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May  2010 

 

  The Battle With Mental Illness:  Pentagon 'Officials' Stress "Long War Going Forward" in Afghanistan [05/31/10] "Over eight and a half years after the initial US invasion of Afghanistan the war is arguably the longest in American history. But despite the administration’s vague pretense of an exit strategy, Pentagon officials are emphasizing just how slow things are going.  Gen. Stanley McChrystal today conceded that the occupation of the tiny farming village of Marjah remains “a struggle,” nearly four months after it began. He also openly called for a rethink of President Obama’s July 2011 “handover” timetable, meaningless though that already was, adding that the war would continue “way beyond July 2011.” [...]"  Note: McChrystal is an idiot sequential ... the only way for this foolishness (and all the other foolishness) to stop is for what WILL happen, TO happen, to the USA and everyone else, as this civilization comes to a long-awaited close.

Netanyahu cancels Obama meeting in wake of deadly Gaza flotilla clashes [05/31/10] "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided Monday to cancel his visit to the United States, where he had been invited to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama, in the wake of the deadly clashes that occurred after Israel Navy troops stormed a convoy of international activists carrying aid to the Gaza Strip. Israel has defended the Navy's decision to open fire on the activists during the interception of the boat. At least 10 of the left-wing activists were killed in the incident, and several more wounded. Seven of the Israeli soldiers were wounded during the clashes, two of them seriously. [...]"   

An Israeli War Crimes Tribunal (ICTI) May be the Only Deterrent to a Global War [05/31/10] "The United Nations General Assembly must immediately establish an International Criminal Tribunal for Israel (ICTI) as a "subsidiary organ" under U.N. Charter Article 22. The ICTI would be organized along the lines of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), which was established by the Security Council.  The purpose of the ICTI would be to investigate and prosecute Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine--just as the ICTY did for the victims of international crimes committed by Serbia and the Milosevic Regime throughout the Balkans. [...]"  

Senate Goes on Vacation As Unemployed and Seniors Lose Support [05/31/10] "The U.S. Senate left Washington for a 10-day vacation without taking any action to extend Federal unemployment benefits, even though the average duration of unemployment is now 33 weeks. The official estimates are that 340,000 will lose benefits during the first week of June, and the National Employment Law Project forecasts a total of 1.2 million if the Senate fails to act through the month of June. For most of the only one-third of the unemployed who receive them, these benefits are all that protects them from homelessness and the complete destruction of their families. [...]"   

Netanyahu faces protests in Canada [05/31/10] "Opponents and supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu staged events ahead of a Toronto speech where he pledged not to repeat "mistakes." [...]"  

U.S.: Trial Begins for Ex-Chicago Police Lt. Accused of Torturing More than 100 African American Men [05/31/10] "A former police commander accused of overseeing the torture of more than 100 African American men goes on trial today in Chicago. Former Lieutenant Jon Burge is accused of lying when he denied in a civil lawsuit that he and other detectives had tortured anyone. [...]"  

 Observation:  Israelis know that Rahm Emanuel is an Israeli. Why don't Americans know that also? [05/31/10] "A day after his historic election to become the first black American president, Barack Obama stepped into the role of president-elect yesterday, inviting Rahm Emanuel to join his administration as White House chief of staff, Democratic officials said.  Emanuel, a former Bill Clinton adviser, is the son of a Jerusalem-born pediatrician who was a member of the Irgun (Etzel or IZL), a militant Zionist group that operated in Palestine between 1931 and 1948.  [...]  Emanuel knows Obama from his hometown Chicago and headed the special team that planned the midterm elections in 2006, in which the Democrats recaptured a Congressional majority. Rahm Emanuel's father, Benjamin, yesterday refused to comment on the report that his son was appointed White House chief of staff. He told Haaretz that he would only comment after speaking to his son.  "Obama is a pro-Israeli leader and will be a friend to Israel," he said, adding that he was pleased with Obama's election. He also said his son is the namesake of Rahamim, a Lehi combatant who was killed. "   

In Death-Penalty Cases, Innocence Has to Matter [05/31/10] "... When someone facing the death penalty asks for relevant evidence for DNA testing, the state's answer should simply be yes. After all, the government's interest is not in seeing people put to death or in reflexively defending criminal convictions. It is in making sure that the guilty are punished and the innocent go free. Prosecutors do not always see it that way. They defend all sorts of practices that call into question the reliability of the convictions they obtain. A while back, in an infamous case, Texas fought to execute an inmate even though his lawyer slept at his trial — repeatedly, and for long stretches of time. The Fifth Circuit ultimately ruled that the defendant was entitled to a new trial. This callousness about death-penalty cases is not limited to states like Texas — or to prosecutors. [...]"  

Van Susteren runs opinion poll on her intelligence — and loses [05/31/10] "Fox News host Greta Van Susteren was so upset by a recent viewer email calling her stupid that she put up an opinion poll asking followers to rate who's smarter -- Van Susteren or her detractor, "Brian."  "Who is dumber?" the poll asks. "Greta? Or Brian for spending his time watching someone he thinks is dumb?"  So far, Brian is winning. As of May 29, 78 percent of poll respondents agreed that Van Susteren is dumber than Brian. Of course, Internet polls aren't scientific and are often hijacked by particular groups to make a particular point. But it seems, at the very least, that Van Susteren's fans didn't show up in enough numbers to defend her.  The controversy began early last week when Van Susteren received an email from Brian -- she withheld his last name -- telling her, "You have a mind like a seive [sic]. Your brain is empty. ... Matter of fact, it is so empty, if you put a pea in your skull it would rattle around like a BB in a boxcar.""Why does Brian watch if he thinks I am so stupid? How stupid is that????" Van Susteren asked on her blog.  A few days later, the legal affairs correspondent had to admit her gambit had failed.  The poll was meant to be "a joke," Van Susteren wrote on her blog Friday. "Well...turns out that I am now losing the poll but only in the last 18 hours have the votes spiked. It turns out that since midnight, the poll has gotten an inexplicable number of hits even though it is 4 days old... Of course this is now a cyberspace game and I think it funny. I lost." Putting up a poll on her intelligence is "a move that Fox executives probably would have tried to discourage had they been consulted," writes Michael Calderone at Yahoo! News. [...]"  

Blurred Out: 51 Things You Aren't Allowed to See on Google Maps [05/31/10] "Depending on which feature you use, Google Maps offers a satellite view or a street-level view of tons of locations around the world. You can look up landmarks like the Pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of China, as well as more personal places, like your ex’s house. But for all of the places that Google Maps allows you to see, there are plenty of places that are off-limits. Whether it’s due to government restrictions, personal-privacy lawsuits or mistakes, Google Maps has slapped a "Prohibited" sign on the following 51 places. [...]"   

"Psychopaths United For Israel" [05/31/10] "Nobody does that better than John Hagee, Pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. Last Sunday, Hagee addressed the second annual ‘Christian’s United For Israel’ event that drew fellow psychopaths from all 50 states and 50 nations around the globe. Hagee spewed the same lies and hateful rhetoric that he’s been propagating for decades. [...]"    

Shot in Iraq, soldier gets bill for missing equipment [05/31/10] "As Americans prepare to honor fallen soldiers this Memorial Day, one former Oregon National Guard member is wondering why he's being charged more than $3,000 for military gear that was lost after he was shot. Gary Pfleider, a six-year veteran of the Guard, received a Purple Heart after he was shot by a sniper in Iraq. Some time later, he received a somewhat less gratifying award: A bill for $3,175 for military equipment that was lost when he was shipped out of Iraq for medical treatment. [...]"   

The Battle With Mental Illness: Rand Paul: "400,000 troops needed to secure N. Korea and its 'loose nukes'" [05/31/10] "If there's one sure way to infuriate the North Koreans, it's to talk of "regime collapse" and "contingency planning". As far as Pyongyang is concerned, such speculation is proof positive of United States-led plotting of a "pre-emptive strike". [...]"  Note:  Rand Paul, trying to ride on his fathers coattails, is even MORE DANGEROUS than George W. Bush. He even looks and sounds mentally unbalanced ... another loser. He forgets that North Korea has the largest standing army in the world, 1 million men, and more.

Corbett Report: TV Lies, TV Lies & More TV Lies - Sunday Update [05/30/10] [9:23]  

Iran narrowly wins UN nuclear battle [05/30/10] "Israel was the big loser in the nuclear review conference in New York - and Iran the big winner. The cause of nuclear non-proliferation was haltingly served in that the conference did reach a consensus, unlike the last time, and a number of watered-down measures were agreed to seek ways of strengthening the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). But overall, there was not the decisive strengthening that some states wanted. Instead, governments rallied round one objective - the concept of a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East. This was first called for 15 years ago but until now neglected. To its annoyance, Israel found that the US did not block a proposal to hold a one-off conference in 2012 on setting up such a zone. In addition Israel was named for not being a party to the treaty and for not having its nuclear activities under international inspection. Being named like this is always regarded as a diplomatic defeat. It will produce further soul-searching about the relationship between Israel and the US administration of President Barack Obama, which has often been tense and which will now be more so. Israel has already denounced the agreement as "hypocrisy". [...]"     

Commentary: The American century is so over [05/30/10] "Irrespective of their politics, flawed leaders share a common trait. They generally remain remarkably oblivious to the harm they do to the nation they lead. George W Bush is a salient recent example, as is former British prime minister Tony Blair. When it comes to foreign policy, we are now witnessing a similar phenomenon at the Barack Obama White House. Here is the Obama pattern. Choose a foreign leader to pressure. Threaten him with dire consequences if he does not bend to Washington's will. When he refuses to submit and instead responds vigorously, back off quickly and overcompensate for failure by switching into a placatory mode. Those who have refused to buckle under Obama's initial threats and hardball tactics (and so the impact of American power) include not just the presidents of China, a first-tier mega-nation, and Brazil, a rising major power, but also the leaders of Israel, a regional power heavily dependent on Washington for its sustenance, and Afghanistan, a client state - not to mention the military junta of Honduras, a minor entity, which stood up to the Obama administration as if it were the politburo of the former Soviet Union. [...]"   

Drug giant's move angers Greeks [05/30/10] "The world's leading insulin-provider says it is withdrawing its medicine from Greece, because of a compulsory 25% price cut. [...]"  Note:  The Greek government acts like Wal-Mart does, when it drives small businesses into the ground, so no insulin for the Greeks.

Actor Dennis Hopper dies aged 74 [05/30/10] "Hollywood actor Dennis Hopper dies at his California home, aged 74, following a battle with prostate cancer. [...]"  

 Commentary:  Why Is Israel afraid of a few boats? [05/29/10] "Hundreds of activists are on their way to the blockaded Gaza strip via a "flotilla" of boats carrying humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, which are badly lacking in the impoverished Palestinian territory. Israel has promised to intercept the good-willed boats and arrest and deport the activists. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has exerted great effort in the past few days to convince onlookers to this confrontation on the high seas that the activists carrying humanitarian goods are terrorist sympathizers, and that everything is just fine and dandy in the Gaza Strip. The ministry has portrayed Israel (the country enforcing the blockade of Gaza's ports) as a benevolent victim, who despite the threat from Gaza's Hamas government is still caring for the civilian population. [...]"  Note: The fleet is expected to arrive in Gaza on Saturday 29th of May carrying 750 participants from more than 60 countries, including 44 government officials, parliamentary and European political and Arab countries.  The fleet also carries more than 10 thousand tons of medical supplies and construction materials. 

Israel: Lieberman deems Gaza flotilla 'violent' [05/28/10] "Foreign minister says 'there is no humanitarian crisis in Strip,' calls fleet of aid ship en route to Gaza 'an attempt at violent propaganda against Israel.' We will not allow violation of our sovereignty, he adds. (Former nightclub bouncer) Avigdor Lieberman said Friday afternoon that "the flotilla is an attempt at violent propaganda against Israel, and Israel will not allow a violation of its sovereignty at sea, in the air, or on land." Lieberman, who spoke during a visit to the Forgein Ministry's situation room, added, "There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and despite the Hamas leadership's war crimes and rocket fire, Israel is conducting itself in the most humanitarian manner, and is allowing the entrance of thousands of tons of food and equipment to Gaza.  On Thursday, the Israeli Navy prepared for the expected encounter with the aid flotilla making its way to Gaza. IDF sources said they were concerned that terrorists may try to use the "Freedom Flotilla" to enter the Strip or smuggle in weapons."   [...]"  Note: This guy is behaving like a delusional sociopath ... not helpful to Israel. 

Fox News show: Gitmo ’suicides’ torture gone wrong? [05/28/10] "When three detainees at Guantanamo Bay were found hanged in their cells on June 9, 2006, the official explanation was suicide. Human rights attorney Scott Horton, however, believes that "clearly these were homicides." Horton has been speaking out about the incident since last winter, apparently motivated by a concern that the Obama administration may be participating in a cover-up. A Justice Department investigation was closed last fall without challenging the official version of the men's deaths. In an appearance Thursday on Fox News' Freedom Watch, Horton stated that the only real question in his mind is whether the men's deaths were deliberate murders or were "negligent homicides" resulting from "some sort of procedure that was performed on them." He suggested, for example, that they might have suffocated as a result of being gagged while undergoing torture. "The father of one of the deceased," Horton noted, "who himself was a general in the Saudi Arabian police, said he examined the body and he saw evidence of torture. He's convinced of that." The show's host, Judge Andrew Napolitano, appeared clearly skeptical of the government account, and the segment was bannered, "Are the 'suicides' really torture interrogations gone wrong?" [...]"  

UN human rights expert: CIA drone strikes violate laws of war [05/28/10] "The use of drones by U.S. intelligence agencies to target suspected militants in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere lacks the accountability required under international law, a U.N. human rights expert said Friday. Philip Alston, a New York University law professor, will call next week for new international rules to govern the use of drones to ensure they are deployed in line with the laws of war. The CIA's program of drone strikes against suspected al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents has never been publicly acknowledged by U.S. administration officials, even though it has been written about extensively in the media. A CIA spokesman said last month that the intelligence agency's counterterror operations are conducted in strict accord with the law. "In my view there is no legal prohibition on CIA agents, or you and me, deciding to take a 'direct part in hostilities,' which is not to say that it is desirable," Alston told The Associated Press in an e-mail Friday. [...]"  Related: U.N. Official to Ask U.S. to End C.I.A. Drone Strikes "... Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said Thursday that he would deliver a report on June 3 to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva declaring that the “life and death power” of drones should be entrusted to regular armed forces, not intelligence agencies. He contrasted how the military and the C.I.A. responded to allegations that strikes had killed civilians by mistake. “With the Defense Department you’ve got maybe not perfect but quite abundant accountability as demonstrated by what happens when a bombing goes wrong in Afghanistan,” he said in an interview. “The whole process that follows is very open. Whereas if the C.I.A. is doing it, by definition they are not going to answer questions, not provide any information, and not do any follow-up that we know about.”  [...]"   

UK: Millions were in germ war tests [05/28/10] "The Ministry of Defence turned large parts of the country into a giant laboratory to conduct a series of secret germ warfare tests on the public. A government report just released provides for the first time a comprehensive official history of Britain’s biological weapons trials between 1940 and 1979. Many of these tests involved releasing potentially dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms over vast swaths of the population without the public being told. While details of some secret trials have emerged in recent years, the 60-page report reveals new information about more than 100 covert experiments. The report reveals that military personnel were briefed to tell any ‘inquisitive inquirer’ the trials were part of research projects into weather and air pollution. The tests, carried out by government scientists at Porton Down, were designed to help the MoD assess Britain’s vulnerability if the Russians were to have released clouds of deadly germs over the country. In most cases, the trials did not use biological weapons but alternatives which scientists believed would mimic germ warfare and which the MoD claimed were harmless. But families in certain areas of the country who have children with birth defects are demanding a public inquiry. [...]"   

Iranian Navy detects US nuke sub in Persian Gulf [05/28/10] "Iranian naval forces have detected a US nuclear submarine in the Persian Gulf waters, amid growing concerns over the safety of one of the most important energy routes in the world. [...] 

