Puppet MastersS

Card - VISA

Best of the Web: It's Official: Rich Declare War on the Middle Class

Robert Freeman
Commondreams.org
Sun, 14 Nov 2010 11:44 UTC
war,middle,class
© Unknown

For the past thirty years the rich have been waging war on the middle class. It's been astonishingly effective, partly because it has been undeclared. But even that pretense is now being abandoned. The President's National Deficit Commission has effectively declared that the rich will now go after what is left of working and middle class wealth and will take whatever steps are necessary to seize it. If allowed to succeed, their plan will reduce Americans to a state of serfdom.

Ronald Reagan began the war on the middle class with his "supply-side" economics. Its very purpose, according to David Stockman, Reagan's Budget Director, was to transfer wealth and income upwards. It cut the marginal tax rate on the highest income earners from 75% to 35% while dramatically expanding spending for war. The results were two-fold: massive federal debt and an astonishing rise in the share of income and wealth going to those who were already the wealthiest people in the world.

The national debt quadrupled between 1980 and 1992. George W. Bush would repeat Reagan's policies and double it again between 2000 and 2008. Meanwhile, the share of national income going to the top 1% more than doubled, from 9% to 24%. The share going to the top one-tenth of 1% of income earners more than tripled. We now have the most unequal distribution of income in the developing world and the inequality is growing rapidly.
Read More...
Star of David

Best of the Web: Mystery of who funded right-wing "radical Islam" campaign deepens

Justin Elliott
Salon
Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:44 UTC
Money/DVD
© iStockphoto/Salon
In the heat of the 2008 presidential election, an obscure nonprofit group called the Clarion Fund made national news by distributing millions of DVDs about radical Islam in newspaper inserts in swing states.

The DVDs, 28 million in all, were a boost to Republican candidates who were trying to paint Democrats as weak on terrorism -- and they arguably helped fuel the anti-Muslim sentiment that boiled over in the "ground zero mosque" fight last summer. The film, Obsession: Radical Islam's War With the West, was widely criticized for its cartoonish portrayal of Muslims as modern-day Nazis.

But who put up the money to send out all those millions of DVDs?

Clarion, which has strong links to the right-wing Israeli group Aish HaTorah and is listed in government records as a foreign nonprofit, would never say.

Indeed, the group does not have to release detailed donor information because of its nonprofit tax status. We knew only that there was serious money behind the effort: Clarion spent nearly $19 million in 2008, the year it sent out the DVDs.
Read More...
Crusader

Best of the Web: Is Warped Christianity Threatening Our Democracy?

RogerShuler
Open Salon
Mon, 15 Nov 2010 23:25 UTC
133 C St. SE, WashDC, w/flag
© Flickr/Leoncillo Sabino133 C St. SE
A misguided view of Christianity is chipping away at fundamental American principles, according to a new book about a shadowy religious/political organization in Washington, D.C.

Jeff Sharlet, in the new book C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy, shows how the group known as "The Family" influences foreign policy, the military, and other key elements of our government.

Based on personal experience, I would say a C Street-like mindset has invaded our courtrooms and corrupted our justice system at all levels. We also suspect that many boardrooms, and even universities, are infected with a values system that gives elites exalted status over everyday folks. In the end, this bastardized form of religion might pose a greater threat to America than Osama bin Laden ever could.

This is Sharlet's second book about C Street. In 2008, he wrote The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. In an interview about his new book, with Scott Horton of Harper's, Sharlet provides some frightening insight into the C Street mindset. Much of it is based on a relatively obscure passage from the Bible, Acts 9:15: "This man is my chosen instrument to take my name... before the Gentiles and their kings."

The original passage was about the Apostle Paul. But members of The Family evidently think it applies to them. Horton asks, "How do the men who gather at C Street interpret this passage?" Replies Sharlet:
Read More...
Bug

Flashback Florida Dengue Fever Outbreak Leads Back to CIA and Army Experiments

H.P. Albarelli Jr. and Zoe Martell
Truthout
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:04 UTC
mosquitoe
© Jared Rodriguez / Truthout

With little fanfare on July 13, Florida officials released the findings of a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study conducted recently in the Key West area revealing that about 10 percent, or 1,000 people, of the coastal town's population are infected with the dengue fever virus.

While the July 13 release made little mention of it, the CDC study was provoked by an earlier 2009 report that a woman in New York State, who had returned from a Florida Keys' visit, had contracted dengue fever. Within a few weeks of this initial report, two additional cases were discovered in people who had returned from Key West. Over the next three months of 2009, an additional 26 cases were identified, all tied to visits to the town.

Because of these reported cases, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District conducted greatly increased aerial spraying to control mosquitoes. Following the spraying, a small amount of other cases were reported, including that of a 41-year-old Key West man who found blood in his urine and had severely aching joints. Following these additional reports, the CDC launched its study of antibodies in Key West residents and found that 5 percent of the town's residents have been exposed to the dengue virus. Said CDC dengue expert, Dr. Christopher J. Gregory, "The best estimate from the survey is that about 5 percent of [residents] was infected in 2009 with dengue." Gregory also stated, "We have known for a while it is a possible risk, but this outbreak shows it is more than possible: It is something that did happen and could happen again."
Read More...
Megaphone

Best of the Web: Enough Is Enough! Ron Paul Decries TSA Abuses

CongressmanRonPaul
YouTube
Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:07 UTC
Congressman Ron Paul decries TSA abuses on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives 11-17-2010.

