THE MONTHLY SEARCH FOR TRUTH IN NEWS

JUNE 2005

THIS MONTH’S TOPICS: 

IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN

TOTALITARIANISM AND DICTATORSHIP

ISRAEL/PALESTINE

U.S. ECONOMY

CHINA

IRAN/SYRIA

VENEZUELA

NORTH KOREA

UZBEKISTAN
U.S. POLITICS

RELIGION

DO THEY WANT TO SHUT DOWN THE INTERNET?

GOVERNMENTS THREATENING THEIR OWN PEOPLE

CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING/NATURAL DISASTERS

ALIENS/UFOs

INTERESTING SCIENCE

THE REAL IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

Trend:  stories from around the world show a grim picture that is clearly at odds with the "going smoothly" message that is the bottom line of the government/military/industrial/media message. 

Iraq: a Bloody Mess

“All the roads leading out of the capital are cut. Iraqi security and US troops can only get through in heavily armed convoys. There is a wave of assassinations of senior Iraqi officers based on chillingly accurate intelligence. A deputy police chief of Baghdad was murdered on Sunday. A total of 52 senior Iraqi government or religious figures have been assassinated since the handover. In June 2004 insurgents killed 42 US soldiers; so far this month 75 have been killed… the number of Iraqi military and police being killed every month has risen from 160 at the handover to 219 today… Homes in Baghdad are currently getting between six and eight hours' electricity a day. Nothing has improved at the power stations since the hand-over of security a year ago… In recent weeks there has also been a chronic shortage of water… talks may indicate a growing sense among US military and civilian officials that they cannot win this war.”

Weeping Madman in Sweltering Baghdad

“Andy Mosher and Bassam Sebti with Naseer Nouri draw the curtain back on the real Baghdad, a Mad Max scene of unpredictable explosions, scattered body parts, inadequate and undependable electricity, lack of refrigeration, water sabotage, and weeping madmen:  'Nearby, a scruffy young man in dirty pants and an unbuttoned shirt stood staring at vegetables scattered on the ground by one of the explosions. Bending over and picking up an onion spattered with blood, he began to cry. "Every one of you in Karrada calls me Crazy Ali," he said to no one in particular. "But I would never do such a thing. I am better than you sane people. At least I do not hurt you.’”

Iraq 'no more safe than in 2003'

“US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has acknowledged that security in Iraq has not improved statistically since Saddam Hussein's fall in 2003… More than 900 people, mostly Iraqis, have died in insurgent attacks across the country since the government of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafaari took office six weeks ago.”  Mr. Rumsfeld also used the occasion to blame, in part, Syria and Iran for this. 

We shelter behind the myth that progress is being made

Baghdad Burning

US caused more deaths in Iraq than Saddam, says anti-war tribunal

Suicide bomber kills dean of Iraq parliament

12 dead as bombs shatter Baghdad calm

"Almost 700 people died in a frenzy of car bombings and other attacks in May, one of the bloodiest months since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003."

23 die in co-ordinated attacks in Baghdad - 'blood was everywhere'

Iraqis struggle to make ends meet as food rations shrink

An Open Letter to US Troops in Afghanistan and Iraq

“I was a soldier for most of the time between 1970 and 1996… Nowadays, when I talk with some of you… I hear many who have very serious reservations about these wars of occupation. I had more than reservations from the get-go about Iraq and Afghanistan, and I opposed them as hard as I could, and so did millions of other people around the world.  But that brain-dead… in the White House who is legally your boss, and all his handlers, starting with Vice President Dick "Halliburton" Cheney they sent you to do this thing anyway… A young friend of mine… recently told me, ‘My platoon sergeant tried to get us to violate the Geneva Convention, and when we resisted, he threatened us with punishment. He told us that 'the Geneva Convention doesn't exist in Iraq, and that is in writing at the Brigade level.’' … It didn't come from the Brigade level, though; it came from… George W. Bush's office. And it's a lie."

US lied to Britain over use of napalm in Iraq war

“’The US confirmed to my officials that they had not used MK77s [firebombs] in Iraq at any time and this was the basis of my response to you,’ ... ‘I regret to say that I have since discovered that this is not the case and must now correct the position.’ … ‘The US has used internationally reviled weapons that the UK refuses to use, and has then apparently lied to UK officials, showing how little weight the UK carries in influencing American policy.’"

FALLUJAH NAPALMED - US uses banned weapon

“News that President George W. Bush has sanctioned the use of napalm, a deadly cocktail of polystyrene and jet fuel banned by the United Nations in 1980, will stun governments around the world.”

It's a Pentagon World and Welcome to It

U.S. now has 106 military bases in Iraq, averaging 1500 troops each.  Sturdier, more permanent bases continue to be built on a plan that is being presented as a "withdrawal strategy."

$1B spent on Baghdad embassy, $1.3B to go

Setting up permanent shop.  U.S. taxpayers forks over "$690 million for logistical and security costs and $658 million for the construction of an embassy compound to be built on an expedited schedule within two years."  Some contractors are earning quite a nice profit on this deal.

Religion, suicide terrorism link disputed in book

"Nearly all suicide terrorist attacks are committed for a secular strategic goal -- to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory the terrorists view as their homeland."  Bottom line:  U.S. occupation strategy increases the number of the suicide attacks.  The DOD and DHS have the data.  Does this mean that they'll heed the data and change their strategy?  President Bush addressed the nation on June 28 and said nothing will change. 

'Good and honest' Iraqis fighting US forces

"A senior US military chief has admitted "good, honest" Iraqis are fighting American forces."  But evidence to date suggests that the foreign fighters issue is blown way out of proportion.  On CNN, even Zbiniew Brzezinski said that we are "deceiving ourselves" if we believe in this.  Just look at the actual number of foreign fighters captured in Iraq -- a tiny percentage.  History is an excellent guide, and it shows that what is called “insurgency” by occupiers is simple occupation resistance -- people defending their homes and wanting their lives back. 

Building Iraq's Army: Mission Improbable - Project in North Reveals Deep Divide Between U.S. and Iraqi Forces

Good article about the deep misunderstanding of Iraq by the West, and why the “alleged plans for a peaceful, democratic Iraq are ultimately foolish.” 

Mother of dead soldier vilifies Bush over war

“President ridiculed at interfaith rally…  ‘We're watching you very carefully and we're going to do everything in our power to have you impeached for misleading the American people,’… Quoting scripture and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hinson suggested the nation is greedy and morally bankrupt and warned that America's fear of terrorism is excessive and unhealthy.”

US Forces Try New Ploy to Combat Resistance

"US occupation forces announced on their propaganda radio beamed at local residents of ar-Ramadi that the US military would stop raiding houses and mosques, would open roads to local people and turn the electricity and drinking water supply in the city back on if local residents would cooperate by informing the American occupation troops of the locations and bases of Iraqi Resistance fighters operating in the city against the Americans."  Please note that such collective punishments of civilians are illegal and defined as terrorism by the Geneva Conventions.  This is clearly at odds with "spreading freedom," which we're told the U.S. is doing. 

US contractors probed over shooting

“Sixteen private American security guards are under investigation for shooting at US marines and Iraqi civilians during a three-hour period west of Baghdad.”

A Cover-Up as Shameful as Tillman's Death

“Father of prominent soldier Pat Tillman details how the army lied in order to exploit his son's death for propaganda purposes.  No one has been held accountable for the cover-up.”

The War Comes Home – Soldiers Suffer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

“People who are afflicted with war-related PTSD have different ways of coping, and this is Jimmy Massey's way. Several times a month, he puts on his old Marines uniform, his desert boots and his dark sunglasses. He throws a big handwritten sign over his shoulder, and proceeds to walk down the Main Street of Waynesville, North Carolina, population: 9,255. The sign says: "I killed innocent civilians for our government." … When Jimmy Massey walks down the Main Street, there are those who will spit at him and call him a traitor. Twice, people have tried to run him over in their cars. … "You can call if fog of war if you wish but for me it was murder," Massey says, "and I want Americans to know this."”

95 Days to Pre-Nixonize George Bush

“The war in Iraq is degenerating... a lot. For American troops, Iraqi police, and Iraqi civilians, the last two months have been filled with dread, death, and disfigurement. In spite of around-the-clock spin by the administration and show-dog obedience by the bouzhie-press, the reality of the war is filtering into the public's consciousness.”

Just a Coincidence? Four of Jessica Lynch's Rescuers Have Died Mysteriously

“When the Department of Defense insisted on keeping up their official version of the rescue, I knew that inevitably some of Lynch's rescuers would be hushed.”  The story of the sudden deaths of those who knew the truth of the Lynch myth broke just months after the military’s phony hero/rescue story.  This article revisits it. 

U.N.: Weapons Equipment Missing in Iraq

“U.N. reports that bio/chemical weapons-making material has been "removed" from 109 sites in Iraq and is now missing.”  Oil wells are guarded, though, so it's clear where the priorities are. 

Security contractor says Marines abused him and other contractors in Iraq

"His head bounced off the asphalt." Raiche said. "He told me he heard one guard say to another, 'If he moves, let the dog loose.'"

General admits to secret air war in Iraq

A greater threat now looms over mankind

"Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov spoke out against the U.S. Missile Defence System, because it would set a dangerous precedent… America has taken on the role that Nazi Germany had during World War II. It has openly used torture and murder to attain what it cites as information. But further than that, it has used Depleted Uranium Shells against civilian men, women and children, knowing fully well, that this is in violation of international agreements."

"In Venezuela, that U.S. is bent on overthrowing the Bolivarian government of President Hugo Chavez Frias, in an attempt to gain control of Venezuela's oil."

Administration's offenses impeachable

"Bush was determined to go to war, "Intelligence and facts are being fixed around the policy." "Fixed" means faked, manufactured, conjured, hyped - the product of whole cloth fabrication."

Saddam faces trial for gassing Kurds

But, what if he didn’t?  Propaganda is composed of lies and half-truths to effect an emotional reaction.  Remember the story of Iraqis breaking infant incubators in Kuwait in 1991?  It was a lie. 

YOU MEAN SADDAM DIDN'T GAS HIS OWN PEOPLE?

Iraq's Constitutional Process Slowing Down

"Sunni leaders, meanwhile, are complaining that a counterinsurgency campaign by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces has poisoned the political climate." [...] "Kurds want federalism enshrined in the new constitution to protect the autonomy they've enjoyed in their northern region since 1991. Shiites and Sunni Arabs see a strong federal system as a prelude to Iraq's breakup."

Spain supports prosecution of US soldiers

"The Spanish government supports a Spanish judge's investigation into and prosecution of three US soldiers implicated in the shooting of a Spanish TV cameraman two years ago in Baghdad, Spanish Minister of Justice Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar said Wednesday."  Unfortunately, few people realize that targeting journalists is part of every war.  Suppressing the truth and keeping up appearance is critical to every side in a war. 

Halliburton Hearing Unearths New Abuse - "Misplaced" portable military bases, thousand-dollar VCRs, and expired food

“Billion Dollar Overcharges”  Halliburton profits by hiring poor, foreign companies to do their work for them, and paying them a tiny fraction.  Also, “… the company would sometimes supply food that was over a year past the expiration date or had spoiled due to inconsistent refrigeration. When the United States military occasionally refused the spoiled food, Halliburton truckers were instructed to take them to the next base in the hope that they would escape scrutiny.  Worst affected were the non-American workers. Mayberry says that Halliburton was supposed to feed 600 Turkish and Filipino meals. "Although KBR charged for this service, it didn't prepare the meals. Instead, these workers were given leftover food in boxes and garbage bags after the troops ate. Sometimes there were not leftovers to give them…. ‘I can unequivocally state that the abuse related to contracts awarded to KBR (Kellogg Brown and Root) represents the most blatant and improper contract abuse I have witnessed during the course of my professional career.’"

French and American Judges Collaborate on Haliburton Corruption INvestigation

UN alert as nuclear plans go missing

“Electronic drawings that give comprehensive details of how to build and test equipment essential for making nuclear bombs have vanished and could be put up for sale on the international black market, according to UN investigators.”

France insists Iraqis need prospects for full sovereignty

The War to Deceive America Into War -- And the War to Cover Up the Deception

"Before America went to war with Afghanistan, another war was underway -- against its own people: the war to deceive America into attacking Iraq. This is no longer a theory or conjecture; it is a documented fact."  Read the article for a point-by-point summary to-date of how this was waged. 

More Rumsfeld Lies - Those "Meetings" with Insurgents

“When Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made his scheduled appearances on the Sunday morning talk shows he confirmed that the alleged meetings had taken place saying, ‘Well, the first thing I would say about the meetings is they go on all the time.’ Later, he would reinforce this suggestion on Meet the Press when he was asked whether there had been ‘two meetings between Iraqi and U.S. officials and some members of the insurgency.’  Rumsfeld responded, "I think there have probably been many more than that."  It was all lies.  When asked the next day whether such meetings took place, US Commander in Iraq, Army Gen. George Casey said, ‘Not yet. Not, to the best of my knowledge, yet. We may start moving there, but the first thing we want to do is meet with Sunni leaders. And a lot of these folks claim they have leverage over the insurgents that we've yet to see realized, frankly. But, to characterize them as negotiations with insurgents about stopping the insurgency, we're not quite there yet.’  What, no meetings? […]  By now, every American who is capable of reading a newspaper or watching a TV should know that Rumsfeld is a compulsive liar, a serial liar, a pathological liar.”

Tortured Logic * Bush's Propaganda Rubicon

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."
George W. Bush

Bush Speech Blurs Fact With Propaganda

“With five mentions of September 11 in his 30-minute address, Mr Bush attempted to weld the Iraq insurgency to the battle with al-Qaida in the public's mind, where the two have been drifting apart.”

Bush Aide Boasts the White House Creates Its Own Reality - Hysterica Passio

“Now we come at last to the heart of darkness. Now we know, from their own words, that the Bush Regime is a cult… You think this is an exaggeration? Then heed the words of the White House itself: a ‘senior adviser’ to the president, who, as The New York Times reports, explained the cult to author Ron Suskind in the heady pre-war days of 2002.  First, the top Bush insider mocked the journalist and all those ‘in what we call the reality-based community,’ i.e., people who ‘believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.’  Suskind's attempt to defend the principles of reason and enlightenment cut no ice with the Bush-man.  ‘That's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality,’ he said. ‘And while you're studying that reality, we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors ... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.’

Iraq: Bush Myths vs. Reality

“public opinion is turning against the administration and the president will be devoting a good bit of his time trying to convince the American public that our policy should not change…  The Bush administration needs to level with the public about the difficulty of the job ahead in Iraq rather than making general statements indicating that all is well.”

How Philosophy Overcomes Propaganda

“The present enemies of truth and justice believe they can call a lie a truth; an aggressive, senseless, unnecessary war a struggle against terrorism; an illiterate moron a great leader; and the destruction of America through fascism, deficit spending and militarism, sound policies. They believe they can call anything whatever they want to and the American people will accept it.”

The return of '1984'

“In Orwell's profoundly pessimistic view: ''Political language . . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." [...]” 