Ron Paul: " Change the Philosophy of Government" [05/28/10] Video clip [7:49] "Ron Paul talks about the financial crisis, the Financial Reform Bill, Glass-Steagall Act, a potential VAT tax, term limits, and more. [...]"  Note:  Press pause and let load for a couple mins before continuing ... the load/play is out of synch.

U.S. Media Censors U.S. Support of Iran Fuel Swap [05/28/10] "If you were paying close attention, you might know that the deal is quite similar to one proposed a few months ago by the United States. An initial AP story on the Washington Post's website last Monday - which I cited at the time - said the agreement was "nearly identical" to the deal the U.S. was pressing for, although by the end of the day the AP article on the Post's website had been revised to downgrade this comparison to "mirrors." [The original AP story is still visible here.] U.S. officials have dismissed the deal brokered by Brazil and Turkey, even though the deal is "nearly identical" to the one proposed by the U.S. Indeed, according to the Washington Post, U.S. officials are "thoroughly irritated" with Turkey for its role in mediating the agreement. [...]"  Related: Russia vows support for Iran fuel swap | Ban says Tehran declaration builds trust  "UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon describes the Tehran fuel swap declaration as a positive step at easing international tension over Iran's nuclear program."  | Merkel tells Iran to consider nuclear offer  "Nearly two weeks after the Tehran nuclear fuel swap declaration, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urges Iran to reconsider the Vienna Group's offer."   

Democratic leaders trim jobs package's economic incentives, leave business perks [05/28/10] "In a scramble for votes Thursday, Democratic leaders scaled back what was to be a nearly $200 billion package of economic incentives by trimming jobless benefits and payments to doctors who see Medicare patients -- but leaving intact perks for the oil, cotton and coal industries, and subsidies for NASCAR tracks and Puerto Rican rum. The fate of the "American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010" remains uncertain as moderate House Democrats increasingly question the wisdom of adding $84 billion to the deficit to pay for scores of narrow provisions that represent the tax code's version of earmarks.  [...]"  Note: Unconscionable.

Kagan Has Saudi, Bin Laden Money Ties [05/28/10] "In a disturbing revelation for a Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan took millions of dollars from the Saudis as dean of Harvard Law School and a chunk of it reportedly came from the bin Laden family, who has donated millions of dollars to the Ivy League university over the years, including generous endowments for the school’s Islamic law program and others to finance scholarships for students from Muslim countries. The family has a fondness for Harvard because Osama bin Laden’s brother, Abdullah, received a master’s degree from the school in the 1990s and a doctorate in 2000.  [...]"    

Watching Israel De-legitimize the U.S. [05/27/10] "The United Nations has long been scheduled to review the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and to consider the creation of a Middle East free of nuclear weapons. As the date approached, the world community experienced a well-timed torpedo attack on a South Korean warship, allegedly by a North Korean submarine. In the midst of these negotiations, mainstream media has been flooding the national consciousness with power-of-association stories about Iran, its nuclear program and even its links to North Korea. Tehran, of course, was the third member in the trio of Bush-era Evil Doers. News outlets controlled by Israeli-American Rupert Murdoch are particularly active, including Fox News and The Wall Street Journal.  [...]"  Note: What’s behind the sudden crisis in Korea? Who benefits? 

N Korea Military Tactics In A War With US: A Strategy Of Massive Retaliations Against US Attacks  Note: Seems a little over top, with reference to the capabilities of the North Koreans ... I suspect this is hype written by the South Koreans, as military propaganda. Regardless, it's a really bad place to be on this planet right now.

Politics: Maine GOP Adopts Revolutionary Platform [05/27/10] [5:30]  "The new platform the Maine GOP is taking. It is strong in language and greatly supports following the Constitution. [...]"    

MSM: DHS: "Terror Plots Against U.S. At All-Time High" [05/27/10] "The pace and number of attempted terror attacks against the U.S. over the past nine months has surpassed the number of attempts during any previous one-year period, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security report issued on Friday, May 21. [...]"  Note: Delusional self-justification by control freak buffoonish goons. More propaganda. They should all just get honest employment. They are domestic terrorists.

Israel’s bomb out of the shadows: nuclear offer to apartheid regime blows diplomatic cover [05/27/10] "Israel faces unprecedented pressure to abandon its official policy of “ambiguity” on its possession of nuclear weapons as the international community meets at the United Nations in New York this week to consider banning such arsenals from the Middle East. [...] Related: Israeli nuclear espionage: the art of keeping America at risk for fun and profit [05/27/10] "Gordon Duff views how Israel and its US spies have been stealing, reverse-engineering and peddling American military secrets and technology. [...]"  

FBI Whistleblower Sentenced to 20 Months in Prison [05/26/10] "The Obama administration’s crackdown on leaks to the press has snared a high-profile conviction of an FBI linguist, who was sentenced to 20 months in prison Monday after pleading guilty to giving classified information to a blogger. The sentence for Shamai Leibowitz is likely to become the longest ever served by a government official or contractor providing classified information to the press. [...]"  

Commentary: The Army Corps of Clowns and Fools [05/26/10] "The governor of Louisiana is begging the Obammunists to give him permission to build up sand bars to protect his state from the oil spill. The response he’s gotten is that he has to wait until the Army Corps of Engineers conducts and ecological “study” of the effects of sand bars. Let’s not forget that the Army Corps of Engineers were responsible for the disaster of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans because of their bogus, corrupt, and inept management of the seawalls around that city. It was the inadequacy of the nationalized seawalls, not the hurricane per se, that was the source of the problem. Now these same idiots are preventing the people of Louisiana, through their own government, to deal with this problem. Their governor has said he would go to prison if necessary by ignoring the asinine order from the Obammunists and build the sand bars anyway. If that were to occur, the “Tea Party” people should mobilize all of their resources for the jail break. [...]"   |

Jamaica Declares State of Emergency After Obama Demands Arrest of “Robin Hood” Drug Lord [05/26/10] "Jamaican Security forces searched a volatile Kingston slum for an alleged drug lord on Tuesday after at least seven people died in violence triggered by government orders to extradite him to the United States,” reports Reuters. “Heavily armed soldiers and police conducted went door-to-door in the hunt for Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke in the Tivoli Gardens neighborhood of West Kingston.”  [...]"  Note:  Check the story out. There are a LOT of OTHER ancillary issues going on down there.   Related: Dozens Dead in Jamaica Standoff  "The death toll rose again in Jamaica on Tuesday, the third day of violent clashes between police and military forces and supporters of Christopher “Dudus” Coke, whom the U.S. is seeking to extradite on gun-running and drug-trafficking charges. The exact body count wasn’t clear, but the Guardian mentioned that “dozens” were killed that day in street battles as Coke remained in hiding.  [...]"    Note: Another clusterfuck sponsored by by the current 'administration' of buffoons.  Video: Police gain control of drug lord's stronghold  Video clip " Streets in Kingston are virtually deserted as Jamaican security forces have cracked down on drug gangs. As ITV's John Irvine reports, the search continues for the drug kingpin, who is wanted in the U.S. (Nightly News) [...]"  

Former CIA Officials Admit To Faking Bin Laden Video [05/26/10] "Two former CIA officials have admitted to creating a fake video in which intelligence officers dressed up as Osama Bin Laden and his cronies in an effort to defame the terrorist leader throughout the middle east. The details are outlined in a Washington Post article by investigative reporter and former Army Intelligence case officer Jeff Stein... [...]"    

Psych Drugs Killing US Military Vets In Their Sleep [05/26/10] " Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD today announced the results of his research into the "series" of veterans' deaths acknowledged by the Surgeon General of the Army. Upon reading the May 24, 2008, Charleston (WV) Gazette article "Vets Taking Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Drugs Die in Sleep," Baughman began to investigate why these reported deaths were "different." And, why they were likely, the "tip of an iceberg." [...]"   

Obama Set To Send 1,200 Troops To US-Mexico Border [05/26/10] "Under pressure to take action, President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered 1,200 National Guard troops to boost security along the U.S.-Mexico border, pre-empting Republican efforts to force a congressional vote to send the troops. Obama will also request $500 million for border protection and law enforcement activities, according to lawmakers and administration officials. [...]The National Guard troops will work on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, analysis and training, and support efforts to block drug trafficking. They will temporarily supplement Border Patrol agents until Customs and Border Protection can recruit and train additional officers and agents to serve on the border, according to a letter Tuesday from top administration security officials to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich. [...]"   

 Commentary:  On The Absence Of Debate Over War by Glenn Greenwald [05/26/10] "Here we find, once again, one of the most consequential aspects of the Obama presidency thus far: the conversion of numerous Bush/Cheney policies from what they once were (controversial, divisive, right-wing extremism) into what they have become (uncontroversial bipartisan consensus). One sees this dynamic most clearly in the Terrorism/civil-liberties realm, but it is quite glaring in the realm of war as well...With both political parties affirming over and over that we are going to be at "war" for years, indeed decades, it's unsurprising that so few people are interested in debating "war." That's true even for the limited question of Afghanistan, where most Republicans won't question a war their President began and most Democrats won't question a war their President has vigorously embraced as his own. From the perspective of the permanent factions that rule Washington -- from Wall Street and AIPAC to the intelligence and military "communities" -- therein lies the beauty of the two-party system: as long as both party establishments support a particular policy, any meaningful debate over it comes to a grinding halt. [...]"   

European 'crime group' targeted [05/26/10] "Police in Britain, Spain and Ireland arrested 32 people in simultaneous raids against a major international criminal group. [...]"   

 Commentary: Now it’s ‘Everybody Deny the Holocaust Day Michael Peck [05/26/10] "This is how you payback the unbelievers. Some Muslims, furious at the “Everybody Draw Muhammed Day”, are retaliating with an “Everybody Draw the Holocaust Day”. Of course, what the author of this Facebook page really means is an Everybody Deny the Holocaust Day, which will teach the infidels not to draw Muhammad in a bear suit. His semi-coherent manifesto seems to be that if people have the right to draw the Prophet Muhammed, then they have the right to question the existence of the Holocaust. [...]"  Note: Ha! It's really 'sacred cow' vs. 'sacred cow' for these people.  

Obama admin. backs Vatican’s claim of immunity to sexual abuse lawsuits [05/26/10] "The Obama administration in a brief to the Supreme Court has backed the Vatican's claim of immunity from lawsuits arising from cases of sexual abuse by priests in the United States.  The Supreme Court is considering an appeal by the Vatican of an appellate court ruling that lifted its immunity in the case of an alleged pedophile priest from Oregon. In a filing on Friday, the solicitor general's office argued that the Ninth Circuit court of appeals erred in allowing the lawsuit brought by a man who claims he was sexually abused in the 1960s by the Oregon priest. The unnamed plaintiff, who cited the Holy See and several other parties as defendants, argued the Vatican should be held responsible for transferring the priest to Oregon and letting him serve there despite previous accusations he had abused children in Chicago and in Ireland.  The solicitor general's office, which defends the position of President Barack Obama's administration before the Supreme Court, said the Ninth Circuit improperly found the case to be an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, a 1976 federal law that sets limits on when other countries can face lawsuits in US courts. [...]"   

Interview: National Suicide : How Washington is Destroying the American Dream [05/26/10] Video clip [10:42]  "Jim Puplava talks to Martin L. Gross about his books National Suicide : How Washington Is Destroying the American Dream from A to Z and The Government Racket : Washington Waste A to Z recorded on May 22nd 2010 [...]"  

Report:  Without Intent: How Congress Is Eroding the Criminal Intent Requirement in Federal Law [05/26/10] Note: Interesting, especially the analyses in the online appendix. 

Exposé: Three Felonies A Day: Are you a potential felon? [05/26/10] " The average professional in this country wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes home, eats dinner, and then goes to sleep, unaware that he or she has likely committed several federal crimes that day. Why? The answer lies in the very nature of modern federal criminal laws, which have exploded in number but also become impossibly broad and vague. In Three Felonies a Day (Encounter Books), Harvey A. Silverglate reveals how federal criminal laws have become dangerously disconnected from the English common law tradition and how prosecutors can pin arguable federal crimes on any one of us, even for seemingly innocuous behavior. The dangers spelled out in Three Felonies a Day do not apply solely to “white collar criminals,” state and local politicians, and professionals. No social class or profession is safe from this troubling form of social control by the executive branch, and nothing less than the integrity of our constitutional democracy hangs in the balance. [...]"   

Politics:  Clinton: "How Dare They Make a Deal With Iran" [05/25/10] "“I think this announcement is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken in Tehran over the last few days as any we could provide,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on START (strategic arms reduction treaty) on May 18, announcing the introduction of a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council and thus sharply rebuking the nuclear fuel agreement announced by Turkey, Iran, and Brazil in Tehran a day earlier. In essence, she was telling Turkey and Brazil, “How dare you make a deal with Iran?” (According to the principles voiced earlier by Obama and generally sanctioned worldwide by every major nation except the US and Is-Not-Real) [...]"  Note:  The cunt-in-chief lives in her little world where what she says has to matter to everyone, when in fact she comes off as a total buffoon.  Related: Nuclear Fuel Swap Deal: US Sabotages 'Unique Opportunity' for Peaceful Resolution with Iran   "This week, Obama's fine words were put to the test when, on 17 May, Iran announced a joint declaration with Turkey and Brazil on a nuclear fuel swap deal that, in the words of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdorgan, provides a unique opportunity to resolve the long-running dispute between the US and its western allies and Iran over the latter's nuclear programme. "There is a unique chance before us and I believe that we should take this chance," said Erdogan following the signed accord, which was also brokered in Tehran by Brazilian president Lula da Silva. "I urge the international community to support this final declaration, which is going to have a very positive impact on the establishment of world peace in the future," added Erdogan. But less than 24 hours after the nuclear fuel swap plan - which was hailed as a positive development by diverse opinion, including UN chief Ban Ki-moon, China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi and even French president Nicolas Sarkozy - the Obama administration moved swiftly to sabotage the deal. [...]"   

Exposé:  German Paper Reports CIA Counterfeiting US Currency [05/25/10]  The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung is reporting that the CIA may be counterfeiting $50 and $100 bills to avoid congressional oversight of covert operations, while blaming the forgeries on North Korea.  Don't take this with a grain of salt, take it with one of those 25 pound salt licks. No one else in the world seems to be repeating this story and it was published sunday. On the other hand, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung is a fairly respectable paper (info here) and, if it weren't for how far out their the story sounds and the fact that no one else is touching it, I'd probably believe it. Consider this story an illustration of how much damage the CIA's secret prisons in Europe and 'extraordinary rendition' progam have done to the US reputation abroad -- we're now no more trustworthy than Kim Jong Il. [...]"  

GOP Senator Vows To Block Kagan Hearings Until He's Read Her Clinton-Era Files [05/25/10] "The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee warned Monday that he would seek to slow Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's path to confirmation unless senators get full access to her files as a Clinton administration aide. "We're heading to what could be a train wreck," Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama said. "I don't believe that this committee can go forward with an adequate hearing" without all records from Kagan's tenure as a White House counsel and then domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the Judiciary Committee chairman, last week set hearings to begin on June 28. Sessions said Republicans would ask for a delay unless senators get access to the tens of thousands of pages of Clinton-era records by then. Sessions doesn't have a veto over the hearing schedule, but his threat set the stage for a potential partisan showdown over the documents and the pace of Kagan's confirmation process. Kagan, 50, is President Barack Obama's choice to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. Obama named her two weeks ago and asked that the Senate confirm her in time for her to join the court at the start of its new session this fall. Leahy's hearing date would meet that timetable, paving the way for a vote in the full Senate before its monthlong August vacation. [...]"   

