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US financial debacles making nooseLots of news/editorials during the last 24 hours about various aspects of the total trashing of America's future prospects.
Crouching tiger, tumbling U.S. economy
by Heather Wokusch, Common Dreams
Henry Paulson’s delusional view of the U.S. economy
by Robert Freeman, Common Dreams
The great China sale
by Peter Morici, Asia Times
Did Goldman get the call from the Plunge Protection Team?
by Raymond Weber, Economic Policy Monitor| |
Excerpt: Is Goldman Sachs planning to eat off the carcass of the foreclosed, or are they just following orders to put out a little spin? |
The last article was very timely because it coincided with a bounce in financial stocks (on 3/14) midday, which continued into the next day. Apparently, YES, the PPT is working to prevent a catastrophic, self-fulfilling meltdown of the mortgage markets. That means that a temporary tourniquet is now in place. We'll see if amputations follow...
The Asia Times article is well-written as it covers the "hollowing out" of America's productivity -- specifically that the outsourcing of everything tangible reduces capital investments and investments in people. When we no longer manufacture we lose the capability to manufacture AND do R&D in the future!
Heather's article is interesting because it indicates that the worries are spreading (Heather has not paid much attention to this aspect of the Bush Regime's failed policies in the past.) An interesting point she makes is that we are paying $400 billion a year in interest on $9 billion in debt. If interest rates rise in the future, say if foreigners decline to re-finance our debts until rates rise, the US could enter a death spiral of debt. As it is, the US is borrowing just to pay *interest* on the national debt -- and in fact, the government borrows Social Security and Medicare tax payments and accounts for them with a hypothetical "lock box" trust account (thus, the "surpluses" in SS and Medicare do not exist but represent promises to pay BACK what we already paid once!)
Typically, when problems of this nature -- that are created by politicians -- reach the masses, a likely outcome is that a "solution" is soon presented by the politicians. The system tends to correct itself once enough political capital is amassed, either in the form of broad public opinion or with the impetus of a catastrophic event. However, the particular set of problems we face now are apparently intractable and will not yield to quick fixes by vote and money whoring politicians, most of whom have never had experience in the "private sector" (i.e. functioning as productive members of a capitalist enterprise).
This is all going to get very interesting during the next few years.
Previously I mentioned two foreign bond mutual funds, PFBDX and BEGBX. Those actually did ok and I continue to think they are not the worst pieces of trash in the garbage dump of Wall Street. However, the problem is finding shelter during a tsunami coming ashore during a hurricane while being attacked by a SWAT team -- you'd better get real tiny, really fast. Inflation refuses to die thanks to increases in money supply and government spending, and the domestic economy is stumbling. So we appear to be headed for Stagflation, at best.
The big danger is hyperinflation, if the US dollar collapses, but the high probability outcome in the near to medium term is slow strangulation via declining purchasing power and unfavorable investment opportunities in productive assets (not to mention WW3 and the new Orwellian police state in the U.S.) So basically, there ain't nothing to do about this except to survive.
Best of luck in that...
Mr. Chuckles
Prayers
Re Tortured in training
Helen, Thank you for your prayers, it means a lot to me to hear from someone who really
cares. I own a little coffee shop in Mooresville, NC and we do our best to make sure our
Veterans are welcomed home in an appropriate manner.
Again, thank you and wishing you all the best,
Richard W.
Vote Gandhi
Re Apology not accepted
For me to vote for a popular democrat or republican again the mother fucker would have to be Gandhi. I like this guy Kucinich, although he's dem. but he's like out of their box. So I know that the "party" is only putting up with him but wouldn't want him to win the job. He's like a Ralph Nader kind of guy. He speaks his mind and lets the chips fall where they may.
Marvin A.
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I do wish the Greens would get their act together, and form a credible national party. But I have no idea how to pull off such a miracle.
Helen & Harry
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* * *
US officer "upset" Iraqi suspects taken alive, court hears| |
Excerpt: A US military officer sounded "pretty mad and upset" that a group of soldiers had taken suspected Iraqi insurgents alive during a raid in which they had been told to kill all military-aged males, a court was told Tuesday.
A soldier who has pleaded guilty to killing those detainees told the court that he shot them because his squad leader told him to do it after having been reprimanded when he radioed back to base to say he had prisoners to transport.
Private William Hunsaker showed little remorse for his crimes, saying he had only agreed to an 18-year sentence because "I got tired of lying to everybody and I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in prison for -- in my eyes -- killing three terrorists." |
More dogfaces being left out in the rain. I find this an extremely interesting article. And I will be following this trial to its
conclusion.
Marvin A.
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Please keep us posted, kind sir. I'm sure this soldier was following orders. Sounds like a war crime to me, and I won't be mourning if he serves a long stretch in prison, but I want his commanding officer to accompany him.
Helen & Harry
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Adds a fourth
Re Big dog gets eaten
I'll add to the above number 4. America accepts a lower standard of living and lower income and subsequent generations will do as well as previous ones. The way it looks now, as China rises, the United States and Europe sink. The more education you have, especially for in demand jobs, the better off you will be. As for secondary education, a huge amount of money goes into it. How could it be improved? Maybe more emphasis on practical knowledge, investing money, and staying healthy. A one or two year program in a local college is almost mandatory.
Linda D.
A dream with a message and a warningHe stood up from the chair, and that's when I looked up and stared at his face and saw him for who he truly was ... MORE ...
Kathy Fisher
Killing children everywhere
Restore our Constitutional democracy!
* * *
Georgia, soon to be followed by other states no doubt, is closing its program to provide medical care for its poor children. Our chicken hawks are coming home to roost. Turns out that we can't afford to both kill children in Iraq and save them here at home.
Herb Ruhs, MD
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All I've heard is the now-traditional cuts cuts and more cuts to PeachCare, Georgia's health care program for the poor. Of course, the cuts cuts and more cuts add up, intentionally, to closing the program, but by bit, but has someone (besides you) been honest enough to say it out loud?
Helen & Harry
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The never-ending war on spirits
Sleep disorders can impair children's IQs as much as lead exposure
This is major news to anyone already familiar with the steadily increasing sleep problems of American children over past decades, stemming from a wide variety of sources. Not to mention the up to now puzzling parallel decline in academic achievements (usually blamed on teachers), and other related elements. If I ever get the time I can create a whole page worth of web links which will suddenly be tied together into a cohesive whole by this one.
* * *
FDA says pills can cause 'sleep-driving'| |
Excerpt: It's like sleepwalking but behind-the-wheel: driving while not fully awake after using a sleeping aid -- with no memory of doing so. ... Sleep-driving, along with other less dangerous "complex sleep-related behaviors" -- like making phone calls or fixing and eating food while still asleep. |
Wide-awake folks often accidentally crash their cars, injure others, or set
fire to their own homes. So it's chilling to think of all these driving,
phoning, and cooking zombies being on the loose!