U.S. not losing Iraq war, Rumsfeld insists

Rumsfeld claims Iraq is not a quagmire

US General's Comments Suggest Iraq A Quagmire

Iraq reality check: Americans go from delusion to denial to depression

The tipping point

“US public opinion on the Iraq war dips with every dead soldier, and plummets at the first sniff of defeat…  The last fortnight has revealed a growing impatience with the military misadventure in the Gulf and an irritation with the White House's persistent denials that anything is wrong.”

Bush administration crafting new message on Iraq

“The basic message, as articulated by Rumsfeld, goes something like this:

1. "Progress is being made politically and economically" in Iraq.

2. But the casualties could get worse over the next six months, and fighting could go on for "five, six, eight, 12 years."

3. And we have never miscalculated, erred, or misled you.

[…]  At this point, 91.5 percent of all American military deaths have occurred since Bush declared on May 1, 2003, that "major combat" was over.

Worse yet, an administration known for its message discipline has been plagued lately by top officials sending contradictory signals.”

America turns on Bush over Iraq

Bush 'exploited 9/11' in Iraq plea

“…most Americans are aware that the hotbed of terrorism never existed in Iraq until we got there."

Bush Criticized Over Speech About Iraq War

"The president's frequent references to the terrorist attacks of September 11 show the weakness of his arguments,"

With support for Iraq war fading, Bush tries to turn tide

“Another ABC News/Washington Post poll found that for the first time most Americans -- 57 percent -- believe the Bush administration "intentionally misled" the public in going to war in Iraq…  US Vice President Dick Cheney recently said that the insurgency is currently in its "last throes" but US military officials have been less sanguine…  Senator Chuck Hagel, a senior Republican, said last week that the White House had lost touch with reality in its dealings over Iraq.”

Bush Flops in Prime-time

“’Terrorists’? Even the polls show that most Americans now understand that the insurgency is mainly comprised of Iraqis, so why invoke the terrorists?”

Bush rejects major changes to Iraq strategy

“The White House has said that Bush's warnings of hard work ahead are not at odds with Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that the insurgency is in its ‘last throes.’"

Troops Respond to President's Speech

“’We need honest answers, not pep rallies’ […] Last week, Vice President Cheney said the insurgency is in its last throes, but this week we're told to dig in for a 12-year battle. Have you asked your Secretary of Defense and Vice President to offer the Troops a straight answer? […]  Are you prepared to tell America's parents that their children will be needed to finish the job?” 

The 'Leave My Child Alone' Movement

“In addition to falling recruitment numbers and the rising casualty list in Iraq, it appears that military recruiters are now facing a new, aggressive force on the home front: Mom and Dad.”

Activists tell parents to have schools deny kids' data to military

“Nancy Carroll didn't know schools were giving military recruiters her family's contact information until a recruiter called her 17-year-old granddaughter.  That didn't sit well with Carroll, who believes recruiters unfairly target minority students. President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act requires school districts to provide military recruiters with student phone numbers and addresses or risk losing millions in federal funds…  ‘They're not going to all the schools. They're going to the schools where they figure the kids will have less chance to go to college,’ said Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.). ‘It's an insidious kind of draft, quite frankly.’”  Was this the real purpose of the NCLB Act, which has failed in its higher-profile purpose because no support was given to it? 

Pentagon creating student database

“The Defense Department began working yesterday with a private marketing firm to create a database of high school students ages 16 to 18 and all college students to help the military identify potential recruits in a time of dwindling enlistment in some branches.  The program is provoking a furor among privacy advocates. The new database will include personal information including birth dates, Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, grade-point averages, ethnicity and what subjects the students are studying...  School systems that fail to provide that information risk losing federal funds”

They Won't Go

“With the war in Iraq going badly and allegations of abuse by military personnel widespread, young men and women are increasingly deciding that there's no upside to a career choice in which the most important skills might be ducking bullets and dodging roadside bombs… The Army is so desperate for even lukewarm bodies that it is reluctant to release even problem soldiers, troops who are seriously out of shape, or pregnant, or abusing alcohol or drugs. And it is lowering standards for admission to the junior officer ranks. For example, minor criminal offenses that previously would have been prohibitive can now be overlooked… Recruiters … go into the schools with a glamorous pitch, bags full of goodies for the kids … and a litany of promises they often can't keep… A soldier's job is to kill. I can still hear the drill sergeants in basic training screaming at us decades ago: ‘What are you? What are you?’ And we'd scream back: ‘Killers! Killers!’ And the sergeants would say, ‘What is your purpose?’ And we would shout: ‘To kill! To kill!’)”  I think of this when I hear military officers on the news, assuaging the public over the latest massacre, saying, “our men are not killers.”  But it seems people are driven to become such when they need a paycheck badly enough. 

When Marine recruiters go way beyond the call

"Marcia tried using call blocking. And that's when she learned her first hard lesson. You can't block calls from the government... 'You don't want to be a burden to your mom,' they told him. "Be a man." "Make your father proud.' ... This time, when Axel said, 'Not interested,' the sarge turned surly, snapping, 'You're making a big (bleeping) mistake!' ... Next thing Axel knew, the same sergeant and another recruiter showed up at the LaConner Brewing Co., the restaurant where Axel works. And before Axel...knew or understood what was happening, Axel was whisked away in a car."

US army to face draft dilemma

“The United States will ‘have to face’ a dilemma on restoring the military draft as rising casualties in Iraq result in persistent shortfalls in military recruitment, a top US senator has warned.”

Army Headed to Recruiting Shortfall

"The Army says today's economy offers attractive alternatives to many high school and college graduates."  Just another reason to allow an economic crash to happen. 

Poll Finds Most Oppose Return to Draft

Draft system prepared for unlikely call

"If that downward trend continues, the specter of a military draft to fill the ranks with able bodies is likely to loom large in Washington once again... Chatfield said modern technology would enable the Selective Service to conduct specialized drafts in the event that people with specific skills such as linguists, medical personnel or computer experts were in critical demand by the military."  This story dovetails nicely with the fact that draft boards have been quietly re-staffing for over two years now. 

Mossad Chief: U.S. to Be Mired in Middle East in Perpetuity

“According to Ephraim Halevy, former chief of Israel's Mossad intelligence service and current national security adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, plans have been made for a substantial U.S. military presence in the Middle East lasting decades...  U.S. entanglement in the Middle East in the name of "democracy" has further destabilized the region and made violent fundamentalist revolution more likely, especially in Saudi Arabia.” 

"Frontier Forts," a Bigger "Homeland," Billions More for Pentagon

Neo-Con Thomas Donnelly Unfurls the Big Picture… Donnelly cites his goals for Bush Administration policy…

* "Build new alliances," meaning bag Europe, embrace India, which will be needed in the confrontation with China.

* "Expand active duty army by at least 125,000 soldiers," but given the active Army's current shrinkage given its recruitment problems ­ driven by current policy ­ he didn't breath the "d" word, which would seem to be an essential component.

* "Create naval and air forces that reflect a "high-low" mix of capabilities," meaning gun boats (Littoral Combat Ships) for the Navy and more air transports for the "expeditionary land forces."

* "Increase 'baseline' defense spending by $100 billion per year," meaning in excess of $600 billion for DoD per year (baseline plus Iraq) and build on that as unfolding operations pose additional requirements

"Create new networks of overseas bases," which is explained as a "semipermanent ring of 'frontier forts' along the American security perimeter from West Africa to East Asia."

Dumbocracy - The Silence Of Americans

“If the dead of all those wars we entered into - to "Make the World Safe for Democracy" were to be heard on this subject the chorus would be deafeningly opposed to our present course of action.”

We are all complicit in these vile acts of torture

“What can we do? What can we do when an American president dispatches ‘suspects’ to third world countries where they will be stripped, wired up, electrocuted, ripped open and tortured until they wish they had never be born?”

US Soldiers Plant Weapons On Slain Iraqi Boys

American soldier kills little girl to win a bet

There is no Abu Musab al-Zarqawi – he was reported dead over two years ago, but that was small news then, forgotten now in 1984-like fashion, but his specter rises seemingly whenever blame for something big is demanded. 

Abu's Secret Syrian Rendezvous: Another Bush Lie

"Now they tell us:  'U.S. intelligence has no evidence that terrorist Abu Musab al Zarqawi visited Syria in recent months to plan bombings in Iraq, and experts don't believe the widely publicized meeting ever happened, according to U.S. officials,' reports Knight Ridder. [...] "Three officials who said that the reports of Zarqawi's travels were apparently bogus spoke on condition of anonymity because intelligence matters are classified and because discussing the mistaken report could embarrass the White House and trigger retaliation against them." [...] "It is not so much that "some officials are still quick to embrace dubious intelligence," but rather that they purposely create "flimsy and bogus intelligence" (lies) as a matter of course." [...] "In fact, there is no proof al-Zarqawi is doing anything-expect possibly pushing up a tombstone somewhere in the Sulaimaniyah mountains of northern Iraq."

Zarqawi and the Scarlett Pimpernel

“Bill Montgomery's ‘Form over Substance’ goes beyond expressing skepticism about the shadowy stories coming out of Iraq about top aides of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi being arrested. He suggests that the stories are a combination black psy-ops operation to influence public opinion, and scripted Hollywood entertainment value. I would only add that it is now often forgotten that the major politicians running Iraq are the same people who lied to the US public about Saddam's WMD and about Baath links to terrorism, etc.”

THE SPECTER OF TOTALITARIANISM AND DICTATORSHIP

Psychology has shown us that power-hunger is a disease, that lust for power-and-control over others is the mark of serial killers.  Many who seek power and become leaders actually continue to lust to control absolutely everything they can.  Throughout history, leaders effect change by fostering a climate of fear or emergency, then impose solutions to alleviate the public fear, usually resulting in a loss of some freedoms.  It is done gradually, step-by-step, stripping away liberties in a fashion that doesn’t affect everyone at once, and is orderly enough not to provoke widespread resistance.  This is always presented as a "benefit" or as a necessity for "security" of the people.  It has occurred countless times throughout history.  Study ancient Rome, Napoleonic France, Shogunate Japan, Nazi Germany, Stalinist North Korea.  The TIA (Total Information Awareness) network | 2 | 3 | 4 started by the U.S. administration in 2002 already gathers data from myriad sources about you and your activities.  More visibly, a gradually worsening human-rights record is a negative sign, but the U.S. criticizes others for the same offenses.  The vast network of US prisons worldwide is not yet well known among U.S. public, nor is the vast number of U.S. military bases, nor the activities of the CIA, nor the activities of the military on the ‘black budget,’ nor the depth of the worldwide economic hegemony that the U.S. enjoys.  Frighteningly, the administration has now identified American animal-rights and environmental activists to be the greatest terrorist threat in the U.S. – should this escalate, could it mean bringing troops against Americans on U.S. soil? 

The Power of Nightmares is a documentary TV series that explores how leaders use fear to further their goals -- and how they create or vastly inflate threats to do it.  It's a very old, well-worn psychological strategy, and, thanks to "faith in our leaders," it continues to work today. 

Remembering the lessons of Germany's past

“how the good people of Germany could allow someone such as Adolph Hitler to lead them into what became World War II. After all, before Hitler's rise to power, Germany had a rich Christian heritage… Obviously, one does not gain the trust and confidence of people by portraying himself as a monster. Does anyone truly believe that the German people would have supported Hitler if they had thought he was some kind of ogre? As with most leaders, Hitler preached faith, family, and patriotism. His speeches were laced with references to God. He personally claimed Christ to be his Savior.”  This article details many more eerie parallels. 

What Price Freedom?

Most Americans still don't realize that they are videotaped numerous times every day.  Their phone conversations are monitored.  Their computer activity is recorded.  Train, plane, and hotel reservations as well as all credit-card purchases are forwarded to a central database.  In the UK, cameras watch every busy city square.  What about your phone calls?  "A series of sophisticated computer programs listens to your phone conversation and looks for "keywords" that suggest suspicious activity... We have a police state far beyond anything George Orwell imagined in his book 1984," says privacy expert Susan Morrissey. "The everyday lives of virtually every American are under scrutiny 24-hours-a-day by the government."

Police State

“Some really scary things are happening around here these days. ...perhaps the most frightening prospect for Americans is an unfettered national police force with the sole discretion to determine who can be investigated as a potential terrorist.  That's the impact of little-known proposals to greatly expand the powers of the FBI... the government can label almost any group or individual a terrorist threat…”

We must be alert to rise of fascism

“fascism is totalitarianism marked by forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry and commerce, and bellicose nationalism…  Fascism reflects the constant use of patriotic mottoes, slogans, symbols, songs and other paraphernalia, and flags are seen everywhere including flag symbols on clothing. Fascism uses fear and the need for security as its motivating force to persuade individuals that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." Fascism rallies individuals into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived threat whether it is racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, conservatives, liberals, communists, socialists or any other group.  Fascism controls the privately-owned media through government regulation. Fascism uses the most common religion in a nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to a fascist government's policies and/or actions.“ 

FREEDOM OF THOUGHT? NOT IN BUSH'S AMERICA

“Bush administration's desire to stifle dissent is going beyond herding protesters into fenced-off and distant "free speech zones" during presidential visits. They apparently view any and all opponents of President Bush as criminals at best and terrorists at worst…. the message to potential dissenters is crystal clear: If you disagree with what your government is doing in your name, keep it to yourself. If you wish to be vocal and visible in your opposition, the cops will do whatever is necessary to shut you up.”

Who will save nation from Bush 'police state'?

"For the life of me I can't imagine why the media in the U.S. is so immobilized by the Bush administration... Republicans believe everything Bush says. When he tells them he needs a police state to save them from terrorists, they believe him."

The Undertow of Totalism

“The success or failure of any kind of totalitarianism always comes down to the symbiotic relationship between them, that is, how skilled the would-be leaders are at gathering and maintaining a flock of True Believers. This depends not only on the leaders' skills, but on how many people are willing to become followers… These followers are totalists, and recent events make clear that American society is increasingly awash in them….”

Stockholm syndrome

"The Stockholm syndrome is a psychological state in which the victims of a kidnapping, or persons detained against their free will ­ prisoners develop a relationship with their captor(s). This solidarity can sometimes become a real complicity, with prisoners actually helping the captors to achieve their goals..."

AP: Federal Agency Collected Extensive Personal Data About Airline Passengers Despite Pledge

“A federal agency collected extensive personal information about airline passengers although Congress told it not to and it said it wouldn't, according to documents obtained Monday by The Associated Press.  A Transportation Security Administration contractor used three data brokers to collect detailed information about U.S. citizens who flew on commercial airlines in June 2004 in order to test a terrorist screening program called Secure Flight,”

Voluntary Security ID to Debut in Florida

It’s voluntary but it offers a ‘reward’ for giving up your privacy. 

Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes

“The U.S. Supreme Court destroyed everybody's lives today, everybody who owns a home," … “the decision favors rich corporations.” 

Chicago pairing surveillance cameras with gunshot recognition systems

Police may be handed new powers

“Scottish police may be handed powers to store DNA profiles and fingerprints of anyone they have arrested.”