Exposé:  Homeland Security Officers Go On Spending Spree [05/24/10] "Officers at the Homeland Security agency that secures federal buildings went on huge personal spending sprees with their government credit cards yet authorities refuse to punish them or force them to refund taxpayers.  The "Federal Protective Service" (FPS) employees bought fancy clothes, gold coins, flat-screen televisions, gym memberships and athletic shoes with Uncle Sam’s money but they will face no consequences for their corrupt actions. Federal prosecutors have twice refused to charge them and the Department of Homeland Security won’t reprimand them, despite a government agency inspector general report documenting the wrongdoing.  Details of the cover up were made public recently by a Washington D.C. newspaper that obtained records through the Freedom of Information Act. It turns out that the feds have been quietly probing the scandal, involving 21 FPS employees, for five years. Three agents apparently resigned, four retired, five may face a “possible reprimand” and the rest will cruise as if nothing ever happened.  The FPS employees racked up thousands of dollars in unauthorized personal expenses on their government-issued purchase cards during a transition period in which the agency moved from the General Services Administration (GSA) to the Department of Homeland Security. A GSA Inspector General report said the employees took advantage of the transition period “to loot GSA resources by purchasing unauthorized goods.”  Charges include $60,000 in tuition payments, $32,000 for men’s suits at upscale stores, $15,000 for gold and silver coins and $8,000 in gym memberships. Additionally, the federal employees illegally used expense vouchers to get reimbursement for more than $9,000 in clothing, including an $800 tuxedo.  The overwhelming evidence and solid documentation led investigators at the inspector general’s office to refer the case to the Justice Department for prosecution, but the agency has twice refused to act. In 2005, prosecutors determined that FPS employees had not been appropriately advised of their rights. Prosecutors refused to provide a reason for turning the case down again in 2008.  Created in 1971, the FPS claims to be a “highly trained and multi-disciplined police force” with 1,225 employees. Its mission is to assure that federal properties are safe and secure for government employees, officials and visitors. The federal agency also oversees a staff of 15,000 contract guards that help secure more than 9,000 buildings nationwide. [...]"  Note:  The Justice Department is corrupt and criminally negligent.

Exposé:  Ex-Congressman Revealed Allegations of Cheney Discussions With Petraeus About 2012 Presidency  [05/24/10] "Gentlemen, what we have here is a constitutional crisis," then-Congressman Eric Massa (D-NY) told editors for Esquire Magazine (Eric Massa's Secret) in January. "If what I've been told is true — and I believe it is — General David Petraeus, a commander with soldiers deployed in two theaters of war, has had multiple meetings with Dick Cheney, the former vice-president of the United States, to discuss Petraeus's candidacy for the Republican nomination for the presidency. And in fact, that's more than a constitutional crisis. That's treason." [...] The tale is developed by Ryan D'Agostino on Esquire's website as part of a longer profile piece on Massa, who resigned in March after accusations that he had sexually groped multiple male staffers.  One month before, in early January, Congressman Massa had called me and sketched out the bare bones of the tale he was now propounding. Four retired generals, he said — "three four-stars and one three-star" — had picked up disturbing reports that Petraeus, the commander of United States Central Command, whose portfolio contains the worst trouble spots on the globe, including Iraq and Afghanistan, had recently met with Cheney — twice — and Cheney was trying to recruit him to run in 2012. Were he to be the nominee, Massa said, Petraeus would be in the unprecedented position of a military man running for president against his own commander in chief." "We have to see this for what it is," Massa said, his voice pleading. "There is a reason that we have in this country civilian leadership of the military. It is, among other things, to avoid something like this. Because in order to succeed electorally, General Petraeus must fail militarily. You understand? In order to succeed electorally, he must fail in his mission. Were he to run and win — and if he were to run, he would win in a landslide — we would be witness to an American coup d'état. It is the functional equivalent of the political overthrow of the commander in chief."  The congressman punctuated his sentence with a snort of indignation, followed by a short, high laugh. He searched the three other faces in the room for affirmation, any sign at all that we understood the gravity of the situation, because he had to that point been living alone with this unseemly knowledge. For a moment, he was met with silence. The story Massa had just told was staggering, and confusing. And just who was this man sitting before us? His eyes were wide and his voice thundered and a couple of times he seemed just short of hyperventilating. But if this story that four generals — "people whose names you know, very prominent military men" — had brought to him had any basis in fact, and if Petraeus were deliberately undermining his commander in chief, shouldn't somebody be bellowing about it? [...]    

U.N. Internet Tax Dead - For Now [05/24/10] "A controversial United Nations plan to impose consumer taxes on such things as Internet activity and paying bills online in order to drastically restructure the world drug industry hit a wall of disagreement on Friday, and is likely dead -- for now [...]"  

Members of Swedish Parliament demand security for Ship to Gaza [05/24/10] "On Wednesday, Helén Pettersson, Social Democratic member of the Swedish Parliament, submitted a written inquiry to Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, asking what measures the government intends to take in order to protect Ship to Gaza’s peaceful, lawful, humanitarian initiative. The reason for the inquiry is that Ship to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla—the coalition in which the Swedish initiative will be included— has been threatened with military resistance from Israeli authorities and private individuals. The following is Petterson’s inquiry in its entirety: [...]"     

US official: At odds with China over NKorea, Iran [05/24/10] "The United States and China are still at odds about how to deal with North Korea over the sinking of a South Korean warship it has been blamed for, a senior U.S. official said Sunday. They also remain apart on the specifics on new U.N. sanctions to impose on Iran over its suspect nuclear program, the official said. [...]"   

U.S. senate votes to maintain big pharma's monopoly by blocking competitive imports [05/23/10] "Other Senators charged that the real motive behind the claim of safety concerns was to preserve a recent deal between the White House and the pharmaceutical industry, in which the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) agreed to fund $80 billion worth of health care reform by accepting higher taxes and price agreements. According to a number of congressional staffers and pharmaceutical industry lobbyists, the deal included a verbal promise by President Obama to not support drug importation. [...]" 

North Korea "sees' US role in the sinking of South Korean ship [05/23/10] "Despite its strong denial of any involvement and expressions of sympathy for lost fellow Koreans, fingers are being pointed at North Korea over the tragic sinking of the 1,200-ton South Korean corvette Cheonan in the West Sea or Yellow Sea on the night of March 26. "A North Korean torpedo attack was the most likely cause for the sinking of a South Korean warship last month," an unnamed US military official told CNN on April 26. Up to 46 of the ship's 104 sailors were killed in the sinking. Apparently, North Korea is being set up as the fall guy in an incident that is so mysterious that a Los Angeles Times April 26 story datelined Seoul was headlined, "James Bond Theories Arise in Korean Ship Sinking".  [...]"  U.N. body probes North Korea's possible truce violation "Pyongyang said on Saturday it wanted to send its own investigators across the border, repeating that it would like to make its own assessment of the South Korean investigation. South Korea's Defense Ministry officials said the government would reject the request. [...]"   

Hezbollah reportedly mobilizing in Lebanon ahead of large IDF drill [05/23/10] "Hezbollah has mobilized thousands of its militants in southern Lebanon ahead of a major Israel Defense Forces drill planned for next week, AFP reported on Friday.  Qaouk declared that Hezbollah would not hesitate to respond should Israel launch a military offensive on Lebanon. "In the event of any new attack on Lebanon, the Israelis will not find anywhere in Palestine to hide," he told AFP. [...]"  

Brazil hints US should accept fuel swap [05/23/10] "Brazilian officials have hinted that the US should accept Iran's nuclear fuel swap declaration since it contained provisions suggested by US President Barack Obama. [...]"  

17 States Now Filing Versions of Arizona’s Immigration Bill SB 1070 [05/23/10] "ARKANSAS, IDAHO, INDIANA, MARYLAND, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MISSOURI, NEBRASKA, NEVADA, NEW JERSEY, OHIO, OKLAHOMA, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, TEXAS, UTAH [...]"  Note: No doubt, this will probably be overturned in a cascade similar to the one that happened with the passage of the AZ bill. 

Food is largest single source of waste in California: 15.5 percent of the state’s waste [05/23/10] "Farmers, restaurants and supermarkets throw away millions of tons of edible food each year at a time when a growing number of Californians struggle to put food on the table.  More than 6 million tons of food products are dumped annually, enough to fill the Staples Center in Los Angeles 35 times over, state studies have found. Food is the largest single source of waste in California, making up 15.5 percent of the state’s waste stream, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board.  An examination by California Watch and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California found shortcomings along California’s food distribution chain that allow vast amounts of food to go to waste in landfills, despite incentives that encourage food donations. [...]"    

Courts quash cuts, add to state's budget woes [05/23/10] "The judicial branch is now a full player in the budget because the decisions they are making have an impact on what the governor and Legislature can or cannot do," said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the Department of Finance. "The judiciary does not have to deal with the fiscal consequence of the rulings - they say you can't do a spending reduction, but we have to come up with another $100 million in cuts somewhere else."  This year, the Republican governor is blaming the courts for some of the most controversial cuts contained in his budget proposal for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. He says judges' mandates left him no option but to propose the wholesale elimination of programs, including welfare.[...]" 

Chevron's "Crude" Attempt to Suppress Free Speech  by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship [05/22/10] "Even as headlines and broadcast news are dominated by BP's fire-ravaged, sunken offshore rig and the ruptured well gushing a reported 210,000 gallons of oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico, there's another important story involving Big Oil and pollution - one that shatters not only the environment but the essential First Amendment right of journalists to tell truth and shame the devil. (Have you read, by the way, that after the surviving, dazed and frightened workers were evacuated from that burning platform, they were met by lawyers from the drilling giant Transocean with forms to sign stating they had not been injured and had no first-hand knowledge of what had happened?! So much for the corporate soul.) But our story is about another petrochemical giant - Chevron - and a major threat to independent journalism. In New York last Thursday, Federal Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered documentary producer and director Joe Berlinger to turn over to Chevron more than 600 hours of raw footage used to create a film titled Crude: The Real Price of Oil. [...]"  

Senators press for National Guard troops on border [05/22/10] "Homeland Security and Pentagon officials are at loggerheads over a plan to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, even as President Barack Obama is pledging to bolster security there.  The Guard stalemate has festered for nearly a year, and frustrated lawmakers are demanding action to stem the spread of violence and drug trafficking that has spilled across the border into their states. The inaction raises questions about whether the White House is convinced the federally funded deployment is necessary, or whether border states will be forced to bear the costs of dispatching the Guard troops on their own. [...]"  

Obama Czar Harvard Flunkie Cass Sunstein Wants Mandatory Government Propaganda On Political Websites [05/22/10] "Disturbing audio has emerged of White House information czar Cass Sunstein, who in a previous white paper called for banning “conspiracy theories,” demanding that websites be mandated by law to link to opposing information or that pop ups containing government propaganda be forcibly included on political blogs. [...]"  

Ray McGovern : US, Israel Challenged on Iran [05/22/10] "The times may be a-changin’ — at least a bit — with the United States and Israel no longer able to dictate to the rest of the world how crises in the Middle East must be handled, though the new reality has been slow to dawn on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her neocon friends in Congress and the U.S. media. They may think they are still in control, still the smart ones looking down at upstarts like the leaders of Turkey and Brazil who had the audacity to ignore U.S. warnings and press ahead with diplomacy to head off a possible new war, this one over Iran. [...]"   

Cyberwar Cassandras Get $400 Million in Conflict Cash [05/22/10] "Coincidences sure are funny things. Booz Allen Hamilton — the defense contractor that’s become synonymous with the idea that the U.S. is getting its ass kicked in an ongoing cyberwar — has racked up more than $400 million worth of deals in the past six weeks to help the Defense Department fight that digital conflict. Strange how that worked out, huh?  Everyone in the Pentagon from Defense Secretary Bob Gates on down says that the military needs to cut its reliance on outside contractors. But few firms are as well-connected as Booz Allen, the one-time management consultancy that today pulls in more than $2.7 billion in government work. And few firms sound the alarm as loudly about a crisis that they’re in the business of fixing. Back in February, for instance, former National Security Agency director and Booz Allen Hamilton executive vice president Mike McConnell declared that “the United States is fighting a cyber-war today, and we are losing.” The White House’s information security czar is one of many experts who calls such rhetoric overheated, at best. That hasn’t stopped Booz Allen from pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars from Washington to wage those "battles". [...]"  

(Ron Paul's delusional son) Rand Paul Calls Obama’s Treatment of BP ‘Un-American’ [05/22/10] "Taking another unconventional stand, Kentucky’s Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul criticized President Barack Obama’s handling of the Gulf oil spill Friday as anti-business and sounding “really un-American.” Paul’s defense of the oil company came during an interview as he tried to explain his controversial take on civil rights law, an issue that has overtaken his campaign since his victory in Tuesday’s GOP primary. [...]"  Note:  "Since when is coddling big businesses gone horribly awry a pro-American value? Although it could be inferred that several successive administrations have abided by this economic ethic, leave it to the GOP’s newly christened "Next Big Thing", Rand Paul, to champion the cause by slamming President Obama’s critical stance towards British Petroleum since the Gulf of Mexico disaster erupted. It’s “un-American,” see, to come down hard on those poor suits at BP, once the terms free market and freedom are so confusingly conflated."  Few Republican senators dare to defend Rand Paul  "Days after winning a GOP senate primary, Rand Paul did his best Friday to clean up damage done by his wavering support for the Civil Rights Act. The Kentucky candidate told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that "Democrat talking points" had "trashed" him and blamed MSNBC for accusing of him of wanting to repeal the law. [...]"    

Program to "Spot Terrorists" a $200 Million Sham [05/21/10] "Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad was arrested after boarding a plane for Dubai, even though the government is spending $200 million a year on a program that's supposed to "spot terrorists before they reach the gate". [...]"   

Corbett Report:  Bank Protests, Voting Upsets, Elite Meetings - New World Next Week [05/20/10] [10:43]  "This week: Story#1: Class Warfare: 100s Protest Outside Banksters' Houses in DC Story#2: Voters Back Anti-DC, Anti-Establishment Candidates Story#3: Where Elites Meet: CFR, Trilateral, Bilderberg, G20 & More  [...]"  

Hillary signs UN Small Arms Treaty [05/20/10] "The decision, announced in a statement released by the U.S. State Department, overturns the position of former President George W. Bush's administration, which had opposed such a treaty on the grounds that national controls were better." Note: The cunt-in-chief strikes again.  [...]" 

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett Subpoenas Identity of His Critics, for a Criminal Probe [05/20/10] "TechCrunch reports on this subpoena issued to Twitter, seeking the identity of two twitterers that had apparently been critical of Corbett.  The striking thing is that this is a subpoena to provide evidence in a criminal investigation. If it had been a subpoena related to a civil libel lawsuit, then either Twitter or the anonymous poster could try to quash the subpoena, and then the court would have to decide whether the plaintiff had, at least, a legally sufficient libel case (i.e., the statements were factual allegations and not opinions, and there was some reason to think the factual allegations were false). If the plaintiff did have such a case, then the plaintiff would indeed be able to discover the identity of the defendant, so he could know whom to sue, and so he could get further factual information relevant to the case (such as what the defendant knew about whether the statements were true or false). That’s the emerging rule in many states (though there are important variations in detail). There are no Pennsylvania appellate cases on the subject, but I expect that Pennsylvania courts will follow this rule, as several Pennsylvania trial courts in fact have. But this is a grand jury subpoena, so presumably the theory is that the subpoenas are relevant to some criminal investigation. My sense is that one should be able to quash such a subpoena as well, if there is no legally sufficient basis for the investigation, or for the conclusion that the information would be relevant to the investigation. Yet that requires us to know what is being investigated. It can’t be an investigation of libel, since Pennsylvania doesn’t have a criminal libel statute. In principle, since some tweets from the relevant twitterers might be read as accusing Corbett of criminal misconduct, the twitterers’ identities might be relevant so they could be asked for further evidence of such misconduct. But I have no reason to think that Corbett is indeed being so investigated. [...]"  

Russia: Bushehr plant due in August [05/20/10] "Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant, which is being built by Russia, is scheduled to begin operating in August regardless of any new sanctions against Tehran. [...]"  Note:  Take another look at the astrological configurations for this time period, and the eclipse points, between July and November.

U.S. Admits Only Reason for Talks with Iran Is Full Enrichment Halt [05/20/10] "The agreement on draft Security Council resolution sanctions against Iran has grabbed the headlines on the Barack Obama administration's response to Iran's nuclear swap proposal brokered by Turkey and Brazil.  [...]"   

