  ---  http://rawstory.com/news/2008/911_widows_call_for_new_investigation_0205.html
A quote...."The widows whose political activism was largely responsible for the establishment of a commission to investigate the September 11 attacks say a new book revealing the backstory of the 9/11 Commission proves that their initial concerns about its executive director were correct and demonstrate the need for another investigation."
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Turkish planes bomb Kurdish rebel targets in Iraq  ---  http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL04365395._CH_.2400
A quote...."ARBIL, Iraq, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes bombed 70 Kurdish guerrilla targets inside northern Iraq on Monday in one of the biggest raids for weeks, Turkey's General Staff said." -- bold/italics by websit author.
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Prince Andrew rebukes America over Iraq  ---  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/05/nandrew105.xml
A quote...."The Duke of York has launched an unprecedented attack on President George W Bush's White House administration for failing to listen more to the advice of the British Government over the Iraq war.  --  The Duke's criticism of Washington represents an extraordinary departure from normal protocol, which determines that members of the Royal Family refrain from public comment on sensitive international and political issues."
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No Attack on Mosul! The occupation has escalated its air bombing campaigns by 400 per cent in the past year
  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8009
A quote...."The imminent attack on Mosul — another urbicide following the ones of holy Najaf, martyred Fallujah, Al-Qaim, Tel Afar, Haditha, and whole neighbourhoods of Baghdad, among others — will only result, as with its precedents, in horrific killings, destruction and mass population displacement, thereby changing the historical, sociological and demographic makeup of the city."
--  a.k.a. "Surge Success" or "The Method"  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/themethod-blog-mpg-050707
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Fears of Sunni backlash after U.S. military strike - Incident puts new alliances to hard test  ---  http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/155505
A quote...."BAGHDAD (AP) — The deaths of nine civilians, including a child, in a U.S. airstrike south of Baghdad have raised fresh concerns about the military's ability to distinguish friend from foe in a campaign to uproot insurgents from Sunni areas on the capital's doorstep."
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Iraq’s Tragic Future  ---  http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080205_iraqs_tragic_future/
Must Read - A quote...."Any analysis of the current state of the ongoing U.S. occupation of Iraq that relied solely on the U.S. government, the major candidates for president or the major media outlets in the United States for information would be hard pressed to find any bad news. In a State of the Union address which had everything except a “Mission Accomplished” banner flying in the background, President Bush all but declared victory over the insurgency in Iraq."
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Strange Fruit: America's Gulag and the "Good War"
  ---  http://www.chris-floyd.com/Articles/Articles/Strange_Fruit%3A_America%27s_Gulag_and_the_%22Good_War%22/
A quote...."....a story by Carlotta Gall   ---  http://www.chris-floyd.com/Articles/Articles/Risky_Business:_A_Reporter_in_the_Eye_of_the_Storm/  ---  and Andy Worthington in the New York Times reminds us most forcefully  ---  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/world/asia/05gitmo.html?hp ---  that the Afghan war is not and has never been some separate entity from the brutal, voracious "War on Terror" machine that has killed a million people in Iraq, spawned a global gulag of torture sites and secret prisons for uncharged captives and kidnap victims, and destroyed the last vestiges of the American republic, replacing it with an authoritarian
 "Commander-in-Chief State"
  ---  http://empireburlesquenow.blogspot.com/2005/07/master-planthe-rise-of-commander-in.html  ---  ruled quite literally by the führerprinzip, where the order of the Leader transcends any law. A poison tree can only bring forth poison fruit -- and the Afghan war is a fruit of the Terror War tree."
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Iran launches project to build stealth aircraft  ---  http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=162674
A quote...." TEHRAN -- Air Force Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani said here on Monday that Iran has launched the project to manufacture stealth aircrafts.  --  “We have finished the design of stealth aircraft which cannot to be detected even by advanced radar systems, and the primary stages of its manufacture have started,” Miqani told reporters in a news conference."
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'Huge' gas field found off Iran  ---  http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E2607479-66C4-41B0-9FC3-C073F7DC09C7.htm
A quote...."A gas field with huge reserves has been discovered in the Gulf off the coast of Iran, Gholam Hossein Nozari, the Iranian oil minister has said.  --   "A gas field with an estimated reserve of 11 trillion cubic feet (311 billion cubic metres) was found by an Indian company in the  Persian Gulf," Nozari said on Saturday."  --  And all that gas is going to go to Pakistan, India and China unless Europe stops following the Neocon PNAC'ing "Game Plan". mpg
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Accept Iran's Regional Role, Says French Envoy  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/porter/?articleid=12314
A quote...."In a sharp departure from U.S. policy, a leading French diplomat has called on the international coalition sponsoring UN sanctions against Iran to support a larger Iranian role in the Middle East.  --  Ambassador to the United States Pierre Vimont told a conference on Iran at the Middle East Institute in Washington Friday that one reason Iran has refused to give up its nuclear program is its perception of potential threats in the Middle East." - bold/italics by website author.