* * *
Stressful event kills brain cells
A new reference supporting something we've discussed before: namely, how leaders can continually 'dumb down' their peoples via ever intensifying stresses (like prohibiting universal healthcare, regularly declaring new wars against ever more abstract foes, etc., etc.), in order to more easily control them day after day.
* * *
VP Cheney's office deleted Libby/Plame-era emails| |
Excerpt: Fitzgerald's letter says that "we have learned that not all email of the Office of Vice President and the Executive Office of President for certain time periods in 2003 was preserved through the normal archiving process on the White House computer system."
Comment In any previous presidency in my lifetime, a revelation like this about a high-level government official would be followed within days by that official's resignation, and in particularly egregious cases you might have seen prosecution.
In the Bush-Cheney administration, we've seen at least a hundred scandals of similar size and scope, all reported in the mainstream press and then forgotten and ignored. |
I agree. The problematic cause is massive and multi-pronged though: the wholly corporate-owned mass media and many cowardly (or greedy) journalists at its base; the amazingly corrupt election campaign finance system which can force even good people to go bad; the chronic negligence and ignorance and hypocrisy of a large portion of the American public; the drug addiction-like dependence of the American economy upon military spending of a continually record-breaking scale...whew!
It took us some 60 years or so to get into this mess (WWII helped mightily to kick it off, the Cold War to continue nurturing it; now the elite insist on a truly nebulous 'war on terror' to keep feeding the beast). As we're apparently running out of significant real threats, and so forced to increasingly make them up entirely, I suppose the ultimate major threat will necessarily entail a mighty (and horrifically expensive) high tech force of 'ghost-busters' and jinx-hunters.
I'd like to say I'm joking or exaggerating there. But unfortunately, such a future scenario seems way too plausible in 2007 America.
In the past, America has usually only corrected such troubles like ours today in a partial or temporary fashion -- and even that only after a nation-shaking wake up call of some extreme sort, like a history-making depression. Or war gone horribly wrong. Or both at once.
All we can know for sure is that resolving these matters ain't going to be pretty -- or quick.
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You know, I can completely see that scenario as a distinct possibility. A war on demonic possession would keep America's fundamentalist retards enthusiastic...
Helen & Harry
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"Doc, give me a pill"
Re The American health system's human lab rat
As a military doctor, I don't agree with everything your website contains, but I appreciate the overall message.
Very unfortunately bad things happen to good people and no medicine in the world will change that. WG is a tough diagnosis to have and remission is not possible for everyone. It's tough to see the young and innocent suffer.
With that said, I would like to defend the medical community a bit. There are patients aplenty who have shucked the mantle of self responsibility and have lived a life of self-abuse. In this fast food, fix our problems at one 15 minute visit (or I'll sue) society we have, all too often is heard some version of the following:
"Doc, give me a pill that will fix my obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, sleep apnea, erectile dysfunction, depression, unsatisfactory marriage, and feelings of self-doubt... But it can't have any side effects." Huh?!!!
It's time insurance companies, Medicaid, Medicare, HMO's, doctors, and fellow Americans put emphasis back on self-discipline. Stop blaming the government, stop the over-eating, stop the smoking, turn off the TV and read a book. Go to a church or walk outside and hug a tree. Stop beating your children and learn how to be a parent. Vaccinate your children. Stop being pissed off when there's a five hour wait at the ER, it's just a cold.
We as a society have to learn that preventative health measures now yield big returns later: spend money on safe parks and bike paths, and diet education, instead of the gastric bypass later. Require gym class or sports at all levels. Stop subsidies for tobacco farmers and watch emphysema rates decline. Spend Iraq money on schools and community centers. Require parenting classes for all new parents. Raise insurance premium rates for smoking and obesity. Strengthen psychiatry and social work services.
Just a thought,
CS, DO
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You're dealing with people who have ongoing arrangements for medical care but keep avoiding their appointments, or people who casually disregard a doctor's recommendations. And I've known enough whiners and chronic complainers (and occasionally been one) that I recognize the truth behind your advice to "Stop blaming the government, stop the over-eating, stop the smoking, turn off the TV and read a book," etc. People have to participate in their own health care, and I can understand a doctor's frustration when they don't.
And I *love* your bigger-picture scolding, your last paragraph. You've written a great start to the solution to some of our biggest national aches and pains. I'd just take it maybe one step further: Let's nationalize the health care industry, so all Americans can have health care without worries about bankruptcy and debt.
You're in the military, so I assume cost is not a factor when your patients need a doctor, and that's the way it should be. But millions of Americans have no medical coverage, and I'm one of them. So I always put off seeing a doctor, not because it's inconvenient or because I'm lazy or anything, but because it's preposterously expensive. An office visit can easily ring up hundreds of dollars that folks like me just don't have, and that doesn't include any prescriptions or follow-up visits. We spent a few minutes in an emergency room several years back, and were billed thousands of dollars.
I'd like to see all Americans have easy, affordable access to medical care, like your patients have. Like any citizen in any other industrialized nation, from Argentina to Taiwan, Ireland to New Zealand, Russia to Canada to Spain. And I suspect you're pretty much agreed so consider yourself hugged.
And it goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: Of course, nothing in your comments or mine are applicable to Melissa. We haven't heard from her in a long while, but she's still in our prayers.
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Winning in Iraq
Military to open combat hospital in Anbar | |
Excerpt: The U.S. military will open the first newly built combat hospital in Anbar province next week, providing what officials call an upgrade to previous facilities in the region. |
We're making such great progress with the "surge" we find it necessary to build more permanent facilities.
Wig
Getting away with murder for 2,000 years
Re Marvin A.'s comments about LazarusThere is an old Christian story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It's a great story although I don't know if it's true or not. But the story ends there, nobody knows what happened to Lazarus after that. All that is faded into history.
Lazarus -- The first to raise from the dead, but stay human. (hmmmmm I've had hangovers like that!)
But seriously,
The High Priests of the day put a price on his head. I spoke to a friend of mine who is a Catholic Priest. Yep, I do hang around with all sorts of people; especially ones who practice Liberation Theology. He told me that, unofficially, the Church thinks Lazarus, after being resurrected, was murdered by zealots in order to help stem the rising influence of Jesus.
The Canadian
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Well, I'd need some evidence that Ol' Lazzy was really resurrected in the first place, but granted the premise, the notion that authority figures had him re-killed seems pretty dang plausible.
Helen & Harry
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Calling Abe Foxman
A joke that only a Jew is allowed to tell, for fear of the Abe Foxman and the ADL:
Two Texans are sitting on a plane from Dallas and an old Jewish Texan is sitting between them.