FBI Turned Loose

“Privacy rights may disappear if a new Senate Intelligence Committee bill passes…  The FBI will write its own subpoenas - just as British customs officials in the colonies did before the American Revolution - using general search warrants (writs of assistance) to go into homes and offices at will to look for contraband. These raids so inflamed 18th-century Americans that the "general search warrant" was one of the precipitating causes of our revolution.”

Social Security files opened to FBI

“The Social Security Administration has relaxed its privacy restrictions and searched thousands of its files at the FBI's request as part of terrorism investigations since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, newly disclosed records and interviews show.  The privacy policy typically bans the sharing of such sensitive information, which includes home addresses, medical information and other personal data. But Social Security agency senior officials agreed to an "ad hoc" policy that authorized the release of information to the FBI for Sept. 11-related investigations because officials saw a "life-threatening" emergency, internal memos say...  ‘But an ad hoc policy like this is so broad that it allows law enforcement to obtain really sensitive information by merely claiming that the information is relevant to the 9/11 investigation,’  Hofmann said. ‘There appears to be very little oversight.’” 

High court rejects enemy combatant appeal

“The Supreme Court refused Monday to be drawn into a dispute over President Bush's power to detain American terror suspects and deny them traditional legal rights…  A year ago, the court ruled the Bush administration was out of line by locking up foreign terrorist suspects at the Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, without access to lawyers and courts. But justices declined to address a separate issue: whether American citizens arrested on U.S. soil can be designated "enemy combatants" and held without trial...  Solicitor General Paul Clement, the Bush administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, said the lower court ruling ‘marks a substantial judicial intrusion into the core presidential function of determining how best to ensure the nation's security.’”  They’ve been working steadily toward this power for years.  If not already, soon it will be perfectly legal for masked men simply to take you away, as long as someone declares you to be an “enemy combatant.” 

U.S. Campaign Produces Few Convictions on Terrorism Charges

“In the end, most cases on the Justice Department list turned out to have no connection to terrorism at all.”  Evidence suggests that the war on terrorism is a lot of “show.”  But we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars on it.  Who is getting that money? 

Homeland Security Conspiracy Against America

"A recent Report of the Homeland Security Council entitled 'Planning Scenarios' describes in minute detail, the Bush administration's preparations in the case of a terrorist attack by an outside enemy called the Universal Adversary... includes the following categories of potential "conspirators":  "foreign [Islamic] terrorists", "domestic radical groups", [antiwar and civil rights groups], "state sponsored adversaries" ["rogue states", "unstable nations"], "disgruntled employees" [labor and union activists]."

Bush pressures Congress to renew Patriot act

PATRIOT ACT PROVISIONS:

·        Broad new authority to compel information from ISPs, friends, relatives, businesses and others, all without informing you.

·        Immunity for businesses that voluntarily turn over your information to law enforcement.

·        Extra punishment for use of cryptography-- no connection to terrorism needed.

·        Instant police access to your credit reports … no connection to terrorism needed.

·        Relaxed requirement of specificity for warrants for multi-use devices like PDAs and computers with telephonic capabilities.

·        DNA collected from all terrorism suspects/DNA database information open to all law enforcement.

·        Less judicial oversight of surveillance.

Federal, state and local officials can now freely share information, regardless of the original reason for gathering it. This includes information in your credit reports, educational records and visa records. It also includes information obtained by administrative subpoenas of any business, from your ISP to your credit card company to your grocer. It also includes DNA database information and information obtained through the secret court processes of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Much of this sharing need not have any relationship to terrorism investigation... USAPA II allows gag orders for subpoenas that force third parties to turn over information about their friends, loved ones or customers while making it unlawful for them to tell anyone except their lawyers about the subpoena. In a similar vein, the law creates broad new exceptions to the Freedom of Information Act for terrorism detainee information, prevents the Environmental Protection Agency from warning the public about environmental dangers from chemical releases and reduces the ability of judges to force the government to present its evidence in open court.  Be careful what you read on the Internet. The government may now monitor the online activities of innocent Americans, and perhaps even track what Web sites you read, by merely telling a judge anywhere in the U.S. that the spying could lead to information that is "relevant" to an ongoing criminal investigation. The person spied on does not have to be the target of the investigation. This application must be granted and the government is not obligated to report to the court or tell the person spied upon what it has done.  Nationwide roving wiretaps. FBI and CIA can now go from phone to phone, computer to computer without demonstrating that each is being used by a suspect or target of an order, or even specifically identifying the person targeted. The government may now serve a single Title III wiretap, FISA wiretap or pen/trap order on any person or entity nationwide, regardless of whether that person or entity is named in the order. The government need not make any showing to a court that the particular information or communication to be acquired is relevant to a criminal investigation. As with its predecessor, USAPA II contains many provisions that appear to be nothing more than an opportunistic attempt to increase governmental powers in areas unrelated to terrorism. In other areas, while terrorism is included, the provisions are not limited to terrorism-related investigations. These include government access to credit reports, sentence enhancements for using encryption, and sharing of some FISA-obtained information…”

 GOP Chairman Walks Out of [PATRIOT Act] Meeting

"The House Judiciary Committee hearing, with the two sides accusing each other of being irresponsible and undemocratic, came as President Bush was urging Congress to renew those sections of the post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism law set to expire in September."  Of course, the act will be renewed.  It seems that there is merely an illusion of debate about important legislation these days. 

Justice Abused Terror-Fighting Tools, Report Says - A Kafkaesque world of indefinite detention

“In one case, a 68-year-old physician and U.S. citizen was hauled away in handcuffs after his suspicious neighbors broke into his apartment and discovered literature on flying. Another man, also a U.S. citizen, was locked up after his wife was seen videotaping boats on Chesapeake Bay by other drivers who thought she might be scouting the Chesapeake Bay Bridge as a target…. ‘The material witness law has been twisted beyond recognition,’”

Patriot Act Push Angers Some on Right

“the USA Patriot Act is prompting sharp criticism from some conservative leaders who are otherwise among the most vocal allies of President Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress… said conservative activist Grover Norquist, every major conservative grass-roots organization has expressed concern about expanding the Patriot Act.”

US considering making flag burning a crime

If Congress Has It's Way, This Site Could Be Cause for Arrest--Yours and Mine

“Warren Apel, a civil libertarian, has produced a website, The Burning Flag Page, which does an excellent job of explaining the threat to liberty that is posed by the Congressional move to ban flag-burning.”

Enabling Evil: Bush's Willing Executioners

“Americans are complicit in the deaths and maiming of thousands of American soldiers for no valid purpose. Americans are complicit in the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi women and children as "collateral damage." No one knows how high the number is because the Bush administration does not regard Iraqi lives as worth counting.”

US senator stands by Nazi remark

“A US senator has refused to apologise for comparing the actions of US soldiers at Guantanamo Bay to those of Nazis, while others have decried or defended the mandate and method used to hold prisoners there.  US Senator Dick Durbin on Wednesday refused to apologise for comments he made on the Senate floor referring to Nazis, Soviet gulags and a ‘mad regime’ like Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.”

Gitmo called death camp

“The Senate's No. 2 Democrat has compared the U.S. military's treatment of a suspected al Qaeda terrorist at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay with the regimes of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Pol Pot, three of history's most heinous dictators, whose regimes killed millions… Mr. Durbin said, ‘If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime’”

Torture Gone Wild: the Camp Gitmo Reality Show

Halliburton to build new $30 mln Guantanamo jail

Affront to our civil liberties

“The more we learn about the Government's plan for pay-per-mile motoring, the more shocking and frightening it becomes. This project will involve the most intrusive system for spying on the citizens ever proposed in a civilised state. Hitler and Stalin would have relished such a scheme.  High overhead, 24 hours a day, satellites will monitor the movements of all 30 million vehicles in Britain...  You may wish to see a new church, join a social club or visit the headquarters of a political party. All will be known. All will be logged.”

Antiwar protesters face federal conspiracy charges

“The U.S. federal government is prosecuting four Catholic peace activists from Ithaca, N.Y., after a state court jury refused to convict them last year for their antiwar protest at a local U.S. military recruiting station… ‘The federal government is clearly trying to make an example of these people and to intimidate future nonviolent protestors by charging these folks with conspiracy," said Bill Quigley, a law professor at Loyola University’ … ‘It is never OK to kill another of God's children and it is especially grievous to send one's children, our children to another land to kill other children,’ said Clare Grady, a mother of two.”  Have you thought about why spreading a peace message can now get you prosecuted by the federal government?  Is this the “American way?” 

Bush OKs Shake-Up of Spy Agencies

“The White House ordered the creation of a National Security Service inside the FBI. And Bush sought to strengthen the hand of the new national intelligence director over the FBI, giving him expanded budget and management powers over the bureau.  In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union said the FBI's new security service would lead to an ‘erosion of constitutional protections against law enforcement actions.’”

The Facebook.com: Big Brother with a smile

"The Beast system is here right now. And worst of all, people are voluntarily giving up this information, with some updating their profile every day with their latest personal details... TheFaceBook.com’s connections to the shadowy world of black ops don’t stop there. They recently received $13 million in venture capital backing from Accel Partners. James Breyer, the manager of Accel, sits on the board of National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) alongside Gilman Louie, head of In-Q-Tel. The CIA set up In-Q-Tel in 1999, with the goal of fostering companies that provide “data warehousing and mining” in a “secure community of interest.”"

CIA chief says he has 'excellent idea' where Osama bin Laden is

CIA 'knows Bin Laden whereabouts'

“If a TV station can get in touch with them, how can the intelligence service of a country which has nuclear bombs and a lot of security and military forces not find them?”

Bin Laden's, CIA roots. How We Created Our Own Terror

Debunk the myth of Al Qaeda

Disinformation: CIA Posing as Al-Qaeda?

German court orders acquittal of Sept 11 attacks suspect

"The appeals court on Thursday rejected an appeal from federal prosecutors for a new trial, citing a lack of evidence."  That's right, folks, still not a single person convicted of the massive plot that was required to carry out the 9/11 attacks.  Could it be because it didn't happen anything like we were told it did? 

Manufactured Terrorism: The Truth About Sept. 11

Former Bush Team Member Says WTC Collapse Likely A Controlled Demolition And 'Inside Job'

“Highly recognized former chief economist in Labor Department now doubts official 9/11 story, claiming suspicious facts and evidence cover-up indicate government foul play and possible criminal implications.”   This article lists some of the impressive evidence that suggests that the story is not what it seems.  After all, there was no real investigation.  All the conclusions were presented within days of the attacks and have been stuck to ever since. 

THE MOTHER OF ALL HOAXES? - World Trade Tower 'Controlled Demolition'?  

“Without 9/11, it would have been politically impossible for the government to embark on military interventions in Central Asia and the Middle East and launch an unprecedented attack on civil liberties at home.”

WTC Basement Blast And Injured Burn Victim Blows 'Official 9/11 Story' Sky High; Eye Witness Testimony Is Conclusive That North Tower Collapsed From Controlled Demolition

“Rodriguez's story is so damaging – so damning – it literally blows the lid off the government story, literally exposing the whole 9/11 investigation as a sham and a cover-up of the worst kind.  And it appears the cover-up also extends to the media.”

FBI inspector general's report: more evidence of government complicity in 9/11 attacks

“The FBI inspector general's report is, like all previous official investigations into the events of 9/11, a cover-up for the state apparatus. These investigations share one common feature: they completely exclude, a priori, any question of government complicity in terrorist attacks. Instead, we have the familiar litany of breast-beating over mistakes, complacency, inattention and inadequate resources… The Democratic Party is deeply implicated, supporting both the war in Iraq and the cover-up of the role of the state in the 9/11 attacks. The Clinton administration sought to provoke a confrontation with Iraq in 1998, but had to back off in the face of public opposition to a new war in the Middle East—opposition that was only overcome in the wake of September 11.”

Hustler asks "What if Everything You Know about 9/11 is Wrong?"

TV show depicts 9/11 as Bush plot

Bush Insider Claim WTC Collapse Bogus Gets 'Huge Response' And Read By Millions Worldwide

“When Morgan Reynolds called the official story about 9/11 bogus, it seemed like the whole world stopped for a moment to listen. […]Two weeks ago, the former chief economist in the Labor Department during President Bush’s first term told the world he thought the WTC fell from a controlled demolition, indicating 9/11 was ‘an inside government job.’  ‘I never imagined how much support there was out there for what I was suggesting occurred on 9/11… It’s nothing new. The government has always lied about so many things. Look at the Downing Street Memo, for example, the document confirming that the Bush administration lied to us about its motives for getting into the war.  If they lied to us about this, what else? Well, 9/11 is just another example.’"

Morgan Reynolds' Nine Eleven Inside Job: Corporate Media Silence is Golden

“Are you surprised? The Morgan Reynolds story about nine eleven being an "inside job" has received nada coverage beyond the original UPI story”

The MOSSAD Happy Dance – the story of the dancing Israelis on 9/11

Tricks of the 9/11 conspiracy debunkers:  The Mechanical Popularity of Lies

The Fix Was In - Did Bush Deliberately Deceive America About Iraq?

"...the analysts who pushed the now discredited claim that Iraq's purchase of aluminum tubes was for the purpose of furthering a nuclear weapons program, have been richly rewarded for this conspicuous failure, receiving job performance rewards in each of the three years since this grave error."  Rich reward suggests that their jobs were very well done. 

THE DOWNING STREET MEMO

“Anyone who still believes all the Anglo-American propaganda about the Iraq invasion is now faced by deep disillusionment…  Translation: the US and British governments would concoct false charges against Iraq to justify war. After Britain’s Attorney General warned unprovoked invasion of Iraq would violate international law, Dearlove noted with oily cynicism, `If the political context were right, people would support regime change.’ Translation: use propaganda and scare tactics to whip up war fever...  Nazi leader Herman Goering correctly observed, a government can get way with anything provided it scares its citizens enough.”

Backstory: Confirming the Downing Street documents

The Real News in the Downing Street Memos

“It said that Blair agreed at Crawford that "the UK would support military action to bring about regime change." Because this was illegal, the officials noted, it was "necessary to create the conditions in which we could legally support military action."”

Could memo sink Bush?

“The release of an explosive piece of paper called the Downing Street Memo has Hinchey, almost 90 members of Congress and people around the world in an uproar… Blair that Bush had already decided to attack Iraq – months before Bush brought the question to the U.N., and while he continued to deny, both to Congress and publicly, any plans to do so… The Times of London made the memo public May 1, and has continued to hammer it in its pages… Until now, the story has been largely ignored by the U.S. news media and dismissed by the Bush administration… calls for a congressional inquiry into the questions raised by the memo are growing louder, with some even discussing a Bush impeachment.”

Downing Street Is For Liars
“Why aren't the media screaming about the latest proofs of Bush's war scams? Don't you know?”

Democrats call for inquiry into 'Downing Street Memo'

“could be the first documentary proof that Bush deceived the American people.”

