MPG'S DAILY RAPSHEET AND BLOTTER  ON THE "GREAT GAME"  --  08-06-09  to 08-12-09 -- links page

@ www.reficultnias.org
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Editor's note : From now on each weekly blog page 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

As of 08-08-08 a new category of war warning will be included, the above warnings will have the prefix (WWIII) added to them to indicate the possible outbreak of greater hostilities. - mpg
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Wednesday August 12th 2009 - links page

Question for Bernanke:  "Do You Have The Cojones To Raise Rates?"  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23257.htm
Must Read - Answer from Bernanke:  "No, I won't raise rates because I want to keep my cojones". - mpg -- A quote...."Bernanke can prove to his critics that the US economy doesn't need the Fed's monetization programs and price fixing; that it doesn't need the liquidity injections and the buying up of junk mortgages. ($80 billion last month alone) After all, as Bernanke opines, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong!" -- Right. Now prove it. -- All Bernanke has to do is boost rates by a point or two and demonstrate that he's willing to mop up some of the $13 trillion he's pumped into the financial markets. With just one announcement, the Fed chair could show our biggest creditor--China--that he's serious about defending the dollar and the trillion dollars of US Treasuries China purchased believing that the US was a responsible trading partner who would never write checks on an account that was overdrawn by $12 trillion. (The National Debt) -- So, go ahead, Ben. Raise"
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U.S. Government Stages Fake Coup To Wipe Out National Debt
  ---  http://www.theonion.com/content/video/u_s_government_stages_fake_coup?utm_source=videoembed
Video Satire - Oh it's funny alright....it least until the powers that be try to stage a real coup. - mpg
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This So Called Recovery Is Going Nowhere
  ---  http://theinternationalforecaster.com/International_Forecaster_Weekly/This_So_Called_Recovery_Is_Going_Nowhere
A quote...."The Fed’s Wall Street bubble, as we forecast in January, will need at least $2 trillion more in 2010, if the economy is to just stay on an even keel. The massive debt liquidation particularly in banking, Wall Street and in insurance demands many more trillions of dollars. $23.4 trillion is not going to be enough. Presently the Fed is in the process of monetizing $2 trillion in Treasuries, Agency paper, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and collateralized debt obligations held by lenders. It is a secret what the Fed is paying for this almost worthless paper. Is it any wonder the public has lost trust and confidence in these players and our government?"
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Home Price Declines Accelerate in Second Quarter  ---  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=axsovog3CuAE
A quote...."Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Home price declines in the U.S. accelerated in the second quarter, dropping by a record 15.6 percent from a year earlier, as foreclosures weighed on values."
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About half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011  ---  http://www.blacklistednews.com/news-5184-0-13-13--.html
A quote...."NEW YORK – The percentage of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their house is worth will nearly double to 48 percent in 2011 from 26 percent at the end of March, portending another blow to the housing market, Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday. -- Home price declines will have their biggest impact on prime "conforming" loans that meet underwriting and size guidelines of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bank said in a report. Prime conforming loans make up two-thirds of mortgages, and are typically less risky because of stringent requirements."
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Consumer, Celebrity Bankruptcies May Hit 1.4 Million (Update1)  ---  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=acQvgRoLQmXQ
A quote...."Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Consumer bankruptcies show no sign of abating after rising more than a third this year and may hit 1.4 million by Dec. 31 as jobs are lost and loans are harder to get, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute."
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Spinning the Economic News  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23254.htm
A quote...."August 12, 2009 "Information Clearing House" --- Last Friday a Bloomberg.com headline read: U.S. Stocks Gain, Treasuries Drop as Unemployment Rate Declines. --  Let’s have a look at the reported decline in the rate of unemployment. Do you believe that the US auto industry added 28,000 jobs in July amidst GM bankruptcy, sell-off and close-down of GM auto divisions, and demise of GM suppliers?  No?  Well, that’s what the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. --  The 28,000 new jobs were created by “seasonal adjustments."
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Pay Raises Are the Worst in 33 Years  ---  http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1915812,00.html
A quote...."Feel like your company has been particularly stingy on the raises this year? You're not imagining it. For 2009, the typical non-hourly worker will see a 1.8% bump in salary, according to a survey by the human-resources consultancy Hewitt Associates. That increase, the smallest in at least 33 years, doesn't even keep up with inflation."
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US corporations squeezing more output from workers and paying lower wages  ---  http://wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/usla-a12.shtml
A quote...."US Labor Department data released yesterday showed productivity up 6.4 percent in the second quarter, the largest gain since 2003 and higher than economists’ forecasts of 5.5 percent. Over the same period, workers’ compensation fell sharply." -- Perhaps productivity went up, perhaps not, see article shown below....
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Wholesale inventories fall for 10th straight month  ---  http://news.bostonherald.com/news/national/general/view.bg?articleid=1190402&srvc=next_article
Related Article - Some quotes...."WASHINGTON — Businesses slashed inventories at the wholesale level for a record 10th consecutive month in June, a decline that has contributed to the longest recession since World War II. -- The Commerce Department said Tuesday that wholesale inventories declined 1.7 percent in June, nearly double the 0.9 percent decrease economists had expected." -- "The latest inventory drop left the inventory to sales ratio at 1.26, meaning it would take 1.26 months to exhaust stockpiles at the June sales pace. That was slightly lower than the 1.28 ratio in May, but still well above the 1.11 inventory to sales ratio of a year ago." - bold by website editor
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[Canadian] Personal bankruptcies climb 54.3 per cent in June
  ---  http://www.windsorstar.com/business/Personal+bankruptcies+climb+cent+June/1881934/story.html
A quote...."OTTAWA — Cash-strapped Canadian consumers were once again hit harder than businesses by the economic downturn as personal bankruptcies jumped 54.3 per cent in June compared with a year earlier."
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UK unemployment rate hits 13-year high  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=103333&sectionid=351020601
A quote...."Official figures show that unemployment in the United Kingdom is now at its highest level with a total number of 2.44 million people being out of jobs."
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Australian jobless statistics reveal deep cuts to hours  ---  http://wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/jobs-a12.shtml
A quote...."Australia’s unemployment figures for July, released last week, revealed a dramatic cut to working hours over the past 12 months, and an ongoing shift from full-time to part-time work. The slashing of hours is a direct consequence of the Rudd Labor government’s policies, which put the burden of the deepening global economic breakdown on working people."

For more regarding the articles shown above see....White Man's Burden
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/whitemansburden-blog-mpg-122006
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Italy, Germany and Japan: Former World War II Axis Nations Repudiate Bans against "Preparing for War"
  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14754
Special Note -- Well, HECK YEAH!  If the US-NRE can throw away the Geneva Conventions, the ABM treaty, the NPT treaty, the Nuremburg statutes, the entire concept of the United Nations, trash it's OWN constitution, sponsor dozens of terrorist organizations which are than used as a flimsy excuse to launch several wars of aggression based on a series of patently obvious falsehoods, wars which kill millions of people, displace millions more and cause trillions of dollars worth of damage, create a gulag archipelago across the length and breadth of the planet and engage in blatantly sick, twisted, depraved, homo-sadistic torture/murders in front of the ENTIRE WORLD, all in an effort -- according to plans hatched twenty years ago which are publicily available  --  to seize other countries natural resources ....why the heck can't its erstwhile allies (for the moment) do the same thing??  We'll all just call them "Mini-New Roman Empires" or better yet “The Empirettes” - mpg -- A quote...."A press report on August 10 revealed that the government of Italy is planning to modify if not dispense with its post-World War II constitutional limitations on conducting offensive military operations; that is, to reverse a 61-year ban on waging war. - The news story, reminding readers that "Italy's post-World War II constitution places stringent limits on the country's military engagements," stated the Italian government intends to introduce a new military code "specifically for missions abroad," one that - in a demonstration of evasiveness and verbal legerdemain alike - would be "neither of peace nor of war." [1]"
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The Sheikh Down  ---  http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/09/sheik-down
Special Note - A quote...."How the Pentagon bought stability in Iraq by funneling billions of taxpayer dollars to the country's next generation of strongmen." -- also posted at CommonDreams  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/12-13
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Addicted to War: America's Brutal Pipe Dream in Afghanistan
  ---  http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/1814-addicted-to-war-americas-brutal-pipe-dream-in-afghanistan.html
Special Note - A quote...."Looks like the "Good War" in Afghanistan is morphing even more directly into the "Drug War" that the U.S. government has been waging all over the world -- and especially against its own people -- for almost 40 years now, with all the attendant aggrandizement of authoritarian powers and degradation of civil liberties and human rights. -- As The Times reports, and Pentagon brass confirmed, the "continuity government" of the Obama Administration has drawn up yet another "hit list" of people to be arbitrarily assassinated: 50 "drug lords" allegedly associated with the Taliban. No doubt the many drug lords associated with the American-installed Afghan government -- and those cooperating directly with the Western occupation -- are exempt from this dirty laundry list." also posted at SOTTnet --- http://www.sott.net/articles/show/191090-Addicted-to-War-America-s-Brutal-Pipe-Dream-in-Afghanistan
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Obama's torture hangover  ---  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/aug/12/barack-obama-torture-geneva-conventions
A quote...."The lawyer president still hasn't reversed Bush's flouting of the Geneva conventions, despite lofty words and election pledges." -- also posted at CommonDreams  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/12-11
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CIA torture for fun and profit?   ---  http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/08/cia-torture-for-fun-and-profit/  ---  It is an outrage!! - mpg
A quote...."There's an article in today's New York Times about Bruce Jessen and Jim Mitchell, two military retirees and psychologists with no expertise on al-Qaeda, no foreign language skills, no experience in real interrogations, and with no relevant degrees ("...their Ph.D. dissertations were on high blood pressure and family therapy")."
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Guantánamo And The Courts (Part Two): Obama’s Shame  ---  http://www.uruknet.com/?p=m56903&hd=&size=1&l=e
Special Note - A quote...."In the first part  ---  http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/07/14/guantanamo-and-the-courts-part-one-exposing-the-bush-administrations-lies/  ---  of this three-part series examining the Guantánamo prisoners’ attempts to secure their release via the US courts, Andy Worthington, author of The Guantánamo Files,  ---  http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/the-guantanamo-files/  ---  examined the Bush administration’s record in the seven months after the Supreme Court’s ruling,  ---  http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2008/06/13/the-supreme-courts-guantanamo-ruling-what-does-it-mean/  ---  in June 2008, that the prisoners had constitutionally guaranteed habeas corpus rights, and explained how, despite obstruction by the Justice Department, District Court judges reviewed 26 cases, and in all but three found that the government had failed to establish, "by a preponderance of the evidence," that it was justified in holding the men. This second article (and the final part next week) examine the Obama administration’s record, in its first seven months in office, presenting an under-reported story of ongoing obstruction by the Justice Department, apoplectic judges, and, in the majority of the cases in which a judge has been able to make a ruling, more humiliation for the government. "
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Even wars have laws  ---  http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/even-wars-have-laws-20090812-ei94.html?page=1  ---  Not the US-NRE's - mpg
Special Note - A quote...."A NUMBER of disturbing statistics emerged from a recent survey commissioned by Australian Red Cross. More than 40 per cent of Australians believe it is okay to torture captured enemy soldiers. -- Yet almost all of the 1030 people interviewed believe those accused of war crimes should be prosecuted, and 90 per cent think the international community needs to strengthen and enforce the rules of war. It appears we have a strong case of "it is bad when others do it but okay for us". - also posted at CommonDreams   ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/12-3
Again see....
White Man's Burden  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/whitemansburden-blog-mpg-122006
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Exclusive: Kill Them All and Cover Them with B-llshit  ---  http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_56628.shtml
A quote...."Hicks and colleagues report in the April 16, 2009 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine regarding civilian non-combatant deaths during the current Iraq War period (2003-2008) was seriously flawed. Their stated goal was to analyze the causes of these deaths. To accomplish this purpose they used the database of Iraqbodycount.org that estimates 91,358 deaths due to “armed violence”. For this report the database was pared down to 60,481" - also posted at Uruknet  ---  http://www.uruknet.com/?p=m56892&hd=&size=1&l=e  ---  For more on this issue see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda - Iraq Deaths  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/fakeintell-weblist-mpg-090206#IRAQDEATHS
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Crazy Horse  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23184.htm
Video - Auqote...."Why can't white men act like human beings. - Crazy Horse, from Bone Days by John Trudell. - To those who have gone on before us. - Wounded Knee Massacre December 29, 1890. -
Lest we forget - Thanks you walkingbear56"
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Where are the Arabs to Stand Up for the Hanoun and Ghawi Families?  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/shaaban08122009.html
A quote...."I would like you to try and imagine someone forcing his way into your home without permission and ordering you at gun point to leave the safe home you have built through a lifetime of toil and hard work and turned into a nest for your children and grandchildren.  Imagine foreign soldiers coming from the far ends of the world armed to the teeth with inherited hatred against you to expel you from your home, replace you, occupy your land, and put an end to your existence and history."
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"US soldiers largest swine flu-infected group in Iraq  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=103300&sectionid=3510203  ---  12 Aug 2009 US soldiers in Iraq have become the largest group in the country to be infected with the deadly A/H1N1 virus, which is rapidly spreading in Asian countries. Iraqi health officials reported on Wednesday that some 67 American soldiers have been diagnosed with swine flu, adding that 23 Iraqis and six other foreigners have tested positive for the deadly virus. [They were likely vaccinated with it. --- http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/tema/zpravy/baxter-not-to-provide-anti-swine-flu-vaccine-to-czechs/391210  ---  Notice how disease outbreaks and pandemics  ---  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3719990.stm  ---  usually begin at US military bases  ---  http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/03/dayintech_0324  ---  and Army medical research facilities?]  --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/17/AR2009061703271.html  ---  Pargraph quoted from CLG  --  http://www.legitgov.org/
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US-Russia stand-off looms as Moscow announces expansion of military bases
  ---  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/12/us-russia-georgia-military-tension
A quote...."The prospect of a US-Russian naval stand-off in the Black Sea loomed today after Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would spend nearly half a billion dollars next year beefing up military bases in Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia."
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Putin pledges military support for Abkhazia  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=103341&sectionid=351020602
A quote...."The Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has pledged Moscow's military support for the breakaway region of Abkhazia in any new conflict with Georgia."
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Medvedev Condemns Yushchenko, Hopes for New Ukrainian Leadership - posted at AntiWar  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/
  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/11/medvedev-condemns-yushchenko-hopes-for-new-ukrainian-leadership/
A quote...."Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced today that his government will postpone sending a new ambassador to the Ukraine until he sees a prospect for “real developments in Russian-Ukrainian relations.” He also publicly chastized Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in an open letter released through the Kremlin web site."
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Venezuela, Guatemala sign energy agreement  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/13/content_11874528.htm
A quote...."CARACAS Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela and Guatemala have signed an energy agreement to guarantee Guatemala a daily supply of 20,000 barrels of crude and refined products, the Venezuelan foreign ministry said Wednesday."
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Iran Opposes Expansion of US Military Deployment in Latin America  ---  http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8805220231
A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)-Iran is against the expansion of US military presence in Latin America as well as other parts of the world, asserted Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki."
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Obama Continues Bush Policies in Latin America By Mark Weisbrot  ---  http://www.creative-i.info/?p=9864
Alt - (YuTb - 3m3s - 08/05/09)  ---  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GS1HbFnYgk
Video - A quote...."There were great hopes in Latin America when President Obama was elected.  U.S. standing in the region had reached a low point under George W. Bush, and all of the hemisphere’s left-leaning governments expressed optimism that Obama would go in a different direction. -- These hopes have been dashed.  President Obama has continued the Bush policies and in some cases has done worse."
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Eva Golinger: U.S. Privatizes Colombian War with its Transnational Mercenaries  ---  http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/4719
 posted at VenezuelanAnalysis  ---  http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/newsletter/4508
A quote...."For the year 2009 the State Department of the United States will invest approximately $520 million in Plan Colombia. More than half of this money went to private North American contractors charged with developing, promoting and furthering irregular warfare in Colombian territory and in Latin America; this was revealed to the Bolivarian News Agency by the lawyer and researcher Eva Golinger" -- also posted at FrmTheWildnrs
  ---  http://fromthewilderness.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/eva-golinger-u-s-privatizes-colombian-war-with-its-transnational-mercenaries/
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Trade-Venezuela: Out with Colombia, In with Argentina - Another country heard from!  Yeah! - mpg
  ---  http://www.globalissues.org/news/2009/08/12/2479
A quote...."Ten thousands cars, 80,000 tons of beef, 100,000 tons of corn, 18,000 tons of milk, 9,000 tons of beans, 18 million eggs, two million pairs of shoes: Argentina has agreed to 1.1 billion dollars worth of sales to Venezuela, which has decided to stop importing goods from Colombia and get its supplies from other sources." - also posted at IPS  ---  http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48060  ---  For more on this issue see.....Ecuadorian ban cuts Colombian trade by 15.5%  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/12/content_11867284.htm  ---  posted 08-12-09
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Clinton Threatens War in Horn of Africa  ---  http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/clinton-threatens-war-horn-africa
Contains Audio - A quote...."Hillary Clinton has confirmed that the Obama administration is bent on pursuing the same “war on terror” and regime-change strategy in the Horn of Africa as its predecessor. Having made George Bush’s wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan his own, President Obama dispatched his Secretary of State to draw battle lines in Somalia and to threaten the neighboring nation of Eritrea. "
also posted at OhBummer  ---  http://obamboozled.blogspot.com/2009/08/clinton-threatens-war-in-horn-of-africa.html
Heh, Heh -- Ho, Ho -- Hideous Hillary's got to go!   --   Heh, Heh -- Ho, Ho -- Hideous Hillary's got to go! - mpg
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Slipping Into Darkness - Nigeria on the Brink  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/watts08122009.html
A quote...."When Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and her entourage touch down this week in Abuja, the bright new capital of the Nigerian federation, their hosts will try to put the best face on what is the gravest political crisis the country has faced since the civil war ended almost four decades ago.  The uninspired government of President Musa Yar’ ‘Adua, who took office in 2007 on the back of elections massively fraudulent even by Nigeria’s  appallingly low standards, is confronting a dual political crisis of considerable gravity." -- For more on this issue see....Africa - the Next Target - 02-28-08 - mpg
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/africathenexttarget-blog-mpg-022808
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Thai court ruling stands to potentially expose U.S. and Israeli connections to arms and other smuggling
  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_5012.shtml
A quote...."(WMR)  ---  A Thai judge has rejected an American request to extradite Tajikistan-born arms dealer Viktor Bout to the United States on charges that he tried to sell surface-to-air missiles to U.S. agents, including Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) operatives, in Bangkok who posed as representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)."
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Obama On Health Care: A Comprehensive Betrayal – Where Do We Go From Here?
  ---  http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/obama-health-care-comprehensive-betrayal-%E2%80%93-where-do-we-go-here
Must Read - A quote...."At some point in last year's presidential election campaign, Barack Obama went on Bill O'Reilly's show to concede that maybe the war in Iraq, and Bush's murderous escalation of that war, the so-called surge, were not such bad ideas after all. Obama met with the admirals and generals and came away declaring that withdrawal from Iraq really meant withdrawal to secure bases inside Iraq. A US troop pullout would not happen until well into his second term, if then, with the accent on the “if." -- also posted at OhBummer
  ---  http://obamboozled.blogspot.com/2009/08/obama-on-health-care-comprehensive.html
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How Obama's Deal With Big Pharma Undermines Democracy  ---  http://obamboozled.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-obamas-deal-with-big-pharma.html
A quote...."I'm a strong supporter of universal health insurance, [Hopefully he means single-payer] and a fan of the Obama administration [Poor thing, we'll see if we can set Mr. Reich in the right direction one day]. But I'm appalled by the deal the White House has made with the pharmaceutical industry's lobbying arm to buy their support."
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"Did Obama sabotage health care reform?  ---  http://www.legitgov.org/#obama_sabotage_health_care_reform  ---  By Lori Price 13 Aug 2009 The health care CEOs are making millions of dollars per year, mainly by denying people coverage. President Obama would have won popular support for quality reform ('single-payer' health care) by putting this issue front-and-center. But he didn't. Instead, he allowed the rightwing to hijack the debate. Did Obama do that on purpose, so that he would not be held accountable to his campaign promise (apparently, a lie) that he would push for universal health care coverage? Health Insurance Company CEOs Total Compensation in 2008  ---  http://www.healthreformwatch.com/2009/05/20/health-insurance-ceos-total-compensation-in-2008/  ---   By Michael Ricciardelli 20 May 2009 Ins. Co. & CEO With 2008 Total CEO Compensation:
Aetna, Ronald A. Williams:  $24,300,112  ---  http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/aetnas-ron-williams-ceo-compensation/2009-05-14
Cigna, H. Edward Hanway:  $12,236,740  ---  http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/cignas-h-edward-hanway-ceo-compensation/2009-05-14
Coventry, Dale Wolf:  $9,047,469  ---  http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/coventry-health-cares-dale-wolf-ceo-compensation/2009-05-14
Health Net, Jay Gellert:  $4,425,355  ---  http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/health-nets-jay-gellert-ceo-compensation/2009-05-14
Humana, Michael McCallister:  $4,764,309  ---  http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/humanas-michael-mccallister-ceo-compensation/2009-05-14
U. Health Group, Stephen J. Hemsley:  $3,241,042 http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/unitedhealth-groups-stephen-hemsley-ceo-compensation/2009-05-14
Wellpoint, Angela Braly:   $9,844,212  ---  http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/wellpoints-angela-braly-ceo-compensation/2009-05-14  ---  ]"
Pargraph quoted from CLG  ---  http://www.legitgov.org/#obama_sabotage_health_care_reform
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How “The Crazies” Silenced Critics on the Left and Saved Obamacare
  ---  http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/how-the-crazies-silenced-critics-on-the-left-and-saved-obamacare/
A quote...."Just a few weeks ago I was starting to have a little “hope”.  Just a little.  Don’t go crazy. - I was witnessing what I thought must have been some kind of waking daydream; pseudo “progressive” blogs actually starting to reject the Obama healthcare plan and pressing openly for real single payer healthcare. - I was amazed.  AfterDowningStreet, Op Ed News, DailyKos, and even, believe it or not… the Huffington Post actually carried articles seriously critical of HR 3200 and the senate versions of the Obamacare plan. - Obama’s and Rahm’s hopes of fulfilling their promise to the insurance lobbyists was about to take a dive – not because of the opposition from the “Right” but because of the dissent from the “Left”. - But then along came “the crazies” and now it seems Obamacare is saved. - What a coincidence."
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