Read More...
Bulb

Best of the Web: New Jersey Lawmakers Take on the TSA Want To Stop Full Body Scans

Rady Ananda
NJToday.net
Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:02 UTC
Trenton - Two New Jersey lawmakers are calling for an end to full body scans and pat down requirements for airline passengers..


State senators Michael J. Doherty (R- Hunterdon) and James Beach (D- Camden) announced today that they will present resolutions to the Senate and Assembly calling on the U.S. Congress to end the controversialTSA screening procedures at U.S. airports. Their action comes in response to widespread concerns over privacy and radiation, as well as reports of inappropriate conduct by TSA agents during the screening process.

"The pursuit of security should not force Americans to surrender their civil liberties or basic human dignity at a TSA checkpoint," said Doherty. "Subjecting law-abiding American citizens to naked body scans and full body pat downs is intolerable, humiliating, vulnerable to abuse, and is fast becoming a disincentive to travel. Particularly concerning to us is the fact that physical searches result in children being touched in private areas of the body. Terrorists hate America because of the freedoms upon which this great nation was built. By implementing these screening measures, the TSA has already handed a victory to those who seek to destroy our freedoms."

Comment: Keep in mind that the Patriot Act created TSA and all this was supported by GOP under Bush. Now that Bush
Lite AKA Obama is in office, it's all the other way!

Read More...
Question

Another dead microbiologist: University of South Florida biologist dies in an apparent suicide by cyanide

Jessica Vander Velde
ST. Petersberg Times
Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:13 UTC
Temple Terrace - A University of South Florida molecular biologist died Monday night in an apparent suicide by cyanide at a Temple Terrace hotel, police say.


Comment: Cyanide is one of the more unpleasant ways to commit suicide.


Chitra Chauhan, 33, of 5125 Palms Springs Blvd. in Tampa, was pronounced dead at University Community Hospital about 10:30 p.m., according to the Temple Terrace Police Department.

University officials released a statement saying they were saddened to learn of Chauhan's death. She was a post-doctoral researcher in the Global Health department in the College of Public Health.

Police say that at about 8 p.m. Monday, emergency personnel were called to the Extended StayAmerica hotel at 12242 Morris Bridge Road after someone reported that a woman was having a heart attack.

When they arrived, they found Chauhan in apparent distress. They tried to resuscitate her and took her to the hospital, police said.

Her cause of death is still under investigation, but witnesses at the hotel say that Chauhan had mentioned that she had cyanide. A suicide note was found at the scene.
Read More...
SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: SOTT Podcast: GMO Frankenfoods and What You Can Do to Improve Your Health


Sott.net
Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:00 UTC
SOTT Podcast Logo
SOTT.net podcasts return with a discussion of toxic foods. From the hidden truth of Genetically Modified Organisms, gluten, and fats, to the sharing of research that can literally end your physical pain and help you recovernHeart surgeon and researcher Dr. Gabriela Segura interviews David and Erika Burt, Organic Farmers dedicated to educating the public about food safety and security in Hawaii, annTogether they share their research and professional experience in helping people become aware of the myths about diet and the solutions available to each one of us. After listening to this podcast, whether you suffer from a serious illness or from aches you consider to be normal, you will have the tools you need to feel better than you've ever felt in your life!

Running Time: 01:00:58

Download: MP3

Read More...
Pills

Drug expert claims David Kelly was murdered as he could not have taken overdose

Miles Goslett and Sue Reid
Daily Mail
Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:01 UTC
dr. kelly
© NAMystery: Dr Kelly was found in woods near his home

Police have been urged to start a murder inquiry into Dr David Kelly's death following further allegations that he did not commit suicide.

Officers have been told the government scientist could not have taken an overdose of painkillers.

This overdose was found by the original pathologist to be one of the causes of his death.

Dr Andrew Watt, an experienced clinical pharmacologist, says he has told Thames Valley Police it is not possible Dr Kelly could have swallowed more than a 'safe' dose of two coproxamol tablets because there was so little in his system after death.
Read More...
USA

SOTT Focus: America's Devolution Into Dictatorship

Paul Craig Roberts
Sott.net
Thu, 11 Nov 2010 05:34 UTC
Image
The United States Department of Justice (sic) routinely charges and convicts innocents with bogus and concocted crimes that are not even on the statutes book. The distinguished defense attorney and civil libertarian, Harvey A. Silverglate, published a book last year, Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent, which conclusively proves that today in "freedom and democracy" America, we have punishment without crime.

This same Justice (sic) Department, which routinely frames and railroads the innocent, argued in Federal Court on November 8 that the US government, if approved by the president, could murder anyone it wishes, citizens or noncitizens, at will. All that is required is that the government declare, without evidence, charges, trial, jury conviction or any of the due process required by the US Constitution, that the government suspects the murdered person or persons to be a "threat."

The US Justice (sic) Department even told US Federal District Court Judge John Bates that the US judiciary, formerly a co-equal branch of government, has absolutely no legal authority whatsoever to stick its nose into President "Change" Obama's decision to assassinate Americans. The unaccountability of the president's decision to murder people is, the US Justice (sic) Department declared, one of "the very core powers of the president as commander in chief."
Read More...