That's a very delicate way of describing the Neocons unrelenting twenty year campaign of wars, covert action, destabilization, non-stop lies and terror as outlined in the PNAC protocols, plans which actually call for the complete destruction of Iran, the exact same sort of destruction that has been visited upon, and is still being visited upon Iraq.

A country which so far has over one million dead, with over five million forced out of their homes....figures that are still increasing to this day. – mpg
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Tom Friedman's Folly: The Lies Behind 'Free Trade'  ---  http://www.alternet.org/story/75645/
A quote...."His basic conclusion: "Practically all of today's developed countries, including Britain and the US, the supposed homes of the free market and free trade, have become rich on the basis of policy recipes that go against neo-liberal economics." All of today's rich countries used protection and subsidies to encourage their manufacturing industries, and they discriminated powerfully against foreign investors. All such policies are anathema in today's economic orthodoxy and are now severely restricted by multilateral treaties, like the WTO agreements, and proscribed by aid donors and international financial organizations, particularly the IMF and the World Bank." -- i.e. the "Game" is rigged against the little guy, as it has always been. - mpg
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Brazil seeks to modernize submarine Force  ---  http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=12562&formato=HTML
A quote...."Brazil’s dreams of becoming the first Latin American country to operate a nuclear submarine were reportedly discussed during a late January visit by defense minister Nelson Jobim to France."

Brazil has recently discovered some abundant oil and gas deposits on their territory, and they seem to be worried about a rather large and vicious country which has been running around the world lately attacking nations that possess generous deposits of oil and gas.

In case you're wondering who that country might be gentle reader let me give you a hint....it's NOT Russia or China. – mpg
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Rule by fear or rule by law?  ---  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/04/ED5OUPQJ7.DTL
A quote...."Since 9/11, and seemingly without the notice of most Americans, the federal government has assumed the authority to institute martial law, arrest a wide swath of dissidents (citizen and noncitizen alike), and detain people without legal or constitutional recourse in the event of "an emergency influx of immigrants in the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs."  --  Beginning in 1999, the government has entered into a series of single-bid contracts with Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) to build detention camps at undisclosed locations within the United States. The government has also contracted with several companies to build thousands of railcars, some reportedly equipped with shackles, ostensibly to transport detainees."
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60 Minutes Caves to Pressure from White House on Siegelman Story
  ---  http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_larisa_a_080205_60_minutes_caves_to_.htm
A quote...."Well folks, seems that 60 Minutes is postponing (read "killing") its Siegelman story. The excuse I am told for this lapse in ethics is that the network needs more time to vet the whistle-blower, Dana Jill Simpson. You see, the reason the network suddenly needs more time to vet Simpson is that the White House has launched a direct campaign inside CBS to discredit her and just to make sure the dirt sticks, they have called in some favors too.  I am told that Senator Jeff Sessions has been instructed to help the White House discredit Simpson as part of his "Senatorial" duties. Nice system of government we have here, eh?"

Ahhhh, our ever so faithless, spineless, craven, cowardly, faux-news, pressitutes do it again.  Aren’t they disgusted with being on bended knee all the time, don't those guys in the so-called "fourth estate" ever get sick and tired of  being a bunch of sycophantic lackeys? 