A Day of Reckoning in Honduras  ---  http://atheonews.blogspot.com/2009/08/day-of-reckoning-in-honduras.html
A quote...."Something unprecedented is occurring in Honduras. Since the military coup which occurred on June 28th, the people of Honduras have mounted 6 weeks of sustained, massive, non-violent resistance to the violent take-over of their country. Perhaps even more astounding, is that this resistance shows no signs of tapering off. On the contrary, the movement continues to build in momentum and numbers despite violent repression on the part of the military."
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Dispatches from Honduras  ---  http://socialistworker.org/2009/08/12/dispatches-from-honduras
A quote...."Thousands of people protesting the Honduras coup regime marched August 11 in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, taking their demonstration to the presidential palace where coup leader Roberto Micheletti seized power in late June."
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Honduras Resistance on Day 46  ---  http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108552&Itemid=1
A quote...."Tegucigalpa, Aug 12 (Prensa Latina) The peaceful resistance against the military coup in Honduras on Wednesday entered day 46, despite the repression police forces has parked off in the last few hours."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Fatah leadership in Gaza resign  ---  http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=218544
A quote...."Gaza – Ma’an – The Fatah higher leadership committee in the Gaza Strip submitted its resignation on Wednesday, a day after the movement elected new leadership. -- The resignation was submitted to President Mahmoud Abbas, and the movement’s Central Committee, the governing body the movement elected this week."
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60 Years of Zionist Lies and Treachery  ---  http://careandwashingofthebrain.blogspot.com/2009/08/60-years-of-zionist-lies-and-treachery.html
A quote...."In March 1948, a Joint Chiefs paper titled “Force Requirements for Palestine” predicted that the “Zionist strategy will seek to involve [the U.S.] in a continuously widening and deepening series of operations intended to secure maximum Jewish objectives.” Those objectives included an expansionist agenda for Greater Israel that envisioned the taking of Arab land, ensuring armed clashes in which the U.S. was destined to become embroiled."
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HRW: “Israeli army killed 11 civilians carrying white flags”  ---  http://www.uruknet.com/?p=m56896&hd=&size=1&l=e
A quote...."Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Thursday that Israeli soldiers shot and killed during the war against the Gaza Strip eleven Palestinian civilians, including five women and four children, and wounded eight others in seven separate attacks, although they were carrying white flags."
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Israel troops 'shot Gaza civilians'  ---  http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/08/200981335844986966.html
A quote...."Israeli soldiers unlawfully shot and killed 11 Palestinian civilians, including four children, who were in groups waving white flags during the Gaza war, a report prepared by the US-based Human Rights Watch says. --
Civilians Killed Holding White Flags in Gaza, published on Thursday, is HRW's third lengthy publication in five months condemning Israel's actions during the Gaza conflict, following allegations over white phosphorous and drones."
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Bil’in village will hold a mass demonstration against the ongoing Israeli arrest and intimidation campaign  ---  http://palsolidarity.org/2009/08/8053
A quote...."Bil’in village will hold a mass demonstration against the ongoing Israeli arrest and intimidation campaign on Friday, 14 August 2009 at one PM. Bil’in residents along with Israeli and international supporters will attempt to march to the village land beyond the Apartheid Wall."
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EGYPT:  Israel Gas Deal Inflames Opposition  ---  http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48047
If you think about it, It's actually the US-NRE's foreign aid to Egypt that's being funneled to Israel through this deal. More of your tax dollars at work folks. - mpg -- A quote...."CAIRO, Aug 12 (IPS) - Opposition figures and political activists have slammed a new deal to sell Egyptian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Israel at what they say are vastly reduced prices."
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Tuesday August 11th 2009 - links page

Consciousness Capitalism: Corporations Are Now After Our Very Beings  ---  http://www.alternet.org/story/141668/
Must Read -- Awwww, Gawd Dang, this is really good. - mpg --  A quote...."For all its pretense and manufactured consent, our government is just a corporate racket now, and probably will remain so from here on out. This is a white people's thing, an Anglo-European tradition. Moreover, we no longer get real dictators such as a Hitler, or a good old bone-gnawing despot like Idi Amin. We get money syndicates in powdered wigs or Seville Row suits, cartels of robber barons and banking racketeers." -- also posted at Creative-i  ---  http://www.creative-i.info/?p=9812
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The Real Grand Chessboard and the Profiteers of War  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14672
Special Note - A quote...."In the Road to 9/11 I summarized the dialectic of open societies: how from their energy they expand, leading to a higher level of more secretive corporations and agencies, which eventually weaken the home country through needless and crushing wars.[4] I am not alone in seeing America in the final stages of this process, which since the Renaissance has brought down Spain, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. -- Much of what I wrote summarized the thoughts of writers before me like Paul Kennedy and Kevin Phillips. But there is one aspect of the curse of expansion that I underemphasized: how dominance creates megalomanic illusions of insuperable control, and how this illusion in turn is crystallized into a prevailing ideology of dominance."
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U.S. [Obama] battling CIA rendition case in 3 courts - Say it ain't so all you Obamatrolls! - mpg
  ---  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/09/BAHQ195SJR.DTL
A quote...."The Obama administration is fighting on multiple fronts - in courts in San Francisco, Washington and London - to keep an official veil of secrecy over the treatment of a former prisoner who says he was tortured at Guantanamo Bay." - also posted at TruthOut  ---  http://www.truthout.org/081009R
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Court upholds CIA contractor’s detainee abuse conviction -- Hip Hip Hooray! - mpg
  ---  http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/11/court-upholds-cia-contractors-detainee-abuse-conviction/
A quote...."A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of David Passaro, the first US civilian found guilty of abusing a detainee in Afghanistan, according to a copy of the ruling obtained by AFP Tuesday."
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Documents: Rove involved in US attorney firings  ---  http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/08/11/documents-rove-involved-in-us-attorney-firings/
A quote...."Former White House political adviser Karl Rove was deeply involved in the firing of a U.S. attorney in New Mexico, according to White House e-mails and transcripts of closed-door testimony released Tuesday."
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Emails show Washington Post reporter coordinated attorney firing story with White House
  ---  http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/11/emails-show-washington-post-reporter-coordinated-attorney-firing-story-with-white-house/
Ah yes....our nation's presstitutes hard at work "servicing" the wealthy elites. - mpg -- A quote...."When a scandal involving the Bush administration’s firing of US Attorneys broke in early 2007, initial coverage by the Washington Post supported the idea that the firings had been politically motivated. That approach, however, quickly changed to one that was far more friendly to the White House. -- The House Judiciary Committee has now released over 5400 pages of Bush administration and Republican Party emails (pdf) related to the firings. Several of these emails suggest coordination between Post reporter John Solomon and Bush administration officials on how to manage the Post’s coverage of the widening scandal."
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US soldier charged in Mexican cartel killing  -- http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jrKh9WBshmXcuNT28C0MyCIKNtvAD9A0QIV80
What's the big deal, they were only trying out a little free-lance "wet work", just as the other 200,000 mercenaries the US-NRE has hired to murder people overseas might try out when they return back home.  Something all of us can look forward to for the next twenty years.  By the way, to those mercenaries in the US-NRE currently employed in a "law-enforcement" (hah, that's funny) capacity, when you meet the other 200,000, or who knows, by the time it's all said and done the other 500,000 who aren't, don't expect any help.  After all you guys made this mess.....you guys can just as well go clean it up on your own.  Besides, business is business - it's the "capitalist" way ain't that right?  - mpg -- A quote...."EL PASO, Texas — An 18-year-old U.S. Army soldier and two other men have been charged with capital murder in the contract killing of a midlevel Mexican drug cartel official who was also a U.S. informant." - bold by website editor
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How the Secret Team transformed America into an Empire
  ---  http://www.sott.net/articles/show/191000-How-the-Secret-Team-transformed-America-into-an-Empire
A quote...."This ongoing investigative series, the first four installments of which are posted here, brings to the forefront recent revelations on the expansion of the US government's surveillance apparatus and the stolen technology that makes it all possible. On the heels of NSA whistleblower Russell Tice's allegations of a government intelligence community that has crossed the line and trashed the constitution, Ed Encho covers a span of investigations throughout the years that reads like a Tom Clancy suspense thriller. Only it's real."
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What Will They Think of Next!
08-11-09
mpg

Despite attacks, Iraqis resist sectarian reprisals  ---  http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=64123
Some quotes...."ARLINGTON, Va. — The number of insurgent attacks has declined in Mosul and across northern Iraq since the June 30 pullout of U.S. combat troops from Iraq’s cities. -- In their place, waning but persistent insurgent networks led by al-Qaida in Iraq and the Islamic State of Iraq have shifted to carrying out larger and more deadly attacks designed to entice sectarian reprisals by targeting local citizens, mainly Shiites, and Iraqi security forces, according to Maj. Gen. Robert Calsen, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq. On Monday, for example, a double-truck bombing near Mosul killed at least 34 people. -- But unlike in years past, Shiite leaders are not taking the bait."  ---  "It is too soon to gauge if Iraqi security forces alone will be able to keep the lid on violence, Calsen said, but he is optimistic. He [Maj. Gen. Robert Calsen] points to the reduced number of attacks and intelligence reports that say some insurgent networks have been broken or have run into financial difficulties since June 30. -- And in the end, I think what you’ll end up having is an irreconcilable remnant of criminals,” he said. “It’s clear that the population in Mosul does not share in their ideology, and these criminals will be treated — once you get a competent police forcethey will be treated no differently than they are in any other major city, like New York City or London or any place like that.” - bold by website editor

Wow! Think of that folks! Treat the bombers like criminals, follow the f-cking money,
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/ussupportofterror-weblist-mpg-090306  ---   find out who sponsors them and cut off their sources of funding.  Launch criminal investigations into their networks, arrest the sponsors, those they hired to commit their murders, try them, convict them and punish them under the rule of law.