The first Texan says, "My name is Roger. I own 250,000 acres. I have 1,000 head of cattle and they call my place The Jolly Roger."
The second Texan says, "My name is John. I own 350,000 acres. I have 5,000 head of cattle and they call my place Big John's."
They both look down at the Jewish man who says, "My name is Irving and I own only 300 acres."
Roger looks down at him and say, "300 Acres? What do you raise?" "Nothing" Irving says. "Well then, what do you call it?" asked John.
Irving smiles and replies, "Downtown Dallas."
E13
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Made me smile, and anyone who thinks it's anti-Semitic has his or her head up his or her ass.
Helen & Harry
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Big dog gets eaten
Re Bush: No friend of this country
He's wrong that it's not good--for us. It's good for other countries, and the U.S. is not everyone. It's also a sad, unavoidable fact given the country's current situation. Other countries are improving in every way, though they still lag far behind us in almost every way. Let them catch up, I say; they deserve the unfair advantages we've pressed on them (often by military force) for over a hundred years. Jobs are going overseas because we're too lazy and stupid. I'm part of the "X Generation" and that sums most of us up.
If you don't want to see this happen, get a proper education and a challenging job. That's really all you can do; but in the end the trend of the dollar falling, foreign economies improving and outsourcing increasing is probably going to continue for quite some time, until either:
1. An equilibrium is reached.
2. The U.S. makes education (including secondary education) its top priority.
3. Other nations stop caring about education and seizing our economic and competitive advantages from us. It's a dog-eat-dog world; and we're an awfully big dog.
Bush funnels funds to al Qaeda, but really, who cares?
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Excerpt: As far as I can tell, no one in the mainstream even blinked on the Iran-Contra angle or the possibility that a vast, secret Middle Eastern operation is being run, possibly illegally and based on stolen funds and Saudi money, out of the Vice President's office. You can certainly find a few pieces on, or reports about, "The Redirection" -- all focused only on the possible build-up to a war with Iran -- and the odd wire-service mention of it; but nothing major, nothing Earth-shaking or eye-popping; not, in fact, a single obvious editorial or op-ed piece in the mainstream; no journalistic questions publicly asked of the administration; no Congressional cries of horror; no calls anywhere for investigations or hearings on any of Hersh's revelations, not even an expression of fear somewhere that we might be seeing Iran-Contra, the sequel, in our own moment. |
THAT was excellent! Amazing. I credit the silence about Hersh's piece(s) to the AIPAC lobby and the fact that a majority of both D's and R's are STRONGLY in favor of military action against Iran -- even if that means allowing Bushido another FUBAR (do the Dems think they win if America loses? I don't think the US will be looking to a bunch of poseurs who have done nothing but hog the TV cameras and run for president in the 4 months since the last election!)
Pretty nice here today. 75 high, cold at night is 55. Very few bugs this year because of the drought. Fresh lemons on the tree.
I'm listening to the Dead, Ship of Fools so it all makes sense now...
Stay mello everyone!
Mr. Chuckles
Suggestions for Mr. Dell
Dear Investor Relations,
I do not own stock in Dell at this time, but I hope that your company recovers from its slump soon and does well. To that end I am including two suggestions that I believe are meritorious. Please forward them to Michael Dell.
1. Start selling iMac Mini computers. I bought one instead of a Windows machine in February and I am very, very happy. For $599 it is a marvel. Add a cheapo screen and a $70 hp printer, and maybe a USB drive for backup and voila. Great. I know Apple has room to expand market share, based on what I have seen, and this is the first non-Microsoft machine I've even owned (since 1983!)
2. Engineer a machine like the iMac Mini (i.e. without weird Microsoft "issues"/security problems). Preload it with open source software like Firefox and make it so that the user has the option of booting from a clean, non-hacked disk that cannot be touched by hackers. This will provide some degree of safety for people who need an unhacked business transaction. Believe me, the horror of Windows is unacceptable and people only buy those machines because there is no alternative -- that they know about. Plus, a clean-boot every time means fewer customer support problems! Make it just work, and make it cheap, like $300 -- just for browsing the net and maybe let people add on USB accessories if they want more power (or even connect two boxes to get more power, whatever, cheap and SECURE is the future.)
Best wishes,
z.
Gay-friendly and the phallus festival
Lexington is one of the 10 most gay-friendly cities, according to this.
It mentions our gay vice mayor but neglects to mention that the mayor himself is a homophobe... one of the little jokes that politics plays on even politicians.
...hugs all round
Lexy Lady
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"Gay vice mayor" -- priceless.
Helen & Harry
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I wonder what one does on a phallus festival? I imagine people running round with dicks on sticks and penis-shaped balloons, but it makes sense. Spring, fertility, birds and bees and bunnies. And today's Purim and an ancient Latin festival called Mamuralia...
Yeah, 'gay vice mayor' sounds like an office in itself :). I dunno about other cities [I've lived here my whole adult life] but here they don't have an actual election for the vice-mayor. The person who gets the most votes in another election [council member at large I think] turns into the vice mayor, so the mayor and v-mayor aren't always a team. Our vice mayor is a very nice gentleman; I've met him and attended a social event at his home in the course of my working life, although he would not remember me. He only came out within the last few years.
Lexy Lady
Waking nightmare
Re Lightning consumed the skies in every direction
So far that hasn't yet started for me -- my reaction is more like your Leon's -- there is just this deep and general fore-boding -- and I find myself watching the sky a lot more closely now than before this latest assault of information.
More on Eliot Cohen
Re Eliot Cohen
Eliot Cohen is the "troubleshooter" brought in by Ms. Rice to ensure their Iran agenda
stays on course. His predecessor was Philip Zelikow, another academic, who
was not considered a neocon but a "realist" occupied with trade matters.
Quite a change in tone, don't you think? He is a key in the lock.
Check out the quote below then note the year it was written.
"Afghanistan constitutes just one front in World War IV, and the battles
there just one campaign. ... First, if one front in this war is the
contest for free and moderate governance in the Muslim world, the U.S.
should throw its weight behind pro-Western and anticlerical forces there.
The immediate choice lies before the U.S. government in regard to Iran. We
can either make tactical accommodations with the regime there in return for
modest (or illusory) sharing of intelligence, reduced support for some
terrorist groups and the like, or do everything in our power to support a
civil society that loathes the mullahs and yearns to overturn their rule. It
will be wise, moral and unpopular (among some of our allies) to choose the
latter course. The overthrow of the first theocratic revolutionary Muslim
state and its replacement by a moderate or secular government, however,
would be no less important a victory in this war than the annihilation of
bin Laden." (emphasis added)
Wall Street Journal op-ed on November 20,
2001; Eliot Cohen
He also wrote a book entitled The Supreme Command arguing that presidents
need to control their sometimes reluctant generals. Certainly timely given
the "push-back" some ret'd US Generals have been giving of late concerning
US ME foreign policy.