Bush and Blair Committed to War in April, 2002 Leaked Cabinet Briefing Shows British Knew War was Illegal

Yes, Virginia, There Really Are Downing Street Memos

Papers Reach Iraq Boiling Point

"...this past week, widely scattered newspaper editorialists roused themselves from seeming acceptance of the continuing slaughter in Iraq to voice, for the first time in many cases, outright condemnation of the war... some at least are finally using the "L" word, for lies... the latest Gallup polls find that 57% feel the war is "not worth it," ... The Minneapolis Star-Tribune called Iraq "an unnecessary war based on contrived concerns. ... President Bush and those around him lied, and the rest of us let them. ... Bush insists on clinging to the thoroughly discredited notion that there was any connection between the old Iraqi regime -- no matter how lawless and brutal -- and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."

The Downing Street Fixation - Fixing to Fix "Fixed"

“With Blair forced to acknowledge that the documents are authentic, the White House could hardly label them spurious.”

Ministers were told of need for Gulf war 'excuse'

“Ministers were warned in July 2002 that Britain was committed to taking part in an American-led invasion of Iraq and they had no choice but to find a way of making it legal.  The warning, in a leaked Cabinet Office briefing paper, said Tony Blair had already agreed to back military action to get rid of Saddam Hussein at a summit at the Texas ranch of President George W Bush three months earlier.  The briefing paper, for participants at a meeting of Blair's inner circle on July 23, 2002, said that since regime change was illegal it was "necessary to create the conditions" which would make it legal…  Bush and Blair agreed on regime change in April 2002 and then looked for a way to justify it.” 

Perle's confession

[Former Chief Advisor to the Secretary of Defense] “Richard Perle has now admitted that the invasion of Iraq was illegal according to the tenets of international law, acknowledging that ‘international law ... would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone.’”

War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal

Web of cold-blooded lies

“In July 2002, the head of MI-6, Britain's secret intelligence service, briefed Prime Minister Tony Blair and his cabinet on U.S. plans to attack Iraq.  Sir Richard Dearlove ("M" to James Bond fans) reported that U.S. President George Bush had decided to invade oil-rich Iraq in March 2003, in a war "to be justified by the conjunction of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. The intelligence and facts are being fixed around the policy."  Translation: The U.S. and British governments would concoct charges against Iraq to justify war...  British and U.S. intelligence agencies were ordered to produce "evidence" to justify a war. In the U.S., faked "evidence" and grotesque lies were fed to the frightened public by pro-war neo-conservatives and frenzied national media. The U.S. Congress clapped for war like trained seals… But as Nazi bigwig Herman Goering observed correctly, a government can get away with anything provided it scares its citizens enough.”

Neoconservatives Speechless!

“Neoconservatives from the left, right and middle, including George W. Bush, believe that they create their own reality, live in their own world, and make their own history.”

White House Press Secretary Mocks 'Downing Street Memo'

The White House won’t even respond to the 100+ members of Congress who have demanded an explanation of the memo.  Why so much denial and secrecy? 

Mocking the Downing Street Memo

“Washington Post editors – having already dismissed the leaked British government documents about the Iraq War as boring, irrelevant news – are now turning to the tried-and-true tactic for silencing any remaining dissent, consigning those who won’t go along to the political loony bin… Though no one wants to say it, everyone in mainstream journalism knows intuitively that there is no real risk in ripping liberals. Most often, it’s a win-win. Not only can you write almost whatever you want, but it buys the journalist a measure of protection from conservatives, who have a long record of costing reporters their jobs.”

THE LIE OF THE CENTURY

“There is nothing new in a government lying to their people to start a war. Indeed because most people prefer living in peace to bloody and horrific death in war, any government that desires to initiate a war usually lies to their people to create the illusion that support for the war is the only possible choice they can make.”

Anatomy of a Coverup

“On May 1 the London Sunday Times published leaked minutes -- the Downing Street Memo…  The NYT articles -- masterpieces of delay, indirection, distraction, fake rebuttals, and elegant omission -- keep readers ignorant”

State Dems: Impeach Bush

“Wisconsin Democrats are calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld… The resolution contends that the administration "lied or misled" the United Nations, Congress, and the American public about the justification for the war. It cites the so-called ‘Downing Street memo’ from British Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, as well as reports from U.N. weapons inspectors as evidence of widespread deception.”

Conyers issues statement in advance of hearing; 122 Dems onboard

Article about Congressman John Conyers’ mobilizing a hearing on the Downing Street Memos that offer powerful evidence that the Bush team had already decided to invade Iraq back in 2002. 

Report: CIA official blocked Sept. 11 memo

“The information could have helped agents track down the al-Qaida operatives before the attacks took place….”

Agents provocateur?

Among the camps in the "9/11 Truth Movement," has fatal tension been deliberately seeded, in order to destroy it? 

The shock of being shocked

"Human rights are in retreat worldwide, this year's report states, and -- most disturbing of all -- the United States bears most of the responsibility for it. Citing routine abuse of detainees, detention without trial, fishnet roundups of men labeled "enemy combatants" without cause, and U.S. attempts to circumvent both domestic and international bans against terror, the report is a scathing indictment of U.S. dishonor and international lawlessness.  What's more, the report says, U.S. actions, imposed by the military but sanctioned by the government, justify repression, dictatorship and abuse by oppressive regimes everywhere." 

U.S. criticizes Gulf allies on human trafficking

US running 'archipelago' of secret prisons

US running secret jails worldwide: Amnesty

MMA president says 9/11 was a planned conspiracy to crush Muslims

Arrogant Nation

"The concluding factor that seems to be moving our country toward empire is an apparent need for someone who might be able to save us from destruction. In the 1930's "that someone" was Adolph Hitler."

Iranian net censorship powered by US technology

Microsoft helps China censor blogs

Indymedia server seized in raid - Indymedia says the raid was an attack on press freedom

How the Mighty Are Falling

"Mom, apple pie and malevolent leaders.  Somebody tell Karl Rove to drop the applause sign. The minions he manipulates are cheering for an America that does not exist." 

Feds: Science paper a terrorist's road map  Health agency seeks to halt scholarly publication

The paper "is a road map for terrorists and publication is not in the interests of the United States,"" This is a public statement that censorship, hiding the knowledge of things that may threaten you, is in your interest.  “It was the summer of 1976 when I took my first civics course... I was 18... Having come from a region where authoritarian regimes and political repression thrive, I was fascinated with the American system of government. By the end of the week, the professor asked us to research what he called the "2 D's": dissent and due process, cornerstones of American democracy.”

U.S. government tries to deport Palestinian activists

Read carefully, especially the paragraphs following “The Patriot Act allows the deportation of foreign nationals for providing "material support" to any group,” and note that under USA PATRIOT Act, the U.S. gov’t can now accuse you of anything it wants, call it “supporting terrorism,” arrest you, and not have to offer any proof of their accusation at all.  How’s that for good old American freedom!  The burden then falls upon you to prove that your activities weren’t aiding and abetting “terrorism.”  And the government, by the way, is free to define “terrorism” any way it wants.  That’s one of the reasons that the “War on Terror” will never end – the definition will gradually be expanded to include more and more “enemies of freedom.” 

Senate Gives FBI More Patriot Act Power

Bush nominates CIA veteran to key terrorism post

Italian intelligence knew of CIA plan to kidnap imam: report

“The CIA informed Italy's intelligence service it planned to kidnap an Islamic leader in Milan two years ago… Neither Italy or the United States have officially acknowledged the abduction, which made the news on Friday when the Corriere della Sera daily in Rome reported that a judge had issued arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents.  The abduction has fueled anti-US feelings in Italy.  Osama Mustafa Hassan…was seized in a street of Milan on February 17, 2003… He has been missing since…. Hassan was the former imam of a Milan mosque which had been placed under close watch following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.  The CIA agents are suspected of abducting Hassan and transferring him to the US military base at Aviano in northern Italy, and from there to an Egyptian jail, where his entourage claim he was tortured during interrogation…. Knowledgeable intelligence officials told the Post that the CIA has conducted more than 100 such apprehensions since September 11.” 

Italy judge orders CIA-linked arrests over kidnap

Politicians demand inquiry into CIA operations in Italy

“For many Italians, the behaviour of the CIA agents betrays a contempt for territorial boundaries that leaves them near-speechless…  Italian investigators are also fuming at the casual way the Americans sabotaged their own investigations.”

Nixon's empire strikes back
"Bush's imperial project has succeeded by learning the chief lesson of Watergate - muzzle the press"

Firms tag workers to improve efficiency

“Workers in warehouses across Britain are being "electronically tagged" […] New US satellite- and radio-based computer technology is turning some workplaces into "battery farms" and creating conditions similar to "prison surveillance" […] The computer can also check on whether workers are taking unauthorised breaks and work out the shortest time a worker needs to complete a job. […] … the employee is unable to do anything without the machine knowing or monitoring."

Retailers testing biometric payments

"...the national grocery-store chain this week completed the first phase of a program to equip all 120 of its stores with biometric scanners -- units that allow customers to leave their wallets at home and instead use their fingerprints to help pay for groceries."

Mental Health Screening in Schools Signals the End of Parental Rights – This is huge

“In the 2005-2006 school year, all parents will receive written notice of new policies from your children's schools. […] The fact is that our president has mandated that every American child, age 3 through 18, is federally ordered to be evaluated for mental health issues and to receive "enforced" treatment. […] What treatment does our president's commission have in mind? The newest drugs in the pharmaceutical pipelines, of course. The commission recommends "specific medications for specific conditions." […] Welcome to President Bush's New Freedom Initiative and New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Welcome to life-long profiling and drug addictions, New Freedom-style. […] One of the state-of-the-art treatments, and most expensive, is an implanted capsule – yes, that's right, implanted. The capsule delivers medication into a child's body without the child having to swallow a pill or the need for parental permission for dispensation.”  This is another Bush-administration bid to satisfy corporations’ greed – this time, the pharmaceutical variety – by officially sanctioning the identification of an endless supply of “customers.” 

Tanks In The Streets Of New York

"On a recent trip to NY City... three gun-mounted, armored tanks/vehicles were driving through the streets of Manhattan. ... I couldn't believe how many people just waved at the armed soldiers peeking out of the top, many even cheered loudly in support. Nobody took the time to say, 'Why the hell are armed soldiers and tanks rolling down the middle of the street?!'"

World military spending topped $1 trillion in 2004

"World military spending rose for a sixth year running in 2004, growing by 5 percent to $1.04 trillion on the back of "massive" U.S. budgetary allocations for its war on terror"

Liberate America!
The author offers 25 impeachment reasons. 

Partners in Crime: Friendly Renditions to Muslim Torture Chambers

"Rendition is a covert operation under which even an innocent person may be forcibly transferred to a state where he has committed no crime... Under both the Convention and US laws, therefore, rendition is strictly prohibited if the rendered person would be subjected to torture... Renditions are now firmly associated with America, torture and Muslim states."

US faces prison ship allegations

UN investigates secret US prisons

Bush administration back in the fake-news producing business

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture has churned out three dozen radio and television news segments since the first of the year that promote a controversial trade agreement with Central America opposed by labor unions… The USDA's CAFTA reports were produced while the administration was dealing with the fallout over its practice of paying journalists to tout administration policies.”

Fair-Weather Friends - US Denies French Fighters Emergency Landing Rights

"When nine French fighter jets and a weather plane from a French carrier taking part in a joint exercise with Canadian Naval forces in the Atlantic off New Jersey ran perilously low on fuel last Friday because of a freak storm that prevented them from returning to their ship, they figured, no problem. They weren't too far from the U.S. mainland, and so they could just land at McGuire AF Base in southern New Jersey. No dice, the Francophobe U.S. military told them." [...] "No national American media mentioned this stunning--and potentially life-threatening--breach of basic air etiquette by the U.S. military. And not for lack of knowing about it... Even Soviet planes, at the height of the Cold War, weren't turned away in emergencies. And this was an ally."  Do you think this is "just something that happened or is it a result of belligerent policy -- another sign of the locking down of America.  Do you think our allies do this to us? 

Denmark allows CIA planes enter airspace

"Denmark will not prohibit planes of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States carrying terror suspects from flying across its airspace, nor will it be responsible for such flights' violation of related international laws, a senior official said Wednesday."

Religious hatred bill is unveiled

(UK) "Controversial plans to make incitement to religious hatred illegal are being unveiled by the government. Critics say the re-introduced bill - which bans insulting words or behaviour intended or likely to stir up religious hatred - will stifle free speech."

Assault Of Nuclear Whistleblower Latest In Series Of Attacks

“The attack was ferocious; a group of up to six men stomped on the head of Hook, a former internal auditor at Los Alamos, with such intensity that footprint marks were still visible on his swollen face days later. A witness claimed that without the intervention of the club's bouncer, Hook would have been murdered… former whistleblowers and U.S. congressional investigators who claim that people are risking serious harm by exposing flaws in the U.S. atomic project at a time when the Bush administration is intent on resuming nuclear weapons production for the first time in 15 years…  The attack last week came 48 hours before U.S. government investigators were scheduled to arrive at Hook's home and scrutinize audits detailing financial irregularities amounting to millions of taxpayer dollars at the New Texas laboratory. Now he has been silenced… One Los Alamos employee created a political storm recently after being sacked for exposing large-scale theft at the lab. That followed the unsolved death in 1999 of Lee Scott Hall, who had uncovered a serious flaw in the troubled $1 billion (£700 million) weapons testing program at the Lawrence Livermore laboratories, close ally of its Los Alamos counterpart. The 54-year-old had been stabbed 10 times in his bedroom. No motive was established for the murder nor was anything stolen from his home. No one was ever arrested.” 

Terror Probe in Calif. Town Isn't Over Yet

Australia conducts more anti-terror raids

“The latest raids, which again did not result in any detentions or arrests, sparked criticism of Australia's tough new security laws which allow security agencies to raid homes and detain people suspected of having information about terrorism.  ‘You can be arrested because ASIO think you know something ... that turns ASIO into some sort of secret police,’ Fraser told local radio.”

Civil libertarians concerned over proposed NSW counter-terrorism laws

“The New South Wales Government wants to give police the power to search any premises secretly so as not to tip-off suspected terrorists they're investigating… The first line of defence against police corruption is knowing that the police have a warrant, and that they're in your premises, and knowing what they're searching for. Otherwise, what's to stop a police officer planting something”

How One Tasing Unfolded in Boynton Beach

See video:  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/video/taser_video3a.html

No Charges in Taser Gun Death

Dead after cop scuffle

Man dies after Taser shot

Report Cites 103 Taser-Related Deaths

Pregnant Woman Tasered by Seattle Cops

Taser trigger fingers

The girl is 4-foot-8 and weighs 65 pounds. The officer is 6-foot-2 and weighs 300 pounds.

Taser use on boy, 6, brings outcry

Police stun 75-year-old

Police officers to carry Tasers in schools

Lawsuit Claims Police Used Taser To Seriously Injure Man

Another Tasering Results In Death

Poll: Bush Job Approval Dips to New Low

Ground zero of labs vs. animal-rights activists

"animal-rights activists are protesting research getting under way that uses pigs to measure the impact of police stun guns...  John Lewis, the FBI's deputy assistant director for counterterrorism, told a Senate committee that animal-rights and environmental activists resorting to arson and explosives are the nation's top domestic terrorism threat."

Arm border guards, Senate report urges

WHAT’S REALLY GOING WITH ISRAEL/PALESTINE?