WHAT A FANTASTIC IDEA!!  WHO WOULD OF THUNK IT!!

To bad the security forces of what used to be known as the United States of America didn't think of that back in 2001 when this nation still had a constitution, a democracy, the decent opinion of mankind and a functioning economy.  But what the heck, Bush once called the constitution just a "Goddamn piece of paper" anyway, so it couldn’t have been that important.

And besides, if they'd had that idea back in 2001 in what was formally called the USofA and which has now become the US-NRE, they wouldn't currently be  occupying a country which contains the second largest reservoir of sweet crude in the world.....now would they?

In fact, if the security services had just simply "followed the money" and standard “police procedures” PRIOR to 9/11/01, the attacks might not have occurred in the first place!  And our poor, over burdened, hard working men and women in these security services wouldn't now be forced to make all those dreadful decisions on how to spend the trillions of extra dollars they received as a result of those terrible attacks.

Must just be another one of those strange, totally inexplicable, unexplainable, bizarre, weird, coincidences, isn't that right folks? – mpg

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Russian activist found dead in Chechnya  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=103125&sectionid=351020606
Putin must be getting old, tired and stupid.  If he allows these sorts of blatant murders to continue, what little remains of law and order in Russia will disintegrate completely and all of Russia will become a no mans land of gun toting thugs, hit squads, terrorists and criminal gangs.  If that happens, the Russia people can just go ahead and kiss good-bye any chances of continued economic or security improvements along with the gains they've made under Putin’s leadership.  In addition, Russia will lose what little bits of progress the nation has wrested so far from the deplorable situation in Chechnya. – mpg -- A quote...."The head of a Russian charity organization and her husband have been found dead after being kidnapped in the restive republic of Chechnya. -- The bodies of Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband, Alek Djabrailov, were found with gunshot wounds in the trunk of their own car in the Chernorechye suburb of the Chechen capital Grozny early on Tuesday."
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“Russian authorities have lost hope with Yushchenko”  ---  http://www.russiatoday.com/Politics/2009-08-11/russia-ambassador-ukraine-yushchenko.html
Video - A quote...."Though President Yushchenko says he has nothing against Russia, his actions are completely contrary – so the dialogue with him cannot be productive, says Dmitry Babich, a political analyst from RIA Novosti news agency."
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US Secretary of State Clinton’s Micro-Management of the Corporation that Funds the Honduras Coup - http://www.narconews.com/Issue59/article3760.html
Hey Hideous Hillary,  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/cachedfiles/hideoushillary-mpg-080107  ---  how many Hondurans have you helped kill today? - mpg -- A quote...."Records demonstrate that the secretary has hands-on control of the fund that gave $6.5 million to the regime after the June 28 coup." - bold by website editor -- Heh-Heh, Ho-Ho, Hideous Hillary's got to go!  --  Heh-Heh, Ho-Ho, Hideous Hillary's got to go! - mpg
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Latin American Leaders oppose US Military Interference - UNASUR Seeks to Boost Regional Integration
  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14744
The peoples of Latin America should press their "leaders" to get their collective butts in gear, stop talking so much, start doing a lot more, de-couple from the US-NRE's fiat currency as quickly as possible, come up with one of their own, integrate As Soon As Possible, or everyone down south can just watch all their hard won economic gains achieved so far go right down the drain. – mpg -- A quote...."The Summit of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) will take place in Buenos Aires, and will focus on the danger of US military bases in Colombia -- QUITO, August 10.— Presidents and heads of State of South American countries signed the Quito Declaration on Monday, which emphasizes in the importance of integration and cooperation for the region, as a strategy to jointly face the world economic crisis."
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Ecuadorian ban cuts Colombian trade by 15.5% -- Hip Hip Hooray for Ecuador, finally someone stood up!
  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/12/content_11867284.htm
A quote...."BOGOTA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Colombia's exports to Ecuador fell 15.5 percent in the first seven months of this year due to restrictions imposed by the Ecuadorian government, the Colombian government said on Tuesday."
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Chavez Welcomes Argentinian President  ---  http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108414&Itemid=1
A quote...."Caracas, Aug 11 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez welcomed on Tuesday at the Miraflores Palace his Argentinian peer Cristina Fernandez, who is paying an official visit to this capital."
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Chavez and Cristina sign a billion USD trade agreement  ---  http://en.mercopress.com/2009/08/12/chavez-and-cristina-sign-a-billion-usd-trade-agreement
A quote...."Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez received on Tuesday Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in Caracas to sign agreements expanding trade between the two countries. Among the deals was an accord to import as many as 10,000 cars from Argentina this year instead of Colombia."
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Thailand rejects US plea to extradite Russian arms dealer  ---  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/11/thailand-extradite-viktor-bout-arms-dealer
A quote...."A US request to extradite the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout to face terrorism charges was rejected by a Thai court today. -- The Russian, nicknamed "the merchant of death", has been held in a maximum-security prison in Bangkok since his arrest there in March last year during a sting operation by US agents."
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

On the Road to Tegucigalpa with Father Andrés Tamayo  ---  http://www.narconews.com/Issue59/article3756.html
A quote...."AUGUST 10, 2009, CATACAMAS-TEGUCIGALPA HIGHWAY, HONDURAS: Myriad anti-coup marches en route from different parts of Honduras have merged into eight and are set to converge tomorrow, August 11, on the cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula."
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Brazil welcomes Zelaya with head of state honors  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/12/content_11865895.htm
A quote...."BRASILIA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government on Tuesday welcomed ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya with honors for a head of state. -- The Honduran leader, deposed in a June 28 military coup, arrived in Brasilia Tuesday evening."
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Zelaya's followers vow to stop the November elections  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/12/content_11868138.htm
A quote...."TEGUCIGALPA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Followers of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Tuesday demanded the United Nations (UN) suspend economic aid for the country's general elections, scheduled for Nov. 29. -- "We have requested the UN to suspend the economic aid to Honduras so as to stop the elections," a pro-Zelaya syndicate leader Israel Salinas said at a press conference in Tegucigalpa."
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More on the Iranian Election.....

'4,000 arrested' in post-election Iran protests  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=103230&sectionid=351020101
A quote...."Iran's Judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi says about 4,000 people were arrested during post-election protests in country."
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Iran purges Intelligence Ministry officials  ---  http://www.uruknet.com/?p=m56872&hd=&size=1&l=e
Special Note - A quote...."TEHRAN, Iran — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tightened his grip on Iran's powerful intelligence services, ousting four senior officials in a widening purge against authorities who challenged the harsh crackdowns after June's disputed elections, lawmakers and media said Monday. -- The shake-up at the Intelligence Ministry — the nation's main spy agency — deepened the rifts straining Iran's conservative ranks over Ahmadinejad's strong-arm political tactics and the crushing response to the pro-reform opposition since the June 12 election."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Election Reveals a Younger Crop of Fatah Leaders  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/11/election-reveals-a-younger-crop-of-fatah-leaders/
A quote...."At its controversial party congress, the Fatah Party has elected a crop of younger leaders, which had long hoped to supplant the outgoing executive committee, a collection of Arafat cronies and contemporaries which many had insisted were corrupt and out of touch with the modern situation. -- Among the big winners in the vote was Marwan Barghouti, who managed to secure a spot of the powerful Central Committee despite the notable handicap of being held in an Israeli prison at the time of the vote. Barghouti is even seen as a possible candidate to replace PA leader Mahmoud Abbas."
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Who profits from Israeli occupation? - A list of boycott VICTORIES!  Yee-Haa!! - mpg
  ---  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L32Nama7ad8
Real News Video - Special Note - A quote...."Boycotted by activists, the Israeli company AHAVA is backed by one of Israel's most powerful families " -- For more on how to boycott Israel, see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page"  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/  ---   on this website. - mpg
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Sad Day for Zionists~Self Hating Jews Win - It's just sooo sad! (sniffle, sob, sniffle) poor little Zionists. - mpg
  ---  http://irish4palestine.blogspot.com/2009/08/sad-day-for-zionistsself-hating-jews.html
A quote...."Zionists loose..........The "Self Hating Jews" Win one: Australian Jewish leaders are roiled over the awarding of the country’s only international peace prize to a staunch critic of Israel. - John Pilger, an award-winning Australian-born journalist and filmmaker living in London, will receive the Sydney Peace Prize in November. -  Robert Goot, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said it was a “sad day.”
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Cleaning up explosives in Gaza  ---  http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10703.shtml
A quote...."GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has begun removing 600,000 metric tons of rubble and debris left over from Israel's winter invasion of the Gaza Strip."
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Daily Struggle in East Jerusalem  ---  http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1022
Photo Story - A quote...."While George Mitchell was meeting with Ehud Barak in Egypt, another story was unfolding in East Jerusalem. -- The Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem continued on Sunday as settlers - protected by Israeli police and soldiers - arrived to take over the home of Darwish Hijazi in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah."
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Don't Ask:  Don't Tell -- This Economic Disaster  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23243.htm
Must View Video - Pay special attention exactly thirty minutes into the video as William K. Black describes what happened to him when he went after Lincoln Savings and Loan, and Charles Keating.  It's a vivid example of how this corrupt system pro-actively punishes anyone who "tries to do the right thing".  And you know what folks, after a while, no body is going to do the right thing anymore.....no body....for a very long time. - mpg -- A quote...."William K. Black, the former litigation director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board who investigated the Savings and Loan disaster of the 1980s, discusses the latest scandal in which a single bank, IndyMac, lost more money than was lost during the entire Savings and Loan crisis. -- He will examine the political failure behind this economic disaster, in which not only massive fraud has taken place, but a vast transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class continues as the federal government bails out the seemingly reckless, if not the criminal."
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Judge: BoA, Merrill ‘essentially lied to their shareholders’  ---  http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/11/judge-boa-merrill-lied/
A quote...."Bank of America was supposed to have dispensed with this controversy. With one $33 million payment in settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, accusations that Bank of America lied to shareholders over the approval of massive bonuses for Merrill Lynch & Co. executives were supposed to just go away. -- Were it not for Federal District Court Judge Jed Rakoff of New York, that’s exactly what would have happened."
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America's Total Debt  Report - page 1  ---  http://mwhodges.home.att.net/nat-debt/debt-nat-a.htm
Special Note - Extensive Data Base - Charts - A quote...."BIG PICTURE - $57 TRILLION IN DEBT, and rising rapidly."
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Americans working much harder – for less pay  ---  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32374533/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy/
No doubt they feel joy, contentment and gratitude for the privilege of being such good widdle slaves, because deep down in their tiny, beating, widdle hearts they know their masters truly wuv dem. - mpg --  A quote...."Feel like you’re working a lot harder these days, putting in longer hours for the same pay — or even less? The latest round of government data on worker productivity indicates that you probably are."
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The Truth About Unemployment  ---  http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2008/08/real-unemployment-situation.html
A quote...."The mainstream news is citing the decline in unemployment from 9.5% to 9.4% in July as proof that the economy is stabilizing. -- But is that true?"
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ECONOMY:  Bonuses Rise With Losses  ---  http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48018
A quote...."BERLIN, Aug 10 (IPS) - European banks are back to paying high bonuses to managers despite their heavy losses. But this time most of the money is coming out of taxpayers' pockets."
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S&P Downgrades - More Trouble in Baltics  ---  http://seekingalpha.com/article/155242-s-p-downgrades-more-trouble-in-baltics
A quote...."Both Latvia’s and Estonia’s debt ratings were downgraded by Standard and Poor's. Estonia was cut from A to A-, while Latvia was cut to BB+ to BB – its considered high yield securities aka junk bonds. This should come as no surprise as both countries have been in the news due to severe economic dislocations as they attempt to maintain currency pegs in the face of a severe debt deleveraging."
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Monday August 10th 2009 - links page