Did I explain the connection better?
The Canadian
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Yessir, explained it nicely, and thanks. :) Sometimes I envy the oblivious, and sometimes I'm among them.
Helen & Harry
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For most "Ignorance is strength," for us it is terrifying.
The Canadian
Apology not accepted
FBI Chief admits agency illegally spied on Americans, but promises not to do it again
How about this??
I kicked you in the head a few hundred times, knocked out your teeth and you lost an eye. But since it has been recently been revealed to the public that I have been breaking the law -- I am sorry -- and I will not do it again. So don't prosecute me or anything else -- let's just forget about it -- and act like it never happened.
* * *
There is an old Christian story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It's a great story although I don't know if it's true or not. But the story ends there, nobody knows what happened to Lazarus after that. All that is faded into history.
Al Gore is a kinda Lazarus. He was around for a while, then he faded out. Nobody heard from him for years and years. He never said anything meaningful or took a public stand on anything for eons.
NOW he takes a stand -- on global warming -- and he "writes" something -- a book I think. Wonderful. Maybe he should go back home and kiss his wife again.
Marvin A.
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I'm not much of an Al Gore fan. He was Clinton's number one guy for eight years, which is more than enough to call his integrity into doubt. He ran a crappy campaign in 2000, picked a Republican as his running mate, and ran away from everything that was good in his record. In a lot of ways he's solid scum.
That said, he's frickin' Gandhi compared to several of the announced Democrats. I could hold my nose and vote for Al Gore. For Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama I'd need to have my nose surgically sealed and six weeks of recuperation.
Helen & Harry
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It ain't rocket science
Re Hurricane FEMA
As long as a building doesn't topple over, the pieces will land close to the footprint of the building. It requires a strong and sustained force to propel steel beams sideways any great distance. Once they are broken down into small chunks, there is no sideways force pushing them in any direction. To put it another way, controlled demolition isn't the rocket science the experts maintain it is. You've been listening to their sales puffing too much. Blowing a building to smithereens will do the trick.
SirJ
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They do have excellent puffage, the controlled demolitioners. They've got me convinced that when you're using explosives to bring down a building it might be tricky. I just know that if I planted explosives I'd expect debris and structural elements to be pushed outward more than happens in the 'controlled demolition' footage I've seen. When 'experts' do it the building just falls in on itself.
But if we're talking about a building toppling without pre-planted bomb-style explosives, it figures, it would tend to topple pretty much straight down. Makes sense, and I do tend toward thinking WTC#1 and #2 went down without pre-planted bomb-style explosives. #3 I'm not so sure, but as you can tell I'm neither an expert nor someone who's read enough to plausibly pretend I know what I'm talking about I don't know diddly.
So what do you know, or believe? Do you believe something happened to WTC#1, #2, and #3 beyond being smacked by jets and debris?
Helen & Harry
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Lightning consumed the skies in every direction
People were panicking -- there was utter chaos and sheer madness. Everyone was fleeing to -- where? I don't know! ... MORE ...
Kathy Fisher
Poop on profiling
Terrorists proving harder to profile| |
Excerpt: The demographics of those being arrested are so diverse that many European counterterrorism officials and analysts say they have given up trying to predict what sorts of people are most likely to become terrorists. Age, sex, ethnicity, education and economic status have become more and more irrelevant. |
So to paraphrase from an old Bush speech, it turns out that now you're either against us, or -- you're against us.
* * *
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
I hope these guys are legit. I just don't know. Haven't had the time to dig around.
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They look legit to me. Looks like they're doing God's work.
Helen & Harry
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Hugs all around
Re Raise the Hammer emphatically does not "discuss UFO invasions"
Dear Helen,
Thank you for your kind response (both of them, in fact), and please accept my apologies for not realizing that the post in question was actually a reader comment. I don't expect you to take responsibility for comments, but I do appreciate you taking the time to append it.
Kind Regards,
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Nothing but hugs and handshakes here. You're the good guys, and it's appreciated.
Helen & Harry
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In opposition to Tyranny, they who survive win
As paradoxical as it seems, I am convinced that those we oppose are actually very weak people, psychologically speaking. A big part of the reason that they are so dangerous is that they must do everything possible to cover up and deny the inner torments, insecurities and infirmities that define their beings. The lesson here is that if we not only merely survive but also create in the minds of our opponents that somehow, even at some distant time, we might overcome them, then we will win. They will self-destruct as a result of their paranoia. ... MORE ...
Herb Ruhs, MD
Encampment to Stop the War
I am writing to you to let you know that beginning today, March 12, the anti-war movement in the United States is turning a corner -- the first since September 11, 2001. Today, we will be occupying the Washington Mall in this nation's capital by moving in and setting up tents from March 12 to??.
We have planned and prepared for this -- not as a "protest" -- but as an act of resistance. We have obtained limited permits and have developed an infrastructure for transportation, emergency medical services, a soundstage and internal security, At this juncture, we cannot know just what to expect in terms of the numbers of people who will actually show up -- or the reaction of the police state. We can tell you that thousands of people have been writing in, saying that they plan to come -- with their tents. Our purpose? To confront the "Democrats" and demand that they stop the war -- Now.
We plan to challenge them to stop the war in Iraq now, first by defunding the war -- an act which we believe would have a demoralizing effect for the Bush regime. We will be encamped directly in front of the congress. We be putting up banners to voice our demand, conducting direct actions throughout the week and confronting congress men and women inside the Halls of Congress. We expect that the corporate media will either ignore this action completely or diminish it's importance by give a passing reference.
We are asking you as an editor of alternative news and information, to disseminate news of these events using the resources available to you. During this period of confrontation and resistance we will be publishing daily (or every other day, depending on our communication resources) updates and reports -- including photographs and links to videos on the events of the day. We will be sending these reports to you via e-mail. We are asking if you would kindly consider giving prominence to The Encampment to Stop the War on your website and/or list serve by publishing these reports as we send them to you?
Thank you very much,
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I just finished reading your day one report, and sure, we'll spread the word. Grazi!
Helen & Harry
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Another Pentagon toy
New fast ship may help transform Navy| |
Excerpt: "It's an eye-catcher," Wakeham said. |
It should be for 10 million.
Wig
Fair minded, higher intellect, more passionate, generally smarter
Re Someone who puts AMERICA first
The left is viewed as too anti-business and too socialist by the mainstream media which is run by pro war big business. I think the left is fair minded, higher intellect and more passionate, generally smarter people.
M.G.
Sticker this
This is in response to the standard saying, "if you love your freedom, thank a veteran".