 Commentary: Constitutionally Dangerous [05/20/10] "It was bad enough when states began locking people up because of crimes they might commit in the future. Then in 2006 Congress copied the idea, enacting a law that allows the indefinite civil commitment of federal prisoners who have completed their sentences but are deemed "sexually dangerous."  In upholding that policy on Monday, the Supreme Court not only blessed yet another use of psychiatry to escape the safeguards of our criminal justice system by disguising punishment as treatment. It also encouraged Congress to stack one dubious assertion of power on top of another until the tottering tower is tall enough to surmount the fence erected by the Constitution. Opponents of preventive detention for convicts who have served their time argue that it violates the right to due process, the guarantee against double jeopardy, and the ban on ex post facto laws. Although a 1997 decision upholding a Kansas civil commitment law suggests the Supreme Court is not receptive to such arguments, this week's ruling did not address them. Instead it dealt with the question of whether the federal government, as opposed to the states, has the authority to commit "sexually dangerous" prisoners who would otherwise be released. The seven-justice majority concluded that it does, citing the Necessary and Proper Clause, which authorizes Congress "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution" its enumerated powers. The Court said the civil commitment law is justified by the criminal statutes under which federal prisoners are convicted, which are in turn justified by specific congressional powers.  One problem with this argument is that Congress has federalized a wide range of offenses, including many already addressed by state laws, based on thin or nonexistent constitutional pretexts. Three of the prisoners in this case, for example, were convicted of possessing child pornography, which is a federal offense when the material "has been mailed, or has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, or...was produced using materials which have been mailed or so shipped or transported, by any means including by computer." In other words: always.  The newly minted "hate crime" law likewise federalizes offenses based on absurdly attenuated links to interstate commerce. If a misogynist uses a knife manufactured in another state to rape a woman, that's enough to make it a federal crime. [...]  Thomas warns that the majority's opinion, which requires no more than a "rational" connection between a federal law and an enumerated power, "comes perilously close to transforming the Necessary and Proper Clause" into a rationale for the general police power that the Constitution reserves to the states. "The Constitution does not vest in Congress the authority to protect society from every bad act that might befall it," he writes. Unfortunately, this will be news to most members of Congress."   

Rand Paul Savages Obama’s Catastrophic “Green Economy” [05/20/10] Video clip [4:52]  "After trouncing his neo-con opponent comprehensively in the Kentucky Senate primary, Rand Paul savaged the man-made global warming scam for what it truly represents – an attack on the middle class and the industrialized world, as he warned President Obama and his sycophants, “we’ve come to take our government back”.  “I have a message, a message from the Tea Party – a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words – we’ve come to take our government back,” stated Paul to rapturous applause, adding that he would take on the special interests in Washington who treat the federal government as their own personal ATM. “What you have done and what we can do can transform America,” said Paul, candidly warning that America’s greatness hinges on saving the country. Paul added that America could be saved from its debt crisis “that is devouring our country and I think could lead to chaos.” The victorious candidate then savaged President Obama for apologizing to Robert Mugabe, Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales for the industrial revolution. [...]"  

Oops! MSNBC graphic suggests "Taliban set fire to Bangkok" [05/20/10] "People watching MSNBC Wednesday morning could be forgiven for believing that the Taliban had invaded Bangkok. As NBC's Ian Williams reported on violent protests in the capital city of Thailand, a graphic on the lower third of MSNBC's screen read: "NEW TALIBAN ATTACKS, BANGKOK BURNS." In truth, fires in the Thai capitol were not caused by the Taliban. Bangkok "burned" Wednesday because of rioting by anti-government protesters, according to The Associated Press. [...]"    

Study: US missile defense plans based on ‘technical myths’ [05/19/10] "Scientists fear 'flawed and dangerous' plan will result in 'foreign policy disaster' US missile defense plans are based on "technical myths" and interceptors have mostly failed to knock out incoming warheads in military tests, a new study argues. Two American scientists reviewed 10 tests of the SM-3 "kill vehicle," designed to take out ballistic missiles, and concluded that the interceptor succeeded in directly hitting mock warheads in only one or two cases. "This means that, in real combat, the warhead would have not been destroyed but would have continued toward the target and detonated in eight or nine of the 10 SM-3 experimental tests," wrote George Lewis of Cornell University and Theodore Postol of MIT in the latest issue of "Arms Control Today." The Pentagon had described the tests between 2002 to 2009 as successful. [...]"  

Mexican police find blood matching missing former presidential candidate [05/18/10] "Prosecutors have said that blood found in the car of a missing former presidential candidate matched his blood type as the apparent abduction gripped Mexico.  The family of Diego Fernandez de Cevallos offered to negotiate his release, three days after the prominent politician disappeared from a ranch in central Mexico. Although authorities have not called the case a kidnapping, the 69-year-old's family called on his supposed abductors to the negotiating table in a message read out on various broadcast media. Security forces meanwhile continued search efforts around his ranch in the central state of Queretaro. The case has provoked fears that drug violence is reaching new political heights, shortly after the killing of a municipal candidate in a suspected drug gang-related attack in northern Mexico. [...]"    

Tritium leak poses integrity question for NRC [05/18/10] "A former Nuclear Regulatory Commission official now working for the Union of Concerned Scientists said that the NRC was a "lapdog" of the nuclear industry and wasn't enforcing its own regulations when it came to "unmonitored and uncontrolled" radioactive tritium leaks. David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer who at one time was a member of the Vermont Public Oversight Panel, told the annual meeting of the New England Coalition late Saturday that the NRC could have fined Entergy Nuclear $140,000 a day for every day it leaked tritium and other radioactive substances into the groundwater and ground, but it didn't. Lochbaum said based on Entergy's own estimate of 90 days of uncontrolled and unmonitored releases, the NRC could have fined Entergy $12.6 million for the Vermont Yankee tritium leak alone. In some cases, Lochbaum said, nuclear plants have leaks for years, not months in Yankee's case. In fact, he said, virtually every commercial reactor in the country was leaking tritium, not the two-dozen plus number usually used by the NRC. He said he compiled his list of leaking reactors based on the NRC's own documents. [...]"  

 Commentary: Foiled Times Square Rinky-Dink Terror Makes Powerful Propaganda [05/18/10] "... An article in Mother Jones asks the obvious question about why the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force was reported to have been asking questions about Shahzad as early as 2004, and also, why they deny to have ever investigated him. As asked in a previous post, if Holder and others want to fly with the Pakistani-Terrorcamp-Trained side of things, how can they explain that the Taliban trained him to build a bomb which had the wrong fertilizer? In a NY Post article "Frank Doyle, a former bomb expert and 33-year FBI veteran, said he doubted Shahzad received proper training in Pakistan or elsewhere to build a bomb, particularly when it came to what type of fertilizer he used. 'I would question his degree of training or whatever he knew about it," Doyle told FoxNews.com. "That's only one of a series of really serious mistakes he made.'" As pointed out in another article, not only did Faisal buy the wrong kind of fertilizer, he also bought the wrong kind of fireworks. The fireworks -- M88 Silver Salutes -- will only explode if they are individually lit, according to Bruce Zoldan, who owns the 55-store Phantom Fireworks chain, which includes the Matamoros outlet where Shahzad made his buy. Nonetheless our dear President talks of the "hundreds of lives" saved by the quick identification of the dangerous bomb-containing SUV parked in Times Square with its hazard lights flashing, containing a bomb with the wrong fertilizer and the wrong firecrackers to ever properly ignite. No propaganda there, none whatsoever I'm sure.  [...]"  

President of Brazil has scored a goal against the neocons [05/18/10] ".... With the news this morning that Iran has agreed to ship most of its enriched uranium to Turkey, in a nuclear fuel swap deal reached in talks with Brazil and Turkey that could "deflate a U.S.-led push" for new sanctions against Iran, the President of Brazil has scored a goal against the neocons in the West who want to gin up confrontation with Iran towards a future military conflict. [...]"  Note: The main difference between the deal Iran has just agreed to and the U.N.-drafted version, AP reports, is that if Iran does not receive the fuel rods for its medical research reactor within a year, Turkey will be required to "quickly and unconditionally" return the uranium to Iran. Iran had feared that under the initial U.N. deal, if a swap fell through, its uranium stock could be seized permanently. If the West is operating in good faith, then this difference between the agreements shouldn't matter. "There is no ground left for more sanctions or pressure," Turkey's Foreign Minister said. That should be true on the merits, but it's a safe bet that the "anti-peace, pro-Israel" lobby in Washington isn't going to see it that way.

Fed Up With Israel, Chomsky Does Video [05/18/10] "Noam Chomsky might have made it through an Israeli border crossing into Palestinian territory on his second attempt, but the aged intellectual, frustrated by what he called Israeli games, opted instead to deliver his lecture via videoconference."  Note:  It will be interesting to see what he says, when it is released.

 Commentary: Creeping Terror: The New American Way of War  by Chris Floyd [05/18/10] "The American way of war is a marvelously ingenious thing. And thoroughly modern too. No more of that "don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes" jazz; your modern "warfighter" (they aren't called "soldiers" anymore, you know) prefers to view his targets through, say, a computer screen safely ensconced back in the Homeland or thousands of feet in the sky, or else through the unearthly greenish glow of night-vision scopes. And open combat? Forget it. The new American way is the sneak attack on civilian homes in the dead of night. You creep up, you break in, you cap a few ragheads, then you run away. What glory! What magnificent valor!  .... Naturally, the local losers come out and boo-hoo-hoo over their dead relatives, as if no one had ever seen their son shot to death in front of their eyes before. They trot out all their evidence that the victims had nothing to do with the "insurgents" (which is what your modern warfighter calls anyone who objects to the presence of armed foreigners prowling all over their land), they keen and wail and do all the other animalistic stuff that primitives do when one of the pack snuffs it. "Oh, I lost my son, oh my son, my precious son," etc., etc. – as if there's not a dozen more when he came from; you know how those people breed. [...]"     

Israel Demands Europe Stop Citizens From Gaza Aid Trip [05/18/10] "Naor Gilon, a high ranking member of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, today announced that he had met with the ambassadors from several European states to demand that they do something to prevent their citizens from sending private aid ships to the Gaza Strip. Gilon warned the ambassadors that Israel considered the aid “provocation” and that they would do whatever was necessary to stop the aid ships from reaching the strip. [...]"    

Bill for Afghan war could run into the trillions [05/18/10] "The U.S. Senate is moving forward with a 59-billion-dollar spending bill, of which 33.5 billion dollars would be allocated for the war in Afghanistan.  However, some experts here in Washington are raising concerns that the war may be unwinnable and that the money being spent on military operations in Afghanistan could be better spent.  "We're making all of the same mistakes the Soviets made during their time in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, and they left in defeat having accomplished none of their purposes," Michael Intriligator, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute, said Monday at a half-day conference hosted by the New America Foundation and Economists for Peace and Security. "I think we're repeating that and it's a history we're condemned to repeat," he said. [...]"  Note: Lackluster sequential buffoons.

Bracing for the worst in Bangkok as troops gather: 30,000 troops prepare to kill thousands of protesters in bloodbath [05/18/10] "Further in, families lolled on plastic mats laid on the pavement damp with rain, seemingly unperturbed by the prospect of an imminent military onslaught. The deadline of a government ultimatum on protesters to leave had expired over an hour before, and a reported 30,000 troops were getting into position all around them. Refusing to leave the protest site in Bangkok, scores of women with children have found shelter at the Wat Pathum Wanaram Buddhist temple, wedged between two ultramodern shopping malls. They idle on rattan mats amid sculptured hedges around saffron-robed monks. [...]"  Note: Uranus in Aries is on its way next week. The civilization is in the shadow of it ...

Satire: Plug in and Be Lit up by the American Hologram [05/18/10] "Safely in the American national illusion, where all the world’s a shopping expedition. Or a terrorist threat. No matter, as long as it is colorful and wiggles on the theater state’s 400 million screens. Plug in and be lit up by the American Hologram.  [...]"  

How Tyranny Came to America  Joe Sobran  [05/18/10] "One of the great goals of education is to initiate the young into the conversation of their ancestors; to enable them to understand the language of that conversation, in all its subtlety, and maybe even, in their maturity, to add to it some wisdom of their own. The modern American educational system no longer teaches us the political language of our ancestors. In fact our schooling helps widen the gulf of time between our ancestors and ourselves, because much of what we are taught in the name of civics, political science, or American history is really modern liberal propaganda. Sometimes this is deliberate. Worse yet, sometimes it isn’t. Our ancestral voices have come to sound alien to us, and therefore our own moral and political language is impoverished. It’s as if the people of England could no longer understand Shakespeare, or Germans couldn’t comprehend Mozart and Beethoven. So to most Americans, even those who feel oppressed by what they call big government, it must sound strange to hear it said, in the past tense, that tyranny “came” to America. After all, we have a constitution, don’t we? We’ve abolished slavery and segregation. We won two world wars and the Cold War. We still congratulate ourselves before every ballgame on being the Land of the Free. And we aren’t ruled by some fanatic with a funny mustache who likes big parades with thousands of soldiers goose-stepping past huge pictures of himself.  [...]"   

Video: Norman Finkelstein – Israel being exposed and feels threatened [05/18/10] [4:38]  "Israel has refused to permit Noam Chomsky, the linguist and icon of the American left, to enter the occupied West Bank from Jordan. Some argue that Chomsky, an 81-year-old professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, could pose a risk to Israel. [...]"   

Iran’s Uranium Deal a Serious Blow to War Party [05/18/10] "In a move that will likely drive a stake into the heart of the near-term prospects for the US-backed “crippling sanctions” against Iran, Turkey and Brazil have managed to come up with a compromise deal that provides everything the Western nations claimed to have wanted from the third-party enrichment deal in the first place. [...]"  Related: Turkey, Iran, Brazil sign deal on nuclear fuel swap  "Iran inked a nuclear fuel swap deal Monday which commits it to ship 1,200 kilograms of low enriched uranium to Turkey, potentially ending a standoff with world powers gearing for new sanctions against the Islamic republic. Under the agreement, Iran will deposit 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of its low enriched... [...]"   Iran’s declaration on nuclear swap deal  "After several hours of intense negotiations on Monday, the trilateral meeting between Iran, Brazil and Turkey ends with Tehran agreeing to send some 1,200 kilograms of its 3.5 percent enriched uranium over to Turkey in exchange for a total of 120 kilogram of 20 percent enriched uranium, Press TV reported. [...]"  UN praises Iran for nuclear declaration  "The UN has welcomed the announcement of a nuclear declaration by Iran while the US says there are still "serious concerns" over Tehran's nuclear program. [...]" | US admiral welcomes Iran swap deal  "A top US military official has welcomed Iran's nuclear swap deal with Turkey but said there was still a long way before an end to Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West. [...]" Iran Fuel Deal Puts U.S. in Check in Ongoing Nuclear Chess Match "Iran backed the Obama administration into check in its ongoing nuclear chess match by announcing its own nuclear fuel swap deal after a Western-backed plan fell apart last fall.  The country left the Obama administration an out by declaring it would continue uranium enrichment even as it proposes shipping nuclear material to Turkey. To become official, the deal still has to be agreed to by the same group of nations that pursued the proposal Iran rejected in October. But the announcement, regardless, makes the administration's job more difficult should it continue to pursue international sanctions. [...]"  

Plane crashes in Afghanistan [05/17/10] "An Afghan passenger plane crashed into the mountains of northern Afghanistan on Monday with 43/44 people on board, including foreigners, the interior ministry told AFP. ... "There were some foreigners among the passengers but at this stage we don't know how many and what nationalities," he added. ...Commercial aviation incidents are rare in Afghanistan, where travel by road can be hazardous due to the nearly nine-year Taliban insurgency. ...The incident happened soon after the plane took off from Kabul, bound for the Iranian city of Mashhad, in what the airline official said appeared to be an attempted "terrorist attack." [...]"   Related: Governor dies in Philippine helicopter crash  "Six people including a provincial governor were killed when a helicopter crashed on Monday southwest of the Philippine capital, the military, police and the governor's aides said. [...]"   

White House bracing for Specter loss: report [05/17/10] "CBS' Bob Schieffer has been told that the White House expects Sen. Arlen Specter to lose in the Democratic primary Tuesday. While polls have been close, with a few showing Rep. Joe Sestak with a one or two point lead over Specter. [...]"  Note: One down, many to go ...