Nader Was Right: Liberals Are Going Nowhere With Obama
  ---  http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/20090810_nader_was_right_liberals_are_going_nowhere_with_obama/
Must Read - A quote...."The American empire has not altered under Barack Obama. It kills as brutally and indiscriminately in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as it did under George W. Bush. It steals from the U.S. treasury to enrich the corporate elite as rapaciously. It will not give us universal health care, abolish the Bush secrecy laws, end torture or “extraordinary rendition,” restore habeas corpus or halt the warrantless wiretapping and monitoring of citizens. It will not push through significant environmental reform, regulate Wall Street or end our relationship with private contractors that provide mercenary armies to fight our imperial wars and produce useless and costly weapons systems. -- The sad reality is that all the well-meaning groups and individuals who challenge our permanent war economy and the doctrine of pre-emptive war, who care about sustainable energy, fight for civil liberties and want corporate malfeasance to end, were once again suckered by the Democratic Party. They were had. It is not a new story. The Democrats have been doing this to us since Bill Clinton."
also posted at ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23234.htm
& CommonDreams  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/10-2
& Uruknet  ---  http://www.uruknet.com/?p=m56844&hd=&size=1&l=e
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This is No Recession - It's a Planned Demolition  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23231.htm
Must Read - A quote...."August 10, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- Credit is not flowing. In fact, credit is contracting. That means things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. When credit contracts in a consumer-driven economy, bad things happen. Business investment drops, unemployment soars, earnings plunge, and GDP shrinks. The Fed has spent more than a trillion dollars trying to get consumers to start borrowing again, but without success. The country's credit engines are grinding to a halt. -- Bernanke has increased excess reserves in the banking system by $800 billion, but lending is still slow. The banks are hoarding capital in order to deal with the losses from toxic assets, non performing loans, and a $3.5 trillion commercial real estate bubble that's following housing into the toilet. That's why the rate of bank failures is accelerating. 2010 will be even worse; the list is growing. It's a bloodbath." -- also posted at CounterPunch  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney08102009.html
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How Corrupt is the Economic System of the U.S.A. Today?  ---  http://www.politicalcortex.com/story/2009/8/5/1650/92251
Must Read - By the numbers  - Comparing the US-NRE to the top thirty industrialized nations. - mpg -- A quote...."That is the question.  At one time the high standards of the American lifestyle were the envy of the world.  That day is gone with the wind. -- The 30 nation survey of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2008 placed the poverty rate of the U.S.A. only above Mexico and Turkey.  The economic gap between rich and poor in the U.S.A. was explained in this report in the Seattle Times December 15, 2008: -- "In the United States, the richest 10 percent earn an average of $93,000 -- the highest level in this 30 nation survey.  The poorest 10 percent earn an average of $5,800 -- about 20 percent lower than the average of the 30 nation survey." -- also posted at ICH   ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23230.htm
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Max Keiser: On Unemployment and Government misleading Fake Numbers
  ---  http://www.prisonplanet.com/max-keiser-on-unemployment-and-government-misleading-fake-numbers.html
Alt - (YuTb - 9m 25s - Aug 07,'09)  ---  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVicwzE-u3A
Video - Max is ALWAYS fun to watch. - mpg -- A quote...."Max discusses the financial headlines with France24. US unemployment numbers better than expected, markets rally. Max offers his opinion on how Treasury bonds are sold. - http://maxkeiser.com
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Lost Couple of Decades’ Looming for U.S. Economy  ---  http://obamboozled.blogspot.com/2009/08/lost-couple-of-decades-looming-for-us.html
A quote...."Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy may be just as sluggish during the next 20 years as Japan’s economy was in the last 20, according to Comstock Partners, a money manager founded and run by Charles Minter. -- Stimulus programs and a surging money supply aren’t likely to “solve a problem of excess debt generation that resulted from greed and living way beyond our means,” the firm wrote yesterday in an unsigned report on its Web site. “We could wind up with a lost couple of decades.”
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FusterClucked Again: The Commercial Real Estate Crash Is On  ---  http://exiledonline.com/fusterclucked-again-the-commercial-real-estate-crash-is-on/
Chart - A quote...."News about the economy has gone from apocalyptic to merely bad. Stock indexes and commodity prices have been on a five month tear. Hints are showing up that at least the worst of the home mortgage disaster might be over. Unemployment is still at scary levels, but at least the rate of its increase is slowing."
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Paulson and Goldman Sachs: A dirty secret of the Wall Street bailout  ---  http://wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/pers-a11.shtml
A quote...."An article in Sunday’s New York Times on the behind-the-scenes dealings between Henry Paulson, treasury secretary under President George W. Bush, and Goldman Sachs, the giant investment bank Paulson headed before joining the Bush administration, sheds a measure of light on the corrupt relationship between government officials and the banks which underlies the multi-trillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street."
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The American Colonies - link posted at AntiWar  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/
  ---  http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=1325
Special Note - A quote...."How does one recognize the looming inevitable? In the 1760s, the British, having defeated the French in America and expanded George III’s overseas empire, saw only profit and prestige ahead. A New England cleric, the Reverend Samuel Cooper, told his congregation that the colonists were indebted “not only for their present Security and Happiness, but, perhaps for their very Being, to the paternal Care of the Monarch.” The legitimacy of royal rule was little questioned. In that future seedbed of sedition, Boston, Thomas Foxcroft declared, “Above all, we owe our humble Thanks to his Majesty and with loyal Hearts full of joyous Gratitude, we bless the King, for his Paternal Goodness in sending such effectual Aids to his American Subjects. . . when we needed the Royal Protection.”
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The Devastating Effects of the New Colonialists
  ---  http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/wish-you-werent-here-the-devastating-effects-of-the-new-colonialists-1767725.html
Special Note - Read this article folks, this isn't even colonialism anymore; this is feudalism, with serfs, starving peasants, brutal repression, utter impoverishment and the whole nine yards of dark, dank, unenlightened, medievalism.  This world is going backwards so fast we'll all be in the thirteenth century by the end of the year.  Just in time for the great plague. – mpg -- A quote...."August 10, 2009 "The Independent" -- Thousand of protesters took to the streets, waving the orange flags of the opposition. Before long, looting began. Buildings were set on fire. But the turning point came when a crowd moved from the main square towards the presidential palace. Amid the confusion, someone panicked and gave the order to the troops guarding the palace to open fire. Scores died. The leaders of the army decided they'd had enough and stormed the palace, causing the president to flee." -- also posted at ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23237.htm
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The Downing Street Memo Pt1  ---  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/45101
The Dowing Street memo Pt.2  ---  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/45112
Alt/Pt.1  ---  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em6pY3DfFbM
& Alt/Pt.2 - (YuTb aprox 10m 081009)  ---  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMHIiYmpXmU
Real News Videos - Special Note - A quote...."Ray McGovern: The "Memo" shows a premeditated war of aggression with intent to deceive."
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ElBaradei Regrets Not Doing More to Stop Iraq War - posted at AntiWar  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/
  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/10/elbaradei-regrets-not-doing-more-to-stop-iraq-war/
Related Article -- A quote...."Hundreds of Thousands of People Lost Their Lives on the Basis of Fiction" ["Fiction" is a really nice way of saying lies, and more than a million have died in Iraq so far,  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/fakeintell-weblist-mpg-090206#IRAQDEATHS  ---  but who's counting, certainly NOT the world's newest Un-Holy Roman Empire. - mpg] -- In an interview with Time Magazine, outgoing International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei said that his most disappointing moment of his life was the US invasion of Iraq, and says that “I should probably, before the Iraq war, have screamed and howled harder and louder to prevent people from misusing the information that was made available by us.”
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Afghan war will exceed cost of Iraq, say experts  ---  http://www.smh.com.au/world/afghan-war-will-exceed-cost-of-iraq-say-experts-20090809-ee60.html
A quote...."AS THE US expands its involvement in Afghanistan, military experts are warning that it is taking on security and political commitments that will last at least a decade and a cost that is likely to eclipse that of the Iraq war." -- First off, they're occupations, not wars.  Second, no one knows which occupation is going to be more expensive because the US-NRE is still occupying Iraq and intends to do so indefinitely.  Thirdly, who knows just how many OTHER countries the US-NRE intends to occupy in the meantime? - mpg
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Taliban in Cahoots With Drug Lords!  ---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/chartier/chartier126.html
Special Note - Also known as a short fun lesson in history - or - the more things change, the more they remain the same. - mpg -- A quote...."Wait a minute. Is it just me or does anyone else see the inherent absurdity of this headline from the August 10 edition of the New York Times: "U.S. to Hunt Down Afghan Drug Lords Tied to Taliban." -- My, my. The War On Terror may be over… well, renamed… but the War On Drugs sure has spread. I wonder if there ever will be an end to it. Either way, Drug Lords! For shame, Uncle Scam better get some of those Special Forces dudes in there toot sweet and take ’em out pronto! Can’t have heroin flooding our impoverished and neglected ghettos of forgotten and disposable people now can we? And God forbid that Afghan Drug Lords are funding the Taliban!"
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Lebanon army on high alert as Israel moves forces  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=103068&sectionid=351020203
War Alert - A quote...."Lebanon's army has put its forces on high alert after Israeli forces made advances toward the area of Shaba farms amid heightened tensions with the Hezbollah movement."
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[Verbal Warfare (for the moment)] between Israel, Hezbollah continues  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/11/content_11860058.htm
A quote...."BEIRUT, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- The past few weeks witnessed increasingly vehement speeches between Israel and Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah, as the two sides accused each other of intending to wage another war after the one that was fought in 2006. -- The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported that Hezbollah's deputy chief Sheik Naim Qassem said on Monday that resistance against Israel is neither an option of the political moment nor a momentary reaction, but a fortification of independence."
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Chavez accuses Colombia of acting against regional unity  ---  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/11/content_11862285.htm
A quote...."QUITO, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the Colombian government of acting against the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) by intending to sign a military agreement with the U.S."
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Hugo Chávez tells army to prepare for conflict with Colombia  ---  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6790721.ece
A quote...."Venezuela ordered its army yesterday to prepare for conflict, after accusing Colombia of making a provocative incursion into its territory."
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Ecuador's Correa: new term will favor poor, Indians  ---  http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN0939935120090809
A quote...."QUITO, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Flanked by two of Latin America's foremost indigenous leaders, President Rafael Correa vowed on Sunday to favor Ecuador's poor and Indian people in deep social reforms he plans in his second term."
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Kremlin bill on using army abroad - link posted at AntiWar  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/
  ---  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8194064.stm
Russia should be very careful, they don't want to end up like the US-NRE, bankrupt and hated by most of the world for it's acts of agression. - mpg -- A quote...."Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has introduced a bill to parliament that would allow the country's armed forces to intervene beyond Russia's borders. -- The bill would allow Russian troops to be used abroad "to rebuff or prevent an aggression against another state" or "protect Russian citizens abroad". -- Mr Medvedev said the bill was linked to last year's war with Georgia over South Ossetia, Russia's Interfax reports."
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If You Don’t Like Team DLC Obama™ Brand’s Neoliberal, Corporatist Policies… You’re a Racist
  ---  http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/if-you-dont-like-team-dlc-obama%E2%84%A2-brands-neoliberal-corporatist-policies-youre-a-racist/
A quote...."What we are watching now in the healthcare debate is just deplorable, bottom of the barrel, desperation muck-raking politics of the absolute worst kind.  And I am talking about what is coming from the White House and their “progressive” minions.  It is the EXACT same thing as when someone who is critical of ultraconservative “Likudesque” policies of Israel is accused of being anti-Semitic in an attempt to shame them into silence."
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Obama Presses Supreme Court to Block Release of Abuse Photos - posted at AntiWar  ---  http://www.antiwar.com/
  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/10/obama-presses-supreme-court-to-block-release-of-abuse-photos/
A quote...."The Obama Administration has today asked the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision which would require the Pentagon to release dozens of heretofore unseen photos of the abuse of prisoners in US military custody, claiming the release would pose a significant risk to the military."
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Judge: 9/11 plotter's counsel can't know how CIA treated him http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/08/judge-911-plotters-counsel-cant-know-how-cia-treated-him/
A quote...."A Pentagon appointed defense attorney's request for specific information about the CIA interrogations of her client, Ramzi bin al Shibh, an alleged co-conspirator of the US attacks on 9/11, was recently rejected by a military judge." -- And the cover-up of what REALLY happened on 9/11 continues. - mpg -- For more on this issue see....9/11 - Iraq - Torture Fables
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/911&iraqtotturefables-weblist-mpg-052909
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Donald Rumsfeld makes $5m killing on bird flu drug
  ---  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-rumsfeld-makes-5m-killing-on-bird-flu-drug-469599.html
He also made a "killing" from 9/11, must be "one ol'dem dare co-in-cee-dints-cez" - mpg -- A quote....."A quote...."Donald Rumsfeld has made a killing out of bird flu. The US Defence Secretary has made more than $5m (£2.9m) in capital gains from selling shares in the biotechnology firm that discovered and developed Tamiflu, the drug being bought in massive amounts by Governments to treat a possible human pandemic of the disease."
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"Governors oppose new DoD emergency powers  ---  http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/governors-oppose-dod-emergency-powers-2009-08-10.html  ---   Governors: Current law  ---  http://www.legitgov.org/DoD_to_augment_civilian_law.html  ---  already allows the Pentagon to order personnel  ---  http://www.legitgov.org/DoD_to_act_in_pandemic.html  ---  to key areas inside the U.S.10 Aug 2009 A bipartisan pair of governors is opposing a new Defense Department proposal to handle natural [well, lab-generated] and terrorism-related disasters, contending that a murky chain of command could lead to more problems than solutions. Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R), chairman of the National Governors Association, and Vice Chairman Gov. Joe Manchin (D) of West Virginia penned a letter opposing the Pentagon proposal, which they said would hinder a state's effort to respond to a disaster." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG  ---  http://www.legitgov.org/
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Trial by FBI Investigation  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/price08102009.html
A quote...."Beginning in the early 1990s, I spent about a dozen years slowly collecting, analyzing and compiling tens of thousands of FBI files detailing how dozens of American anthropologists were investigated and harassed by the FBI and various loyalty boards during the late-1940s and 50s. In most of the cases I encountered, the scholars under investigation were targeted because they were involved in unpopular (legal) political causes—the most common of which involved activist campaigns fighting for racial equality, in others they challenged gender roles, economic stratification, the unbridled militarism or other conventions of their era. Many of those investigated already stood out amongst their colleagues as individuals unwilling to go along with the polite social conventions that supported the world they were challenging."
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[Britain's] march of the state spies: One in 78 adults came under state-sanctioned surveillance last year
  ---  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205419/March-state-spies-One-78-adults-came-state-sanctioned-surveillance-year.html
A quote...."Britain's extraordinary march towards a surveillance state is revealed today by shock new figures. -- They show that one request is made every minute for officials to spy on someone's phone records or email accounts. -- The number of Big Brother snooping missions by police, town halls and other public bodies has soared by 44 per cent in two years."
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Ministers' admission links MI5 and MI6 to 'torture victim
  ---  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ministers-admission-links-mi5-and-mi6-to-torture-victim-1769946.html
A quote...."Ministers have admitted the Government sent secret agents to interview a British detainee in Afghanistan, supporting allegations MI5 and MI6 officers were present while he was tortured by his American captors."
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

Argentine Embassy’s Timerman flies the flag of constitutionality & of the legitimacy of Honduran Pres Manuel Zelaya
  ---  http://www.coha.org/2009/07/argentine-embassy%E2%80%99s-timerman-flies-the-flag-of-constitutionality-and-of-the-legiti
macy-of-honduran-president-manuel-zelaya/
Resistance to the Empire is NOT futile; every country should simply NOT recognize the current junta in Honduras – ever - and treat Manuel Zelaya as the current head of state.  In fact, no recognition of the government in Honduras can occur period, unless and until, legitimate elections are held in Honduras, elections in which Zelaya's people can freely campaign.  And please note: such a policy would really annoy Hideous Hillary,  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/cachedfiles/hideoushillary-mpg-080107  ---  tweak the nose of the US-NRE's Neocons and serve notice to other would-be coup plotters that these sorts of activities will not be permitted, which is reason enough to implement it. - mpg -- A quote...."An ebullient reception was held last night at the Argentine Embassy in Washington for the newly arrived Honduran Ambassador to the U.S., Enrique Reina, representing the constitutional president of his country, Manuel Zelaya. The event was also meant to introduce Ambassador Reina to Washington’s “Think Tank Community,” which attended in rousing numbers."
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Honduras Coup: Template for a Hemispheric Assault on Democracy  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14718
A quote...."The people of Honduras have now suffered more than 40 days of military rule. The generals’ June 28 coup, crudely packaged in constitutional guise, ousted the country’s elected government and unleashed severe, targeted, and relentless repression. -- The grassroots protests have matched the regime in endurance and outmatched it in political support within the country and internationally. Its scope and duration is unprecedented in Honduras history. Popular resistance is the main factor affecting the international forces attempting to shape the outcome of the governmental crisis. It weighs heavy on the minds of the coup’s authors and their international backers. -- As Eva Golinger has convincingly documented1, the United States took part in conceiving, planning, and staging the coup. The U.S. ambassador in Tegucigalpa, Hugo Llorens, coordinates a team of high-ranking U.S. and Honduran military officials, and creatures from the old Bush administration, using the Soto Cano (Palmerola) U.S. air force base."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

The Islamic Resistance Movement Grows Up  ---  http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65214/michael-br%C3%B6ning/hamas-20
A quote...."In 2006, Hamas began to evolve from a dogmatic organization located outside the political system into a functioning opposition party within the Palestinian body politic. This shift was followed by a transformation from a radical opposition party into the majority party of the Palestinian territories and, after the 2006 elections, the de facto governing party of Gaza. In a surprisingly short time, Hamas has largely abandoned religious rhetoric and calls for the violent liberation of Palestine, in favor of the increasingly secular and pragmatic task of state building." -- Which is EXACTLY why A)  The US-NRE, Israel, Egypt and the Saudi Royals initiated a policy to foment a brutal civil war  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/ussponsoredcivilwars-weblist-mpg-101107#PALESTINE  ---  in Gaza and the West Bank.  B)  Why the above parties imposed a draconian blockade against Gaza's population not seen since the Warsaw Ghetto and C)  Why Israel launched one of the most vicious, senseless, sadistic, blitzkriegs not seen since WWII  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/thegazainvasion-mpg-weblist-122708  ---  against innocent civilians trapped in Gaza using white phosphorous, DIME and flechette weapons. - mpg
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Hamas: PA tortured prisoner to death  ---  http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=217981
A quote...."Hamadneh is the fourth Hamas member to die in a PA prison since 2007, when the Islamic movement took full control of the Gaza Strip, triggering a Fatah power grab in the West Bank."
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Israeli Medical Association Severs Ties with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) Over Torture Allegations
  ---  http://www.alternativenews.org/english/2063-israeli-medical-association-severs-ties-with-physicians-for-human-rights-phr-over-torture-allegations-.html
As Ann Coulter would say with a leer and spastic looking, idiotic, grin...."torture is...like...so...Jewish-ee" - mpg -- A quote...."The recent decision of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) President Ruchama Marton to sign a petition against the torture of prisoners by Israel has led the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) to sever ties with the organization, Haaretz reports."  ---  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1106397.html  ---  also posted at Uruknet
  ---  http://www.uruknet.com/?p=m56838&hd=&size=1&l=e
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Israeli Diplomat Undergoes Lobotomy  ---  http://irish4palestine.blogspot.com/2009/08/israeli-diplomat-undergoes-lobotomy.html
Satire - (With a chart no less....) -- A quote...."In a shocking malfuntion of the Zionist brain, Israel's consul-general in Boston, Nadav Tamir, has suffered a rapid growth to the "reasonable" region of the brain. As such, he has been immediately "summoned" back to Israel. The Diplomat will now ASS-ume the position for a good whacking. After which he will undergo a lobotomy at a re-programing camp to remove the "offending growth".
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Nablus booms as barriers fall in occupied West Bank  ---  http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=105136
A quote...."NABLUS, Occupied West Bank: A few weeks ago Ahmad Shataye rarely attempted the journey from his tiny village to his market stall in Nablus. Israeli roadblocks made the trip almost impossible. But these days business is booming. In June, Israel decided to remove checkpoints across the city as part of a plan for “economic peace” with Palestinians."
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Sunday August 9th 2009 - links page