I'd like to see one that says "If you love your freedom, thank an ACLU member".
Cheers,
Margaret Y.
Father son Bush wars
"IN THE WHOLE ANIMAL KINGDOM I RECOLLECT NO FAMILY BUT MAN, STEADILY AND SYSTEMATICALLY
EMPLOYED IN THE DESTRUCTION OF ITSELF ...THE LIONS AND TIGERS ARE MERE LAMBS COMPARED WITH
MAN AS THE DESTROYER" Thomas Jefferson, 1797. What did we do wrong to end up struggling
to evolve in a world where everything in this short life depends upon KILLING OR EATING
SOMETHING ELSE in order to survive another few years longer. I mean think about it.
EVERY LIVING THING KILLS OR EATS SOMETHING ELSE in order to survive and you know what in
the end its the little critters that win out. HOW? They always get the HIGHEST EVOLVED
SPECIES MAN who predominantly die of one kind of disease or another may it be a physical
dysfunction in old age which is due to some little virus, bacteria, or parasite. To this
end certainly chemtrails and the minds of madmen fanatical governmental leaders have
exploited this to its greatest potential. That's if you can make it past mankind and its
self-destructive inner programming that kills off millions and millions of its own species
every century. You only need look at the recent father son bush wars to see how many
deaths these lunatics are responsible for while you hear daily over radio announcements
[which I always turn off], "Support your troops at war!!" They ought to make it a law
that every war not authorized by congress which result in deaths mounting over the 1000
mark these presidents would be required to mount 10, those with the most languid figures,
the heads as trophies on their family room walls. Unfortunately, in the bush/cheney case
one may question as to whether this would become their boon instead of bane...
best
regards
dave l.
Subpoena this
Halliburton is moving its corporate headquarters to Dubai (its become a foreign corporation doing business in the U.S.A.) I'm sure it gets to keep all the business it acquired, no question there.
And it get to move all its corporate RECORDS out of the country. Its gonna be kind of hard to subpoena them.
Marvin A.
Hurricane FEMA
FEMA isn't done screwing over Katrina survivors| |
Excerpt: Shortly after noon, FEMA agents began rapping on the trailer doors, their knocks resounding inside the tinny white homes. Everyone in the park, the agents announced without warning, would have to pack and leave within 48 hours.
Where do we go now? Why? What about school?
To the residents of the Yorkshire Mobile Home Park, all of them families displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency crews offered answers that were uncertain and sometimes contradictory. As residents spilled out of their homes to meet their similarly bewildered neighbors, the adults wondered where they would be sent next, and how far they might wind up from their jobs. Some began sobbing. Then the children, seeing their parents' tears, began crying, too. A woman fainted, and an ambulance came. ...
The park would be evacuated, and quickly, FEMA officials decided. Officials began telling tenants to pack up even before the agency had decided where they would go.
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I know where FEMA should go. Put FEMA offices in these FEMA trailer
parks. Let the evacuees live at FEMA headquarters. It's a simple solution and would
ensure this would never happen again.
* * *
Re Pop goes the World Trade Center
For some views of the spire taken from a different angle, go to this page and this page. I happen to disagree with the "strangeness" analysis. The spire doesn't collapse straight down, it collapses at an angle as clearly shown in this image. The spire collapses almost directly away from the cameras. The dust cloud, which is obscuring the view of the spire, is dropping straight down, making it appear that the spire itself is dropping straight down. The dust cloud is left behind after the spire has already fallen.
As the dust cloud dissipates, it gives the appearance that the spire is disintegrating. In fact, the spire has already fallen. The strangeness is an optical illusion, not evidence of some unknown law of physics or sci-fi weapon. The existence of the spire puts a serious crimp in the pancake theory. It collapses as one entire piece because it was snapped off many floors below the top of it, not as a result of a floor by floor collapse. In other words, the core was severed apart not at each floor but in large segments as the squibs which squirt out from the center of the towers far below the wave of collapsing floors suggest. The severing of this part of the core either happened late or only partially severed the spire, delaying its collapse.
You might well ask why the squib shows up popping out the center of the building and not directly out from where the corners of the core are located. I have a hypothesis to explain that. Look at the animations on this page. You can see how there are regions where the sound waves cancel each other out and regions where they strengthen one another for dipole and quadropole sources. The corners of the core would represent each source for the explosion wavefront. It is possible the center of the building is where the explosion waves strengthen one another and break the glass while off to the side they are dissipated by the interference pattern and the corners of the exterior of the building.
SirJ
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I was with you until that last page, where you lost me (but the animation is totally cool). Physics is over my head, generally speaking. Can you tell me, big picture with small words, why you think these buildings fell more neatly than one would have expected ...
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A nice racket
Re In her majesty's service"Cripes, I sure hope not. An assassination in the high levels of U.S. government would unleash more draconian assaults on civil liberties, more I/D checks, more restrictions on who can say what and where -- heck, even an assassination attempt or *rumors* of an assassination attempt would be just what the tyrants want. If anything happens, the investigation should begin at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue." They couldn't pull it off. They don't have any friends left, and those still on the payroll have enough blackmail dossiers in safe deposit boxes to bury the lot in a federal prison.
We have the raw materials of which a Third Reich is made, but we also have the raw materials of America.
Here's what I think is an insightful comment: Interviewer: In your writing I sense this acute appreciation of these underlying patterns within complex systems, these huge unseen structures which are really driving events on the surface. It's kind of a Zen idea. What got you thinking about that--the larger patterns underneath?
William Gibson: I think it's my very, very superficial and imperfect take on chaos theory and fractal geometry. What I know about that is as much as you could learn walking around in this bookstore and looking at the covers of books about it. That's really all there is to it. I sort of have a hunch that that's what the structure of reality is. There really isn't any more to it than that, except that it's very much mine. I'm just sort of writing from experience, and I've worked out a couple of science fictional metaphors to back it up. But it's not like I'm presenting it as a scientific theory or even a pseudo-scientific theory. It's just a sort of metaphor for how I experience reality. I think these books are all, for me, just metaphors of how I experience reality. Laney's probably a more conscious metaphor in that what he does with the nodal points is sort of like what I see myself really doing in that part of my work that some people regard as predictive. There are several places in these books where Laney says: "Look, I can't predict the future. But I am sensitive to some areas from which change is emerging." I think that's pretty much the best we can do these days, because change is both exponential and in some weird, either new or newly revealed way, out of control. You know, who's running the show? Well, nobody. That's why conspiracy theories are so popular. Conspiracy theories are big because they're comforting. Any conspiracy is infinitely less multiplex than the real deal, which is sort of multiplex to the point of being unknowable." Bushco's run a nice racket for itself, but in the end they have to do what any gangster does: try to take the money while they can without going to jail or getting hammered by competing gangsters.