NYT: US using private spy ring ‘on an almost daily basis’ [05/17/10] "Despite claims that the US military's private spy operation in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been shut down, the program continues to run and is feeding information to the Pentagon "on an almost daily basis," the New York Times reported Saturday.  Additionally, the private operation has ballooned from its original goal of collecting general information about the war-torn region and is now carrying out potentially illegal covert spy operations, the Times states. In March, an investigative report by the Times uncovered the existence of a $22-million contract to outsource the collection of intelligence about the tribal areas of Pakistan. The news sparked controversy, with many observers concerned the US was handing over some of its most sensitive activities to private, unaccountable contractors. According to that report, a US official identified as Michael Furlong organized a network of private contractors to run the intelligence operation. The original contract, which was signed in early 2009 and tasked contractor Lockheed Martin with managing the project, allowed the private spy ring to gather "atmospheric information" -- general, broad data about the political and social circumstances in the area. [...]"   

Iraq's Maliki edges nearer power as rival warns of civil war [05/17/10] "Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki took a major step toward staying in power on Saturday when a top Shiite cleric said he would not stop him from keeping his job, but an arch-rival warned of civil war. [...]"   

Declassified GAO Report Exposes Fatally Flawed Israel Investigations [05/17/10] "The report reveals why the 2010 Non-Proliferation Review Conference at the UN – like the GAO – isn’t really capable of challenging the true drivers of Middle East nuclear proliferation. “Nuclear Diversion in the U.S.? 13 Years of Contradiction and Confusion” is a report so unique and noble in intent that there will probably never be another like it. While it leaves unexplored the ongoing presence, influence, and effect of Israel’s lobbyists working at the center of U.S. presidential administrations, for concerned Americans the GAO provides a snapshot of a moment in time before their Congress, aspiring politicians, and mid-level management of government agencies all “got the memo.” [...]"   

UK mulling over privatizing roads [05/17/10] "The UK's new Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has unveiled plans to use additional toll booths to privatize motorways and truck roads to help the country's ailing economy. [...]"    

Another War in the Falklands? British Fleet on Standby, New Maps Highlight Disputed Territory With Oil and Gas Reserves [05/16/10] "Researchers at Durham University have drawn up new maps to show the competing claims of Argentina and the UK for resources in the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans. At stake are a potential 60 billion barrels of oil and nine trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  The publication of the maps follows the discovery of oil south of the Falkland Islands by a British company, Rockhopper Exploration, and a series of historical arguments about sovereignty and the rights to resources in the South Atlantic. [...]"  

US media demands Greek-style austerity for American workers - Workers & Labor [05/15/10] "In recent days, the US media—led by the standard bearer of American liberalism, the New York Times—has insisted that workers in the US, like their brethren in Greece, have been living the good life for far too long and must accept a drastic and permanent reduction [...]"    

Nevada is 20th state in federal suit filed over health reform [05/15/10] "This bill tramples the constitutional rights of every Nevadan,” Gibbons said. “We believe very strongly in our standing in this case, our ability to win and the fact that we think we are on the right track going forward with this litigation.” [...]"   

Afghan war costs now surpass Iraq’s [05/14/10] "The amount of money the United States is spending on its war in Afghanistan has surpassed the cost of its war in Iraq for the first time.  US taxpayers shelled out $6.7 billion for the Afghan war in February, the most recent month for which statistics are available, as opposed to $5.5 billion for the war in Iraq. The total cost for the two wars is now approaching $1 trillion.  Maintaining the US presence in Afghanistan has grown in price since the US began redeploying some troops from Iraq. Keeping US forces in Afghanistan is also more expensive because the country is landlocked and it is harder to transport supplies. USA Today has more:  •The number of U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan has risen to 87,000, on top of 47,000 from 44 other countries. At the same time, the number of U.S. servicemembers in Iraq has dropped to 94,000. By next year, Afghanistan is to have 102,000 U.S. servicemembers, Iraq 43,000. [...]"  Note: Don't forget at least 100,000 civilian contractors. 

US satellites shadow China's submarines [05/14/10] "...Over the next 18 months, the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) - operator of the US spy satellite fleet - is planning multiple satellite launches, and China must assume that one or more of these new US surveillance satellites will help support US Navy efforts to locate and track PLAN submarines. [...]"  

Swedish Cartoonist Assaulted For Drawing 'Prophet Muhammad' [05/14/10] [1:10]  "Swedish Cartoonist Assaulted For Drawing Prophet Muhammad A Swedish artist who angered Muslims by depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was assaulted on Tuesday as furious protesters interrupted his university lecture in Uppsala.  [...]" 

Chinese Man Smuggled Military Goods [05/14/10] "A federal jury this week convicted a Chinese man of conspiring to smuggle U.S. defense goods to China without a license. Chi Tong Kuok, of Macau, will be sentenced on Aug. 23 for conspiracy, smuggling and money laundering. [...]"   

Delusions and illusions of press freedom: The Israel lobby’s control of Western media [05/14/10] "Paul J. Balles compares China’s open control of the press with the “lies under pretence of freedom” of the Western media under the control of special interests, especially the Israel lobby. Freedom of the press in the West means freedom for those who control the press to lie.  [...]"   

Arrest of 13 CIA Agents Sought in Spain [05/14/10] "Prosecutors attached to the Audiencia Nacional in Madrid are reportedly requesting that Judge Ismael Moreno issue an order for the arrest of thirteen CIA agents involved in an extraordinary rendition operation from 2004, the newspaper El País reports this afternoon, citing sources within the court.  [...]"   

Eugenics—Alive and Well in Israel [05/14/10] "In two separate stories, my landsmen are making obstetrical recommendations in order to prevent population growth in “undesirable” groups living in Israel.  In the first video, there is a story of the Israeli authorities heavily promoting birth control to pregnant Ethiopian (i.e., Black, i.e., schvartze) Jewish refugees. In the second video, Harvard Professor Martin Kramer (NO relation!!!) is pushing to end post-natal subsidies to Palestinian refugees in order to cut down on the future “terrorist” population. [...]"  Related: New weapons experimented in Gaza: population risks genetic mutations  "Toxic and carcinogenic metals, able to produce genetic mutations, have been found in the tissues of people wounded in Gaza during Israeli military operations of 2006 and 2009. The research has been carried out on wounds provoked by weapons that did not leave fragments in the bodies of the victims, a peculiarity that was pointed out repeatedly by doctors in Gaza. This shows that experimental weapons, whose effects are still to be assessed, were used. [...]"   

US 'warns' against al-Quds demolition [05/13/10] "The US has warned Israel against "inflammatory actions" after the regime announced plans to continue demolition of Palestinian homes in East al-Quds (Jerusalem). [...]"   

Suit: Chicago Police Department claimed an "institutionalized system of police torture." [05/13/10] "The Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved a $16.5 million settlement to a federal class-action civil rights lawsuit that alleged the Chicago Police Department of abuse. Council members voted 46-1 to approve the settlement, under which more than 500,000 people could be eligible for reimbursement. The lawsuit was filed in 2004 and claimed an "institutionalized system of police torture." The lawsuit alleged arrests without warrants and people shackled to walls or benches. It said people were deprived of food and water, given few chances to go to the bathroom and had no bedding. [...]"  Chicago City Council settles $16.5M police suit : 500,000 people could be eligible

Protesters attempt to storm Irish parliament [05/12/10] "Police say officers staffing the wrought-iron gates drew batons and forced back several dozen protesters. They said the protesters’ injuries were minor and none were arrested. Tens of billions’ worth of dud property loans are being transferred from five Irish banks to a new government-run “bad bank.” The government also has bought multi-billion stakes in Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland. [...]"   

Phillip D. Zelikow...911 Myth Maker [05/12/10] "While at Harvard he actually wrote about the use, and misuse, of history in policymaking. As he noted in his own words, "contemporary" history is "defined functionally by those critical people and events that go into forming the public's presumptions about its immediate past. The idea of 'public presumption'," he explained, "is akin to [the] notion of 'public myth' but without the negative implication sometimes invoked by the word 'myth.' Such presumptions are beliefs (1) thought to be true (although not necessarily known to be true with certainty), and (2) shared in common within the relevant political community." So Zelikow, the guy who wrote The 9/11 Commission Report, was an expert in how to misuse public trust and create PUBLIC MYTHS. [...]"    

UN experts says Arizona law violates international human rights treaty [05/12/10] "Arizona's new law on illegal immigration could violate international standards that are binding in the United States, six U.N. human rights experts said Tuesday.  The basic human rights regulations, signed by the U.S. and many other nations, regard issues such as discrimination and the terms under which a person can be detained, the experts said. In their statement, the six U.N. experts said: "States are required to respect and ensure the human rights of all persons subject to their jurisdiction, without discrimination."  "Relevant international standards require that detention be used only as an exceptional measure, justified, narrowly tailored and proportional in each individual case, and that it be subject to judicial review," the experts said. [...]"   

 Exposé:  Greg Palast: Behind the Immigration Law [05/11/10] Video clip [10:32] "The law doesn’t say we are busting you if you’re not a citizen, the law says we’re busting you if you don’t have your papers.” — Greg Palast"  Note: Very interesting clip, exposing the host of duplicitous lies surrounding this issue, and some history. Related: The Bogus Constitutional Arguments of Arizona's Ultra-Restrictionists "States can't write their own immigration laws [...]"   

Mexican Governor Charged With Helping Cartel Smuggle Tons of Cocaine Is Extradited to U.S. [05/11/10] " Mexico extradited a former state governor charged with helping the Juarez cartel smuggle 200 tons of Colombian cocaine to the United States. Mario Ernesto Villanueva Madrid has been jailed in Mexico since 2001 after spending 2 years on the run.  Mexico handed over Villanueva, former governor of the Territory of Quintana Roo, to U.S. authorities on Saturday, according to Mexico's Attorney General's Office. Villanueva "gave orders to allow shipments of cocaine to be unloaded and stored in ranches in Quintana Roo, to be later sent to the neighboring country by land or air," Mexican authorities said.  Villanueva received nearly $19 million from the cartel in exchange for the protection he provided the drug ring, according to a second indictment. He is charged with laundering that money through Lehman Brothers in New York and other brokerage accounts in the United States, Switzerland, Bahamas, Panama and Mexico.  Consuelo Marquez, a Lehman investment manager who helped funnel Villanueva's drug money, was convicted in 2004 of fraud, and she pleaded guilty the following year later to money laundering charges.  Villanueva disappeared in March 1999 and went into hiding days before his immunity as governor expired, according to his indictment.  After Mexican authorities picked him up in Cancun, he spent six years in prison on money laundering charges. He was re-arrested for extradition to the United States immediately after his release in 2007.  According to the indictment, Villanueva helped smuggle 200 tons of cocaine into the United States from 1994 to 1998 and received $500,000 for every successful shipment.  Prosecutors say Villanueva sent one 500-kilogram shipment of cocaine on a plane owned by the governor's office. While awaiting extradition, media reports say Villanueva was sentenced to an additional 36 years on drug charges that he evaded in 2001, but the conviction was thrown out on appeal. Juárez Cartel kingpin Gilberto Salinas Doria was sentenced last year to 27 years in prison for his role in the drug distribution ring. Authorities also arrested alleged kingpin Alicides Ramon Magana, known as "El Metro," on drug trafficking charges in Mexico late Sunday night. If convicted, Villanueva and Magana face up to life in prison and a $4 million fine on each count of the indictment.

Oil spill nets $270m for Transocean [05/11/10] "The firm that owns the leaking oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico has made a $270 million profit from insurance payouts, despite having caused a massive ecological disaster. [...]"  

MSM: Israel primed for war on Iran: Netanyahu deputy [05/11/10] "Israel is primed for a war on Iran, a deputy to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, in a rare break with his government’s reticence as world powers try to talk Tehran into curbing its nuclear plans.  [...]"  

“Lifeless, Dull, and Eminently Forgettable” [05/11/10] "That’s how one law professor describes Elena Kagan’s lame publication record that supposedly got her: 1) tenure at the University of Chicago Law School; and 2) the job of Dean of Harvard Law School. Her entire “scholarly” output consists of “three law review articles, a few short essays, and two short book reviews.” (Law Reviews are usually edited by 24-year-old law students, not accomplished legal scholars, as in the case of more scholarly journals such as the Journal of Legal Studies).  [...]"   

Justice Elena Kagan, and 'President Larry Summers' [05/10/10] "This apparent Obama nominee is unusual. She’s never been a prosecutor or attorney general, or defense attorney or Legal Aid litigator or sitting judge. In fact, she’s never been a lawyer in a trial…. never. Until her appointment as Solicitor General last year, she hadn’t argued before a court; so her very first, maiden argument, was before the United States Supreme Court last year! Kagan’s connections to Summers are interesting. She was a professor there when Summers arrived from his work at Treasury, under Bill Clinton, to deregulate banks and derivatives to get the gambling moving…guaranteed by the taxpayer. As President Summers of Harvard from 2001 to 2006, Kagan thrived. She was made a full professor, then Summers tapped her to be the Dean of Harvard Law. Her pet peeve there was to keep the American military and ROTC off campus because she disputes the “don’t ask, don’t tell” provisions put in place by Clinton. In 2008, Kagan got money as an advisor to Goldman Sachs global investment house. Meanwhile, she made Cass Sunstein, who is now an advisor to Obama too, a full professor at Harvard. He has suggested the concept of marriage be discontinued. He also has argued that dogs and cats should have “standing” to sue in court. [...]"  Related: Kagan Also "Monsanto Goon" [05/10/10] " Case Title: Monsanto Company, et al., Petitioners v. Geertson Seed Farms, et al.  Attorneys for Respondents: Elena Kagan Solicitor General [...]"  Kagan backs the tyranny of snatch and grab, no trial. [05/10/10] "“During her confirmation hearing last week, Elena Kagan, the nominee for solicitor general, said that someone suspected of helping finance Al Qaeda should be subject to battlefield law — indefinite detention without a trial — even if he were captured in a place like the Philippines rather than in a physical battle zone. “Ms. Kagan’s support for an elastic interpretation of the “battlefield” amplified remarks that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. made at his own confirmation hearing. And it dovetailed with a core Bush position. Civil liberties groups argue that people captured away from combat zones should go to prison only after trials.” [...]"  Note:  She's a monster. Kagan Will Move Supreme Court to the Right by Marjorie Cohn [05/11/10] Note: Will move? She hasn't even been confirmed yet.  Kagan helped shield Saudis from 9/11 lawsuits  "Elena Kagan, President Barack Obama's latest nominee to the Supreme Court, helped protect the Saudi royal family from lawsuits that sought to hold al Qaeda financiers responsible in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The suits were filed by thousands family members and others affected by the Sept. 11 attacks. In court papers, they provided evidence that members of the Saudi royal family had channeled millions to al Qaeda prior to the bombings, often in contravention of direct guidance from the United States. [...]"  Note: Of course, the Saudis had nothing to do with 911 ...  The Only Chicago Law Professor With No Paper Trail "I’m no lawyer, but I have been reading and studying “Chicago School” legal scholarship for more than thirty years in such publications as Chicago’s Journal of Law and Economics and the Journal of Legal Studies. It is the home of the law and economics movement, and of famous law and economics scholars Ronald Coase, Richard Posner, Sam Peltzman, and many others. Chicago is one of the preeminent law schools in the land, and its legal scholars are world famous for their voluminous published research.  As an academic, I would assume that one would have to have a very long paper trail of very high quality legal scholarship to earn tenure at Chicago law school as Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, did. But all the news reports say that there is virtually no paper trail at all. How can this be, if she is The Second Most Brilliant Woman on the Planet Next to Hillary Clinton, as the leftist media lapdogs have been describing her? [...]"  

Karzai arrives in US amid tensions [05/10/10] "Afghan President Hamid Karzai has arrived in the US on a four-day visit amid rising friction between Washington and Kabul over a range of issues. [...]"   

Israeli Meddling In Africa [05/10/10] "All signs indicate that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman remains keen on implementing his ministry's strategic priorities as set out from his first day in office, including pouncing on Africa. Lieberman's interest in Africa revives former prime minister Golda Meir's outlook in the 1950s and 1960s. She visited most non-Arab states on the continent. Israel's current intensified moves mainly target the Horn of Africa, which includes Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.  While the Israeli Foreign Ministry is in theory in charge of Israel's policies in Africa, there is no doubt that the party that is playing the greater role is Mossad. It maintains active agents in many African capitals, as recently revealed by Haaretz newspaper. Assigning Mossad this task is directly connected to this organisation's routine attempts to undermine the national security of Arab states in Africa and on the Red Sea. [...]"    