Background:  No one in the Arab and greater Muslim world doesn't connect the US/Iraq struggle directly with the Israel/Palestine struggle.  But thanks to US media, there is virtually no one in the west that does.  This creates a deep misunderstanding among westerners about the conflicts in which they now engage in the Mideast.  Israel was created by Britain and the US in 1948 by bulldozing a space out of the existing geography and forcing the native population out of their homes, leaving Israeli authorities with a territorial battle with those natives that exists to this day.  Why did they do this?  Governments don’t do things out of the goodness of their hearts (not that destroying homes is a goodness anyway).  If history is any guide, it was so that the west would have a proxy, a presence, in that part of the world, hence the close ties and continued support of Israel by the US (at least $5 billion annually), with which it could not exist.  Arabs see powerful Israeli treatment of weak Palestinians as being funded and therefore condoned directly by the US – thus the conflict.  Yet, US media is preoccupied with “Why do they hate us?” because they won’t look at this issue.  Trying to get a read on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the behavior of the Israeli government offers interesting insights and raises questions.  Many researchers believe that Israel could achieve peace quite easily if it desired.  Why wouldn’t it?  Well, there are political forces within Israeli politics that actually want expansion of the country.  Unfortunately, that would mean more war.  By the conditions of treaties, the US must come to Israel’s defense if attacked (not the other way around).  So, for those who’d like to expand Israel, provocation of attack actually works in their interests.  Could this be happening?  Unfortunately, these questions are rarely raised in the US because advocates of Israel have done an outstanding job of falsely equating criticism of Israeli government policies with anti-Semitism, which it simply and certainly is not.  By calling government policies and a religion the same thing, those advocates are also indicating that Israel is a theocracy.  Israel has also grown into a widely recognized but "secret" nuclear power that is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. 

Israeli troops admit "eye for eye" killing spree

"The report in the Maariv daily, confirmed by senior Israeli security sources, was the latest public challenge to the Jewish state's official insistence that its forces have abided by a strict code of ethics..."

Violence rises in occupied Palestinian territory

"Two Palestinians and the Chinese worker were killed in one of the attacks on a greenhouse in Ganei Tal settlement."

Ran HaCohen: The Quiet Occupation

“Very few people realize that Israel has turned life in the occupied territories (Israeli settlers excluded) into complete misery without any need to fire a single bullet.”

Gaza houses 'will be demolished'

Israeli Bulldozers Demolish 8 Houses in WB

‘Israel torpedoing international festival’

“Palestinians say Israeli Civil Administration is wrecking Ramallah festival by denying several artists permission to enter territories”

Israeli Nuclear Secrets Caught Up In Computer Hacking Scandal

Israeli troops tell of tactics to abuse Palestinians

“In public testimonies, the troops alleged the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) routinely carried out "deterrent gunfire" into Palestinian areas without a specific target and also used Palestinian civilians to investigate suspected bombs and as human shields during arrest operations…  What emerges from the testimonies is that far from being aberrations, abuses of Palestinian civilians are institutionalised and come from the highest levels of the army.”

Israeli soldier convicted for killing Tom Hurndall

“On Monday 27 June 2005 a military court convicted Israeli Sergeant Taysir Wahid of the "manslaughter" of British peace activist and photographer Tom Hurndall.”

Lebanon: IAF planes fly over Lebanese cities

Peace In the Middle East? Over Sharon's Dead Body

“By now it should be clear to all Middle East analysts that the main impediment to peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is Ariel Sharon and the right-wing extremists in his Likud party.”

Dashed hopes at Jerusalem summit

Israel admits political motives behind the construction of the Separation Wall

Israeli Apartheid

"a vision of economic development "for" Palestine that serves to provide long-term financial support of the Israeli Apartheid system."

Breaking the Silence: Israeli Soldiers Reflect on Patrolling Hebron

"The most effective images are those of dismembered bodies, screaming mothers and mourning fathers. But that is exactly why the BBC World Service is considered 'hostile' here. It isn't because of the Vanunu affair, but because of the images it broadcasts of everyday suffering on the other side of the road, a ten-minute drive from the safety of our homes, our swimming pools, our happy lives." [...] "I was ashamed of myself the day I realized that I simply enjoy the feeling of power. Not merely enjoy it, need it. And then, when someone suddenly says no to you, you say: what do you mean no? Where do you get the chutzpah from to say no to me?" [...] "a boy of about six, passed by me at my post. He said to me; 'Soldier, listen, don't get annoyed, don't try to stop me, I'm going out to kill some Arabs.'" [...] ""The very existence of the checkpoint is humiliating. I guard, or enable the existence of, 500 Jewish settlers at the expense of 15,000 people under direct occupation in the H2 area and another 140,000-160,000 in the surrounding area of Hebron. It makes no difference how pleasant I am to them. I will still be their enemy. As long as you want to keep these 500 people in Hebron alive and enable them to go about their existence in a reasonable manner, you have to destroy the reasonable existence of all the rest. There's no alternative." 

Palestinian Detainee blinded during interrogation

Israelis unleash Scream at protest

“New weapon knocks crowds off feet -- Sound blast triggers nausea, dizziness
The knees buckle, the brain aches, the stomach turns. And suddenly, nobody feels like protesting anymore. […] … the technology is believed to be similar to the LRAD - Long-Range Acoustic Device - used by U.S. forces in Iraq as a means of crowd control.”

Israel bugged Syrian first lady's e-mails

"Intelligence sources quoted in an Israeli newspaper admitted to the operation after police arrested 22 suspects in Israel's biggest industrial espionage scandal last week." 

Mossad spied on far-right Austrian

"THE ISRAELI secret service spied on Jörg Haider, the right-wing Austrian populist, using one of his closest aides to gather information on his contacts with Arab dictators.... The revelations, in the news weekly Profil, stunned the Austrian political class."

AIPAC Source to Be in Court June 13

"Larry Franklin, the Pentagon worker who is accused of passing information to two American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) analysts, faces a court hearing June 13..."

Pentagon analyst indicted on charges of divulging classified information

“A Pentagon analyst has been indicted on charges of passing classified information and documents about a Middle Eastern country to two employees of a pro-Israel lobbying group and a diplomat from an unnamed country, court documents show… officials had previously identified the lobbying firm as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.”

Indictment Shows Washington Is 'Israeli-Occupied Territory'
“Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin's espionage case has uncovered a spy nest at the top… Israel, a country passionately interested in U.S. policy toward Iran – and aggressively pursuing a campaign to glean all the information it can about the making of that policy in a clear effort to shape it. The indictment shows how the Israelis used AIPAC for that purpose… It's just not credible that Franklin is alone in his disloyalty. He was and is part of a larger group actively committed to a very specific ideological bias, one that valorizes the role of Israel in spurring the U.S. to bolder action in the Middle East.”

Dual-loyalty bias worries US Jews

“Some Jewish officials are more concerned about the US authorities' apparent interest in snaring two America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) staffers in an alleged spy scandal than with the future of AIPAC or their own efforts in Capitol Hill.”

Carl Cameron Investigates Part 1 - Israel Is Spying In And On The U.S.?

This is a propaganda article that admits Israeli spying but denies Israeli involvement in terrorism.  In truth-aversion, this is called a “limited hangout” tactic.  (Look it up.)

Israeli government apologises to New Zealand

“Israel has apologised for the spy scandal…  two alleged Mossad agents, Uriel Zoshe Kelman and Eli Cara, who were arrested in March 2004 and charged with trying to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports…”

US-Israel relations face 'crisis' ahead of Rice visit

“Israel's usually rock-solid relations with the United States were taking a battering as a row over (Israel’s) arms sales to China escalated ahead of a crucial visit to the region by Washington's top diplomat…  There is a crisis. It has been going on for about a year, and to my great regret, even Sharon's visit to Washington didn't resolve this crisis…’”

Israel apologizes to U.S. over China arms sale

Liberty veterans file war crimes brief

"Surviving members of the USS Liberty, a ship that was attacked by Israel almost 40 years ago, said Friday they filed a report with the secretary of the Army about war crimes they said were committed against them... Several survivors of the incident spoke about the events aboard the Liberty and the years since. Shafer said everyone who survived the attack was threatened with imprisonment. 'We have been muzzled by our own government,' he said."  Few people remember that Israel deliberately attacked and nearly destroyed a U.S. ship in 1967.  Investigation was halted and would-be whistleblowers stifled with fear. 

Mossad local assistants or sayanim operating in western countries

“There are thousands of sayanim around the world. In London alone, there are about 2,000 who are active…” 

NYT reporter: You don't have to be an anti-Semite to despise and fear Israel...

This article nicely collects important points about the reality of Israeli policies and raises the too-often-neglected point that valid criticism of the Israeli government or its policies is not in itself anti-Semitic.  But many people have striven to connect the two. 

Confronting Israeli Myth-Making

“Propagandists on behalf of Israel have held a corner on public discourse about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for the nearly six decades of Israel’s existence, but these purveyors of the Israeli line have become increasingly deceptive and malign -- and increasingly effective – with time. The propaganda machine serving Israel disseminates a steady stream of talking points and argumentation that today effectively controls all public discourse, so that in media arenas large and small throughout the country there are always grassroots propagandists available to put out a uniformly favorable twist on Israel’s actions and always to paint the Palestinians in black colors.”

Ethnic Cleansing in Jerusalem, Israeli Style

"...plainly geared to uproot Palestinians from an area that historically has been known as Arab East Jerusalem and convert it into an integral, permanent part of the capital of the Jewish state... The real terrorism is inflicted on the Palestinians, who live in constant fear of bulldozers leveling their homes without anything remotely resembling due process"

State of the State Secrets

"The circumstances surrounding the arrest of Pentagon analyst Lawrence A. Franklin for passing classified information to two employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) would make a good thriller."

"According to Security Sources" - the Israeli Media

A fascinating article from Israel that describes specifics incidents of how the IDF provokes its neighbors and then lies about it. 

U.S. to give Israel $1b in post-pullout aid

“Israel will evacuate all 21 settlements in Gaza as well as four other enclaves in the West Bank.”  It’s as likely that Israel will invade Gaza and still get the billion dollars. 

Israeli army seals off Gaza strip

“Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have stormed a hotel in the Gaza Strip in order to remove 150 Jewish extremists, who had barricaded themselves inside for several weeks. The ultra-nationalists had vowed to make the derelict Palm Beach Hotel their base of operations to protest Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza.”

Israeli troops tell of tactics to abuse Palestinians

“recently released testimonies showing that the Israeli army in 2001 had killed 15 Palestinian policemen as revenge for the killing of six soldiers.”

Israel revives assassination policy

Israel resumes assassination of Palestinian activists

Another Lebanese Assassination by an 'Unknown Perpetrator'

US not to slap Israel killing

“White House has declined to criticize Israel for resuming an assassination policy against Islamic Jihad militants.”

Syria denounces the assassination of Hawi

“The Syrian minister also commended Hawi's resistance of the Israeli aggression and his struggle for the sake of Lebanon's unity and ‘its national reconciliation and the fraternal and historical relations linking it to Syria.’”

Lebanese communist party accuses Israel of killing Hawi

Analysis: a killing plot in Lebanon?

“Both men were killed the same way: a bomb planted in their cars and detonated by remote control.”

Lebanese deputy: Mossad behind assassinations

U.S. demands U.N. to carry out reforms

This article explores U.S. demands on the U.N., despite heaping scorn upon it, falling behind in paying its dues, and making a mockery of the security council by vetoing every resolution (dozens of them) that calls for sanction against Israel for egregious mistreatment of Palestinians. 

An Updated List of Vetoes Cast by the United States to Shield Israel from Criticism by the U.N. Security Council

39 instances in the past 32 years. 

Annan: Withholding dues not productive to reform

“US Congress' threat to withhold dues for the United Nations could jeopardize the outcome of the September summit of the world body…”

Theocracy Alert - Their God is not on our side

“Israel is especially pleased to see a once powerful Arab nation that refused to give it recognition and aided the Palestinians, reduced to chaos, division and weakness. It was Israel's zealots among American policy makers who played a major role in getting the U.S. to invade Iraq…  While the innocent are programmed to fear Islamic fundamentalism, it is the fanatic forces of Judeo-Christianity's most dangerous sects which are the real threat. The lunatic liaison of evangelical Christians, awaiting "his" rapturous destruction of everything in the universe but them, with believers in a Hebrew messiah and "his" real estate promise of their very own domain, represents a threat to humanity far more serious than alleged Islamic fundamentalism.”

WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON WITH THE U.S ECONOMY?

Trend:  The government/media message is that the economy is growing, “in recovery,” “doing fine,” etc.  The goal is not to incite panic, which could damage the economy.  But then there’s the truth – the economy is in worse condition than presented.  It is being propped up artificially by last-ditch measures that cannot go on for long.  The stock bubble of the late 90s has been transformed into a housing bubble, the last major buttress of the system, the bursting of which could bring on depression.  Official rhetoric is misleadingly upbeat.  Official statistics are massaged to present a distortedly positive picture.  Massive wealth transfer from the middle and lower classes to the super-rich continues to be enabled and abetted by administration policies.  We could very shortly be facing a housing meltdown, followed by a broader-market meltdown. 

Wind Of Change In D.C.

“the administration and its congressional allies continue the fiscal recklessness that has been their hallmark since they got here. If they continue to have their way -- and they recently added a new slew of regressive tax cuts to their 2006 budget -- it will eventually be impossible for government to fulfill essential functions, from safety nets to investment in future technologies.”

The US Labor Force: One Foot in the Third World
"The US with a population approaching 300 million has only 10 million production workers. [...] Economists and policymakers are in denial while the US economy implodes in front of their noses."  Corporate policies are short-sighted and destructive to the U.S. economy. 

GM to idle more plants, slash 25,000 jobs

Losing Our Country

"In the 1960's America was a place in which very few people were extremely wealthy, many blue-collar workers earned wages that placed them comfortably in the middle class, and working families could expect steadily rising living standards and a reasonable degree of economic security. But as The Times's series on class in America reminds us, that was another country. The middle-class society I grew up in no longer exists."

Foreclosures are up 57% from a year ago

Greenspan's Bond Conundrum Ripens Into an Enigma:

“All of the economic forces point to a dramatic slowdown ahead which will turn into a serious recession, with almost no tools left to abort that possibility,”

Housing bubble trouble - Mass. home sales plunge 11.1 percent

Al Martin has this to say about the housing bubble:

The Federal Reserve pointed out in its study last Thursday, which Greenspan referred to in his testimony before the joint economic committee, although he didn’t refer to it in detail and I could understand why – that the current speculative bubble in real estate, even if it were to unwind in the same manner as all other speculative real estate bubbles have unwound in this nation, wherein there was experienced, over a 3-year period, an average 17% decline in median home prices, which is the average for the unwinding of a speculative bubble and is, indeed, the decline we saw from the 4th quarter of 1989 to the 2nd quarter of 1991 when the real estate bubble of the late 80's unwound–even this unwinding, would, according to the Federal Reserve, lead to 20 million mortgage defaults in the nation.

Third World, Here We Come

Many Americans are living in a state of delusion, fed by the politicians who keep telling us we're the greatest, the strongest, the freest, the wealthiest, etc., etc., and so forth. Actually, we are heading toward becoming a Third World country.