Fascist America: Are We There Yet?  ---  http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009083205/fascist-america-are-we-there-yet
Must Read - Fascist Alert - A quote...."All through the dark years of the Bush Administration, progressives watched in horror as Constitutional protections vanished, [yet they voted for Obama anyway  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/toforgiveandforgettodenyjusticenever-mpg-reficultnias-011609  ---    ....a big mistake]  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/doitforthesakeofyourchildren-mpg-reficultnias-042609  ---  nativist rhetoric ratcheted up, hate speech turned into intimidation and violence, and the president of the United States seized for himself powers only demanded by history's worst dictators. With each new outrage, the small handful of us who'd made ourselves experts on right-wing culture and politics would hear once again from worried readers: Is this it? Have we finally become a fascist state? Are we there yet?" -- also posted at CommonDreams  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/09-5
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David Frakt: Military Commissions “A Catastrophic Failure”
  ---  http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/08/08/david-frakt-military-commissions-a-catastrophic-failure/
Must Read - A quote...."Last week, however, when the House Committee on the Judiciary’s Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee convened to hear further testimony  ---  http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_090730.html  ---  about the Military Commissions, few media outlets noticed. This was a great shame, as one of the speakers was Lt. Col. (formerly Maj.) David Frakt of the US Air Force Reserves, whose testimony (PDF)  ---  http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/Frakt090730.pdf  ---  was at least as riveting as that of his former adversary in the Military Commissions, Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, the ex-prosecutor who resigned in September 2008. ---  http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2008/10/01/the-dark-heart-of-the-guantanamo-trials/  ---  On July 8, Lt. Col Vandeveld told the committee   ---  http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/07/11/former-insider-shatters-credibility-of-military-commissions/  ---  that the Commissions were “broken beyond repair,” and “cannot be fixed, because their very creation — and the only reason to prefer military commissions over federal criminal courts for the Guantánamo detainees — can now be clearly seen as an artifice, a contrivance, to try to obtain prosecutions based on evidence that would not be admissible in any civilian or military prosecution anywhere in our nation.”
also posted at AtheoNews  ---  http://atheonews.blogspot.com/2009/08/david-frakt-military-commissions.html
& AftrDwngSt  ---  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/45088
For more on this issue see....9/11 - Iraq - Torture Fables  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/911&iraqtotturefables-weblist-mpg-052909
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Bush's torture legacy haunts the US  ---  http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/07/20097298571341207.html
Must Read - A quote...."Somewhere in the borderlands between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bowe Bergdahl, a US soldier, is being held captive by the Taliban. -- The threat of execution hangs over him if the US does not agree to the still unspecified demands of his captors. --  Bergdahl is the first US soldier captured in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion and the circumstances of his capture, which occurred around July 1 outside a US military base in Helmand Province, remain unclear. --  But in the wake of years of revelations of abuses by US personnel of Iraqis in Abu Ghraib, and of alleged Taliban or al-Qaeda detainees elsewhere, the spectre of US troops in enemy hands is disturbing because of the possibility that they could face copy-cat treatment."
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Bush tortured children, and America yawns  ---  http://dprogram.net/2009/08/09/bush-tortured-children-and-america-yawns/
That's not true!!  -  Some Neo-Romans in this country, both men and women, get quite excited by it. (wink, wink)  Welcome folks to the new Roman Empire. - mpg -- A quote...."At an Amnesty International conference a few years ago, I had the honor of attending a talk by Clive Stafford Smith, a British attorney who represents some of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. -- Smith shared some alarming details about the abuse that his clients received. Perhaps most shocking was Smith’s description of cigarette burns and other scars that covered the body of a teenage prisoner. This boy had been taken into custody when he was only 14 years old. And this kid is allegedly not the only child who has been forced to experience the nightmare that is Gitmo." -- Hey all you so-called "Christians" out there who voted for all this -- and don't even pretend you didn't know -- you and Mr. Reficul are going to have a fine time together, for all eternity. - mpg
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The Cheney-Like Secrecy of the Obama White House
  ---  http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/460296/the_cheney_like_secrecy_of_the_obama_white_house
A quote...."Those of us who proposed the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney for violating his oath of office and engaging in a Nixon-on-steroids spree of high crimes and misdemeanors began to recognize the abusive nature of the previous administration when Cheney refused to release details of the industry insiders with whom he met to craft energy policies." -- also posted at ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23227.htm
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Playing Politics With a Ghost  ---  http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090806_playing_politics_with_a_dead_man/
A quote...."Finding the remains of Navy Lt. Cmdr. Scott Speicher in Iraq provides long overdue closure for his family and comrades, but it also exposes the tireless exploitation of Speicher’s disappearance in 1991 by Sen. Pat Roberts, a staunch Republican from Kansas, who used it to demonize the regime of Saddam Hussein and to justify the case for the invasion of Iraq."
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Ministers must explain destruction of 'torture flight' papers, says panel of [British] MPs
  ---  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/09/diego-garcia-flights-mps-documents
What is it with the US-NRE and British governments, they keep destroying videotapes, "losing" e-mails, shredding files, in fact all sorts of documents and recordings have been vanishing lately.  These governments seem to be acting like they're guilty of something....fancy that. - mpg -- A quote...."Ministers must explain why crucial documents relating to CIA "torture flights" that stopped on sovereign British territory were destroyed, a panel of MPs has said. -- A damning appraisal by the influential foreign affairs select committee on Britain's role in the rendition of terror suspects and alleged complicity of torture condemns the government's lack of transparency on vital areas of concern."
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Pantta Seeks to Whitewash CIA Crimes  ---  http://mwcnews.net/content/view/32324/26/
A quote...."CIA Director Leon Panetta’s article titled “It’s Time To Move On” published in the August 4th Miami Herald is a stunning disservice to the principles of justice. It not only calls for whitewashing the Agency’s past horrific crimes, which have included torture and murder, but openly advocates the use of force and violence. Panetta writes, “the focus on the past, especially in Congress, threatens to distract the CIA from its crucial core missions: intelligence collection, analysis and covert action.” In CIA lingo, “covert action” has always meant dirty tricks, from blackmailing to assassinating foreign leaders, and from pouring bribe money to influence elections to overthrowing governments."
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Pakistanis see US as biggest threat  ---  http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/08/20098910857878664.html
A quote...."When respondents were asked what they consider to be the biggest threat to the nation of Pakistan, 11 per cent of the population identified the Taliban fighters, who have been blamed for scores of deadly bomb attacks across the country in recent years. -- Another 18 per cent said that they believe that the greatest threat came from neighbouring India, which has fought three wars with Pakistan since partition in 1947. -- But an overwhelming number, 59 per cent of respondents, said the greatest threat to Pakistan right now is, in fact, the US, a donor of considerable amounts of military and development aid." -- also posted at CounterCurrents  ---  http://www.countercurrents.org/fay090809.htm
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Report: Israeli internet server found in Lebanon  ---  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3758920,00.html
A quote...."Lebanese security forces discovered an Israeli internet server hidden in a small town in Lebanon's Chouf District, the Hezbollah-owned al-Manar network reported Saturday. --  The report said the server was wired to antennae aimed in the direction of Israel, and that all of the equipment was confiscated. -- The Lebanese OTV network, owned by politician Michel Aoun, reported that the army had broken into a structure in Jabal al-Baruch in April and found equipment suspected of serving Israeli intelligence."
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Anti-Arab brainwashing by the US media  ---  http://atheonews.blogspot.com/2009/08/anti-arab-brainwashing-by-us-media.html
A quote...."Western brainwashing comes from the media. Readers, listeners and viewers need to be aware of these propaganda sources. About the media in general, Steven Salaita correctly observed:" -- also posted at DProgram  ---  http://dprogram.net/2009/08/09/anti-arab-brainwashing-by-the-us-media/

"The flippancy with which US media apply the word "terrorism" to Arab populations reinforces the notion that violence in the Arab world is ahistorical and therefore senseless. Arabs in turn become a people without narratives who belong to a culture incapable of rationality."
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Envoy says Israeli policy damaging to ties with US - Israel recalls envoy in US over critical memo
  ---  http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/08/09/81322.html
A quote...."Israel summoned one of its diplomats from the United States on Sunday after he circulated a memorandum accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government of doing "strategic damage" to ties with Washington."
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Russia will not revise decision on S.Ossetia, Abkhazia - Medvedev  ---  http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090809/155767063.html
A quote...."VLADIKAVKAZ, August 9 (RIA Novosti) - On the anniversary of the start of the Russia-Georgia war, President Dmitry Medvedev said that Moscow would not revise its decision to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. -- "I stress this decision will not be reviewed," Medvedev said on Saturday in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz, during an award ceremony for service personnel, who fought in the five-day war that started a year ago."
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Chronology of Events: the South Ossetia Conflict of August 2008   ---  http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20090804/155726775.html  ---  timeline
A quote...."The situation in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone rapidly deteriorated after Tskhinval and a number of other residential districts and villages in South Ossetia were attacked in the evening of August 1. Combat with the use of small arms, grenade launchers and mortars ensued in the conflict zone for several hours. It resulted in the first human losses and substantial destruction. South Ossetia began evacuating its citizens to North Ossetia. In the first two days after the shelling, 2,500 residents left their homes."
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The 7th international arms show Russian Expo Arms-2009 in Nizhny Tagil (July 8-11)  ---  http://en.rian.ru/photolents/20090710/155490886.html
Photo Gallery
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War Looming Against Venezuela  ---  http://mwcnews.net/content/view/32384/26/
Must Read - A quote...."If you are sick and tired of war in the Middle East you may be cringing at the prospect of new military operations in Latin America. In case you haven't noticed, there appears to be an impending attack against the people of Venezuela. Obama is increasing the Pentagon's budget and is spending approximately one billion dollars in its Latin American military operations this year according to Eva Gollinger, a well respected American/Venezuelan journalist. -- The problem, in a nutshell, is that the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, is steadfastly independent from Washington's directives and desires. Worse, Chavez is widely popular throughout Latin America and his vision of the Bolivarian revolution is spreading. Most importantly, the spreading defiance against Washington in Latin America compromises future control of vast stores of oil reserves. -- History shows that America has a pathological need to control every nation on the planet. There is no way to tally the numbers that have died due to that need."
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Iceland: Lessons to be Learned from The Economic Meltdown - Don't do "business" with Britain's elites, ever!! - mpg
  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14683
Special Note - A quote...."he British and the Dutch decided to set that guarantee not at around €20,000 per deposit, as provided for in European and Icelandic legislation– which would already have been impossible for the Icelandic government, who quickly announced after nationalising its banks that it could only guarantee deposits made in Iceland itself – but at €50,000 to €100,000 per deposit, or even higher. Moreover, the measures that they are taking to get their way are scandalous. -- Indeed, at the very start of October, the UK began with a measure of extreme retaliation: freezing of the assets of not only Landsbanki but also Kaupthing Bank, which was totally unconnected to Icesave, using its anti-terrorism legislation. In doing so, the UK lumped the Icelandic people, their allies in NATO, together with the likes of organisations such as al-Qaeda... And since then, it seems to be using all of its influence to ensure that no international aid is really given to Iceland until its demands have been met. Indeed, Gordon Brown told his parliament that he is working “with the IMF” to establish how much it considered the UK was entitled to claim from Iceland. The IMF itself, meanwhile, not content with putting off making its loans available to Iceland, attached conditions to them that would seem outrageous, even in fiction."
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Rio Spying Cost Steel Mills $102 Billion, China Says (Update2)  ---  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a.3xVgooVmmY
Special Note - You do "business" with the Anglo-World, you'd better count your fingers. - mpg -- A quote...."Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Rio Tinto Group, the third-largest mining company, spied on China’s steel mills for six years, creating 700 billion yuan ($102 billion) in excess charges for iron ore, a report on a Chinese government-run Web site said." -- The Chinese are patient, they'll recover what they believe was stolen, one way or another. - mpg
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More on the Iranian Election.....

Iran general calls for Mousavi, Khatami, Karroubi prosecution  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=102990&sectionid=351020101
Special Note - IF the votes in Iran were freely garnered, fairly cast and accurately counted - AND - the Iranian hardliners have proof (understanding that coerced confessions cannot be used, are not proof and are simply lies the state forces a prisoner to recite) that these gentlemen cooperated with foreign powers in an attempt to overthrow a legitimately elected government, than prosecution of these gentlemen is not only warranted, it's demanded!  Such an action would serve as a salutary example not only to peoples throughout the world, but also to those politicians residing in the US-NRE, that disregarding or tampering with the vote can be costly. – mpg -- A quote...."As Iran moves to squelch opposition to the disputed June presidential election, the stage has been set for the judiciary to try two defeated candidates and a former president. -- A senior official with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Sunday accused Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, two defeated candidates whose supporters took to the streets to protest the official vote result, as well as former President Mohammad Khatami of inciting the unrest."
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Iran Police Chief blamed for Kahrizak prison deaths  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=102955&sectionid=351020101
If proved, he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. - mpg -- A quote...."The Kahrizak prison controversy lingers on as a senior lawmaker blames the Iranian Police Chief for the sordid treatment of election protestors."
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Head-Warden of Tehran Jail Imprisoned  ---  http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8805181073
Related Article - A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran's Police Chief Brigadier General Ismail Ahmadi Moqaddam announced on Sunday that the head-warden of Kahrizak detention center in downtown Tehran has been detained after he was dismissed from his post due to the "nonstandard conditions" of his jail."
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Human Beings are Members of a Whole”: Protecting the Iranian Civil Society
  ---  http://pulsemedia.org/2009/08/09/human-beings-are-members-of-a-whole-protecting-the-iranian-civil-society/
Statement by 40 Engaged Scholars - A quote...."If we speak out against the threat of force against Iran (regarding the nuclear conflict) and warn against a military strike, we cannot be silent on the use of force in Iran itself against its own civil society. For solidarity with the civil society and a peaceful order in the region constitute the primary concern of our efforts. If we condemn foreign sanctions against the Iranian people, we deplore all the more domestic sanctions directed at peaceful demonstrators, journalists, trade unionists, professors, students and others. Thereby the government deprives itself from the domestic basis needed against foreign threats."
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Iran shuts down office of journalists association as Ahmadinejad starts his second term  ---  http://www.newswatch.in/newsblog/4546
A quote...."Officials shut down the office of the Association of Iranian Journalists in Tehran on Wednesday night, just after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported."
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