Iraqi-Americans Allege $1 Billion Ponzi [05/10/10] "In a federal class action, 114 Iraqi-Americans say they were duped in a $1 billion Ponzi scheme run by two men posing as "altruistic, religious and civil-minded do-gooders." The class claims "the geographic scope of the Ponzi scheme spans the globe, perhaps leading even to the highest levels of the emerging Iraqi state." [...]"    

Radioactive nuke plant water reaches major New Jersey aquifer [05/10/10] "Radioactive water that leaked from the nation's oldest nuclear power plant has now reached a major underground aquifer that supplies drinking water to much of southern New Jersey, the state's environmental chief said Friday. The state Department of Environmental Protection has ordered the Oyster Creek Nuclear... [...]"   

Journalists Barred from Gitmo for Revealing Already-Public Information [05/10/10] "For reporters covering the war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, the ground rules are pretty draconian: As a condition of attending, they have to sign agreements not to disclose anything the court deems secret; media officers review all photos and videos shot on the island;  [...]"   

The Power & Danger of Iconography  [05/10/10] [8:09]  "Barack Obama ran an unprecedented Presidential campaign - utilizing the power of design to help secure the seat of the President of the United States of America. However, his iconic emblem, the ever present "O", holds more power than even Obama knows. Bill Whittle points out the dangers of branding an ideology with an icon and how, perhaps, the powerful symbol will be used against the very man it built up.  [...]"    

US War epics on screen skip mass slaughter of civilians [05/10/10] "Creators Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who teamed up also on “Band of Brothers” and “Saving Private Ryan,” have sought to strengthen the authenticity of Hollywood renderings of World War II. But while such portrayals may give us a keener appreciation of the courage and suffering of U.S. troops on the battlefield, they also add further weight to a lopsided World War II history that leaves the dishonorable part of America’s wartime behavior buried deeper in national amnesia. [...]"   

 Commentary: Chuckey's In Love [05/10/10] "... The “who” in all of this of course are those in the Jewish community these days who-irrespective of their place of birth or the country where they currently reside–are so madly in love with Israel and the idea of their own “chosenness” that they have gone bonkers and are dragging the rest of us down the highway to hell with them.  The real-world proof of this is everywhere. Besides the already-existing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we also have the looming conflicts with Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Russia, China, etc, to say nothing of the economic armageddon occurring throughout the world as a result of this lurid love affair between one tiny speck of humanity and an idea they believe to be the gospel’s truth. The fact that these folks have bigger plans is equally obvious to those with eyes to see and ears to hear, and the latest kisses being blown Israel’s way promising even more of this loud, raucous, violent intercourse come from no less than Charles “Chucky” Schumer, Senator from New York on a radio show with one of his kissin’ cousins, one Nachum Segal. [...]"   

CIA allowed to kill terrorist suspects without identification [05/10/10] "The CIA received secret permission to attack a wider range of targets, including suspected militants whose names are not known, as part of a dramatic expansion of its campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan's border region, current and former counter-terrorism officials say. The expanded authority, approved two years ago by the Bush administration and continued by Barack Obama, permits the agency to rely on what officials describe as ''pattern-of-life'' analysis, using evidence collected by surveillance cameras on the unmanned aircraft and from other sources about individuals and locations." [...]"  

"Israel Did 9-11 - How Zionists React to the Truth" [05/09/10] "This article has been updated with photos of a Zionist attacking Zan on a sidewalk in Los Angeles as he peacefully picketed with a sign that said "Israel - not Muslims - did 9-11". These photos open up the much neglected subject of Zionist violence against American 9-11 truth activists. [...]"  Related: "Israel Did 9-11 – How Zionists React to the Truth" - The Video  By Christopher Bollyn [10:43]  "This elderly man gets nothing but insults and harassment when he stands outside a theater holding a sign. It shows the success of the brainwashing done to Americans regarding the events of 9/11  [...]"    

U.S. Government Subpoenas Times Reporter Over Book on C.I.A. [05/09/10] "The Obama administration is seeking to compel a writer to testify about his confidential sources for a 2006 book about the Central Intelligence Agency, a rare step that was authorized by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.  The author, James Risen, who is a reporter for The New York Times, received a subpoena on Monday requiring him to provide documents and to testify May 4 before a grand jury in Alexandria, Va., about his sources for a chapter of his book, “State of War: The Secret History of the C.I.A. and the Bush Administration.” The chapter largely focuses on problems with a covert C.I.A. effort to disrupt alleged Iranian nuclear weapons research. …  Justice Department was seeking information only about Mr. Risen’s sources for the ninth chapter, which centers on the C.I.A.’s effort to disrupt Iranian nuclear research. That material did not appear in The Times.  The book describes how the agency sent a Russian nuclear scientist — who had defected to the United States and was secretly working for the C.I.A. — to Vienna in February 2000 to give plans for a nuclear bomb triggering device to an Iranian official under the pretext that he would provide further assistance in exchange for money. The C.I.A. had hidden a technical flaw in the designs. [...]"   

KBR to Get No-Bid Army Contract Worth $568 Million as Justice Department Pursues Lawsuit Over Kickbacks [05/09/10] "KBR Inc. was selected for a no-bid contract worth as much as $568 million through 2011 for military support services in Iraq, the Army said. The Army announced its decision yesterday only hours after the Justice Department said it will pursue a lawsuit accusing the Houston-based company of taking kickbacks from two subcontractors on Iraq-related [...]" 

Nuclear agency set to focus on Israel [05/08/10] "Israel's secretive nuclear activities may undergo unprecedented scrutiny next month, with a key meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency tentatively set to focus on the topic for the first time, according to documents shared Friday with The Associated Press.  A copy of the restricted provisional agenda of the IAEA's June 7 board meeting lists "Israeli nuclear capabilities" as the eighth item — the first time that that the agency's decision-making body is being asked to deal with the issue in its 52 years of existence.  The agenda can still undergo changes in the month before the start of the meeting and a senior diplomat from a board member nation said the item, included on Arab request, could be struck if the U.S. and other Israeli allies mount strong opposition. He asked for anonymity for discussing a confidential matter.  Even if dropped from the final agenda, however, its inclusion in the May 7 draft made available to The AP is significant, reflecting the success of Islamic nations in giving concerns about Israel's unacknowledged nuclear arsenal increased prominence.  The 35-nation IAEA board is the agency's decision making body and can refer proliferation concerns to the U.N. Security Council — as it did with Iran in 2006 after Tehran resumed uranium enrichment, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons. A decision to keep the item would be a slap in the face not only for Israel but also for Washington and its Western allies, which support the Jewish state and view Iran as the greatest nuclear threat to the Middle East. [...]"   Related: Israel Again Rejects Notion of Joining NPT  "In a response apparently aimed at IAEA Chief Amano Yukiya’s letter asking for international help with convincing Israel to join the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Israeli officials are making it clear that won’t happen. [...]"  Israel defiant on its 'nuclear arsenal'  "A senior Israeli official insists that Tel Aviv will not change its nuclear policies despite international calls for the denuclearization of the Middle East. [...]"  

Israel Prepares for Possibility of Summer War with Lebanon [05/08/10] "Emerging from a briefing earlier this week with top Israeli intelligence officers, one Israeli lawmaker quipped, “If you have a bomb shelter, clean it out now.”  This warning came amid reports of the potential for summer war breaking out between Israel and Lebanon, spilling over into Syria. Leaders on all sides have tried to calm these fears, but they persist.  This could be because intelligence is being leaked that Hizbullah in Lebanon has obtained larger and more precise rockets from Syria and Iran that put most of the Israeli population in its reach.  In addition, the redistribution to all Israeli citizens of kits to protect them against chemical and biological attacks by Israeli army Home Front Command has done little to calm fears that a conflagration is nigh.  Col. Yossi Sagiv, who is responsible for the Home Front Command’s protective kits distribution program, said the timing was coincidental.  “We had originally planned to start this in January 2009, but it was delayed until now due to budgetary reasons, that’s all,” Sagiv told The Media Line.  Under the new plan Israelis are now ordering their newly designed gas masks from the post office and an employee will deliver them straight to their door. For decades Israel has equipped its citizens with kits to protect them from gas and germ warfare. But it collected the old ones in 2007. [...]"  Related: Lebanese colonel charged with spying  "A Lebanese prosecutor has charged an army colonel with spying for Israel and referred him to a military court, security sources said. [...]"   

Israel’s military indoctrination of children  Stephen Lendman [05/08/10] "The modern roots of Zionism go back to its founding at the First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland, in 1897, its programme being the “establishing for the Jewish people of a publicly and legally assured home in Eretz Yisrael”. Five decades later, this was accomplished by dispossessing indigenous Palestinians, denying them the right to their land, creating a new Jewish identity, legitimising Jews as rightful owners, and using superior military force to support the state against defenceless civilians who were no match against their powerful adversary.  Leading up to and after its war of independence, Israel stayed politically and militarily hard line, negotiating from strength, choosing confrontation over diplomacy, and naked aggression as a form of self- defence and occupation in order to seize as much of historic Palestine as possible and secure an ethnically pure Jewish state. These policies were called “Israelification [and] De-Arabisation” to preserve a “Jewish character”.  In his book, The Making of Israeli Militarism, author Uri Ben-Eliezer says writing about Israeli militarism involves “ventur(ing) into an intellectual minefield”, given Jewish history under the Nazis and the perception of Israel as a safe haven. Yet, decades of Arab- Israeli conflict have produced seven full-scale wars, two Intifadas, and many hundreds of violent incidents. [...]"   Note: Young sequentials are like adults in child bodies ... not like simultaneous children, who actually are children in childs bodies.  

Lieberman's Citizen-Stripping Bill "Unconstitutional" [05/08/10] "Senator Lieberman [Thursday] proposed a bill that would strip American citizenship from anyone who has 'provid[ed] material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization' or 'engaged in, or purposefully and materially support[ed], hostilities against the United States' or any of its allies. "Unfortunately for Senator Joe, the Supreme Court has made it crystal clear over the last four decades that the federal government simply has no power to take away U.S. citizenship. In Afroyim v. Rusk (1967), the State Department tried to strip citizenship from an American who'd voted in an Israeli election. The Court held that in the wake of the Fourteenth Amendment, Congress lacks 'any general power, express or implied, to take away an American citizen's citizenship without his assent.' Because the people are sovereign under our constitution, that document 'defin[es] a citizenship which a citizen keeps unless he voluntarily relinquishes it.'"  [...]"  

New Book: The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of the 21st Century Michel Chossudovsky and Andrew Gavin Marshall [05/08/10] "In all major regions of the world, the economic recession is deep-seated, resulting in mass unemployment, the collapse of state social programs and the impoverishment of millions of people. The economic crisis is accompanied by a worldwide process of militarization, a "war without borders" led by the United States of America and its NATO allies. The conduct of the Pentagon’s "long war" is intimately related to the restructuring of the global economy.  We are not dealing with a narrowly defined economic crisis or recession. The global financial architecture sustains strategic and national security objectives. In turn, the U.S.-NATO military agenda serves to endorse a powerful business elite which relentlessly overshadows and undermines the functions of civilian government. [...]"   

 Commentary: When Will Israel Attack the U.S. — Again? [05/07/10] "Israel has long been waging war on the U.S. by way of deception. To date, its operatives have worked from the shadows hoping not to be detected. Their duplicity typically includes the displacement of facts with what the American public can be deceived to believe. Thus the need to create a widely held belief around Iraqi WMD, Iraqi ties to Al Qaeda, Iraqi meetings in Prague, Iraqi mobile biological weapons laboratories and Iraq’s purchase of uranium from Niger. Though all five “facts” were false, only the last claim was conceded as phony prior to inducing our invasion of Iraq. There lies our national security challenge as the groundwork is being laid for another 911. The same fact-displacing modus operandi is again at work. In the parlance of national security analysts, psy-ops specialists are “preparing the mind” to accept another generally accepted truth at odds with the facts. This time the objective is Iran. Or Pakistan. Except that this time national security is shining a bright light in the shadows where such operations are launched. [...]"    

Schumer Asks Arizona to Delay Immigration Law for a Year [05/07/10] "A prominent Senate Democrat is asking Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to put off her state's controversial new immigration law for a year. The idea is to hold off until Congress can try to pass broad new federal policies that would put millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. [...]"   

Israeli News:  Israel official defends "nuclear ambiguity" as 'strategic advantage' [05/07/10] Note: Since everyone knows what Israel has, and has known for a long time, and idea that there is really ambiguity is a delusion, and the perspective that this delusion amounts to a strategic advantage is another delusion. The Israelis have a problem with reality in a sadistic, psychopathic sort of way ... sequentials that delight in the suffering of others ... are a plague in every galaxy game.

 Commentary: Bypassing Posse Comitatus [05/07/10] "All in the name of national security, of course. Jeremy Scahill’s blog in The Nation asks, “Were US Special Forces involved in the arrest of Faisal Shahzad?” His painstaking research suggests that they were. An executive order signed by President Clinton and used by President George W. Bush purportedly allows U.S. Special Forces to bypass the Posse Comitatus Act. We have to say “purportedly” because—of course—key parts of the executive order are classified. Scahill asks the natural follow-up question: “To what extent are U.S. Special Forces permitted to operate on U.S. soil under President Obama?” An imperial executive unchecked by an impotent Congress. Massive government agencies whose operations in the U.S. are routinely kept secret. A Patriot Act and other Bush Administration garbage that remains in force. All it will take is another 9-11 to impose formal military control domestically, and does anyone seriously think Obama would hesitate? [...]"  Note: Posse Comitatus Act

Sequentials At Large:  Rep. Andre Carson: Protesters Are ‘One of the Largest Threats to our Internal Security’ [05/06/10] "As our readers have already learned, Rep. Andre Carson gathered Capitol Hill reporters around him and told the tale of racial slurs and menacing crowds on the verge of hurling rocks at the congressmen. Our first few videos showed the congressmen coming out of the Cannon Office Building, walking down the steps and into Independence Avenue from various angles. None of those videos revealed the racial hatred Rep. Carson conveyed to reporters that day and none of the videos showed a mob rushing or in any way impeding the congressmen. [...]"    [2:37]  Video clip   

 Commentary: Real reason sanctions will be imposed on Iran [05/06/10] "Saddam Hussein planned to start selling oil in currencies other than worthless Federal Reserve Notes (dollars). The Bush regime acted swiftly by fabricating “weapons of mass destruction” lies which were used as a pretext to illegally invade Iraq and assassinate Hussein. WMD’s were never found in Iraq, obviously. The only WMD they possessed was their imminent contribution to the destruction of the already doomed dollar. Iran has been planning on doing the same thing with their oil bourse for years. After many delays the first phase was opened in 2008. The second phase opened just a few short months ago. Thus the reason for the increased war- mongering against Iran as well as calls for tougher sanctions. The only thing keeping the dollar alive is the demand created due to the reserve status it enjoys in oil trades. The empire is desperate. " More Info

AT&T, Verizon considered dropping employee health insurance as a result of healthcare overhaul [05/06/10] "House Democrats abruptly canceled hearings into major US companies' responses to their massive health care overhaul after receiving documents revealing that companies were considering dropping all of their employees' health benefits in response to the healthcare bill. Documents obtained by Fortune and published on CNN show that AT&T and other major companies -- including Verizon, Deere and Caterpillar -- considered eliminating their employee benefits program and simply paying a fine to the government for those they employed without insurance. The fine for AT&T would have amounted to $2,000 per employee, costing the company a grand total of $600 million a year. Maintaining benefits, meanwhile, will cost the firm some $4.6 billion. Democrats apparently canceled hearings into the companies practices when they received the documents and learned that such hearings might expose a major flaw in their health insurance overhaul: namely that companies might pay a fine rather than provide benefits for employees because the fine would be dramatically cheaper. They've had the documents for roughly a month, Fortune magazine said. [...]"    