The hammering is already begun.
The Blue Rajah
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I've missed your wonderful optimism...
Helen & Harry
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Eliot Cohen
Re Planning/preparations probably continuing at a rapid pace
Look up the name Eliot Cohen, Counselor of the State Dept. (recently promoted to that position by C. Rice). Interesting time for him to "float to the top" don't you think?
The Canadian
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At your invitation, I read about Eliot Cohen at RightWeb and Wikipedia. He looks like another walking conservative cock to me, complete with bulging blood vessels and urgent desire. He's on the attack on Iraq, at the forefront of the "We're already fighting World War IV" movement for those who believe WWIII was the Cold War, etc. So he's another bloodlusting hatemonger, and he'll be draining his lunacy into Condoleezza Rice's ear... but I don't really see anything about him that's intrinsically more Dr Strangelove than Wolfowitz, Cheney, Perle, or any of the other princes of darkness.
What's extra worrisome about Cohen?
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Hypocritical intentLaw & Order: Criminal Intent accused of anti-Semitism
It's anti-Semitic ? to imagine that a fictional cop might impede a fictional investigation that implicates Israel ?
Angry Annie
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The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) is probably oblivious to the obvious truth that their yelps of outrage over nothing, like this, probably increase anti-Semitism. They're just making a ruckus that makes it easier not to notice real anti-Semitism.
Of course, a lot of these outspoken groups crying "anti-Semitism" don't give a kosher damn about anti-Semitism. They're driven primarily by a desire to protect Israel from any criticism, especially the criticisms Israel deserves. It's about as sincere as Republicans' hollow complaints that anyone who questions one of their wars must hate America, wish the troops dead, and be a closet commie.
Helen & Harry
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Hilarious secret agent practical jokes
Today is a good day...life is worth living, still...
(my comment following the Big Story :-)
Israeli envoy recalled over bondage gear street shame| |
Excerpt: Israel has recalled its ambassador to El Salvador after police found him on the streets of the capital blind drunk and wearing nothing but bondage gear, a foreign ministry official said on Monday.
"The reports published in the Israeli media were confirmed," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Our ambassador to El Salvador has been recalled immediately and will be replaced within the shortest possible time."
According to a story initially published in Israel's tabloid-style Maariv newspaper, police in the Salvadoran capital found Israeli ambassador Tsuriel Rephael on the streets two weeks ago bound and gagged with sado-masochistic sex accessories.
Despite his inebriated state, Rephael clearly identified himself to officers as Israel's ambassador to the central American state.
"During the 60 years of the State of Israel, some of our diplomats have caused us embarrassment, as happens in every country, but an ambassador behaving indecently on a public thoroughfare, that has never happened before.
"It's the last straw," the foreign ministry official said.
It was the first time Rephael, who had held a technical position in the ministry before his posting to San Salvador, had ever distinguished himself in any way, the official added. |
This could be one of those hilarious secret agent practical jokes. Or not even an espionage operation, just someone making a big joke -- get this dude totally wasted on booze, then drop him off on the street wearing just a mask, handcuffs and a butt plug :-0
This is life imitating art -- if you recall Blues Brothers 2000 and the Russian Mafia guys left stripped, gagged and tied in an alley to wake up the next morning in Big Trouble with their boss? Heheh.
All in good fun. Much better than starting wars!
Mr. Chuckles
Someone who puts AMERICA first
Re Conspiracies and lesser evils
I guess I'm a bit of an "idealist" regarding nobody voting LOL. It was Ralph Nader I was thinking of. I Googled him and he had some involvement with consumer advocacy and the auto industry. Not sure why I thought he worked for Chrysler. I have heard him and he is pretty sharp in his critique of the gov't. Shame to think of your likely choice for 08. Another Clinton or someone like McCain or Giuliani. Sheesh. Good luck with that one! I don't know if Obama will make it that far, but I see from reports he is also already bowing to AIPAC and the likes. You need someone who puts AMERICA first.
Follow those who seek the truth and run from those who claim to know it!
M.G.
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I'd be pleasantly surprised if there's a Democratic candidate I can support with any real enthusiasm.
As I see it, among real people, America's political landscape is primarily split three ways -- center, right, and left. The center gets the Democrats, the right gets the Republicans, and the left gets ignored or mocked.
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Raise the Hammer emphatically does not "discuss UFO invasions"
Dear Unknown News editors,
I noticed that you have posted an article that links to a blog entry on Raise the Hammer [1]. Naturally we love inbound links, but I'm concerned about your commentary, in which you identify Raise the Hammer as part of "the radical webs" and then write:"I like reading the radical webs because there is a bit of truth in what they publish. I read webs that discuss UFO invasions on the one hand and political skullduggery on the other."
[1] Reading the radical webs
Raise the Hammer publishes articles about urban revitalization, sustainable development, ecological issues, and politics that are based on factual evidence and careful analysis. Our contributors come from across the political spectrum with a shared interest in urbanism.
We emphatically do not "discuss UFO invasions" or other unverifiable quasi-scientific material, and I'm concerned that your comments suggest otherwise.
Sincerely,
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Please be un-concerned. That was a reader's comment, followed by my gallant rush to your defense, describing your site as "perfectly legitimate and reputable" and all. But dagnabbit I'll rise to your defense again: It's a wholesome and healthy site you've got there, and you do fine work.
Helen & Harry
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* * *
I noticed that you have posted an article that links to a blog entry on Raise the Hammer [1]. Naturally we love inbound links, but I'm concerned about your commentary, in which you identify Raise the Hammer as part of "the radical webs" and then write:"I like reading the radical webs because there is a bit of truth in what they publish. I read webs that discuss UFO invasions on the one hand and political skullduggery on the other."
[1] Reading the radical webs
Raise the Hammer publishes articles about urban revitalization, sustainable development, ecological issues, and politics that are based on factual evidence and careful analysis. Our contributors come from across the political spectrum with a shared interest in urbanism.
We emphatically do not "discuss UFO invasions" or other unverifiable quasi-scientific material, and I'm concerned that your comments suggest otherwise.
Sincerely,
PS: I'm re-sending this because the first time I sent it I typed "Re: Reading the radical webs" in the subject line and began with a salutation; and your 1,100 word list of rules for sending email curiously prohibits both of these standard conventions. -R
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You get extra credit for having apparently read our "Crap we don't want" page. It was written on a grumpy day, but it was therapeutic, and our asses aren't that tight all the time (else how would we ever pass gas or poop?).
Peace on earth, and please remain wholesome and healthy,
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Planning/preparations probably continuing at a rapid pace
Stuff I've been musing about...
1. UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon is visiting Israel later in March on his way to an Arab Summit League in Saudi Arabia. -- Interesting timing for these events, why now?