Honduras is Only Part of the Story -- The Conservative Counter-Attack in Latin America  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/salas08072009.html
Analysis - A quote...."I would submit that events in Honduras are not isolated, but rather part of a conservative counterattack taking shape in Latin America. For some time, the right has been rebuilding in Latin America; hosting conferences, sharing experiences, refining their message, working with the media, and building ties with allies in the United States. This is not the lunatic right fringe, but rather the mainstream right with powerful allies in the middle class that used to consider themselves center, but have been frightened by recent left electoral victories and the rise of social movements."
also posted at ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23222.htm
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OAS announces delegation to Honduras  ---  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090807/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/us_oas_honduras
A quote...."WASHINGTON – The Organization of American States has named a delegation to try to persuade the interim government in Honduras to return ousted President Manuel Zelaya. -- The OAS says foreign ministers from Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic will travel to Honduras on Tuesday. The foreign ministers will be accompanied by senior OAS officials including OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Australia’s reversal of ban on Al-Manar angers Jewish groups  ---  http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=105076
Special Note - (Because you ain't gonna see this very often!!) -- Ah Hah!!  My goodness, the Israeli lobby LOST One!!  Maybe they're not so powerful after all, this could be the start of a whole new trend....hearing from people the Israelis, and their Jewish supporters keep murdering. - mpg -- A quote...."BEIRUT: Australia has overturned two earlier bans and announced it will now allow the broadcast of Hizbullah’s television channel Al-Manar, prompting indignation from the country’s Jewish groups. -- Explaining the ruling, the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) said the channel did not violate Australia’s anti-terrorism requirements for television. After monitoring Al-Manar for a nine-day period in August and September last year, ACMA said in a recent report that while the channel made references to Hizbullah, “the material, prima facie, could not be ‘reasonably construed’ as either ‘soliciting funds for a terrorist organization’ or ‘assisting in the collection or provision of funds for a terrorist organization’ as the content broadcast did not specifically seek funds for Hizbullah.” -- also posted at AtheoNews  ---  http://atheonews.blogspot.com/2009/08/australias-reversal-of-ban-on-al-manar.html
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What If History Happened To Someone Else  ---  http://wheh.newsvine.com/_news/2009/08/07/3096717-what-if-history-happened-to-someone-else
A quote...."What if history happened differently, the facts are the same but the people and places are different. Picture it...let me take you on a trip, a trip back in time. The names and groups I have used are only to show a point, in no way, shape or form do these groups actually have plans or beliefs that mirror image this written piece." -- also posted at ICH  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23223.htm
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Hezbollah Slams Israel over Legalizing Occupied Land Sales
  ---  http://www.palestinechronicle.com/news.php?id=6ae719255e3768c9bf1a9fd4e72b9398&mode=details#6ae719255e3768c9bf1a9fd4e72b9398
A quote...."Hezbollah has condemned the Israeli parliament's approval of a bill which provides for privatizing the Palestinian land occupied during the 1948 war. -- "Today, the Israeli Knesset passed the 'law on privatization of territories' which confirms the criminal act relevant to confiscating lands and properties owned by 1948 Palestinian refugees", the Lebanese group said a statement published on Friday."
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Two Palestinian families evicted from Sheikh Jarah; settlers move into their homes
  ---  http://www.btselem.org/English/Jerusalem/20090806_Sheikh_Jarah_Evacuation.asp
Video - A quote...."On 2 August 2009, the police evicted two Palestinian families from their houses in the Sheikh Jarah neighborhood of East Jerusalem : the extended Hanun family, 17 members who lived in three apartments, and the extended Alghawi family, 29 members who lived in six apartments. Immediately following the eviction, settler families took over the houses under heavy police guard. The evicted families refuse to be removed from the neighborhood and have stayed in the street since then." also posted at PalestineVideo -- http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2009/08/btselem-east-jerusalem-two-palestinian.html
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Lebanon Gets Smart~Shuts Israeli ISP Down  ---  http://irish4palestine.blogspot.com/2009/08/lebanon-gets-smartshuts-israeli-isp.html
A quote - Lebanon boycotts Israel and shuts down Internet service provider. Good for them! Were I a Lebanese, I'd stay clear away from any ISP owned by Israel. Otherwise they may as well send all their data directly to Tel Aviv." -- For more on how to boycott Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page"  ---  of this website.  - mpg
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Fiat Money Created Out of Thin Air: The Bank Bailouts are Unconstitutional  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14701
Must Read - The starting point for all analysis of the ongoing bailout orgy that is currently being used in crony capitalist fashion to transfer wealth from our middle class to the financial elites and their transnational conglomerates is whether these bailouts are authorized by the US Constitution.  The answer is a resounding NO!  -- Nothing in the Constitution could ever be interpreted in any manner that would in any way allow the conversion of our quasi-capitalist republic into a police state, which is the last thing our Founding Fathers had in mind. -- How can our government simply hand over fiat money created out of thin air, which in itself totally violates the provisions in our Constitution dealing with the issuance of money, to whoever they deem to be too-big-to-fail?  The very idea of such targeted bailouts violates every precept upon which our nation was founded, and our Constitution in no way allows the bailout of any private person or business entity, especially where this creates special privileges to be given to a chosen few "anointed" entities at the expense of our citizens in general.  Regulation of interstate commerce does not mean doling out crony capitalist bailouts, which amount to nothing short of the implementation of feudalism under the Puppet Master oligarchs of our Shadow Government.  Regulation would mean fining and jailing these criminals and allowing them to fail so better run companies can acquire their assets via liquidation to be supervised by regulators.  You reap what you sow in this nation.  You do not reap profits for yourself and have everyone else pay for your losses.  That is pure poppycock detritus."
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Geithner asks Congress for higher U.S. debt limit  ---  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090808/bs_nm/us_usa_debt
Related Article - Sort of unbelievable isn't it?  The cost of the world's newest Un-Holy Roman Empire just keeps getting more expensive every day. - mpg -- A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner formally requested that Congress raise the $12.1 trillion statutory debt limit on Friday, saying that it could be breached as early as mid-October."
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China's Demand Makes Old Signposts Useless  ---  http://seekingalpha.com/article/154961-china-s-demand-makes-old-signposts-useless
A quote...."The remarkable spending on commodities out of China continues; this single country demand continues to make old signposts useless. "Doctor Copper" is now hostage to the Chinese whims. There were thoughts in early April that after China had finished its stockpiling [Mar 23: FT.com - Chinese Stockpiling Spurs Copper Price Rally] prices might falter [Apr 6: Analysts Estimate Copper Prices Could Fall 21% in Q2] but after a short break, China is back at it."
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Saturday August 8th 2009 - links page

No posts. - mpg

Friday August 7th 2009 - links page

The World Needs A Breather From The US[-NRE]. - And they'll get it sooner than many think  ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23214.htm
Must Read - A quote...."An example may help to explain how they really work: -- Say you bought a house at the peak of the bubble in 2005 and paid $500,000. Then prices dropped 40% (as they have in Calif) and your house is now worth $300,000. If you only put 5% down, ($25,000) then you are underwater by $175,000. Which means that you own more on the mortgage than your house is currently worth. (This is essentially what has happened to the entire financial system. The equity has vaporized, so institutions are using dodgy accounting tricks instead of reporting their real losses.) So Bernanke comes along and gives you $175,000 no interest, rotating loan to you so that no one knows that you are really busted and you can continue spending just as you had before. Not bad, eh? This is what the lending facilities are all about. It is a charade to conceal the fact that a large portion of the nation's financial institutions are insolvent and propped up by state largess."

"But there's more, too."

"Now that Bernanke has given you $175,000 no interest, rotating loan; you expect that eventually he will ask for his money back. Right? So your only hope of saving your home, in the long run, is to engage in risky behavior, like dabbling the stock market. It's like playing roulette, except you have nothing to lose since you are underwater anyway."

"This is exactly what the financial institutions are doing with the Fed's loans. They're betting on equities and hoping they can avoid the Grim Reaper." -- also posted at CounterPunch  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney08072009.html
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The International: The TRUE Value of Conflict (and the nature of “Globalization”)
  ---  http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/the-international-the-true-value-of-conflict/
Must View Video - Alt  ---  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EMSpkHq1HI  ---  A fictional account which gives one an idea of how "Globalization" really works. - mpg  -- A quote...."Insider trading prior to 9/11,  Put Options, the promise of the privatization of Iraq’s central banking system… (one of the first things Paul Bremmer did in Iraq when he was brought in as Bush’s head of the newly formed Coalition Provisional Authority, was to establish a privatized central bank) -- In May of 2003, just days after Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” statement…"

“United Nations resolution 1483 transferred the authority to authorize expenditures from Iraq’s oil revenue from the United Nations to the Coalition Provisional Authority… The International Advisory and Monitoring Board consisted of senior financial experts from the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank..."

"… After the U.S. military came in and took over Iraq, the CPA quickly began issuing many binding orders privatizing Iraq’s economy and opening it up to foreign investment. This was welcomed by many multinational corporations who saw the war as an opportunity to make billions of dollars in profits.“  Wiki"

"But even MORE valuable than the control of the banking system 2nd biggest oil producing country in the world, was the debt that the “Endless War on Terror” would produce for the banks. For hidden within that debt, is control. -- Imagine: Endless war against an invisible enemy, anywhere in the world, producing limitless debt… and ultimately, complete control."
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Entering the Greatest Depression in History  ---  http://dprogram.net/2009/08/07/video-entering-the-greatest-depression-in-history/
Alt  ---  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUC7Nu76VFM  ---  (YouTube - 2 min 8 sec - May 21, 2009)
Video - Special Note - A quote...."While there is much talk of a recovery on the horizon, commentators are forgetting some crucial aspects of the financial crisis. The crisis is not simply composed of one bubble, the housing real estate bubble, which has already burst. The crisis has many bubbles, all of which dwarf the housiness". -- also posted at LewRockwell 
---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/marshall1.1.1.html
& RevRadio  ---  http://revolutionradio.org/2009/08/07/entering-the-greatest-depression-in-history/
& Creative-i  ---  http://www.creative-i.info/?p=9644
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'Experts' Never Learn  ---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/schiff/schiff40.1.html
Special Note - A quote...."There is an inexplicable, but somehow widely held, belief that stock market movements are predictive of economic conditions. As such, the current rally in U.S. stock prices has caused many people to conclude that the recession is nearing an end. The widespread optimism is not confined to Wall Street, as even Barack Obama has pointed to the bubbly markets to vindicate his economic policies. However, reality is clearly at odds with these optimistic assumptions. -- In the first place, stock markets have been taken by surprise throughout history. In the current cycle, neither the market nor its cheerleaders saw this recession coming, so why should anyone believe that these fonts of wisdom have suddenly become clairvoyant?"
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US deficit climbs to 1.3 trillion dollars  ---  http://www.roguegovernment.com/US_deficit_climbs_to_1.3_trillion_dollars/16772/0/8/8/Y/M.html
Special Note - A quote...."The US budget deficit reached 1.3 trillion dollars for the current fiscal year in July, official data showed, news set to fuel opposition to US President Barack Obama's ambitious health care and climate change proposals." -- But of course, they're not what's causing the problem. - mpg
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Come together - Right and left set aside differences to support auditing the Federal Reserve System
  ---  http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=1061958
A quote...."Would you like your money to be held in a bank that’s never been audited?” asks Kevin Duewel, Sacramento Campaign for Liberty organizer. There’s a pregnant pause. “That’s a rhetorical question.” -- The Folsom resident is speaking about the Federal Reserve System, the system of one central and 12 regional banks that controls the U.S. money supply, and the U.S. Senate and House of Representative bills recently introduced to reform the auditing process for that system."
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MSM: Fannie Mae seeks $10.7B in US aid after 2Q loss  ---  http://dprogram.net/2009/08/07/msm-fannie-mae-seeks-10-7b-in-us-aid-after-2q-loss/
(AP) – Fannie Mae plans to tap $11 billion in new government aid after posting another massive quarterly loss as the taxpayer bill from the housing market bust keeps growing."
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California Won’t Accept Its Own IOUs  ---  http://revolutionradio.org/2009/08/07/california-wont-accept-its-own-ious/
A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - Small businesses that received $682 million in IOUs from the state say California expects them to pay taxes on the worthless scraps of paper, but refuses to accept its own IOUs to pay debts or taxes. The vendors’ federal class action claims the state is trying to balance its budget on their backs."
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Two More Banks Fail Bringing 09’s Total To 71  ---  http://wallstreetpit.com/9279-two-more-banks-fail-bringing-09s-total-to-71
A quote...."Florida banking regulators on Friday shut down two regional banks, bringing the national tally up to 71 for 2009."
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‘Grand Closings’ in Evanston, Illinois, as recession hits  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4991.shtml
A quote...."EVANSTON, Il -- At first, the crater in the ground where the basement was supposed to be before crews quit working looked like the aftermath of a drone attack. -- But soon weeds began encroaching, white tailed rabbits bounded up and down the berms and a flock of goldfinches settled in, each perching in a cyclone fence slot in an avian pyramid."
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Job losses moderate in July - Jobless rate dips to 9.4% [from 9.5%] as 247,000 nonfarm payrolls lost
  ---  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/job-losses-moderate-in-july-2009-08-07
Charts - A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- In another hopeful sign that the worst recession in generations is finally easing, the government estimated Friday that fewer jobs were lost in July than in any month in nearly a year."
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If Americans Do Not Return to Work, There Is No Recovery  ---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/jenkins3.1.1.html
A quote...."First, a historical note... -- US equities have just come off their best July since 1989. Overall, the market is up over 8% for the year. -- But if we look backward (after all, hindsight is 20/20), March 1989 also saw a huge run up. It was followed by an even stronger rally in July, during which volume dried up. It appears the same is happening now. What came next in 1989 was a big sell-off in September, followed by an even greater one in October. -- Don't look now, but history tends to repeat itself." -- For more on this article's prediction of the market's direction see....Standard Disclaimer and the Ten Year Cycle  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/disclaimer-blog-mpg-070207
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Jim Rogers Says U.S. Commodity Curbs to Drive Markets Overseas  ---  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601207&sid=aZhDJrgFiaoE
Financial Alert - War Alert - A quote...."Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. proposals to place curbs on commodities trading will drive business overseas, particularly to Asia, said Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings. -- “It is remarkable because America is shooting itself in the foot again,” he said in an interview in Singapore today. “It’s going to drive the business away and the rest of the world is going to welcome it with open arms.”  --

Why is the article shown above considered a "Financial Alert"?  Because this purposed action by the Obama administration is most likely a sign that the US-NRE has already secretly monetized some of its debt and will monetize even more of it in the future.  This will entail a dollar collapse, an interest rate spike, a massive commodities spike, and a crushing blow to the economy.