WORK FOR WAL-MART? YOU MAY NEED WELFARE

CFOs' Optimism Declines, Study Finds

"Corporate financial chiefs express concern over the continuing surge in the cost of healthcare and energy."  So few optimistic CFOs around the world strongly suggests "we can expect to see sluggish economic growth."

The Economist:  “The worldwide rise in house prices is the biggest bubble in history. Prepare for the economic pain when it pops.”

Programming Jobs Losing Luster in U.S.

“As tens of thousands of engineering jobs migrate to developing countries, many new entrants into the U.S. work force see info tech jobs as monotonous, uncreative and easily farmed out - the equivalent of 1980s manufacturing jobs…  The U.S. software industry lost 16 percent of its jobs from March 2001 to March 2004, the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute found. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that information technology industries laid off more than 7,000 American workers in the first quarter of 2005.”

Bush says economic growth on track

"Bush did not mention Friday's report from the Labor Department showing U.S. employers added only 78,000 workers to their payrolls in May, the weakest job growth in nearly two years.  The figure fanned fears on Wall Street of a slowing economy. Stock prices slid nearly 1 percent."

Simulated oil meltdown shows U.S. economy's vulnerability

When did the U.S. become Brazil?

"Despite the widespread belief that the U.S. remains a more mobile society than Europe, economists and sociologists say that in recent decades the typical child starting out in poverty in continental Europe or in Canada has had a better chance at prosperity.' [...] In 1973, the ratio of CEO pay to worker pay was 43-to-1. By 1992, it was 145-to-1. By 1997, it was 326-to-1. By 2000, it hit a sky- high 531-to-1." 

Oil holds over $60, market tests demand

Bush picks anti-regulatory hard-liner to head Wall Street oversight board

"...a brazen move by the Bush administration to shift the SEC toward an even more openly pro-corporate policy. It portends an end to the probes into corporate fraud that have occurred in the wake of Enron, WorldCom and other business scandals...  [...]  ...an indication of the determination of the administration and its backers to eliminate all constraints on the most wealthy and corrupt sections of the American ruling elite."

Will the Real Economic Hit Men Please Stand Up

China seeks gradual yuan convertibility

The value of China’s yuan has been pegged to the dollar’s for a decade, making it impossible for the US currency to gain on China’s. 

IS THE U.S. DEMONIZING CHINA?

Trend:  The war of words and actions is heating up as the U.S. appears to be preparing to blame China for an upcoming collapse of the American economy, brought on in part by the expensive projection of U.S. power around the globe.  Actually, it is already laying such blame, but it will take a larger story before it is programmed into the minds of average citizens.  Some regional experts expect that a China-Taiwan conflict will actually be the next major world conflagration – a tragedy that would draw into it other world powers. 

"It's Our Destiny" - Bush Seeks Military Control of Space (speaking of projecting power)

PENTAGON STARTS SPACE WAR TRAINING

“Just in case you were wondering whether or not the Pentagon was really serious about knocking other countries' satellites out of orbit…”

Rumsfeld says China needlessly projects power

Many in U.S., Canada View China as a Threat

Defectors say China running 1,000 spies in Canada

Taiwan successfully test fires first cruise missile

Defector accuses China of frequent kidnappings in Australia

Greenspan adds to yuan pressure

“US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has added his weight to calls for China to allow the yuan to trade freely against other currencies.”

Moscow, Beijing to sign declaration on world order

“Chinese leader Hu Jintao will arrive here Thursday to sign a joint declaration on world order in the 21st Century… Russia and China will announce the unacceptability of monopolizing global affairs, dividing states into those who lead and those who are led, imposing models for social development from the outside and applying double standards….” This is very obviously all about world outrage over U.S. foreign policy. 

Russia, China Join Against US 'Star Wars'

“if China, Russia or even North Korea were to detonate a single nuclear weapon in the upper atmosphere it would produce an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. One nuclear weapon detonated in near space would therefore melt down the entire electronic communications network of the United States. That could ruin the U.S. economy and utterly disrupt society”

Former Russian PM Primakov Says UN Must Sanction Pre-Emptive Strikes on Foreign States

Ukranian MP Demands U.S. Ambassador’s Expulsion

“A member of the Ukrainian parliament Vladimir Sivkovich demands that U.S. ambassador to Kiev, John Herbst, be expelled for interfering in the country’s internal affairs, Interfax news agency reported.”

Chinese Oil Company Offers $18.5 Billion for Unocal

China's Haier launches bold bid for US appliance maker Maytag

China more popular than U.S. overseas

"The Iraq war has left an enduring impression on the minds of people around the world in ways that make them very suspicious of U.S. intentions…  People in other countries who had unfavorable views of the United States were most likely to cite Bush as the reason rather than a general problem with America.”

U.S. DEMONIZING IRAN AND SYRIA

Trend:  despite the news reporting Iran's full compliance with international law regarding nuclear development, the U.S. has been voicing ever more loudly and frequently its suspicions about Iran.  We already saw this with Saddam Hussein and his cooperation with weapons inspectors before the March 2003 invasion by the US.  It did no good – notably because the US had already planned to attack (see Downing Street Memos articles above). 

Iran halts nuclear activity: IAEA

"Experts from the UN nuclear watchdog have inspected an underground uranium enrichment plant in Iran and verified that the country has kept its word by freezing all sensitive nuclear work there."  Evidence suggests that Iran is doing nothing to which it isn't entitled with regard to nuclear development. 

Top terrorists 'hiding in Iran'

"Mounting evidence gathered over several years has convinced US and foreign intelligence agencies that leading terror suspects have been living inside Iran."  It has  been proved that the war against Iraq was prosecuted on the basis of a pre-existing plan to invade, and that phony intelligence and false "evidence" was used in a campaign to win public support for it.  After the battle of blame about ignoring the real intelligence settled down in 2004, the administration cleared out all the dissenters in the intelligence agencies in a "reorganization."  Some say that Iran has been the real target all along.  If so, how confident are you about this evidence? 

In New Book, Weldon Says He Had Secret Terrorism Source Before Sept. 11

"Weldon exposes warnings from his source that Iran will attack America next; that Iran, not al Qaeda, is actually the nexus of Islamic terrorism; and that Iran has an advanced nuclear program."  But, look at who is claiming this secret source -- Rep. Curt Weldon (Republican, Pennsylvania) is vice chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces.“

Israel: Ahmedinajad's Election is a Danger for the Entire World

Will Israel launch against Iran on Tuesday?

CIA dismisses claims of terrorist threat

"The CIA dismissed renewed claims Thursday by a U.S. politician that an Iranian exile provided credible information about a terrorist plot to hijack a Canadian airliner and fly it into a nuclear reactor near Boston... U.S. intelligence agents have identified the man as a close associate of another Iranian, Manucher Ghorbanifar, branded as a fabricator by the CIA in the 1980s." 

Galloway Wary Of Staged Terror Attack As Pretext For Iran Invasion

"...asked Galloway if he thought an invasion of Iran was on the horizon. Galloway was confident that massively opposed public opinion would stop an attack from taking place, unless a staged terror attack carried out by the military industrial complex and blamed on Iran was carried out."

Possible Strausscon Move on Iran: Mighty Suspicious Bombings in Ahvaz and Tehran

ADL Poll: Majority of Americans Support Military Action by U.S. And Israel to Prevent Iran from Developing Nuclear Weapons

“according the Anti-Defamation League's 2005 American Attitudes Toward Israel and the Middle East.”  Polls are often meant to create public opinion, not to measure it.  Best to know the source of the poll.  First, you advocate something (the ADL advocates Israeli policies), and then you produce a poll that, naturally, shows wide support for your idea. 

Rice Links Syria to Lebanon Assassination

“but said she cannot be certain who is behind the killing.”

'Knock it off,' Rice tells Syria on meddling

Rice blames Syria for Beirut instability

Russia rebuffs criticism on its nuclear cooperation with Iran

"Our cooperation with Iran, which is under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is absolutely transparent"

North Korea, Iran in talks on nuke facilities: report

“North Korea and Iran are reportedly in secret talks to build underground bunkers to hide Iranian clandestine nuclear weapons project… Britain's Sunday Telegraph quoted Japan's Kyodo news agency as saying that Pyongyang and Tehran are discussing whether the North Koreans will build the bunkers for the Iranians or act as advisers to Iranian construction companies.” 

Russia to Deliver Nuclear Fuel for Bushehr Power Plant in Few Months — Iranian Official

“Saboury asserted the arrangement left no room for Iran diverting the fuel to military purposes. “Bushehr is entirely under the supervision of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). The fuel will be verified before it is sent to Iran and the IAEA inspectors will be here to open the seals,” he said.“

US DEMONIZING VENEZUELA

Trend:  The U.S. has successfully overthrown democratically elected leaders in South America before when they wouldn’t play ball with US corporate interests – which means taking payoffs to allow exploitation of resources, which enriches governments but leaves people dirt poor.  The US is openly hostile to the twice democratically elected leader of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.  Chavez has been feeding the hungry and housing the poor with public money, and speaking out against nations that don’t like this idea of spreading national wealth.  Generally, sharing a nation's wealth with all its citizens doesn't sit well with the rich and powerful – it empowers too many ordinary people.  Venezuela is an OPEC nation, oil rich.  Naturally, the US wants as much control of that oil as possible, making Chavez’s and Bush’s policies mix like oil and water. 

Neocon Nightmare: Oil, Socialism, and Chutzpah in Venezuela

“The plutocrats rule America behind the clever guise of a constitutional republic rife with corruption. With an unmatched ferocity in embodying the “traits of success” discerned by Steinbeck, their Neocon representatives in the government vigorously protect the interests of the wealthy and tirelessly push the American system of corrupt avarice on the rest of the world…  Chavez has tenacity. He was elected president of Venezuela in 1998 and again in 2000 by significant margins of victory. Contrary to claims of corruption by the Bush administration and its media lap-dogs, international observers declared both elections to be free. Chavez survived a coup attempt in 2002, which was openly supported by the Bush administration…  In a poll conducted in February of 2005, Chavez's approval rating in his country was 70%...  What the Neocons would not give to use their military might to crush Chavez and seize the bountiful oil fields of Venezuela.”

US, Venezuela clash at OAS meeting

"Washington and other critics of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez did say that although twice elected, the Venezuelan President is showing authoritarian tendencies in office."  Chavez: "He argued that the US government backs terrorists, invades nations, tramples over its own people, and seeks to install a global dictatorship."

OAS members balk at U.S. intervention plan

"A U.S. proposal to intervene in Western Hemisphere nations to push democracy rankled the leaders of several South American countries debating the issue Monday at the meeting of the Organization of American States. [...]   The United States has not established how or where the OAS should intervene, but one likely target is Venezuela. The OAS also is concerned about political instability in Ecuador and Bolivia."

Assassination Clues in Venezuela Point to US, Colombia

“Venezuelan authorities discovered for recruiting terrorists and hired assassins in Bogota and Cucuta an organized network, which is sponsored by Miami and groups linked to US intelligence services.”

Venezuelan president blames Bush for Bolivia crisis

“Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday blamed his US counterpart George W. Bush for the crisis in Bolivia, saying Bush's "poisoned medicine" of free-market democracy has been rejected by Latin America.”  The friendly sounding term, “free-market democracy” is another one that has come to mean something entirely new under the current administration -- namely, opening developing countries for more efficient looting of their resources by the West, and if cooperation fails, in will come an orchestrated regime change by whatever means necessary. 

A greater threat now looms over mankind

"In Venezuela, that U.S. is bent on overthrowing the Bolivarian government of President Hugo Chavez Frias, in an attempt to gain control of Venezuela's oil."

THE NORTH KOREA DOUBLE STANDARD

Trend:  The US continues to treat North Korea with a double standard.  Even though NK is the world’s worst and most brutal police state, is already a nuclear power, has openly and directly threatened the US, and officially teaches anti-US sentiment to its children, the Bush administration goes and attacks defenseless nations in the Mideast, stating conditions that far more accurately describe North Korea.  Why?  It’s almost as if some nation other than the US were directing US foreign policy. 

N Korea has nuclear bombs, building more: official

"I should say that we have enough nuclear bombs to defend against a US attack," the North Korean official told ABC News

U.S. May Push U.N. to Punish North Korea

"North Korea has said it would interpret U.N. penalties as an act of war. But it is not clear whether North Korea actually would consider military action or whether the statement was just more of the country's harsh rhetoric."

U.S. military says can defeat nuclear-armed N.Korea

DPRK willing to scrap long-range missiles for ties with US: S.Korean official

“"North Korean (DPRK) leader Kim clearly told me that the North is ready to scrap all of its long-range missiles, as soon as bilateral diplomatic relations are established (with the US)," Chung was quoted by South Korean Yonhap News Agency as saying in a cabinet meeting presided over by South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan.”

THE UZBEKISTAN DOUBLE STANDARD

Trend:  U.S. continues support of Uzbekistan, calling the nation an ally.  What could be the reasons?  The U.S. has, since 9/11, chummed up with Islam Karimov, the ruthless dictator of Uzbekistan, who runs a stone-cold police state, engages in torture, and is known to boil his political opponents to death, literally.  In exchange for a U.S. thumbs up on his totalitarian regime and the OK to label his opponents “Muslim terrorists,” Karimov allowed the U.S. military to build bases and to set up a rendition agreement via which the US drops off prisoners at Uzbek prisons for rounds of torture.  In May, Karimov’s men massacred peaceful anti-government protesters who had gathered in Andizhan – a horrific tragedy that got, not surprisingly, short shrift by the US media. 

Massacre in Uzbekistan – 500 protesters feared dead

"The Americans and British wouldn't do anything to help democracy in Uzbekistan," he said. Uzbekistan provides a base for US forces engaged in anti-terrorism operations in neighbouring Afghanistan.”

UK trained Uzbek troops weeks before massacre

“British military advisers trained Uzbek troops in ‘marksmanship’ shortly before a massacre in which hundreds of people were killed.”

Uzbek President Tells Putin of Foreign Link in Recent Riots

Karimov said "we have enough facts to prove that the operation was prepared for several months and perhaps several years in advance from outside Uzbekistan."  "It was a carefully planned operation, involving prepared mercenaries, rather than street democrats and the crowd," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

U.S. POLITICS – HOW NICE, GIVING, HONEST, TRUSTWORTHY AND JUST ARE WE? 

Trend:  Heartbreakingly, most Americans seem unaware of the changing face of American policy at home and abroad.  Are traditional American ideals eroding under leadership that doesn’t respect them?  This news just doesn’t seem to be sinking in.  Sinking world opinion of America affects us all. 

Debating Guantanamo
Amnesty's chief goes head-to-head with a White House lawyer about Guantanamo

Former President Carter Calls on U.S. to Shut Down Gitmo

U.S. details Guantanamo 'mishandling' of Koran

Consider that propaganda is among the most powerful and necessary tools of war for all governments, and always has been.  Is it possible that the Newsweek story of flushing the Koran was likely planted so it could be disproven and implant the idea around the world that the U.S. servicepeople don't behave this way?  Well, it would distract nicely from the plain fact that careful news readers already know of numerous accounts and even admissions of tearing, dunking, stomping on, tossing in trashcans, and urinating on the Koran by U.S. personnel at Guantanamo and other prisons. 