2. Israel completes urban war games in Palestinian territories. -- to my knowledge this exercise event is rather unique, why now?
3. Former Iranian General Asgari's defects with key intelligence on Iran's nuclear efforts -- if Iran did not plant this guy for misinformation purposes, then this was a good catch, once again timing is interesting. Why now?
4. Hamas has received a huge financial boost from Venezuela. -- I suspect Abbas' days are few and Hamas will begin to acquire some pretty sophisticated weaponry from their own black market access, independent of supplies from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria et al
5. I met a young lawyer the other day who told me that he once went to Israel as a summer student. While there, he attended a 2-month long cultural exchange with the Israeli military whereby he was familiarized with Israeli military techniques. This exchange ensures that non-Israeli Jews get a chance to experience what it is like to serve time in the Israeli military. -- If this were an Arab cultural exchange, what would we call the camp and the persons attending it? ;-)
6. Yet, there are good signs that the US policy toward Iran is beginning to soften, or at least pause. -- this is not to say that planning/preparations are not continuing a rapid pace.
7. I sent you a little ditty of a "Jesus camp clip" from another website called LiveLeak. -- If this video is not a sign of a true Fascist leaning, I do not know what is. I have seen clips of Hitler youth rallies that are uncannily similar. It's spooky really.
The Canadian
Israel's urgent warning is an annual event. Israelis go to such
places for annual holiday breaks which occur this time of year. This makes
them ideal targets as they are in a location traditionally outside of the
protective wreath of Israeli security forces. What is generally not known
is that Egyptian and Jordanian security forces, in cooperation with Israeli
security forces, increase their protective cooperation during this time.
Ever wonder why attacks do not occur on a catastrophic level against these
vacationing Israelis more often?
Some attacks get through, however, they tend to be local and limited.
More interesting is the fact that Syria has recently moved huge numbers
(1000's) of strategic air missiles and surface-to-surface missiles close to their border with
Israel. Also, large contingents of US & European long-range fighter bombers
have begun to arrive in the Persian Gulf region in the past week or so. In
response, Iran has stepped up its air defense arrays to a war footing and
placed its RG units on high alert while deploying additional units around
their nuke facilities.
Mostly, however, I am concerned with the heightened possibility of a
successful assassination attempt against your President... Something about
his Columbia travel bugs me, but I can't put my finger on it.
Trivia time!
Hey, did you know that when Air Force One lands at an international airport,
US Special Services teams accompany local company reps who sample the fuel
used to refuel Air Force 1 to ensure it's quality has not been "diminished"?
Tamper with the fuel, and the plane stops flying. This gives you a sense of
the detail of security surrounding the President's travel.
The Canadian
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You're so thorough, there's no response I can write beyond thanks... well, and beyond the obvious, that the pretenses we're still allowed could be yanked away at any moment.
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In her majesty's service
You may like this:
Gertrude Bell| |
Excerpt: "When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in late January 1919, Bell was assigned to conduct an analysis of the situation in Mesopotamia and the options for future leadership in Iraq. She spent the next ten months writing what was later considered a masterful official report. When her conclusion was largely favorable to Arabic leadership, her superior, A. T. Wilson, turned against her.
"On October 11, 1920, Percy Cox returned to Baghdad and asked her to continue as Oriental Secretary, acting as liaison with the forthcoming Arab government.
"Bell's influence led to the creation of a country inhabited by a Shi'ite majority in the south, and Sunni and Kurdish minorities in the center and north respectively. By denying the Sunni Kurds a separate, autonomous area or state, the British tried to balance the heavy predominance of Shi'ites in Iraq and keep control of the potential oilfields in their territory.
"The British thought that Sunnis should lead the Iraqi nation, because the Shi'ite majority was regarded as volatile to govern due to its largely tribal and nomadic base in Iraq, and hard to assimilate because of an unyielding religious bias for the "Ali" faction of the Muslim schism. "I don't for a moment doubt that the final authority must be in the hands of the Sunnis, in spite of their numerical inferiority," Bell once said; "otherwise you will have a ... theocratic state, which is the very devil."
"The rivalries and differing religious attitudes continue to cause friction within Iraq." |
raj
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Didn't know any chicks were intimately involved in the sad history of western colonialism there ... Sometimes I wonder about these people, wonder whether they knew the horrors they were laying out for future generations to deal with ...
Helen & Harry
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Much the same as what they'd experience for the past millennia.
Bad as the West has been to them, we haven't got what it takes to be as bad to them as what they've already been through.
America just doesn't get it that the more we fight them, the more we lose.
Osama may be evil but he's an evil *genius*.
It has been an amazing decade so far, yes?
The Blue Rajah
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We're building up, it seems, to go out with a bang...
Helen & Harry
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Whimpers also abound.
Seen Bush on TV lately? He can barely hold his head up anymore. Probably a part of him wishes some Oswald would take him out.
The Blue Rajah
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Cripes, I sure hope not. An assassination in the high levels of U.S. government would unleash more draconian assaults on civil liberties, more I/D checks, more restrictions on who can say what and where -- heck, even an assassination attempt or rumors of an assassination attempt would be just what the tyrants want. If anything happens, the investigation should begin at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Helen & Harry
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Hatred
They're making the rest of the world hate us.
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That's part of the bastards' strategy, I suspect. The more the world hates America, the more that hatred will manifest itself as "terrorism" or "rogue nations," which just gives America's homegrown tyrants more excuses to bomb, squish, and strangle anyone and everyone who doesn't pay tribute and play along.
Helen & Harry
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Purify the grounds
Did you see this?
Priests to purify site after Bush visit| |
Excerpt: Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday. |
We should probably do the same thing to the White House after the '08 elections (maybe sooner if justice is served and impeachment hearings begin). ;-)
Sharon Rose
Fusion
Have the physics of fusion been solved?
Very cool.
Phil H.
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Interesting indeed, and I was once enough of a Star Trek geek to know all about Bussard collectors and Jeffries tubes and isokinetic cannons. And as a student of the real world, is it really a wonder that the military isn't interested in providing further funding for Bussard's work. It isn't nearly wasteful or expensive enough...
Helen & Harry
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"Un-failure" in Iraq is not an option
The nature of the Bush Regime and its fate may be discovered in the story of Fallujah. To this day the city is not pacified in spite of everything. Or could the history of Bush's massacres be the reason the city is not pacified?
If you recall, because of the killing of four American mercenaries, Bush ordered the destruction of Fallujah immediately after the November 2004 congressional elections. The Americans ordered the inhabitants to leave, but prevented all males from leaving, except for young boys and old men. Many evacuees were shot as they fled. The city sealed, a massive bombing and door-to-door massacre ensued, in which every form of illegal weapon short of nukes was used, such as white phosphorus bomb and Napalm 2.0.