Why is the article shown above considered a "War Alert"?  Because such control could potentially be used to conceal a sudden crude oil price spike which would be a tip-off that the long planned war with Iran was about to commence, also such an action would give the administration much needed control over commodity spikes in general and specifically spikes in crude oil prices, as any war in the Persian Gulf would most certainly interrupt world oil supplies, possibly for a very long time. - mpg
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Long Term Joblessness Chart & The Ten Year Cycle
  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/cachedfiles/longtermjoblessnesschart-rnutting-mktwtch-cached-080609
Chart - Special Note - Percentage of US workers unemployed at least 27 weeks and the Ten Year Cycle. - mpg
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IMF boosts loan to Pakistan by 3.2 billion dollars  ---  http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090807/bs_afp/financeeconomyimfpakistan
Special Note - This article is related to the financial articles shown above.  As long as Pakistan continues to be at war, a war promoted by the US-NRE, it will go deeper and deeper into debt and the country will soon be owned by the banks. -- For more on this issue see.....It Will Happen Every Single Time  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/rapsheetarch/mpgrap-122407-010108#EVERY_TIME  ---  A quote...."WASHINGTON (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund on Friday said it had approved an additional 3.2 billion dollar loan to Pakistan to help the country weather the global economic crisis. -- The IMF said the extra funds for the loan program to Pakistan would "help the country address increased balance of payment needs" and increase the total loan to 11.3 billion dollars." - bold by website editor
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Rand: Iraqi air force will remain dependent  ---  http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/08/af_rand_iraq_080709/
THAT, of course is the idea!! Why would the Rand Corp. pretend otherwise?  The US-NRE keeps the Iraqis dependent, they're forced to buy everything from the US-NRE's MIOC elites at horrendous prices, the US-NRE gets to stay there with its Air Force to "protect" them "poor little darkies", and so on and so forth. Otherwise known as a classic case of colonialism (or what the US-NRE Air Force likes to call command, control and communication or C3). - mpg -- A quote...."The Air Force’s future over Iraq could look a lot like operations Northern Watch and Southern Watch, the patrols U.S. fighters flew over Iraq between the end of Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003."
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Ex-employees claim Blackwater pimped out young Iraqi girls  ---  http://www.blacklistednews.com/news-5127-0-11-11--.html
A quote...."Since the revelation earlier this week of allegations by two former employees of security firm Blackwater that its owner was complicit in murder in order to cover up the deliberate killing of Iraqi civilians, explosive charges have continued to emerge. -- Perhaps the most shocking of those charges — quoted by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann on Thursday from the employees’ sworn declarations — is that Blackwater was guilty of using child prostitutes at its compound in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and that owner Erik Prince knew of this activity and did nothing to stop it." - also posted at RawStory  ---  http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/07/blackwater-provided-child-prostitutes/  ---  The New Roman Empire at work folks....hey, for all you so-called "Christians" out there who eagerly supported this sick, twisted, rampage, there's probably no doubt Mr Reficul is really pleased with you....and one day he'll be coming to see you to collect what you owe him, hopefully sooner rather than later. - mpg
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US Still Paying Blackwater Millions  ---  http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090817/scahill2
A quote...."Just days before two former Blackwater employees alleged in sworn statements filed in federal court that the company's owner, Erik Prince, "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," the Obama administration extended a contract with Blackwater for more than $20 million for "security services" in Iraq, [so that's what they call molesting small children, they call it "security services".  "Services" paid for with your tax dollars folks. - mpg] according to federal contract data obtained by The Nation. The State Department contract is scheduled to run through September 3. In May, the State Department announced it was not renewing Blackwater's Iraq contract, and the Iraqi government has refused to issue the company an operating license." -- bold by website editor
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Kurdish Party Threatens to Set Up Rival Provincial Govt
  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/07/kurdish-party-threatens-to-set-up-rival-govt-in-nineveh-province/
A quote...."With the growing split between Kurds and Arabs in Iraq’s restive north, the top Kurdish political party in the Nineveh Province, which includes the key northern city of Mosul, has threatened to establish a parallel provincial government to rival the existing administration of the Hadba coalition."
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IRAQ:  Shi’a Unity Deal Explodes U.S. Proxy War Myth  ---  http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48002
Must Read - A quote...."WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (IPS) - The agreement announced Monday between Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and a Shi’a resistance group called the "League of the Righteous" (Asa'ib al-Haq) formally ended the group’s armed opposition to the regime in return for the release of its leader and eight other Shi’a detainees. This deals a final blow to the U.S. military’s narrative of an Iranian "proxy war" in Iraq."
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Britain['s Elite Morons] Looks at 40-Year Afghan War - Sure, just like they stayed in Iraq, right? (snicker) - mpg
  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/07/britain-looks-at-40-year-afghan-war/
A quote...."In an interview with The Times, Britain’s incoming military Chief of Staff General Sir David Richards has cautioned that the ongoing military operation in Afghanistan could last for 40 years. The news comes after the deadliest month the British military has experienced since the 1980’s, and as three more British troops were killed in an IED attack Friday."
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Tons of Imperial Fun: Hellfire Hillary Pours Oil on Somalia's Fire
  ---  http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/1813-tons-of-imperial-fun-hellfire-hillary-pours-oil-on-somalias-fire.html
Must Read - A quote...."There is apparently no path blazed by George W. Bush that Barack Obama will not eagerly follow. Surges, assassinations, indefinite detention, defense of torture, senseless wars and rampant militarism -- in just a few short months, we've seen it all. -- To this dismaying record of complicity and continuity, we can add an increasing direct involvement in the horrific, hydra-headed conflict in Somalia, whose latest round of fiery hell was instigated by the American-backed invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia in late 2006."
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Seven New US Military Bases in Colombia Is Hardly a Move to the Left  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/07-6
A quote...."In a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal, Mary Anastasia O'Grady laments an apparent shift left in the Obama administration's Latin America policy.  Clearly, O'Grady hasn't been keeping up to date with current events. If she had been, she would have heard about negotiations underway between the U.S. and Colombia to establish at least seven U.S. military bases in Colombia. Last I heard, folks on the left tend to oppose increased militarization; it's tough to see seven new military bases as a move to the left."
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US military forces in Colombia included in Unasur’s agenda  ---  http://en.mercopress.com/2009/08/05/us2
A quote...."The deployment of US military personnel in Colombian bases and its implication for the region has been included in the agenda of the Union of South American Nations, Unasur, which convenes this week in Quito, Ecuador, according to the country’s Foreign Affairs minister Fander Falconi."
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Saakashvili was preparing the August war for years – Georgian scholars -- With US-NRE & Israeli support. - mpg
  ---  http://www.russiatoday.com/Politics/2009-08-07/saakashvili-preparing-august-war.html
A quote...."07 August, 2009, 22:24 -- Participants in a round table discussion in Tbilisi put the blame on the Saakashvili regime for a series of actions that brought about the August war. The roundtable discussion, called “August 2008 – the tragedy of Georgian statehood: causes and results,” took place days before the one-year anniversary of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict." -- For more on this issue see....American Selective Attention Deficit Disorder (ASADD) - 08-16-08 - mpg  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/americanselectiveattention-blog-mpg-081608
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Russia parries US thrust in Central Asia  ---  http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/KH08Ag01.html
Special Note - A quote...."The Uzbeks explain the ingenuity of their mind by often repeating a saying that goes: when they speak, they seldom mean what they say; and when they act, they almost always disregard what they have in mind."
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Russian court refuses new Politkovskaya inquiry  ---  http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/08/07/russian-court-refuses-new-politkovskaya-inquiry-2/
A quote...."A Moscow court rejected a plea by the family of slain Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya for a new investigation into her death, leading critics again to accuse authorities of not being interested in hunting the perpetrators."
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The Folly and Wickedness of War  ---  http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance179.html
A quote...."Most people, I suppose, are familiar with the novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), the author of War and Peace and a harsh critic of both war and the state. Writing in 1894, Tolstoy powerfully described the folly and wickedness of war:"

"Every war … with all its ordinary consequences … the murder with the justifications of its necessity and justice, the exaltation and glorification of military exploits, the worship of the flag, the patriotic sentiments … and so on, does more in one year to pervert men’s minds than thousands of robberies, murders, and arsons perpetrated during hundreds of years by individual men under the influence of passion." -- *Leo Tolstoy*

"Just think how many millions of innocent lives could have been spared from the horrors of both World Wars had the participants listened to Tolstoy."
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It Pays to Have a Nuke  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn08072009.html
A quote...."Let’s suppose a country has endured half a century of continuous attack by assailants based in the United States, with nearly 4,000 dead and 2,000 wounded. Let’s further suppose that when this country, trying to expand its tourist industry, listens to widely broadcast plans by these assailants to sabotage these plans by attacking the tourists – which they duly do, killing one. Now let us suppose that this country sends investigators to infiltrate the assailants, and hands the results of their probe to the FBI and…  I’m talking about the Cuban Five – courageous men who went to southern Florida, and penetrated the Cuban gusano gangs, specifically Alpha 66, the F4 Commandos, the Cuban American National Foundation, and Brothers to the Rescue."
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Ex-CIA Analyst Criticizes State Secrets  ---  http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/080709b.html
A quote...."My 24 years as an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (1966-90) taught me that national security is only the ostensible reason for using the state secrets privilege in cases before the court. The real reason usually has more to do with national embarrassment and not national security."
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EXCLUSIVE UPDATE: DoJ Pressures Ohio Election Commission to Block Edmonds Testimony  ---  http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7346
A quote...."Long-gagged FBI whistleblower re-iterates request for citizen media in D.C. to show up at Saturday morning deposition... -- The DoJ is now jumping into action, at least on behalf of covering the FBI's rear, if not yet to issue any "states secrets" claims to stop the scheduled testimony of FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds in D.C. tomorrow morning in the Ohio Election Commission (OEC) case of Schmidt v. Krikorian."
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More on the Iranian Election..... 

Report: Israel planned to strike Iran during riots  ---  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3758622,00.html
Special Note - A quote...."Kuwaiti paper quotes 'US diplomat in Jerusalem' as saying Israel asked Obama administration for green light to attack Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities during country's post-election riots. US reportedly ignored request, causing Israel to back down." -- It was probably too early, they (the MIOC/Neocons and AIPAC/East Coast Banksters) have to wait till their "brethern" are properly positioned in various financial markets, (although Goldman Sachs was obviously ready to go for it)  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/thefirstredwarwarninginayear-mpg-reficultnias-071809  ---  in addition they'd probably perfer another false flag op. to start it all off. - mpg
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Karroubi: New circumstances must not dispirit us  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=102786&sectionid=351020101
A quote...."With Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad officially sworn in for a second term, leading opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi says he will accept the new circumstances and move on. -- Mehdi Karroubi, in a Friday meeting with members of his party Etemad-e Melli (National Confidence), said he would not let his second consecutive defeat in the presidential elections negatively influence his plans."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Zionists Smear Catholics  ---  http://irish4palestine.blogspot.com/2009/08/zionists-smear-catholics.html
Special Note - A quote...."Today I was looking at news articles and came across several regarding the former Irish President Mary Robinson, the first woman President of Ireland and Champion of Women’s Rights internationally. Having been born in the North of Ireland, she has experienced first hand oppression, bigoty and racism. As such, she then went on to do human rights work within the United Nations and has been a friend to oppressed people like the Palestinians. President Obama is honouring her with the Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honour. As you would expect, the Zionists in AIPAC are not happy about this and have begun to attack Obama, Mary Robinson and even the Catholic religion. So, let’s talk about the subtlety of Zionist racism with a glaring example."
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"Breaking the Silence" or silencing the critics?  ---  http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10700.shtml
A quote....""Breaking the Silence" is a member of the Israeli human rights, peace and social justice community. The group's only crime, so it seems, lies in its effort to offer an alternative ethical voice in a society that is arguably losing its way. Breaking the Silence provides a platform for soldiers to testify to acts of violence and other violations of Palestinian rights that they may have witnessed or taken part in during their service in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. "
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Five years of illegality  ---  http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1033
A quote...."In an advisory opinion, rendered on 9 July 2004, the International Court of Justice stated that Israel’s construction of the Wall in the occupied Palestinian Territory was illegal and called for its immediate dismantling. Five years later, the advisory opinion has been met only by inaction: Israel continues constructing the Wall and the international community remains silent. Oxfam International underscores the urgency of addressing this situation in a compilation of testimonies that is published today."
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UN concerned over potential further evictions in East Jerusalem
  ---  http://www.alternativenews.org/english/2049-un-concerned-over-potential-further-evictions-in-east-jerusalem.html
A quote...."In the wake of the evictions of dozens of Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem earlier this week, the United Nations today voiced concern that more families could be forced out of their homes by Israel, causing further humanitarian suffering. Two families, comprising 53 people registered with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), were forced out by Israeli security forces last weekend from the Arab neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, with Israeli settlers moving into their homes."
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

Will Venezuelan Destabilization Follow the Honduran Coup? - Does night follow day? - mpg
  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14681
A quote...."After ten and a half years in office, Hugo Chavez is very savvy about America's intentions. On January 17, even before Obama's inauguration, he said "Barack Obama has the 'stench' of his predecessor as US president and was at risk of being killed if he tries to change the American 'empire.' "
also posted at MWC   ---  http://mwcnews.net/content/view/32369/26/
& OhBummer   ---  http://obamboozled.blogspot.com/2009/08/will-venezuelan-destabilization-follow.html
& CounterCurrents  ---  http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman070809.htm
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A Month Without Zelaya: The Honduran Crisis Deepens, No Quick Solutions on the Horizon
  ---  http://www.coha.org/2009/08/a-month-without-zelaya-the-honduran-crisis-deepens-no-quick-solutions-on-the-horizon/
A quote...." -- also posted at Creative-i  ---  http://www.creative-i.info/?p=9640
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Thursday August 6th 2009 - links page

