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Supreme Court: International law doesn't apply to US| |
Excerpt: US state courts need not comply with International Court of Justice (ICJ) decisions, even if the US president orders them to, the US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in the case of a Mexican sentenced to death.
The People for the American Way Foundation said called the Supreme Court's ruling a "deeply troubling opinion ... signaling that the United States can simply ignore its obligations under international treaties." |
Judge orders railroaded ex-governor's release| |
Excerpt: [Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman] declined to comment further, saying, "I want to be with my family for a few days." But he said he would make a statement when he reaches his home in Birmingham, Ala. |
Proposal: "Superdelegate convention" in June| |
Excerpt: We are blessed with two fine candidates [says Philip Bredesen, Governor of Tennessee] but it’s entirely possible that when primary season ends on June 3, we will still lack a clear nominee. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could each still believe that the nomination could be his or hers at the national convention in Denver in August.
In that situation, we would then face a long summer of brutal and unnecessary warfare. We would face a summer of growing polarization. And we would face a summer of lost opportunities -- lost opportunities to heal the wounds of the primaries, to fill the party’s coffers, to offer unified Democratic ideas for America’s challenges.
If we do nothing, we’ll of course still have a nominee by Labor Day. But if he or she is the nominee of a party that is emotionally exhausted and divided with only two months to go before Election Day, it could be a Pyrrhic victory.
Here’s what our party should do: schedule a superdelegate primary. In early June, after the final primaries, the Democratic National Committee should call together our superdelegates in a public caucus.
Comment: Making the superdelegates choose a nominee in June is the best idea we've heard from a politician in ages, and one that is thankfully getting a little traction. Waiting until the Convention, in August, to choose a nominee is the best way -- maybe the only way -- to guarantee a McCain presidency.
We urge all our readers to contact their local superdelegates, the Obama and Clinton campaigns, and especially the Democratic National Committee and let them know you support the plan to choose a nominee by June, so we can all come together and get on with the business of removing the GOP from the White House. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK
Top Dem Dean backs plan to choose candidate in June instead of August
Excerpt: Dean has been quietly consulting with party stalwarts about how to wrap up the nomination quickly. While encouraging superdelegates to pick a candidate shortly after the voting ends in June, he will encourage no one to vote one way or another. |
Election 2008
Obama promises to fix cause of financial crisis, Clinton promises useless platitudes| |
Excerpt: And on the campaign trail, both Democratic candidates gave major addresses Thursday to tout their economic policies. In North Carolina, Senator Hillary Clinton called for a new federal program to retrain laid-off workers.
Meanwhile, here in New York, Senator Barack Obama called for an additional $30 billion in federal economic aid and said he would increase regulation of financial markets. Obama also criticized Republican candidate John McCain for advocating a limited federal role in the economy.
Comment: "Retraining" sounds good but means almost nothing in real life. How do you train for jobs that aren't there? How much "training" do you need for the Wal-Mart-ish jobs which are the only ones available?
Meanwhile, Obama is actually addressing one of the root causes of the current financial crisis by promising tighter regulation of the financial industry. At the same time, he makes a clear distinction between himself and McCain on this issue.
Remind me again, which one of these two is good at making pretty but empty speeches, and which one is "ready on day one?" Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
McCain’s ‘economic guru’ is deeply connected to market meltdown| |
Excerpt: The general co-chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), led the charge in 1999 to repeal a Depression-era banking regulation law that Democrat Barack Obama claimed on Thursday contributed significantly to today’s economic turmoil.
"A regulatory structure set up for banks in the 1930s needed to change because the nature of business had changed," the Illinois senator running for president said in a New York economic speech. "But by the time [it] was repealed in 1999, the $300 million lobbying effort that drove deregulation was more about facilitating mergers than creating an efficient regulatory framework." |
Hillary Clinton lied about opposition to outsourcing| |
Excerpt: Siddharth Srivastava reported in Asia Times, March 1st, 2005: "Hillary Clinton made it apparent where she stood on outsourcing during her India visit... Hillary has been at the forefront in defending free trade and outsourcing. She faced considerable flak for defending Indian software giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for opening a center in Buffalo, New York." (TCS provided hundreds of special visas for foreign employees to work in New York for substandard, non-union wages.) She praised Clinton’s "strict adherence to the principles of free trade and outsourcing that affect India directly." |
Hillary seeks endorsement from chief bankroller of "vast Republican conspiracy"| |
Excerpt: Hell has officially frozen over. ... Here is a photo from Hillary Clinton's visit today to the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. In this picture, she is seen talking to none other than Richard Mellon Scaife, the owner of the paper and the man who once said that the death of Vincent Foster was the "Rosetta stone" of the Bill Clinton administration. (He also funded the so-called "Arkansas Project" [to smear the Clinton administration] at The American Spectator. |
McCain's Iraq victory speech interrupted by reports of violence in Iraq| |
Complete item: While giving one of his standard "we're winning in Iraq and I don't care what you say" speeches today, Senator McCain was interrupted by MSNBC with some breaking news of violence from that country. Turns out Muqtada al-Sadr, whose cease-fire agreement was a major component to the declining violence, has decided he doesn't want to play nice anymore, with forces loyal to him clashing with Iraqi forces in Southern Iraq, leading to at least 50 deaths and 120 wounded.