Most Americans were shocked at seeing one American soldier delivering a coup d'grace to a captured, gravely wounded Fallujan. But, in fact, the entire city was a killing zone and men, women and children were buried in the rubble of their destroyed homes.
After the massacre the Americans constructed barriers around the entire city and checked ID's -- including retina scans -- of every person wishing entry or egress. But the rebellion began again. Which is where we are today.
For example:
Marines clean up Fallujah streets -- literally
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Excerpt: The debris piles had been on the street, which is heavily trafficked by both convoys and civilians, probably since the battle for Fallujah a couple of years ago, Broaddus said. ...
The Camp Taqaddum-based 9th ESB often works around the Fallujah area, but the recent mission was the first time they'd done work in the downtown area. Improvised explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms attacks are common in that part of the city, Broaddus said. ... |
Reuters: Security developments in Iraq, March 9| |
FALLUJAH -- A U.S. marine was killed in combat in Anbar province in western Iraq, the U.S. military said. ...
FALLUJAH -- U.S. forces captured two suspected insurgents during a raid in Fallujah, in western Iraq, the U.S. military said. ... |
I don't know who the Americans are fighting in Fallujah -- perhaps the male children they neglected to kill in 2004. Or perhaps the old women have taken up arms. Or, just maybe, there is no Iraqi in Fallujah who isn't part of the Resistance.
The war is fucking over. Just yesterday we learned that the "surge" is a failure and that thousands more troops, beyond the original 21,000 surge troops will be sent. Is there any reason to believe the words spewed by the Bush Regime over the Facts On The Ground?
Listen to the generals, who won't come out and say the war is lost, but...
'Smart' rebels outstrip US| |
Excerpt: The US army is lagging behind Iraq's insurgents tactically in a war that senior officers say is the biggest challenge since Korea 50 years ago. ...
In a bleak analysis, senior officers described the fighters they were facing in Iraq and Afghanistan 'as smart, agile and cunning'. ...
"Iraq and Afghanistan are sucking up resources at a faster rate than we planned for," one three-star general said. "America's warriors need the latest technology to defeat an enemy who is smart, agile and cunning -- things we did not expect of the Soviets."
Other officers said coalition rules of engagement were being used against the forces fighting the insurgency. "They know when we can and cannot shoot, and use that against us," said one officer, reflecting the comments of US soldiers in the field. Another said recent video footage of an ambush on a convoy, posted on the internet, was evidence that insurgents were filming incidents to teach other groups about American counter-measures. |
What the general is saying is wrong, of course. New technology will not win the war. He might be right about the rules of engagement, though. The US has been too merciful to the Iraqis, and victory can only be achieved through genocide, by making an example of all who dare resist the awesome power of George W. Bush!
Not!
And in fact, the "government" of Iraq is purely a facade, a puppet government that cowers inside the American military base in Baghdad. The "leaders" of the Iraqi government fear leaving the protection of their American overlords, except when leaving Iraq "on business" many Iraqi ministers and members of parliament spend most of their time outside of Iraq); none dare to walk the streets anywhere in the country they "govern".
It is over. Let's have the decency and intelligence to face the facts. Pathological denial will only cost more blood, money and loss of face. Let's support the troops by saving their lives and bringing them home!
Barry G.
A month might remain
30-day countdown to war
by Bob Moriarty, 321Gold
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Excerpt: Bush and the Gang of Fools in Washington will be part of it; we don't have two carrier groups in the Middle East to support tourism. When it happens, kiss the dollar and the United States of America goodbye. If you don't own gold now, buy some fairly soon. My experience as a combat intelligence officer tells me the attack will be in the next month. |
I don't have the gut feeling that 30 days is the right number. But I plan to get very busy this week and re-doublecheck my TEOTWAWKI preparations (I have already chomped through several stockpiles of pre-WW3 food, but this might be IT, so back to the store!
Cynthia B.
Conspiracies and lesser evils
Re Pipeline to brainwashing
Here is the last report I can find on the pipeline. A deal WAS signed to go
ahead in 2002.
Central Asia pipeline deal signed
I guess you are right about Repugnants. They have no conscience whatsoever, it does seem.
They make Tony Soprano look like an amateur!
Does being a die-hard left winger mean that you would VOTE Democrat? Who is die-hard left
wing? Nader, LOL? Because I think the Dems might be equally as ruthless considering they
want a go at Iran it seems from what I gather. Or does being a die hard left winger mean
you listen to Chomsky all day, LOL! Is there anybody you would vote for? I don't even waste
my time voting anymore. At least we have honest elections, just nobody to vote for period!
But as to Shrub and Darth Vader -- I just DO NOT KNOW HOW they get away with it! IT is out
of control!!! I don't think you will ever get it back, unfortunately.
M.G.
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I cross my fingers, but generally share your pessimism.
Long ago I used to vote for whichever candidate seemed to be lying less, which was often the Libertarian. In 2000, taking "they're all the same" to its logical conclusion, we went for Ralph Nader instead of Bush or Gore -- he was clearly the best candidate. More recently, when backed to the wall with a choice like George W Bush vs. John Kerry, yeah, I've given some votes to Democrats in desperation.
These days I'll generally vote for the Democrat because Republicans are killers while Democrats are only whores. Between my advancing age and America's declining prospects, I've reached the point where my electoral strategery is driven mostly by my own survival.
When Republicans win, "Freedom is on the march," but it's a march to the gallows. When Democrats win, freedom isn't saved, of course, but America's destruction is postponed, and our hope is that the postponement is long enough to allow my husband and I to live the remains of our lives together, outside of a prison.
Helen & Harry
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Fox is on our 2 Cdn Dish networks, Star Choice and Bell Expressview. Both have Faux News,
or as Olbermann (I like Keith) calls it, the Fox Noise Network. I don't know what Fox
ratings are like in Canada, but judging from what I hear on talk radio, etc, we have a
fair number who do support the war, or our guys in Afghanistan, at least. You can't find
too many that support the Iraq war, but many of us are just as "stupid" as Bush
supporters.
Cdn politics is incidental. It matters not on the world stage. I didn't give a
shit about American politics until 9/11 happened. Then I was tuned to CNN 24/7
practically. Then I found Rense. Then I found whatreallyhappened. AND....Unknownnews, of
course. Then I was hooked, you could say.
Once I thought it was all a big lie, I have been
waiting ever since for the day the jig was up and the liars got lynched.
And I'm also
waiting for the next phony staged terror attack so they can attack someone else for Israel
and American hegemony. I think one would have happened already if not for Alex Jones and
others blowing the whistle on them. I think they know they have to be careful.
So, to me
American politics is even mo |