The Expiring Economy - Man oh man, those Un-Holy Neo-Roman Empires can be so darned expensive!! mpg
   ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14676
Must Read
- A quote...."Tent cities springing up all over America are filling with the homeless unemployed from the worst economy since the 1930s. While Americans live in tents, the Obama government has embarked on a $1 billion crash program to build a mega-embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, to rival the one the Bush government built in Baghdad, Iraq. -- Hard times have now afflicted Americans for so long that even the extension of unemployment benefits from 6 months to 18 months for 24 high unemployment states, and to 46 - 72 weeks in other states, is beginning to run out. By Christmas 1.5 million Americans will have exhausted unemployment benefits while unemployment rolls continue to rise."
also posted at OhBummer  ---  http://obamboozled.blogspot.com/2009/08/expiring-economy.html
& CounterPunch  ---  http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts08062009.html
& OnlineJournal  ---  http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4992.shtml
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The Lies used to Justify the Iraq War. The Infamous Downing Street Minutes  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14674
Must Read - A quote...."The Iraq War set a new low for the blatant openness of the lies used to justify it, and those lies included a secret memo signed by Jay Bybee, head of the Office of Legal Counsel, that purports to legalize any illegal wars launched by a U.S. president. If that memo and the OLC memos purporting to legalize specific war crimes like torture are left unchallenged, or if an attempt is made to prosecute those who exceeded the crimes "legalized" by the memos, the United States will henceforth be understood to openly treat as legal anything a president instructs a lawyer to "legalize" including the supreme international crime banned by the UN Charter, except when that crime is committed by nations other than the United States or Israel. Vice President Joe Biden recently remarked that Israel had the right to attack Iran if it chose to, a remark that would legitimize the worst crime there is, and yet a remark that Biden clearly made in an attempt to avoid any scandal or controversy by articulating what he and those he spends his time with understood to be universally accepted."
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Scott Horton Interviews Eric Margolis  ---  http://antiwar.com/radio/2009/08/05/eric-margolis-19/
Must Listen Audio Interview - A quote...."Internationally syndicated columnist Eric Margolis discusses the troop surge increase and mission creep in Afghanistan, U.S. alliances with Central Asian despots, the subservience of the State Department to the Pentagon in foreign policy and consequences of the sanctions on Iran."
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"Secret deal to keep Karzai in power  ---  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/secret-deal-to-keep-karzai-in-power-1768499.html  ---  07 Aug 2009 With less than two weeks to go until national 'elections,' the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, is trying to cut a secret deal with one of his rivals to knock out his leading contender and ensure a decisive victory to avoid the chaos that a tight result might unleash. Afghanistan's second 'democratic polls' threaten to split the country along sectarian lines... Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Karl Eikenberry, the US ambassador, are understood to have discussed the proposal with [third candidate] Ashraf Ghani late last month. "It makes sense," a policy analyst with close links to the US administration said... [Later, in the same article:] US embassy officials have denied any involvement in back-room deals." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG   --  Ah yes, the New Roman Empire's Consuls deciding who will rule and who will be cast aside, who will live and who will die....who knew being a Neo-Roman could be such fun! – mpg
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Mounting popular opposition to the war in Afghanistan -- The "elites" response; the one fingered salute. - mpg
  ---  http://wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/pers-a07.shtml
A quote...."Popular anti-war sentiment, however, finds no expression in the policies of governments or, for that matter, those of opposition parties within the bourgeois political establishment. -- The US and European governments are making clear that their military intervention in the war-torn land is open-ended. Within the framework of official politics and the media, they are being criticized by their political opponents for not pursuing the war with sufficient ruthlessness."
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Adviser: US has 2 more tough years in Afghanistan - He left off the zero! - mpg
  ---  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iqyaFh_efr-brDq0rMLF1hkop0tgD99TL86G2
A quote...."WASHINGTON — An incoming adviser to the top U.S. general in Afghanistan predicted Thursday that the United States will see about two more years of heavy fighting and then either hand off to a much improved Afghan fighting force or "lose and go home." -- David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency expert who will assume a role as a senior adviser to Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has been highly critical of the war's management to date. He outlined a "best-case scenario" for a decade of further U.S. and NATO involvement in Afghanistan during an appearance at the U.S. Institute of Peace. [How utterly Orwellian.] -- Under that timeline, the allied forces would turn the corner in those two years, followed by about three years of transition to a newly capable Afghan force and about five years of "overwatch." -- Yep, it's all been decided folks, the US-NRE is gonna keep killing, and killing, and spending and spending -- OR -- come this following November all you people out there could actually go to the polls and vote for anybody other than a DemoRepub.  The lives and dollars you'll save might very well be your own, or those of your family. - mpg -- For more on these plans of mayhem and murder check out....9/11 - Planning Guidance  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/weblists/911-planningguidance-weblist-mpg-040409
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US Kills Five Afghan Cucumber Farmers in Air Strike  ---  http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/06/us-kills-five-afghan-cucumber-farmers-in-air-strike/
A quote...."A US military helicopter launched an overnight attack on a group of what it believed were “militants loading munitions into a van,” killing five of them. According to police in the rural district of the Kandahar Province, they weren’t militants, and those weren’t munitions."
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Iraqis speak of random killings committed by private Blackwater guards  ---  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6742135.ece
A quote...."Guards employed by Blackwater, the US security company, shot Iraqis and killed victims in allegedly unprovoked and random attacks, it was claimed yesterday. -- A Virginia court also received sworn statements from former Blackwater employees yesterday alleging that Erik Prince, the company’s founder, “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe”
also posted at Uruknet  ---  http://www.uruknet.com/?p=m56731&hd=&size=1&l=e
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Kurds turn up the heat on Baghdad  ---  http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KH07Ak03.html
A quote...."DAMASCUS - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's recent visit to Iraqi Kurdistan was aimed to test the waters on how loudly and aggressively the Kurds are willing to push their claim for the oil-rich Kirkuk region. -- Maliki received a uniform answer from all his interlocutors, that the Kurds want to go until "the curtain falls", which makes dialogue, let alone solutions, between the camps virtually impossible."
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UPDATE 1-Colombia Ecopetrol barred from Orinoco zone-Chavez  ---  http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0528566520090805
A quote...."CARACAS, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Venezuela will impose economic sanctions on some Colombian companies, President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday, ratcheting up a diplomatic spat between the two countries over U.S. plans to station more troops in Colombia."
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Chavez turns up heat on Colombia  ---  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8186767.stm
A quote...."Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has announced trade measures against Colombia, amid a growing diplomatic row between the two nations. -- Mr Chavez said he would halt the import of 10,000 cars from Colombia and ban a Colombian energy firm from exploring Venezuela's oil-rich Orinoco region."
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Mercosur works if Brazil makes it work, said Uruguayan presidential hopeful
  ---  http://en.mercopress.com/2009/08/07/mercosur-works-if-brazil-makes-it-work-said-uruguayan-presidential-hopeful
A quote...."The Uruguayan ruling coalition presidential candidate Jose Mujica said Brazilian president Lula da Silva promised to help speed power inter-connection between the two neighbouring countries, in the framework of Mercosur, in spite of Argentina’s non supportive attitude. He also underlined Mercosur depends on Brazil’s willingness."
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Turkey approves Russia gas pipeline  ---  http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/08/200986184624847591.html
Geo-Political Alert -- Oil/Gas -- A quote...."Russia has signed an agreement with Turkey that will allow Moscow to transport Russian natural gas through Europe under Turkish waters. -- Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, signed the deal on Thursday in Ankara, Turkey's capital, with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan."
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Saakashvili returns to war  ---  http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20090806/155742500.html
A quote...."The United States does not find it very comfortable to supply Georgia with weapons during the crisis because it has no money to pay for them. Under George Bush, Washington already committed itself to put all Georgian bureaucrats on its payroll, having paid a little more than $1 billion as a compensation for Saakashvili's small war. The first tranche of $250 million has already been transferred. According to the Treasury, these funds will be spent on old age pensions, scholarships, social payments, and assistance to refugees. However, and this is the main point, a considerable part of these funds will be allocated for compensation and salaries of government officials of all ministries, except for the defense and interior ministries. In other words, all of Georgia's government officials are already on U.S. payroll, a fact which nobody even tried to conceal during the last few years of Bush's term."
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On South Ossetia  ---  http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20090805/155736983.html
A quote...."About the anniversary of the conflict -- “Now we are again going to witness information wars over the interpretation of the last August’s events. We remember that a real war flared up in the media a year ago. I am not talking about the Georgian media. During this war, war criminal Saakashvili was being misrepresented, and Russia’s view was being ignored for two months running. In fact, the aggression as such was being ignored, as well as the losses sustained by South Ossetians and Russian peacekeepers. They were all totally neglected. --  “Since then the media have changed their tune. Western public opinion admitted that Saakashvili is primarily to blame for the war in South Ossetia, and acknowledged his numerous wrongdoings. But it prefers to qualify them as political mistakes, even huge political mistakes but not as war crimes." -- For more on this issue see....American Selective Attention Deficit Disorder (ASADD) - 08-16-08 - mpg  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/americanselectiveattention-blog-mpg-081608
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North Korea and Iran: So what does the West want? By William Bowles  ---  http://www.creative-i.info/?p=9559
A quote...."Well last night, I was watching Channel 4 News’ coverage of the return of the two US journalists to the US from North Korea and the carefully orchestrated ‘low key’ PR event, managed no doubt by Obama’s Twittering, Myspaced, Facebookie posse. But how can anything be low-key when exposed to the News Corporation’s gaze? -- The entire thing looked like the final night of the Big Brother house replete with copious tears, and profuse thanks to BC etc. Hey look, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that they’ve returned safely (but really, what were the odds of two of the Empire’s finest doing twelve years hard labour?) -- That said, the entire thing is a gigantic charade that takes place in an alternative universe...."
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"The Health Insurers Have Already Won"  ---  http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/08/health-insurers-have-already-won.html
A quote...."Even that is not quite sufficient, but is directionally correct. One of the defining characteristics of Team Obama [is] its preference for spin in lieu of substance. Admiittedly, the Bushies had a variant of that, in their obsession with the visual staging of any presidential appearance (the attention to props and lighting detail would do Annie Liebowitz proud). -- But with the Obama cohort, the focus is Orwellian, the use of language to misrepresent substance. Recall the totally mislabeled "stress tests" which were not tests. The tests were self-administered and the result pre-determined, since Administration officials said repeatedly that the point of the exercise was to show that the banks were sufficiently well capitalized. And since there were doubts about the seriousness of the exercise, it was helpful to the PR process that the banks got pissy and pushed back, which gave the misleading impression that they were being handled roughly (as opposed to they were given a yard and wanted to see if they could take a mile). -- A similar charade is in motion on the health care front."
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Turning the US army against Americans  ---  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/aug/05/us-army-spying-activists-washington
Special Note - A quote...."It was an odd little story,  ---  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/us/02army.html  ---  tucked well inside the front section of this past Sunday's New York Times. -- An antiwar activist in the state of Washington had been exposed as an undercover informant for the US army, stationed at massive Fort Lewis, south of Tacoma. And in one of those Kafkaesque twists for which our government is renowned, the army is now investigating itself to determine how such an arrangement came to pass. -- Although the Times gave no credit, the story had been broken on 28 July by Democracy Now!---  http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/28/broadcast_exclusive_declassified_docs_reveal_military  ---   a leftwing television programme co-anchored by Amy Goodman, a longtime progressive journalist."also posted at ICH ---  http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23207.htm
& CommonDreams  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/06-1
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The Plague of Punitive Populism  ---  http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2009/08/plague-of-punitive-populism.html
Videos - Photos - Special Note - Related Article --  Otherwise known as the "Iraqification" of the US-NRE - mpg -- A quote...."In Virginia, police officers raid a baptismal party for two small boys. Without cause or provocation they assault the grandfather who owns the home, tasering him three times while children and other guests look on in horror."
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More on the Iranian Election.....

Scott Horton Interviews Robert Dreyfuss  ---  http://antiwar.com/radio/2009/08/06/robert-dreyfuss-12/
Audio Interview - A quote...."Robert Dreyfuss, author of Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam, discusses the discontent in Iran’s business community with sanctions and an unstable pariah government, the possibility Iranian political opposition leaders may soon be arrested (or worse), Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s inextricable association with Ahmedinejad and the shift in U.S. war and propaganda effort from Iraq to Afghanistan."
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At Iran post-vote prison, dereliction of duty confirmed  ---  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=102706&sectionid=351020101
A quote...."After speaking to prisoners and sources at the recently shut down Kahrizak prison, the Iranian police force has come to the conclusion that violations of detainee rights along with dereliction of duty have been evident at the notorious detention center."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Enforcing backwardness in the Middle East - Don't fool yourselves folks, it's deliberate cultural destruction.
  ---  http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10698.shtml
Special Note - A quote...."More than six months after Israel's winter invasion of Gaza, a number of partially or largely damaged universities await reconstruction. Raw materials essential for rebuilding are unavailable in Gaza primarily because of Israel's 26-month blockade of the tiny territory. Coupled with the wide-scale destruction from Israel's 22-day onslaught, the siege has crippled most aspects of public life for Gaza's 1.5 million residents." -- also posted at AtheoNews  ---  http://atheonews.blogspot.com/2009/08/enforcing-backwardness-in-middle-east.html  ---  For more on this sort of issue see....The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/mikesfiles/blotterminiblogs/themethod-blog-mpg-050707
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Israeli military blocks road and access to health, water services for approximately 700 Palestinians....
  ---  http://www.uruknet.com/?p=m56727&hd=&size=1&l=e
A quote...."At noon on 5 August between the villages of Mfaggara and Jinba located in the South Hebron Hills an Israeli military bulldozer and a hummer with five soldiers created three earth mounds, blocking the road. In addition, the military damaged the road by digging it up to create the earth mounds."
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First-hand [Isreali] Account Details Israeli Cruelty to Children
  ---  http://www.palestinechronicle.com/news.php?id=9504b6ee268d77062c5502a74156d2a8&mode=details#9504b6ee268d77062c5502a74156d2a8
A quote...."In a new interview with the BBC, Eran Efrati explained how the routine ill-treatment of Palestinian children in custody takes place. -- "You take the kid, you blindfold him, you handcuff him, he's really shaking... Sometimes you cuff his legs too. Sometimes it cuts off the circulation. He doesn't understand a word of what's going on around him," he said. -- "He doesn't know what you're going to do with him. He just knows we are soldiers with guns. That we kill people. Maybe they think we're going to kill him."
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Israeli Occupation is Profitable, It Should be Less So  ---  http://www.uruknet.com/?p=m56723&hd=&size=1&l=e
A quote...."The associations that come into the minds of most of us when hearing the common phrase "Israeli occupation" are generally tied to concepts such as army, settlers, terror and peace process. Few pay attention to the economic aspects of this ongoing project and generally when people do mention this, it's in the context of the occupation being an economic burden on Israel. Fewer still ask who is profiting from the occupation, to which social groups do these profiteers belong and what political power do they possess. The idea is simple. Damage to these profits is liable to transform a continuation of the occupation into something less profitable." -- For more on how to boycott Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page"  ---  http://www.reficultnias.org/  ---  of this website. - mpg
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

Honduran Coup: The U.S. Connection  --- http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/6329
Must Read -- A quote...."The story most U.S. readers are getting about the coup is that Zelaya — an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez — was deposed because he tried to change the constitution to keep himself in power. -- That story is a massive distortion of the facts. All Zelaya was trying to do is to put a non-binding referendum on the ballot calling for a constitutional convention, a move that trade unions, indigenous groups, and social activist organizations had long been lobbying for." -- also posted at CommonDreams  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/06-9
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A Coup for Lobbyists at the White House  ---  http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_coup_for_lobbyists_at_the_white_house/
Must Read - A quote...."Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, ousted in the middle of the night just over a month ago, enjoys global support for his return, with the exception of the Obama White House. Though Barack Obama first called the Honduran military’s removal of Zelaya a coup, his administration has backpedaled. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Zelaya’s attempt to cross the Nicaraguan border into Honduras “reckless.” Could well-placed lobbyists in Washington be forging U.S. foreign policy?" -- also posted at CommonDreams  ---  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/05-0
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HONDURAS:  Military Back on the Political Scene  ---  http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47994
A quote...."TEGUCIGALPA, Aug 6 (IPS) - The demilitarisation process that got underway in Honduras 15 years ago was buried on Jun. 28 when more than 100 soldiers surrounded President Manuel Zelaya's home, pulled him out of bed at gunpoint and sent him into exile. Now the armed forces are making no effort to conceal their interest in political protagonism."
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Brazil Opposes Holding Elections in Honduras under De Facto Government  ---  http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/brazil050809.html
A quote...."Brasilia, 4 August 2009, ABN -- The government of Brazil rejected on Tuesday the idea of holding elections in Honduras under the de facto government headed by Roberto Micheletti, which was installed into power after the coup d'état on the 28th of June. -- That is the message sent by the principal international adviser to the Brazilian presidency, Marco Aurelio Garcia, who called for stronger action, by the international community and especially by the United States, against the rupture of the constitutional order in the Central American country."
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Clashes at Honduras student protest  ---  http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/08/20098602218406376.html
A quote...."Riot police in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, have used tear gas and water cannon to disperse students rallying in support of the country's ousted president, Manuel Zelaya."
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Siding With The Generals: The Independent On Honduras  ---  http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/08/siding-with-the-generals-the-independent-on-honduras/
A quote...."Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, describes how the Honduran people have been “risking their lives, confronting the army’s bullets, beatings, and arbitrary arrests and detentions”. And yet the US media has reported this repression “only minimally, with the major print media sometimes failing even to mention the censorship there.”
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The Banks Own the Fed, and the Central Banks Own BIS - Just follow the money folks, that's all you have to do
---  http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/08/banks-own-fed-and-central-banks-own-bis.html
Special Note - Bankster Alert -- A quote...."You know that the 12 Federal Reserve Banks are owned by private banksters. -- And you've heard of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), which is the "Central Banks' Central Bank". -- But you probably don't know who owns BIS or how it is regulated. -- Spiegel provided the answer last month:"

The BIS is a closed organization owned by the 55 central banks. The heads of these central banks travel to the Basel headquarters once every two months, and the General Meeting, the BIS's supreme executive body, takes place once a year.

"So the private banks own the Fed (and other central banks), and the central banks, in turn, own BIS."
 -- also posted at GlobRsrch  ---  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14673
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“Federal Reserve doesn’t know where $1.5 trillion went” -- Of course, sometimes it's hard to follow the money.
---  http://www.russiatoday.com/Politics/2009-08-06/federal-reserve-bailout-media.html
A quote...."The US media’s attempts to use the Freedom of Information Act to find out which banks received financial bailouts were blocked, said legal analyst Nicole Kardell, and the Federal Reserve doesn’t know the answer itself. -- At a time of financial crisis in the United States – after a nearly $800 billion stimulus package was passed this year and after nearly $700 billion in bailout money was passed in 2008 by the Bush administration – Americans are wondering where all the money has gone."
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We Can NOT Inflate Our Way Out of The Debt Trap  ---  http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/08/we-can-not-inflate-our-way-out-of-debt.html
A quote...."UBS economist Paul Donovan shows that governments can't inflate their way out of debt traps:

Inflation pessimists cling resolutely to the belief that inflation will inevitably return. “Fiscal deficits are rising dramatically” goes the argument. “Governments will have to create inflation to reduce debt: GDP ratios, as they have done in the past.” -- The problem with the idea of governments inflating their way out of a debt burden is that it does not work. Absent episodes of hyper-inflation, it is a strategy that has never worked.
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U.S. food stamp list tops 34 million for first time  ---  http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE57569720090806
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the first time, more than 34 million Americans received food stamps in May, the government said on Thursday, another symptom of the longest and one of the deepest recessions since the Great Depression."
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Bleaker Fed Fund Outlook Now Than At Bottom Of Market  ---  http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bleaker-fed-fund-outlook-now-bottom-market
Deflation Update - A quote...."The poll for what the Fed Fund Rate will be on December 16 indicates that a progressively higher number of people see no chance of a rate increase (or vote in the 0.25% bracket) compared to a majority who in March saw a marginal increase to 0.5%. Inflation - good luck with that. The people have spoken, and deflation is here to stay."
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