Don’t they have any pride left at all? - mpg
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Bush's billionaire friend sold £100m of shares just days before scandal broke
  ---  http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=511973&in_page_id=1811
A quote...."A billionaire ally of President George Bush could face a criminal investigation into insider share dealing after selling £100million of shares just days before Societe Generale's rogue-trader losses were reported."
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In my view: Iraqi blogger  ---  http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2E6C42F1-B4DF-4A61-BEB2-B4EA8CC4DE37.htm
Must Read - A quote...."As part of Al Jazeera's coverage of the"Super Tuesday" polls, Iraqi blogger Raed Jarrar, who writes the Raed in the Middle weblog and now lives in the US, explains his thoughts on the US political process and why it is in dire need of an overhaul."
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Map: Campaign money race  ---  http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/
Graphic - A breakdown of the money.  How much came from each state and how much went to each candidate. - mpg
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Ron Paul Came Second In Maine  ---  http://infowars.net/articles/february2008/050208Second.htm
A quote...."Despite the mainstream media having solely focused on the presidential preference poll in Maine last weekend, which placed Ron Paul in third place, the facts reveal that the Congressman actually beat John McCain and finished in second place in the race to secure delegates to the state convention."
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World Bank Appoints Chinese Academic as Top Economist  ---  http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=12560&formato=HTML
A quote...."The World Bank appointed Chinese national Justin Lin as its chief economist, the first time the post has gone to a candidate outside Europe and the U.S."
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Decade of the dragon  ---  http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/decade-of-the-dragon/2008/02/02/1201801097277.html
A quote...."All of a sudden, the global economy has turned upside down. It used to be that the world's prosperity relied on the health of the US economy — as the old saying goes: when the US sneezes, the world catches cold. But now it looks like the centre of gravity has shifted. Economic growth in developing nations was an astonishing 7% last year, more than twice the growth rate of the high-income countries. And this year, as the US teeters on the brink of recession, many emerging economies appear to be booming.  --  The Chinese in particular are confident that their economy will withstand a US recession. For the past several years, China's economy has become much less reliant on exports to the United States and more focused on its own domestic demand as a source of growth."
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Money and power shift east  ---  http://mondediplo.com/2008/02/01money
A quote...."Will the US Federal Reserve’s announcement of a substantial cut in interest rates avert a recession in the United States and banish the spectre of a worldwide crash? Many experts think it will. At worst, they think the growth rate may slow down. Other observers in the capitalist camp are very worried. In France, Jacques Attali foresees a crash on Wall Street, home of the New York stock exchange and ultimate guarantor of the loan pyramid (1), and Michel Rocard is convinced that a world crisis is imminent and that the system is about to explode (2)."
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A trillion-dollar smile  ---  http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JB05Dj06.html
A quote...."Suddenly, we're talking trillions! As in, "trillion, the plural"! At this point I suddenly needed to catch my breath and gobble down a couple of nitroglycerine pills so that my heart would stop rapidly going thumpa-thumpa-thumpa and radiating excruciating pain across my chest and down my left arm.  --  As their effect worked its cardiac magic, I could still feel the icy hand of death clutching at me when he said, "Add the two numbers from subprime and prime together to reach $3.2 trillion in their bond losses." Gaaaaahhhh! I'm dying here! How in the hell can you lose $3.2 trillion in a $14 trillion economy? It doesn't make sense! Call the paramedics!"
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What if House Prices Fall by 30% Worldwide?  ---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north601.html
A quote...."In the midst of local house-buying manias, the classic mark of the end is when buyers line up to buy a house and bid against each other. This is the best way to sell a house and the worst way to buy one.  --  Why do buyers do this? Because they have missed out again and again by offering less than the listed price. The buyers who offered the listed price bought the house. "
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Bank ratings may be cut on bond insurer woes: S&P
  ---  http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/banks-may-downgraded-bond-insurer/story.aspx?
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A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday that it may downgrade bank ratings because of trouble in the $2.4 trillion bond insurance business.  --  "Bond insurers are suffering as a result of their roles as guarantors of mortgage-related securities, and downgrading them could affect all markets in which they are active, including the municipal bond, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and other structured finance areas," Tanya Azarchs, a credit analyst for S&P, wrote in a note to investors. "In turn, dislocation in those markets could affect banks."
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Buyback Blowback at Ambac and MBIA  ---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund44.html
A quote...."Ambac and MBIA are world leaders in providing financial guarantees and credit enhancements for bond issuers (e.g., municipalities), asset managers, financial institutions, and insurance companies. Both companies are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Holders of bonds and securities, "insured" by Ambac and MBIA, are provided irrevocable guarantees of timely payment of interest and principal should there be a default or other triggering event."
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Service sector surprisingly weak in January - ISM index plunges to 41.9%, second lowest result on record
  ---  http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-ism-services-sector-index-plunges/story.aspx?
  --- guid=%7B9EBD8850%2D57D9%2D45F2%2DBC02%2DE40E3E828A57%7D
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The non-manufacturing side of the U.S. economy, which had been the firmest pillar of the economic expansion, buckled in January, according to data reported Tuesday by the Institute for Supply Management."
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U.S. Challenger January Job Cuts Rise From Year Ago (Update2) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1LIIigl67xI&refer=home
A quote...."Companies may trim their workforces further as the worst housing slump in a quarter century threatens to push the economy into a recession, economists said. The report is consistent with government figures last week that showed the U.S. lost jobs in January for the first time in more than four years."
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