Quran Splashed with Urine at Guantanamo

Terrorists 'using Guantanamo as a recruitment aid'

"This has become the greatest propaganda tool that exists for recruiting of terrorists around the world." [...]  "Conditions at Guantanamo, where suspects are held without charge and without access to legal representation, are rapidly becoming a public relations nightmare for the White House."

Some Held at Guantánamo Are Minors, Lawyers Say

US 'stalling UN Guantanamo visit'

'US acknowledges torture at Guantanamo, Iraq, Afghanistan'

“Washington has for the first time acknowledged to the United Nations that prisoners have been tortured at US detention centres in Guantanamo Bay, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq, a UN source said on Friday…. UN sources said it was the first time the world body has received such a frank statement on torture from US authorities.”

Rumsfeld: Torture claims false

US admits using torture

"They are no longer trying to duck this, and have respected their obligation to inform the UN,"

Bush Calls Freedom from Torture "Inalienable Human Right"

Bush urged: 'Never apologize' to Muslims

"It's that attitude that some employees of the Pentagon, State Department and White House are urging President Bush to take when dealing with charges of Quran desecration and other allegations from radical Muslims."  In a speech, they want him to say, "I want to make it very clear that neither this administration nor the American military nor the American people owe an apology whatsoever to the religion of Islam and its believers. The American people have every right to take enormous pride in the respect which our military treats believers in Islam, and in the fact that the American military is not just the most powerful but the most humanitarian fighting force in the history of humankind." 

Judge orders Pentagon to release 100 new photos of Abu Ghraib prison abuse

Abu Ghraib expanded as violence sweeps Iraq

LEST WE FORGET

Detailed accounts of torture in U.S.-run prisons like Abu Graib. 

U.S. army trains Africans to fight desert militants

“…critics say Washington's increasingly high-profile involvement in security in West Africa risks fueling a growing resentment of U.S. foreign policy and radicalizing some in a region largely known for moderate forms of Islam.”  Same dumb mistake – antagonizing and inflaming local sentiment, thus creating a terror threat where there was none. 

Reconquering the Collective Patrimony of the Nation - Recovering Bolivia's Oil and Gas

"The 52.3 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves in Bolivia-reserves presently in the hands of foreign capitalists-are minimally worth $120 billion. This means that financial resources exist in Bolivia for improving the living conditions of the whole population. The resources exist for job creation, better salaries, and expanding free services."  But as in most developing countries, wealthy elite of the West pay third-world government leaders (who line their own pockets) for a smooth ride, ensuring that the local populations remain poor and powerless. 

FBI Chief Won't Mandate Terror Expertise

“FBI Director Robert Mueller says he doesn't believe his counterterrorism supervisors need to have a background in Arabic, the Middle East or international issues.”

A porn star at the presidential dinner

“What is going on with the Bush administration? Earlier this year it was the First Lady cracking risque jokes at the White House correspondents' dinner. Now purveyors of degrading hardcore porn will be dining with the party that champions family values.”

Showtime in Washington - Virtual Citizens; Virtual Government; Virtual Opposition

“quote Republicans, both named (Newt Gingrich) and unnamed, as saying that the Bush administration has been in a "permanent campaign" mode, aimed at energizing right-wingers, instead of governing and trying to pass legislation-which of course requires working out compromises in Congress. This is really quite an admission.  Isn't ‘governing’ what people elect a president to do? …even his own backers in Congress don't think he has been doing much governing; that rather, he is just running a permanent campaign aimed at attacking critics and winning the hearts of his ‘base.’  That's not to say nothing is going on. What Bush and his gang are doing is systematically bankrupting and looting the country and handing the ripped off proceeds to corporations and the wealth in a way David Stockman could only dream of….”

The New CIA Revelations About Posada - Extradition US-Style

“The secret documents recently disclosed by the National Security Archive throw new light on the responsibility of the government of the United States--and especially of the CIA, which was directed at that time by George H. W. Bush--in the horrendous mid-flight destruction on October 6, 1976 of a Cuban civilian airliner and the murder of all 73 people on board.  We already knew… Washington was aware of the plan to carry out this terrible crime… But, what is now known… the US government itself sought to save the terrorists, with US diplomats in Caracas conspiring to do so with some local officials.”  What do you think of letting people be killed to make your opponents look bad? 

A Great Nuclear-Age Mystery Solved

“One of the great mysteries of the Nuclear Age was solved today: What was in the censored, and then lost to the ages, newspaper articles filed by the first reporter to reach Nagasaki following the atomic attack on that city on Aug. 9, 1945? …  Others have suggested that the real reason for the censorship was the United States did not want the world to learn about the morally troubling radiation effects for two reasons: It did not want questions raised about the use of the weapon in 1945, or its wide scale development in the coming years.”

Anti-nuke port security system plagued by high rate of false alarms

“facility receives "about 150 alarms a day" from the 22 radiation portal monitors at the site. That's more than 10 times the number of false alarms originally expected.”  This project was an immense waste of taxpayer money, but someone got very rich from it. 

The Evil Dick Cheney

This article is an interesting list of the vice president’s adventures in business and government that suggests why he was and is such an enthusiastic cheerleader of starting wars. 

We Need Dick!

Dick Cheney

More on the VP from rotten.com. 

The Curse of Dick Cheney - The veep's career has been marred by one disaster after another

Bush's Empathy Shortage

“It's not hard to understand why the millionaire, with the power to satisfy so many desires, might want to claim another's bread. But why does the chauffeur open the door? Why do about half of lower- and middle-income Americans approve of tax cuts that favor the rich and budget cuts that deprive the poor?”

Bush's Road Gets Rougher

“The New York Times discusses the president’s failing popularity.  Last time his approval numbers were this low, there was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon.” 

At 34%, Bush popularity among Californians hits its lowest level

The Hitler Icon

“Hitler knew that ‘[a]ll propaganda has to be popular and has to adapt its spiritual level to the perception of the least intelligent of those towards whom it intends to direct itself.’ His propaganda specialist, Joseph Goebbels, noted that ‘[i]f you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.’ Goebbels then stated what has become a truism for all modern political systems: ‘[i]t is the absolute right of the State to supervise the formation of public opinion,’ urging underlings to ‘[t]hink of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.’”

Dumbocracy - The Silence Of Americans

“The Government of the United States of America is now of, by and for the Corporations. These are the same corporations, the Corporatocracy, to whom the people of the USA have bequeathed a literal and legal eternal life, while at the same time allowing their own corporate "best interests" to override the needs and interests of the very citizens who made all that largess possible… Maybe, we have become nothing more than pod people without the capacity for critical thought… In the final analysis we are destroying all that makes each of us valuable - to ourselves or to others.”

U.S. hostages forgotten in Colombian jungle

“the American public, absorbed by the conflict in Iraq, is largely ignorant of U.S involvement in Colombia, to which Washington has provided more than $3 billion in mainly military aid to fight rebels and the cocaine trade since 2000.”

Is there a conspiracy against Russia?

“The West's geostrategic objective is to weaken Russia, to prevent it from becoming a superpower again, and to turn it into a compliant donor. This is why Russia is being surrounded by security cordons and "hostile regimes" are being established around it…" Prokhanov said.  According to him, the attack against Russia includes the introduction of foreign standards and values in Russian society. ‘Hollywood is as important as the CIA in this attack, and the eastward advance of NATO is as important as young Russian men wearing T-shirts with the American flag,’ the writer said. ‘And the consequences of this attack are unpredictable.’  Yakovlev said there was certainly a conspiracy against Russia, but it involved Russian bureaucrats who were ‘greedy, corrupt and despised their own people.’ He said the goal of this collusion was personal power and enrichment...  Yakovlev was shocked by the results of a poll according to which 80% of Russians view America as the country's main enemy.” 

'Child sacrifices in London'

“Boys from Africa are being murdered as human sacrifices in London churches.  Police believe such boys are trafficked from cities such as Kinshasa where they can be bought for a little as £10. The report, leaked ahead of its publication next month, also cites examples of African children being tortured and killed after being identified as "witches" by church pastors. The 10-month study was commissioned after the death of Victoria Climbié, who was starved and beaten to death after they said she was possessed by the devil…  The true figure for missing boys and girls is feared to be several thousand a year.” 

RELIGION

Trend: religious extremism and fanaticism is on the rise in the U.S. and elsewhere.  History gives a clear picture of religion dividing people and being used politically to set them against each other, and is used to divide them still today.  Why are the people who claim to be the most faithful to their religions the ones who seem most intolerant and the first to advocate killing others to get what they want?  Bush, Bin Laden, and Sharon would all seem to fit into this category.  Remember what Reverend Jerry Falwell said about America’s enemies, “Blow them all away in the name of the Lord.”  That makes “religion devotion” sound very empty – no more than words.  People are so easily swayed by words, when it is actions that matter most. 

Poll: Religious Devotion High in U.S.

"Almost 40 percent said religious leaders should try to sway policymakers, notably higher than in other countries. [...] In contrast, 85 percent of French object to clergy activism - the strongest opposition of any nation surveyed. [...] Many countries other than the United States have been through bloody religious conflict that contributes to their suspicion of giving clergy any say in policy."

Christianity taking over planet?

That's what author Jim Rutz wants to convince you of, despite most news reports bestowing the "fastest growing religion" title on Islam.

U.S. Christians nearing a new unity

In God we Trust: America's rising religious zealotry

"Despite the separation of church and state being enshrined in the US constitution, more than 40 per cent of US citizens said religious leaders should use their influence to try to sway policy-makers."

Televangelist breached guidelines: TV standards council

“When televangelist Jimmy Swaggart said he would kill a homosexual who looked at him romantically, he violated the ethics code of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, an industry panel has ruled…  Swaggart also said that politicians who are undecided on the issue of same-sex marriage ‘all oughta have to marry a pig and live with him forever.’”  Such comments by popular ministers suggest a high-level of confidence that they can express their true hatreds and intolerances and still be accepted by their followers.  In fact, such an expression would seem to be a desire on Swaggart’s part to instill his hatred into his followers.  Listen for increasingly violent denunciation of opposition by the intolerant, followed by backtracking, followed by pushing the envelope yet again.  That appears to be the pattern. 

Court: Some Commandments Displays OK

"The divisiveness of religion in current public life is inescapable," wrote Justice David H. Souter.”

Faith-Based Fascism

“The endless parade of Christian pundits and security analysts on CNN these days is more than an attempt by the beleaguered cable giant to do one better than rival news corps in "outfoxing" the competition. Not content with FOX's spectacular success as the profit-driven propaganda arm of the US government, the religious right has set out to erase the distinction between the pulpit and the news desk across the media spectrum (never a wide one in the first place) -- a feat they have managed to pull off with the cooperation of the nervous corporate elites.”

The New Blacklist

The Christian right has launched a series of boycotts and pressure campaigns aimed at corporate America -- and at its sponsorship of entertainment, programs and activities they don't like… ‘The Christian right is incredibly mobilized,’ says Joan Bertin, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, a 30-year-old alliance of 50 nonprofit groups. Bertin says, ‘There's been an explosion of local book and arts censorship -- a lot of activity by an emboldened grassroots, who think they won the last election on moral grounds.”

Christian Coalition: Gay Warning Labels

“The leader of a conservative Christian lobby group appears to suggest that gays should be required to wear warning labels, although he denies that was his intention… The issue of labels is particularly sensitive to gays. In Nazi Germany they were forced to wear the pink triangle to differentiate them from other internees at concentration camps.”

Lost to the Only Life They Knew
“Officials say more than 400 teenage boys have fled or been driven from a polygamous sect… more than 400 teenagers - some as young as 13- who authorities in Utah and Arizona say have fled or been driven out of the polygamous enclaves of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City over the last four years.  His stated offenses: wearing short-sleeved shirts, listening to CDs and having a girlfriend. Other boys say they were booted out for going to movies, watching television and staying out past curfew.  Some say they were sometimes given as little as two hours' notice before being driven to St. George or nearby Hurricane, Utah, and left like unwanted pets along the road.  Authorities say the teens aren't really being expelled for what they watch or wear, but rather to reduce competition for women in places where men can have dozens of wives.  ‘It's a mathematical thing. If you are marrying all these girls to one man, what do you do with all the boys?’ … ‘There is a virtual Taliban down there. You tell people this stuff happens and they don't believe it…’"  A good example of leaders exerting power and control (in this case through religion) strictly for their own purposes. 

DO THEY WANT TO SHUT DOWN THE INTERNET?

Trend:  Freedom of the press is for those who own the presses.  No one owns the Internet, so, as a bastion of self-publishing and free speech, it is an obvious danger to those who seek to control through censorship and suppression of expression.  Thus, there is a clear acceleration of negative press against the 'net -- more and more ills will be blamed on it.  It will be made to appear such a "threat" that the masses will eventually call upon their government to regulate it in some way, and probably make a buck off of it in the process.  Remember the old days of television when there were locally produced shows (other than the cookie-cutter news broadcasts).  How about old radio when there was such thing as a regional hit because DJs actually chose what to say and play?  Radio and TV have long since been swallowed up by national corporations that have homogenized these media and strictly control the messages that come out of them.  Why should the internet have a different fate.  I guess they’d need an excuse first – thus calling the internet “the recruitment choice of terrorists,” “a dangerous place for kids,” and a “security nightmare.” 

Personal Data for 3.9 Million Lost in Transit

"the latest in a series of recent data-security failures involving nearly every kind of institution that compiles personal information - ranging from data brokers like ChoicePoint and LexisNexis to financial institutions like Bank of America and Wachovia to the media giant Time Warner to universities like Boston College and the University of California, Berkeley."

Security Breach Could Expose 40M to Fraud

“A flurry of disclosures of breaches affecting high-profile companies including Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and DSW Shoe Warehouse has prompted federal lawmakers to draw up legislation designed to better protect consumer privacy.  CardSystems was hit by a virus-like computer script that captured customer data for the purpose of fraud, Gamsin said. She said she did not know how the script got into the system. The FBI was investigating…  ‘Hardly a week goes by without startling new examples of breaches of sensitive personal data, reminding us how important it is to pass a comprehensive identity theft prevention bill in Congress quickly,’ said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.”

Black Market in Stolen Credit Card Data Thrives on Internet

IRS probing possible data security breaches

GOVERNMENTS THREATENING THEIR OWN PEOPLE

The U.S. constitution was designed to protect people from their government.  There are examples around the world of what can happen when those protections don’t exist.

Black Zimbabweans Tell of President Mugabe’s Mega-Rampage and Destruction

“The crackdown known as "Operation Murambatsvina [Drive out rubbish]", which the United Nations says has left some 200,000 people homeless, has been condemned by Zimbabwe's churches, teachers and doctors. Police have met some resistance from township residents in Bulawayo while demolishing what the government calls "illegal structures".  President Robert Mugabe said it is needed to "restore sanity" to Zimbabwe's towns and cities.”

20 killed in Ethiopian political unrest

"Ethiopian security forces opened fire Wednesday on stone-throwing protesters in the central business district, and a human rights group said at least 20 people were killed."

