Five years ago, the Bush administration lied about weapons of mass destruction to dupe us into supporting an illegal, immoral invasion of Iraq.
A few days ago, Israel trotted out only an infinitesimally more credible excuse -- the Hamas rockets case -- as justification for its own murderous shock and awe in Gaza, a long-planned campaign perniciously aimed at ousting a "regime" that came to power via popular, democratic vote.
Yes, such rockets exist, but they're little more than slingshots against Israel's incredible military might, and they're used out of desperation by Palestinians who've never been accorded the democratic space within which to gain redress of their eminently just grievances.
Israeli apologists have presented absurd propaganda about those devices.
We've been asked, for instance, what would we do if rockets were being launched on our homes in New York or Texas, from Canada or Mexico?
The proper answer is that, if those two nations had been unlawfully occupied or embargoed by the United States for 60 years of relentless oppression and repression, and if all attempts at peaceful change had been forcefully prevented or scuttled by the U.S., then such attacks would be an understandable, indeed a justifiable attempt at gaining intolerably deferred liberty.
Puppet Masters
Efforts to restore normal communications between Europe and Asia have suffered a setback after an important undersea cable broke for a second time, this time at a much greater depth.
Engineers from France Télécom had just finished repairing the Sea Me We 4 cable on Dec. 25 when the same cable broke again in a different place, this time 388 kilometers (241 miles) off the coast of Alexandria in Egypt, a France Télécom spokesman said Monday.
The repair ship the "Raymond Croz," which had just finished repairing the first break, was on its way to Sicily on Monday to pick up more cable to repair the second break, which happened more than 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) under the sea, the spokesman said.
The ship is expected to arrive at the site of the latest incident on Dec. 31 and the repairs now won't be completed until Jan. 4 or 5, the spokesman said, which would be 10 days later than originally expected.
Engineers from France Télécom had just finished repairing the Sea Me We 4 cable on Dec. 25 when the same cable broke again in a different place, this time 388 kilometers (241 miles) off the coast of Alexandria in Egypt, a France Télécom spokesman said Monday.
The repair ship the "Raymond Croz," which had just finished repairing the first break, was on its way to Sicily on Monday to pick up more cable to repair the second break, which happened more than 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) under the sea, the spokesman said.
The ship is expected to arrive at the site of the latest incident on Dec. 31 and the repairs now won't be completed until Jan. 4 or 5, the spokesman said, which would be 10 days later than originally expected.
The white house announced on Wednesday that the US president George Bush called the Egyptian president Husni Mubarak and thanked him for Egypt's "positive role" during the past few days of the war on the Gaza Strip.
It is hard to focus on the economies of the world when Palestinians are being blown to pieces by US supplied warplanes and smart bombs delivered by Zionism, one of the central evils on this planet. It is hard to focus when reading the inhumanity that spews forth from the mouths of the world's leaders in abject supplication to Zionism and the supporting voices of the ignorant and empathyless in the world's media.
But focus we must, for economics is the 'non-violent' means by which those same forces we see at work in Palestine exert their tentacles of control across this once beautiful and bounteous planet. While F16s and GBU-39s deliver death and suffering instantly, economics and more particularly the control of economies and money deliver their payload of death and suffering with a long slow interminable inevitability; an inevitability that has become a permanent feature for most people on earth and one that is fast approaching the doorsteps of the US and Europe.
It is no coincidence that Israel's latest war crimes come during the financial crisis; for empathy and the desire to defend the helpless victims of naked aggression are quick to evaporate when people are fearful for their own safety and security.
But focus we must, for economics is the 'non-violent' means by which those same forces we see at work in Palestine exert their tentacles of control across this once beautiful and bounteous planet. While F16s and GBU-39s deliver death and suffering instantly, economics and more particularly the control of economies and money deliver their payload of death and suffering with a long slow interminable inevitability; an inevitability that has become a permanent feature for most people on earth and one that is fast approaching the doorsteps of the US and Europe.
It is no coincidence that Israel's latest war crimes come during the financial crisis; for empathy and the desire to defend the helpless victims of naked aggression are quick to evaporate when people are fearful for their own safety and security.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Israeli intelligence - Mossad - have infiltrated Muslim organizations like Hamas in Palestine, Hizbullah in Lebanon and the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in Indonesia, says an Indonesian intelligence expert.