 Commentary:  Trading Due Process For Supposed Security [05/06/10] "It is a central pillar of my philosophy of life that if you live in fear the worst thing that can happen to you already has. While not wanting to get all fan-boy about things Frank Herbert did hit on a small “t” truth when he wrote that fear is the mind killer. This is why there are and have been acts of terror all through the history of our species. Using our ability to be afraid of the next horrible thing to influence the actions of people is something Sun Tzu and Machiavelli would both approve of. Fear makes your opponent do dumb things and ultimately makes them easier to defeat. Which is why the current spasms of legislation in response to the attempted truck bombing in Time Square is so disappointing. We have a couple of proposals which under any other climate would be laughed out of Congress that are going to be taking up time over the next few weeks.  [...]"   

US, UK, France, Italy walk out of UN nuclear conference in war propaganda theater to attack Iran [05/06/10] "The “emperor has no clothes” fact is that the new face of unlawful global imperialism is the old face of 20th Century imperialists. As critical mass of public recognition builds, this time, the public will reject their loveless and mass-murderous empire- building. The two paper-thin lies the 21st Century fascists use to promote unlawful war is that Iran threatens to destroy Israel and Iran has a nuclear weapons program. Both are quickly proven as lies. As documented in the links here (and from other viewpoints here, here, and here), Iran’s President Ahmadinejad never physically threatened Israel and all inspections of Iran’s legal nuclear energy and medicine has verified all nuclear material is accounted for.  To make these claims is to cast Orwellian lies that expose the deepest evil to propagandize for the scourge of war. Don’t believe me; read Mr. Ahmadinejad’s speech for yourself and look at the International Atomic Energy Agency documentation (despite their lies of omission in failing to smack-down propaganda). Trust your own eyes. If you have Persian friends, ask for their confirmation. You may also receive their passion for justice against US “leadership” and corporate media who lie in the same way preceding unlawful attack and mass-murder of over a million Iraqis.  At the UN Non-Proliferation Treaty Conference, Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s speech to refute war propaganda was met with the US, UK, France and Italy fascist leaders showing the world their “leadership”: they walked out (and here). This coverage has US Secretary of State Clinton’s propaganda in the second video. [...]"    Related: On Iran, the U.S. is Painting Itself into a Political and Moral Corner  "Incredibly, just as the Bush-Cheney administration did in order to launch a war against Iraq in 2003 by (falsely) alleging that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the Obama-Biden administration, in 2010, is arguing for unilateral sanctions against Iran and even beating the drums of war against Iran, alleging that its program to enrich uranium and operate nuclear power plants is posing an existential threat to Israel, to Europe and to the United States. [...]"   

Conflict of Interest: Ex Monsanto Lawyer Clarence Thomas to Hear Major Monsanto Case [05/06/10] "In Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case which could have an enormous effect on the future of the American food industry. This is Monsanto's third appeal of the case, and if they win a favorable ruling from the high court, a deregulated Monsanto may find itself in position to corner the markets of numerous U.S. crops, and to litigate conventional farmers into oblivion. Here's where it gets a bit dicier. Two Supreme Court justices have what appear to be direct conflicts of interest.  Charles Breyer, the judge who ruled in the original decision of 2007 which is being appealed, is Stephen Breyer's brother, who apparently views this as a conflict of interest and has recused himself.  [...]"    

Britain Blocks Mossad Replacement Over Passport Theft [05/06/10] "The British government is officially preventing the replacement of Israeli intelligence service Mossad’s London representative, after it expelled his predecessor six weeks ago. The United Kingdom will not allow an official representative of Israel’s security services into the country, according to an Israeli report, until Israel promises, in writing, not to abuse British passports. Israel has so far refused, the report said. The previous Mossad representative was expelled after British passports were reportedly used by Israeli agents to carry out an assassination in Dubai. [...]"   

Are Obama's Disarmament Initiatives Just a Cover for the Nuclear-Industrial Complex? [05/06/10] "...when it comes to nuclear weapons, writes about the details, “none of that will matter a year from now. I suspect we will look back at this period — the release of the Nuclear Posture Review, the signing of the Prague Treaty, the Nuclear Security Summit and the NPT Review conference — and say that this was a pivot point, the moment when we began talking about nuclear weapons on terms that are different from those of the Cold War.” [...]"    

Turkey slams Israel's aggressive policy [05/06/10] "Turkey has lashed out at Israel's "aggressive policies" in the Middle East, saying Ankara would not idly watch the regime's violence against the Palestinians. [...]"   

SAS comes out fighting as details of top-secret missions are exposed [05/06/10] "Senior officer banned from elite unit's HQ over tell-all book, while its commander takes aim at US general for breaking code of silence on operations [...]"   

Democrats' Worst Fear Is About To Come True [05/06/10] "Among the many reverberations of President Obama’s election, here is one he probably never anticipated: at least 32 African-Americans are running for Congress this year as Republicans, the biggest surge since Reconstruction, according to party officials. [...]"   

The sadistic logic behind Israel’s siege of Gaza [05/06/10] "Rules that allow the importation of cinnamon but not coriander might seem arbitrary and it’s unlikely that further documentation from the Israelis will show otherwise. But there does appear to be a sadistic logic at work here. Nothing more effectively reinforces a sense of powerlessness in a population than for the minutiae of everyday life to be under the constant, arbitrary and callous control of an invisible and inaccessible power. This is the logic and practice of subjugation. It is an exercise in the crushing of human will. [...]"  

US youngsters are too fat to fight, warn generals [05/06/10] Rising rates of obesity among young Americans could undermine the future of the US military, two retired generals have warned. " [...]"  Note: Arrogant sequential bastards ... someone should put them out of their misery.

U.S. in talks to declare Mideast nuclear-free zone [05/06/10] "The United States and Egypt are negotiating a proposal that would make the Middle East a nuclear-free zone, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, saying the effort was a meant to prevent Iran from disrupting an upcoming UN conference on nuclear nonproliferation. [...]"  Note: Israel will never part with its weapons. 

UK: Senior judge says 'torrent of legislation' made legal system incomprehensible [05/06/10] "A new government should call a halt to the “torrent” of legislation that has made the legal system incomprehensible to judges and the public alike, a senior judge has said. [...]"   

Ahmadinejad: "They're finished, the Zionist regime is finished" [05/06/10] [6:57]  "George Stephanopoulos Interviews Ahmadinejad"  Related:  Atzmon Review - 'Not Much Time Remains For Israel' "...It is obvious that the Israelis have never managed to make the holy land into their ‘homeland’. They are alienated from its nature, they poisoned the soil and polluted their rivers, they ruined the landscape shredding it with gigantic concrete walls and monstrous urban settlements but worse than that they eradicated the indigenous civilization of Palestine or at least this is what they tried to do.  [...]"   

UN Has 'No Evidence' of Presence of Scud Missiles in Lebanon [05/06/10] "Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, said on Wednesday that he has no evidence of any Scud missiles in southern Lebanon, after Israel accused Syria of transferring the missiles to Hezbollah. [...]"   

Exposé:  Kent State Killings Triggered by FBI Agent Provocateur [05/06/10] "Thanks to a friend (who works for the government), who notes that we now know that “an FBI agent provocateur fired the first shots at National Guard soldiers, who then killed four students, according to newly declassified FBI records. Remember, belief in conspiracy theories is always a mark of insanity.” [...]"     

Exposé:  Abu Ghraib-style brutality: Maliki’s secret detention site in Baghdad [05/06/10] "The detainees were from the northern region of Mosul and Nineveh province and were captured between September and December 2009. At that time the Iraqi army was conducting sweeps throughout the area in response to militant Sunni opposition, according the HRW report. The New York Times states that the arrests were made by the Baghdad Brigade. The security group is controlled by Maliki’s office, bypassing the military and the police, and has been criticized in the past for its unconstitutionality. In turn, the secret prison—a military barracks converted into a detention facility hidden from view by concrete blast walls—was run by the Baghdad Operations Command, one of several regional security commands set up by Maliki that answer directly to him, according to several news sources. [...]"  Related: Rival Iraq Shi’ite Blocs Agree to Form Govt "Finally addressing weeks of reports to that effect, the Iraqi National Alliance today confirmed that it has formed an alliance with the State of Law bloc, a move which would appear to give them enough seats to form the next government. [...]"  

Former Bush official runs secretive ‘Cockroaches’ group [05/06/10] "Even if they are actually “only a bit better at surviving radiation than” humans, it has often been theorized that only cockroaches might withstand a nuclear blast and “inherit the earth.”  A Capitol Hill newspaper sheds some light on a secretive group using that nickname. Roll Call’s Paul Singer reports, “Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) hangs out with Cockroaches.” These are not the crunchy, skittery kind of cockroaches that terrorize your kitchen, but the well-shod Washington insider kind that gather several times a year for a high-powered confab on defense and intelligence matters. The Cockroaches are a venerable Washington, D.C., institution that has apparently never been written about, a kind of not-so-secret society for several hundred current and former defense intelligence officials, private-sector contracting firms, lobbyists, Congressional staffers and Members of Congress. The group meets every other month or so for off-the-record dinners to discuss new developments in defense and intelligence, and to swap war stories, literally and figuratively [...]"   

Not an ordinary investment (deep collusion): Russian company increases share in Facebook to 10% [05/06/10] "Russian holding Digital Sky Technologies Ltd. (DST) has increased its stake in the world largest social networking website Facebook to 10%, Russian business daily Vedomosti said on Wednesday. DST has now increased its share in the social networking site to 10% by buying shares from Facebook employees, BusinessWeek magazine quoted a source close to DST as saying. In April, the social networking site forbade its employees from selling shares on the secondary market. Facebook currently has more than 400 million users worldwide. The company's 2009 revenues were estimated at $ 700 million and revenues of $1.2- $2 bln are forecast for 2010, The Wall Street Journal quoted a source close to Facebook as saying. [...]"  

CIA chief promises spies 'new cover’ for secret ops [05/06/10] "CIA Director Leon Panetta told employees today that the spy agency is going to give undercover operatives more ways to avoid exposure overseas.  “The CIA will enhance its use of more flexible and innovative deployments overseas—including new approaches to cover—paving the way for even better intelligence collection,” Panetta told a gathering of employees in the agency’s auditorium, in remarks also broadcast to agency workers around the world via closed-circuit TV. [...]"   

Just A Reminder: 9/11 Was Controlled Demolition Orchestrated By A Rogue Network Within Our Government And Military-Industrial Complex [05/06/10] "Sad, but true. Most likely they will use a 10-kilo ton nuke next time and the casualties will be many times greater.  [...]"  

The Rich Continue To Use Government To Cut Out Their Competition [05/06/10] "Bankster puppet Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) has inserted into the upcoming financial “reform” bill a clause that would more than double the minimum net worth of a potential venture capital investor [...]"   

 Commentary: The Coming Economic Collapse Of Japan [05/06/10] "Most Americans pay very little attention to what is going on in the economies of other nations. But they should. The reality is that in today's global economy, what is happening on the other side of the world can have a dramatic impact on the U.S. economy. In particular, the ongoing implosion of Japan's economy should greatly concern us all. Japan is the 3rd biggest economy in the world and is one of America's most important trading partners. If Japan experiences a total economic collapse it will create a tsunami of financial panic around the globe. In fact, it is likely that a default by the government of Japan would plunge the world into such an economic nightmare that the American Dream would quickly vanish for millions of American families. So just how close is Japan to a financial collapse?  [...]"  

Global Warfare: U.S. Consolidates Military Network In Asia-Pacific Region [05/06/10] "U.S. fast strike and first strike global missile and space strategy and its expansion of military alliances and networks in the Asia-Pacific area are rightly seen as threats to China and Russia. And to international security and peace. [...]"    

 Commentary: The Big Scam: How and why Washington hooked Mexico on the Drug War John Ross [05/05/10] "When I first returned to Mexico City in the wake of the great 1985 earthquake, the biggest drug pushers in that distant neighbor nation were Sherwin Williams Paint ("tinner" or "activo") and Resistol-Dupont glue ("chemo"). Street kids were huffing down gallons of these pernicious intoxicants in the allies and sewers of this monster megalopolis. [...]" Related: Is the CIA behind Mexico’s Bloody Drug War?  "What does Washington want from Mexico? On the security side, the U.S. seeks total control of Mexico’s security apparatus. With the creation of NORTHCOM (Northern Command) designed to protect the U.S. landmass from terrorist attack, Mexico is designated North America’s southern security perimeter and U.S. military aircraft now has carte blanche to penetrate Mexican airspace. Moreover, the North American Security and Prosperity Agreement (ASPAN in its Mexican initials) seeks to integrate the security apparatuses of the three NAFTA nations under Washington’s command. Now the Merida Initiative signed by Bush II and Calderon in early 2007 allows for the emplacement of armed U.S. security agents – the FBI, the DEA, the CIA, and ICE – on Mexican soil and contractors like the former Blackwater cannot be far behind. Wars are fought for juicy government contracts and $1.3 billion in Merida moneys are going directly to U.S. defense contractors – forget about the Mexican middleman. On the energy side, the designated target is, of course, the privatization of PEMEX, Mexico’s nationalized oil industry, with a particular eye out for risk contracts on deep sea drilling in the Gulf of Mexico utilizing technology only the EXXONs of this world possess.” (John Ross, “The Big Scam : How and Why Washington Hooked Mexico on the Drug War)  [...]"  

GM Biofuels: Another Planned Disaster [05/05/10] "Governments around the world have proposed biofuels, liquid fuels derived from plants, fungi or algae, as a solution to today’s energy and environmental crises. But this alternative is as bad as, or worse than, fossil fuels. Reasons to reject biofuels include:   Loss of farmland for fuel land, increasing food prices and world hunger;  Deforestation and conversion of prairie to cropland, causing a net increase in greenhouse gases;   Increased reliance on eco-destructive pesticides; and   Proliferation of dangerous genetically modified crops. [...]"  

"Countdown to LaRouche Historic Webcast on May 8" [05/05/10] " ... Coming on the heels of last week's private dialogue with leading economists and diplomats, representing the Four Powers nations, only an absolute fool could miss the fact that LaRouche is setting the agenda for the only means to avoid a British-engineered plunge into a global dark age that would wipe out 80 percent of humanity or more. Make no mistake. [...]"  

 Commentary: What’s Next from Israel: Entropy or Outrage? [05/05/10] "Israeli war-planners face a dilemma. After more than six decades of duplicitous behavior, their playbook is pretty well played out. Not that Tel Aviv will not deceive again. Or at least try. Odds are we’ll see another round of either entropy or outrage or some lethal combination. [...]"   

Exposé: 'Operation Merlin: CIA and Nuclear Plans to Iran During Bush Administration' [05/04/10] "..... To be precise, he was carrying technical designs for a TBA 480 high-voltage block, otherwise known as a "firing set," for a Russian-designed nuclear weapon. He held in his hands knowledge needed to create a perfect implosion that could trigger a nuclear chain reaction inside a small spherical core. It was one of the greatest engineering secrets in the world, providing the solution to one of a handful of problems that separated nuclear powers such as the United States and Russia from the rogue countries like Iran that were desperate to join the nuclear club but had so far fallen short.  He still couldn't believe the orders he had received from CIA headquarters. The CIA had given him the nuclear blueprints and then sent him to Vienna to sell them -- or simply give them -- to the Iranian representatives to the IAEA. With the Russian doing Langley's bidding, the CIA appeared to be about to help Iran leapfrog one of the last remaining engineering hurdles blocking its path to a nuclear weapon. The dangerous irony was not lost on the Russian -- the IAEA was an international organization created to restrict the spread of nuclear technology. The IAEA's Vienna headquarters, inside the United Nation's sprawling concrete compound, a jumble of geometric-shaped buildings assembled like a Christmas pile of children's toys along the Danube River just outside the city center, was the leading forum for international debate over the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology. It was the place where the United States came to level charges against rogue nations such as Iran and North Korea over their clandestine nuclear programs. IAEA experts traveled the world to try to police the use of nuclear power, to make certain that peaceful energy-generation programs weren't providing cover for the clandestine development of nuclear weapons. In 2005, the IAEA and its chief, Mohamed El Baradei, would win the Nobel Peace Prize for their counter proliferation efforts.  [...]"    