Rodriguez sworn in as Bolivia's new president

The Bolivian pressure cooker

CLIMATE CHANGE, NATURAL DISASTERS, DISEASE

Trend: escalating wild weather and natural disasters, almost surely brought on by global climate change, which the U.S. administration denies exists.  It is, after all, bad for business. 

Science, Bush-style

“JUDGING by his position on global warming, it wouldn't be surprising if President Bush believes the Earth is flat and the Moon is made out of green cheese.  That's how far removed from scientific reality Mr. Bush is on global warming. His continued insistence that immediate action isn't warranted is irresponsible and dangerous…  The Bush administration has its own take on science, however. If you don't agree with a scientific report, just change the wording.”

Bush Aide Softened Greenhouse Gas Links to Global Warming

"A White House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents."

White House official who edited global warming reports resigns

“A former oil industry lobbyist who changed government reports on global warming has resigned in a long-planned departure, the White House said Saturday.  Philip Cooney, who was chief of staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, left Friday, two days after it was revealed that he had edited administration reports on climate change in 2002 and 2003.  His departure was "completely unrelated" to the disclosure, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.[...]  The White House defended the changes, saying they were part of the normal, wide-ranging review process and did not violate an administration pledge to rely on sound science.”

Revealed: how oil giant influenced Bush

“President's George Bush's decision not to sign the United States up to the Kyoto global warming treaty was partly a result of pressure from ExxonMobil, the world's most powerful oil company, and other industries, according to US State Department papers seen by the Guardian.” 

Climate change plan for G8 summit diluted after Blair's US visit

Growing deserts 'a global problem'

“Millions of people could lose their homes and livelihoods as the world's deserts expand because of climate change and unsustainable human activities, an environmental report warned on Friday… It said that global warming was likely to exacerbate the problem, causing more droughts, heat waves and floods.” 

It's Not Just Eskimos in Bikinis

"Climate disruption" is probably a more accurate description of what we are experiencing"

EARTHQUAKES

Earthquakes Happening More Often in the US

New Data Confirms Strong Earthquake Risk to Central U.S.

Major quake likely in Central U.S. study says

Small quakes shake lower North Island New Zealand

Magnitude 5.1 Quake - SOUTHERN PERU

Earthquake Rocks Matata and BOP (New Zealand)

Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake Jolts Area From Mojave to Mexico

Magnitude 5.5 Quake - TONGA

Magnitude 5.8 Quake - NIAS REGION, INDONESIA

Three quakes hit Taiwan, no casualties reported

Earthquake jolts eastern Turkey

Powerful earthquake rattles northern Chile, killing at least 8

5.6 quake wakens desert (California)

Moderate Quake Shakes Southern California

4th Significant Earthquake Shakes Calif.

The Big Quake Question: What Comes After Four?

5.0 aftershock -- 5th earthquake in week -- struck off Calif.

Another day, another earthquake in sunny California

California Earthquake

Earthquake jolts Tajik-Afghan border

Intense earthquake off northeastern Indonesia on tsunami anniversary

Moderate earthquake shakes eastern Iran

Massive Crack Opens In Earth In Texas

Magnitude 5.0 - NEAR THE COAST OF NORTHERN PERU

Magnitude 5.2 - NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA

Small earthquake hits S. Utah

Moderate Earthquake In Northwest Sumatra

Cedar City rattled by earthquakes

Magnitude 5.4 - NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA

6.3-magnitude earthquake strikes off Sumatra coast, Indonesia

Earthquake rocks Indonesian island

Earthquake craters appear in Trang

Earthquake hits northeast Japan

Chile earthquake leaves path of destruction

Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake - OFF THE COAST OF AISEN, CHILE

Afghanistan shaken by 5.4 quake

Earthquake jolts a city in Fars province Shiraz

Holiday Isle Hit by Quake (Greece)

Experts' Heads Shake After Quakes

Rare earthquake felt here [N. Carolina], but causes no damage

Earthquake jolts Omidiyeh city in Omidiyeh city

Earthquake rattles southern New Zealand

EARTHQUAKE MEASURING 4.3 ON THE RICHTER SCALE SOUTH OF METHONI

Quake may be 'imminent' warns tsunami expert

Quake hits off California coast

Early Morning Earthquake In Kentucky

Earthquake measuring 5.5 points on the Richter scale hits Taiwan, causes no damage

Avalanche threat lingers in mountains of western U.S.

Magnitude 6.0 - MOLUCCA SEA

Magnitude 6.3 - OFF THE COAST OF JALISCO, MEXICO

Magnitude 5.2 - CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

California hit by (another) big earthquake

Magnitude 5.0 - NIAS REGION, INDONESIA

3.5 earthquake hits Sonoma County

Moderate earthquake rocks northern Bulgaria

METEORS

Meteor shower sparks calls to police

Ball of flame in the sky

VOLCANOES

Barren Island volcano emitting more smoke

Volcano emits dense ash (Mariana Islands)

Anatahan volcano roars anew

Volcano blast prompts evacuation in Mexico

Explosion forms new crater on Mexican volcano

Dry spell hits fields, farmers, pocketbooks [Indiana]

Mexico's Colima volcano erupts, spewing rock; no injuries reported

Volcano of fire erupts

African sands 'set for upheaval'

Changing planet revealed in atlas -- Satellite images reveal how the environment has changed dramatically in recent decades.

HEAT AND COLD

Officials move to protect elderly from nation's deadly heat wave

Southern England Warned of Coming Heatwave Smog

Pakistan heat wave kills 196

Heat swells calls for ambulances

Heat wave kills at least 65 in India

Heat wave could be start of summer-long trend (Canada)

Heat melts record - Ontario hydro usage soars

The bugs are back with a biting vengeance (Alaska)

Brrr! Snow in the Alps, a chill in Scotland as a cold snap sweeps much of Europe

20,000 dead carp: something fishy

“Add in the sustained heat wave of air temperatures in the 90s, plus an outbreak of koi herpes virus in the lake's carp stock, and there you have it: Piles of dead fish.”

FLOODS

Northern China bakes as southern China is swamped by floods

Some 732 dead or missing in China floods as rivers rise

100,000 forced to leave homes as flood toll rises (China)

IS TEXAS NEXT? - Like southern Louisiana, is Galveston also sinking into the Gulf?

Rains leave 24 dead, more than 29,000 homeless in northeastern Brazil

Rising flood waters on Prairies endanger rare shore birds

39 Dead in El Salvador, Honduras Flooding

Flood warnings issued for southern Alberta

Death toll rises to 35 in Colombian flood

Floods kill 200 across China

122 Are Killed by Flood and Fire in China

Flash Flood Hits China School, Killing 64

China school flood may have killed 200

Sofia in the Grip of Emergency State – floods

Three killed by flash floods in Taiwan, hundreds evacuated

Flood death toll climbs to five (Taiwan)

Flood Kills One in Dusheti

Xinjiang flood

Storm Expert: Hurricane Danger on the Rise

Flash floods clean-up under way (UK)

Alberta town braces for severe flooding

Snow closes 5 camps in Yosemite for summer

S. Saskatchewan River to rise 5.6 metres

Hurricanes 'to get stronger'

DROUGHTS

Spanish forced to ration water

MINISTER WARNS DROUGHT COULD BE LONG LASTING (Spain)

Heat, Drought Back Haunting Europe On First Day Of Summer

California Wildfires Force Evacuations

Lack of rain keeping Texas as dry as Dust Bowl days

Australian Drought Towns Run Out of Water

Dissapearing Arctic Lakes Linked To Climate Change

Strange sights in the Arctic light

“Everywhere, glaciers are retreating. A study of 244 Antarctic glaciers found that 87 per cent have shrunk over the past 50 years.”

Climate threat to 'cradle of life'

Climate change 'will prolong' drought conditions

Drought-Hit Portugal Battles Large Wildfire As Temperatures Soar

Five die of heat stroke

Studies: Permafrost melting under N.W.T. roads

One in six countries facing food shortage

“One in six countries in the world face food shortages this year because of severe droughts that could become semi-permanent under climate change, UN scientists warned yesterday.”

Future Climate Could be Hotter than Thought - Study

Thousands evacuated in post-drought Australia rain

DISEASES

Meningococcal epidemic spreads despite vaccinations

Patients killed by new bug strain

The strain seen at Stoke Mandeville hospital is related to one which has emerged in the US and Canada

HK public asked to avoid wild monkeys over virus scare

West Nile research springs a surprise

"UTMB scientists find mosquitoes infect each other, perhaps explaining its deadly spread"

Hundreds of geese dead from bird flu in China: Hong Kong officials

France prevents bird flu virus spreading to humans

Three New Bird Flu Cases Reported in Vietnam

Vietnamese Bird Flu Doctor has Bird Flu

New bird flu outbreak in Vietnam

Chinese farmers told to stop using antiviral on poultry

“Researchers fear using the drug on animals and humans could lead to drug resistance.  Drug-resistant forms of H5N1 - a bird flu strain - have already been found in Thailand and Viet Nam, according to reports.“

Bird flu: we're all going to die

"governments will impose a police state that will make all the ID cards and airport checks look like a tea party. You'd not be allowed to move anywhere without showing off a vaccination certificate... security consultant Bruce Schneier says: 'One of the things I routinely tell people is that if it's in the news, don't worry about it. By definition, 'news' means that it hardly ever happens. If a risk is in the news, then it's probably not worth worrying about. When something is no longer reported - automobile deaths, domestic violence - when it's so common that it's not news, then you should start worrying.'" 

Close encounters of the fluttering kind: a rise in bird attacks

Flu is killing our kids

Flu epidemic hits hospital hard

No protection against virulent flu strain

Are we ready for a possible "killer flu" outbreak?

School reopens after mystery bug

West Nile update

Number of dengue cases in Singapore rises in June

Two died as plague reported in Tibet

'C.difficile' superbug is killing twice as many people as MRSA

Afghans work to head off cholera epidemic

Indonesia records several new cases of polio

West Nile virus found in Evanston

New mad cow scare in US

US checking possible 2nd case of mad cow disease

U.S. mad cow case was Texas-born

The Cover-Up Begins to Unravel - Mad Cow USA

“The US government's elaborate cover-up of mad cow dangers in the United States has begun to unravel. Twenty-four hours after our successful protest with Organic Consumers Association of a US Department of Agriculture mad cow safety stunt in St. Paul, USDA Secretary Johanns was forced to admit that a cow tested last year and declared safe in fact DID have mad cow disease.  I've often charged that the USDA is hiding US cases of mad cow by using the wrong testing procedures and by failing to conduct food safety tests on millions of animals and this announcement proves it.“  In a land where corporate and government power are so thoroughly blended and magnified (this the definition of fascism according to Benito Mussolini), it may be wise to assume that corporate interests will always be served before public ones, regardless of threats to public safety. 

U.S. rocket dumped toxic fuel in Grand Banks: report

ALL THIS TALK OF ALIENS

Trend:  Continuing ubiquity of UFO sightings, books on UFOs and aliens, UFO news reports, movies/documentaries/TV series about aliens, alien-themed video games, new-age channeling of aliens, conspiracy theories involving aliens, etc.  Why? 

Cyberspace attack on military a solo quest for proof of UFOs

Alien thinking

UFOs Spotted Over Eger  (Hungary)

Martian life might threaten human mission

INTERESTING SCIENCE

Researchers Say Intelligence and Diseases May Be Linked in Ashkenazic Genes

Our North loses the Pole

"A Canadian scientist who recently returned from a trip to measure the Pole's current location says it has now left Canadian territory and crossed into international waters...  in 2001, scientists discovered that it was picking up the pace, suddenly charging ahead -- and toward the edge of Canadian territory -- at more than 40 kilometres per year."

Babies Show High Levels of Chemical

"A Harvard study of babies in hospital intensive care units has found new evidence of high levels of a hormone-altering chemical in newborns treated with plastic medical devices."

What Other People Say May Change What You See

“A new study uses advanced brain-scanning technology to cast light on a topic that psychologists have puzzled over for more than half a century: social conformity… The researchers found that social conformity showed up in the brain as activity in regions that are entirely devoted to perception. But independence of judgment - standing up for one's beliefs - showed up as activity in brain areas involved in emotion, the study found, suggesting that there is a cost for going against the group… ‘We like to think that seeing is believing,’ …But the study's findings… show that seeing is believing what the group tells you to believe… ‘It suggests that information from other people may color our perception at a very deep level.’ … The implications of the study's findings are huge….”  Yes, people will actually deny the testimony of their own eyes and ears if they are socially pressured to believe something different, and our most “successful” leaders know it.  Remember in George Orwell’s 1984 when Winston Smith said that if the party told you that two plus two equals five, you’d have to believe it? 

Fluoride water 'causes cancer'

“Fluoride in tap water can cause bone cancer in boys, a disturbing new study indicates, although there is no evidence of a link for girls.”

U.S. leads in mental illness

"A quarter of all Americans met the criteria for having a mental illness within the past year, and fully 25 per cent of those had a "serious" disorder that significantly disrupted their ability to function ... Although parallel studies in 27 other countries are not yet complete, the new numbers suggest the U.S. is poised to rank No. 1 for mental illness globally..."

Russia Ready for Pre-Emptive Strikes to Avert Terrorist Threat — Defense Minister

The U.S. has now set the precedent -- it's okay to launch "pre-emptive" wars of aggression against any nation or group that you can successfully demonize in the public mind. 

Making Three-Dimensional Holograms Visible From All Sides

When Seeing and Hearing Isn't Believing

"Gentlemen! We have called you together to inform you that we are going to overthrow the United States government." So begins a statement being delivered by Gen. Carl W. Steiner, former Commander-in-chief, U.S. Special Operations Command.  At least the voice sounds amazingly like him.  But it is not Steiner. It is the result of voice "morphing" technology developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. ... PSYOPS seeks to exploit human vulnerabilities in enemy governments, militaries and populations. Digital morphing — voice, video, and photo — has come of age, available for use in psychological operations. PSYOPS, as the military calls it, seek to exploit human vulnerabilities in enemy governments, militaries and populations to pursue national and battlefield objectives. [...] The Gulf War hologram story might be dismissed were it not the case that washingtonpost.com has learned that a super secret program was established in 1994 to pursue the very technology for PSYOPS application. The "Holographic Projector" is described in a classified Air Force document as a system to "project information power from space ... for special operations deception missions.""

Found: Europe's oldest civilisation

“Archaeologists have discovered Europe's oldest civilisation, a network of dozens of temples, 2,000 years older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids.  More than 150 gigantic monuments have been located beneath the fields and cities of modern-day Germany, Austria and Slovakia. They were built 7,000 years ago, between 4800BC and 4600BC. Their discovery, revealed today by The Independent, will revolutionise the study of prehistoric Europe, where an appetite for monumental architecture was thought to have developed later than in Mesopotamia and Egypt… Why this monumental culture collapsed is a mystery.”

Japanese robot guards to patrol shops, offices

News report says US to produce plutonium 238 for secret missions

FDA Panel Recommends Heart Drug for Blacks

Extinction of Frogs is Catastrophic, Scientists Say

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