"It is clear that the CIA and the Mossad have infiltrated such organizations and have done much more than that," Sayed Abdullah, who operates an intelligence services firm in the Indonesian island of Maluku's, told IslamOnline.net.
He asserted that the spy agencies "demonstrated their capacity to control these organizations with the murdering of two Hamas leaders in a month and that is enough to understand what they are up to."
"It is clear that the CIA and the Mossad have infiltrated such organizations and have done much more than that," Sayed Abdullah, who operates an intelligence services firm in the Indonesian island of Maluku's, told IslamOnline.net.
He asserted that the spy agencies "demonstrated their capacity to control these organizations with the murdering of two Hamas leaders in a month and that is enough to understand what they are up to."
Pakistan media finds "a wicked axis" of New Delhi, Washington and Tel Aviv ganging up against Islamabad. In this backdrop, protecting Pakistan from terrorists and securing the national border are the key issues on the media agenda.
The sense of paranoia is apparent in a Frontier Post editorial published on Tuesday. It says "what can you expect when a wicked axis of America's CIA, India's RAW and Israel's Mossad are so active in fuelling and fanning militancy in our tribal region? Why is it (government) keeping mum? It is because of the wickedness of this wicked axis, our military and our people have been pitched against each other."
The sense of paranoia is apparent in a Frontier Post editorial published on Tuesday. It says "what can you expect when a wicked axis of America's CIA, India's RAW and Israel's Mossad are so active in fuelling and fanning militancy in our tribal region? Why is it (government) keeping mum? It is because of the wickedness of this wicked axis, our military and our people have been pitched against each other."
The markets last week saw alarming signs of global deflation. Oil prices continued their fall, closing the week down 7% in dollars and 11% in euros. The three-month U.S. Treasury bill closed the week with a negative yield (-0.01%). The gold/oil ratio closed at a startling 19.53, significant because it reflects gold's role as money gaining ground on its role as a commodity. For a while, gold and oil moved in tandem, but not recently.
We are told the reason oil is dropping so sharply is plummeting world demand. World demand is plummeting because the bottom is falling out of the world economy, which until recently was propped up by massive amounts of unsustainable debt.
The Madoff affair seems to us just too scripted and convenient to be true which leads us to speculate as to what is really going on.
We are told the reason oil is dropping so sharply is plummeting world demand. World demand is plummeting because the bottom is falling out of the world economy, which until recently was propped up by massive amounts of unsustainable debt.
The Madoff affair seems to us just too scripted and convenient to be true which leads us to speculate as to what is really going on.
Internet communications began to return to large parts of the Middle East Sunday after undersea communications cables were cut. Israel was spared damage, but service in Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates was severely affected. A French repair crew is using a robotic submarine to repair the undersea lines, but the cause of the cut is not yet known. Internet providers tried to re-route voice and date traffic.
Washington - It's something any bank would demand to know before handing out a loan: Where's the money going?
But after receiving billions in aid from U.S. taxpayers, the nation's largest banks say they can't track exactly how they're spending the money or they simply refuse to discuss it.
"We've lent some of it. We've not lent some of it. We've not given any accounting of, 'Here's how we're doing it,'" said Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, which received $25 billion in emergency bailout money. "We have not disclosed that to the public. We're declining to."
But after receiving billions in aid from U.S. taxpayers, the nation's largest banks say they can't track exactly how they're spending the money or they simply refuse to discuss it.
"We've lent some of it. We've not lent some of it. We've not given any accounting of, 'Here's how we're doing it,'" said Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, which received $25 billion in emergency bailout money. "We have not disclosed that to the public. We're declining to."
Millions of people across the Middle East and Asia have lost access to the internet after two undersea cables in the Mediterranean suffered severe damage.
Huge numbers in Egypt and India were left struggling to get online as a result of the outage, when the major internet pipeline between Egypt and Italy was cut.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) throughout the region, including those in United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, also reported problems. International telephone calls, which have also been affected, are being rerouted to work around the problem.
Huge numbers in Egypt and India were left struggling to get online as a result of the outage, when the major internet pipeline between Egypt and Italy was cut.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) throughout the region, including those in United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, also reported problems. International telephone calls, which have also been affected, are being rerouted to work around the problem.