Obama defends British Empire's 'Permanent War' Doctrine [05/04/10] "The only obstacle to a Nuclear Free Zone in the Middle East is Israel—and the British Empire has set up the conflict in that way. Israel has refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in order to protect its undeclared nuclear arsenal, but the issue of a "Nuclear Free Middle East," which was adopted by some 180 countries in 1995, has been put on the agenda of the month-long conference to review the NPT, by Egypt, with the support of most of the other countries in Southwest Asia and the Arab World."    

US and Russia to propose ban on WMD in Middle East [05/04/10] "The proposal – involving the appointment of a special coordinator to conduct exploratory talks with Israel, Iran and the Arab states, followed by a regional conference – will be a central issue at the conference in New York, aimed at preventing the further spread of nuclear weapons around the world.  

Ahmadinejad Slams U.S. Nuclear Policy in UN [05/04/10] "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency during his address at the United Nation's nuclear nonproliferation conference on Monday, prompting several delegates to walk out. [...]"    

The Hutaree Case Falls Apart [05/04/10] "Federal District Judge Victoria Roberts has ruled that the nine members of the so-called Hutaree Militia accused of plotting to wage war against the Regime can be released on bail. Prosecutors had argued that bail should be denied because the group posed a severe danger to public safety.  [...]" 

UN chief opens NPT review conference [05/03/10] "Opening the nuclear non-proliferation review conference in New York, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the world expected nuclear-armed states to “act” on disarmament. This day is of immense importance to human kind. Hopes and expectations are high. The world's people look to you for action. Action to protect them from the destructive power of nuclear weapon,” Ban told delegates at the UN headquarters on the first day of the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).  The UN secretary general went on to insist that “disarmament and non-proliferation were among his priorities." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose visit to the world body's headquarters in New York caused a controversy, is expected to deliver a speech later on Monday.  Last month, 14 US senators penned a letter of protest, calling on Washington to refrain from issuing Ahmadinejad a visa. The president is also expected to highlight the obligation of nuclear-armed powers to comply with the NPT pillars -- especially disarmament and the right to peaceful nuclear energy."    Related: Iranian leader flies into nuclear storm "Delegates from 189 countries today are opening a new bid at the United Nations to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, at a contentious meeting set to be dominated by Iran's presumed efforts to build a bomb, and fierce argument over the undeclared nuclear arsenal of Israel. [...]" Clinton, Ahmadinejad Face Off At UN Nuclear Conference  Clinton is a buffoon mired in her own narcissistic 'movie' and thinks she has relevance and credibility. She has no respect and doesn't deserve it.

US has 5,113 launch-ready nukes [05/04/10] "The United States has officially announced the size of its nuclear arsenal, saying it now possesses 5,113 operational nuclear weapons. The figure only refers to operational warheads and excludes outdated nuclear missiles and nuclear weapons slated for dismantlement, which are estimated to number around 4,600, Reuters reported, citing the figure from the Federation of American Scientists. The US government says it has reduced its nuclear weapons stockpile by about 84 percent from its maximum level of 31,225 warheads at the end of fiscal year 1967. The US government last revealed the size of its nuclear arsenal in 1961."     

Tel Aviv Fears UN May Recognize PA State [05/03/10] "While Israel and the Palestinian Authority are finally expected to begin US-mediated indirect “proximity” talks in the very near future, concern is growing among some in the Israeli government that the PA is planning to marginalize the diplomatic process and instead unilaterally seek UN recognition for a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines. There is a rising conviction among some in the Netanyahu government, The Jerusalem Post has learned, that the PA is aiming to secure a new UN Security Council Resolution, updating 1967’s Resolution 242, providing for the establishment of Palestine and fudging the refugee issue. [...]"   

Unconditional support for Israel 'is dangerous', say leading European Jews [05/03/10] "More than 3,000 European Jews, including prominent intellectuals, have signed a petition speaking out against Israeli settlement policies and warning that systematic support for the Israeli government is dangerous. The petition's signatories include French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a Greens leader in the European Parliament. [...]"  

 Commentary:  Hezbollah Has The Right To Possess Any Weapon [05/03/10] "Concerning the Israeli threats and US-Israeli claims about Scud missiles, the Hezbollah Secretary General said that “the Israeli and U.S. remarks about transferring Scud missiles to Hezbollah aim at pressuring the resistance forces and the defiance nations and at waging an intimidation campaign, not more,” ruling out “the eruption of a war in the region in the current period because there are no political objectives to be achieved (by Israel) through war.” [...]"  Related: Lebanon: Hezbollah arms national power [05/01/10] "Lebanese President Michel Sleiman has referred to Hezbollah's arms as part of the country's firepower and tied to a national defense strategy. [...]" US warns Syria, Iran on Israeli threats  "US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned Syria (on behalf of Israel) against transferring "sophisticated weaponry" to Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement. [...]"   Note: Syria can transfer anything it likes to Lebanon, who, above, made the point that Hezbollah is part of their national defense.

'Speak out and you will disappear', activist told  [05/02/10] "Feng Zhenghu, Shanghai's most famous dissident, announced last week that he wanted to launch a manifesto on human rights.  His "Shanghai Expo of Unjust Court Cases" was intended to be a critique of the city's legal system, an alternative view to the officially manicured image of China's business capital. But within a day, the police were at his door. They confiscated his computers and interrogated him for four hours. The 55-year-old former economist is a well-known irritant of the authorities in China. Mr Feng spent three years in prison between 2001 and 2004 for his calls for democracy. He had written about forced evictions and bad behaviour by local authorities. But he secured his place as one of China's most famous dissidents when he spent three months stuck at Tokyo's international airport unable to travel to home because the government was angry about his rights activism. He was refused re-entry eight times and lived off the goodwill of fellow travellers in the no-man's land of the immigration section. He finally got home in February and was placed under close surveillance at his home in Shanghai but continued trying to expose injustices surrounding the Expo. He wrote a document calling for freedom of speech and for an end to the tight control of the internet. In an interview with the rights group Human Rights in China, Mr Feng told how he has been placed under heavy "protection" [...]"    

Iran to propose reforms at US nuclear talks [05/02/10] "Ahmadinejad is expected to defend Iran's right as a signatory to the NPT to master the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium enrichment.  He is also expected to urge other NPT signatories to pressure Israel to sign the treaty, at a time when Washington is pressing world powers to impose a fourth round of UN sanctions against Tehran for defiantly enriching uranium. [...]"  Related:  'Nuclear-armed states ignore NPT pillars'  "A senior official says the Iranian president's presence at the UN nuclear non-proliferation review conference is proof of Tehran's peaceful nuclear intentions." 

Clinton: 'Iran violating key nuclear treaty' [05/02/10] "Iran is in clear violation of a treaty designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday. Clinton told NBC's "Meet the Press" that Ahmadinejad's trip is an effort to divert attention and confuse people about Iran's violation of the treaty. [...]"  Note: Circular logic based on another lie. The cunt-in-chief speaks again.  Amazing that she actually thinks normal people give a shit whether she exists or care what she says.  

US Jewish Groups Call for UN Walkout on Ahmadinejad [05/02/10] "American Jewish organizations have called on United Nations representatives from around the world to walk out on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad next week. Ahmadinejad plans to take the podium during the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. The World Jewish Congress asked its members around the world to pressure their respective governments' representatives to take part in the walkout. [...]"  Note: Naturally. 

IAEA rejects own reports, purpose, Non-Proliferation Treaty: Orwellian vote condemns compliant Iran [05/02/10] "Iran received US assistance under the US-imposed dictator, the Shah Pahlavi (a "king"). When Iran deposed their king, the US withdrew their assistance and refused to refund billions of dollars Iran had paid. France also reneged on contracts without refunding Iran’s payments. The issues over Iran allowing other nations to develop their nuclear fuel is colored by this history of US and France still owing Iran billions of dollars, and refusing Iran’s offer to only allow a fuel exchange if their unprocessed uranium is simultaneously swapped with enriched fuel. [...]"   Related: FLASHBACK - IAEA Legal Expert Stifles Neocrazies "According to ElBaradei’s June, 2009, report [.pdf], the IAEA Secretariat, for the umpteenth time "continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran." [...]"   

Military Resistance 8D16: Used Up And Thrown Away [05/02/10]  Note: Very damning report on what US soldiers are forced to endure, for nothing.

Michael Jackson's former lawyer found dead  [05/02/10] "Peter Lopez, a former lawyer for Michael Jackson and Andrea Bocelli, has been found dead in an apparent suicide."  

Testing the Limits Of Freedom Of Speech -Ernst Zundel Speaks Out [05/01/10] "Ernst Zundel is a German author and historian who has spent seven years of his life behind bars as a result of expressing his controversial viewpoints and opinions. He is a revisionist who has denied the Holocaust as described by most historians. He has been one of the most prominent political prisoners in Europe and has been jailed in three countries on two continents. After his arrest in the U.S. in 2003, he was deported to Canada, where he was kept in prison as "a threat to the national security" for two years. After deportation to Germany in March 2005, he was convicted and sentenced in 2007 to five additional years of imprisonment on charges of holocaust denial. He was finally released on March 1, 2010. This is the first interview Ernst Zundel has given since his release, published in the Foreign Policy Journal. [...]"   

US Arab Citizens, Charged With Trying To "Modernize" 'Al Qaeda' [05/01/10] "A native New Yorker and a former accountant were charged Friday with conspiring to give computer advice, buy wrist watches and do other tasks to help al-Qaida "modernize." A vaguely worded indictment unsealed Friday in federal court in Manhattan accused Wesam El-Hanafi, who was born in Brooklyn, of traveling to Yemen to meet with unnamed al-Qaida members in February 2008. [...]"  Note: Wrist watches .... yeah ... it's a leap from the sun dial. Related:  Fake Al Qaeda "The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida. And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the 'devil' only in order to drive the TV watcher to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US . . ." -- Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook"   

Dems’ immigration proposal creates national ID card, ‘fingerprints every worker’ [05/01/10] "Civil liberties groups and even some die-hard supporters of the Democratic Party are raising the alarm over the Democrats' proposed immigration overhaul, which would see the creation of a national biometric ID card. "If the biometric national ID card provision of the draft bill becomes law, every worker in America would have to be fingerprinted and a new federal bureaucracy – one that could cost hundreds of billions of dollars – would have to be created to issue cards," the ACLU said in a statement Thursday, following the release of Senate Democrat's 28-page proposal (PDF) for comprehensive immigration reform. “Creating a biometric national ID will not only be astronomically expensive, it will usher government into the very center of our lives. Every worker in America will need a government permission slip in order to work. And all of this will come with a new federal bureaucracy – one that combines the worst elements of the DMV and the TSA,” said Christopher Calabrese, ACLU Legislative Counsel. As Ezra Klein notes at the Washington Post, no fewer than 10 pages of the proposal are devoted to the "Believe System," which sets up an ID card for everyone in the work force. "Believe" is an acronym for Biometric Enrollment, Locally-stored Information and Electronic Verification of Employment. The Social Security Administration would be responsible for running the ID card system. [...]"    

Under UN Criminal Code, Lawsuit Charges Cardinals Mahony in L.A. Rivera in Mexico City, for Catholic Priest Pedophile Crimes [05/01/10] "These Crimes Require International Court Jurisdiction,” reads Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial filed April 20, 2010, in U.S. Federal Court for the CA Central District in Los Angeles. [...]"     Related:  Attorney Uncovers Docs Implicating Vatican in Sexual Abuse Coverup  "An investigation by The Associated Press suggests that Pope Benedict’s handpicked replacement to oversee abuse cases at the Vatican did nothing to restrict a California priest after learning that he had previously molested a thirteen-year-old boy. As the scandal spreads across Europe and Latin America, bishops in Ireland, Germany, and Belgium have resigned and new abuse allegations are emerging in Norway and Chile. Here in the United States an alleged victim of priest abuse in Wisconsin announced a lawsuit against the Vatican last week. [...]"   

Dems spark alarm with call for national ID card [05/01/10] "Democratic leaders have proposed requiring every worker in the nation to carry a national identification card with biometric information, such as a fingerprint, within the next six years, according to a draft of the measure. [...]"  Note: This will not happen. 

Judge Wins Muslim Religious Freedom Suit [05/01/10] "A Michigan state judge sued for trampling a Muslim woman’s religious freedom by ordering her to remove her head cover in his courtroom has been exonerated by a federal court.  [...]"  

New 1099 Mandate on Businesses in ObamaCare Bill [05/01/10] "A few wording changes to the tax code’s section 6041 regarding 1099 reporting were slipped into the 2000-page health legislation. The changes will force millions of businesses to issue hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of additional Form 1099s every year. It appears to be a costly, anti- business nightmare. ......  Basically, businesses will have to issue 1099s whenever they do more than $600 of business with another entity in a year. For the $14 trillion U.S. economy, that’s a hell of a lot of 1099s. When a business buys a $1,000 used car, it will have to gather information on the seller and mail 1099s to the seller and the IRS. When a small shop owner pays her rent, she will have to send a 1099 to the landlord and IRS. Recipients of the vast flood of these forms will have to match them with existing accounting records. There will be huge numbers of errors and mismatches, which will probably generate many costly battles with the IRS. [...]"   

Politics: Boehner: GOP could pick up 100 seats [05/01/10] "House Republicans could win 100 or more seats in this fall's elections, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said.  [...]"  

One in eight to cut cable and satellite TV in 2010 [05/01/10] "Despite rising cable and satellite TV prices and easy access to streaming TV and movies [...]"   

Sophisticated Counterfeiting Operation Run Out of Apartment Facing Federal Reserve Building in Los Angeles [05/01/10] "It started 11 days ago when a resident at an upscale downtown L.A. high-rise tower smelled fumes coming from a neighboring apartment. Firefighters knocked on the neighbor’s door but he refused to let them in. They called police, who broke down the door of the penthouse just as the man inside was escaping [...]"   

Former Nazi Bank To Rule The Global Economy [05/01/10] "European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet’s announcement that the Bank for International Settlements is to become the primary engine for global governance is a shocking admission given the fact that this ultra-secretive menagerie of international bankers was once controlled by top Nazis who, in collusion with global central banks, funneled money through the [...]"   

Congressman Waxman sneaks anti-vitamin amendment into Wall Street reform bill [05/01/10] "Of all the sneaky tactics practiced in Washington D.C., this recent action by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) is one of the most insidious: While no one was looking, he injected amendment language into the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173) that would expand the powers of the FTC [...]"    

MSM: Ex-CIA Star Accused of Rape Tasered Twice During Arrest, Had Gun, Crack Pipe [05/01/10] "Andrew Warren, the former CIA station chief accused a drugging, raping and taping a Muslim woman while serving overseas, was hit twice with a taser when he was arrested earlier this week, according to two U.S. officials. At a hearing in a Virginia federal court Tuesday, Warren was confined to a wheelchair and bruising was visible on his face.  [...]"   

New AZ Law To Ban Ethnic Studies [05/01/10] "A new law has been just passed by the Arizona Legislature that bans ethnic studies programs in the state, a move that comes at the heels of the extraordinarily controversial (racist) SB 1070 that makes being undocumented a crime. [...]"   Related: Arizona To Sack Accented Teachers   

Iran says 'Persian Gulf stable, civilized' [05/01/10] "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says there is no security threat in the Persian Gulf area, adding that the countries in the region have cordial relations. [...]"  Note: Israel is the only major provocateur in the area. 

Schwarzenegger wants to run for president [05/01/10] "MSNBC"  Note: Somehow 'The Terminator' is an appropriate metaphor for the time period between 2012 and 2016, when the new Department of "Homeland Security" building is to be finished and the Orwellian Gestapo roam freely on a smashed world.

UK:  Israeli diplomat flees British anti-Israel demonstrators [05/01/10] "Talya Lador-Fresher, Israel’s deputy chief of mission at the Israeli embassy in London, had to be shuffled out a side door and into a “get-away” car by Manchester police on Wednesday, following a lecture she gave at the University of Manchester that was crashed by pro-Palestinian student protestors. [...]"  

Ex-ISI official found dead in Pakistan [05/01/10] "A former Pakistani intelligence official kidnapped a month ago was found shot dead in a lawless northwest tribal region, officials said. [...]"