I can't think of a more appropriate (although depressing) way to call McCain out on his BS. |
42 Democratic Congressional candidates pledge to support withdrawal from Iraq| |
Excerpt: The starkest difference between the group's proposal, dubbed a "Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq," and those embraced by many senior Democrats and the party's presidential candidates is that it rejects the idea of leaving US troops on the ground to train Iraqi security forces or engage in anti-terrorism operations. The group instead calls for a dramatic increase in regional diplomacy and the deployment of international peacekeeping forces, if necessary. |
Clinton delegate strategy backfiring?| |
Excerpt: "Yet, twice now in the last three days, the Clinton campaign has called me to try and convince me that as a delegate I don't have to vote for who I said I'd vote for, I'm allowed to change my mind if I want. Presumably they are doing this because they got their asses kicked in the caucus statewide by Obama, and so they want to get me to flip my assumed vote for Obama to Clinton.
"However, they've achieved exactly the opposite -- I didn't know until they called that I even had the option, I thought I was forced to vote as the caucus had decided. Thanks to Hillary trying to change the rules after the fact and play dirty, I now can vote for my original guy with a clear conscience." |
Clinton admits to completely making stuff up to get elected| |
Excerpt: Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she made a mistake in claiming that she came under hostile fire in Bosnia 12 years ago, as rival Barack Obama's campaign continued to challenge her credibility.
In a March 17 speech in Washington, Clinton said of a Bosnia trip: "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."
Several news outlets disputed the claim. Clinton began retracting the remarks in a series of private interviews Monday and Tuesday before addressing about two dozen reporters after a speech.
She told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "I was sleep-deprived, and I misspoke."
Comment: Maybe someone who says silly things while suffering sleep deprivation isn't the person who should take emergency phone calls at 3 AM... David B. PERMANENT LINK |
"Freedom's Watch" signs chief liar for election's right-wing smear campaigns
Lieberman falsely claims McCain doesn’t support privatization of Social Security
Top ten craziest things John McCain has said (so far)
Clinton campaign distributes right-wing Obama smears
Clinton campaign says Obama wasn't really a professor; University of Chicago says he was
McCain flip-flops on "no new taxes" pledge
McCain waffles on sensible tobacco policy
McCain lies that he "detests war", when he has
always, always supported war and threatened war
Liberal bloggers file complaint over McCain's illegal campaign spending
McCain claims federal government shouldn’t ‘reward’
irresponsible banks -- except Bear Stearns
Clinton campaign keeps lying about NAFTA
McCain's "major foreign policy speech" is largely
recycled from 2001 Wall Street Journal column
Rice "discreetly" lets her interest in running for VP be known | |
Comment: She was the worst Nat'l Security Advisor imaginable, and she's been a joke as Secretary of State, so sure, why not make her Vice President... Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
McCain agrees with bin Laden that US should stay in Iraq
Ex-Republican Barr considers running for President as a Libertarian
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Supreme Court hears case
of whether US citizens
can be handed over
to Iraq military custody| |
Excerpt: US Supreme Court justices have questioned whether federal judges in the United States can block US military officials in Iraq from turning over Americans to Iraqi authorities for trial or punishment.
Lawyers for the two men say they might be tortured or even killed if they are transferred to Iraqi custody. [Bush lawyers] argued the two men are being held under the auspices of multinational forces in Iraq, of which the US contingent is only a part.
But their defense attorney said the two men clearly were under the control of the US military and should have access to US courts to challenge their detention. "The buck stops with the United States government when it comes to these detentions," he said. |
Employees sue KBR
for toxic exposure| |
Excerpt: When the American team arrived in Iraq in the summer of 2003 to repair the Qarmat Ali water injection plant, supervisors told them the orange, sand-like substance strewn around the looted facility was just a "mild irritant," workers recall.
But the chemical turned out to be sodium dichromate, a substance so dangerous that even limited exposure greatly increases the risk of cancer. Soon, many of the 22 Americans and 100-plus Iraqis began to complain of nosebleeds, ulcers, and shortness of breath. Within weeks, nearly 60 percent exhibited symptoms of exposure, according to the minutes of a meeting of project managers from KBR, the Houston-based construction company in charge of the repairs.
Now, nine Americans are accusing KBR, then a subsidiary of the oil conglomerate Halliburton, of knowingly exposing them to the deadly substance and failing to provide them with the protective equipment needed to keep them safe. |
Tibetan monks storm
Chinese press briefing| |
Excerpt: Dozens of monks have dramatically crashed a Chinese Government press briefing in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. The briefing was part of a Government-organized tour for a small group of journalists.
For the most part the trip was highly controlled but Government officials were embarrassed when the monks burst into the press conference demanding religious freedom.
Mass arrests in Tibet
Yahoo and MSN help Chinese gov't track down Tibet protesters |
Yahoo tries to make amends
by establishing dissident
defense fund, headed by Wu| |
Excerpt: Human-rights groups are taking the fund, which has yet to set a value, seriously. In a serious coup for the fund's credibility, the initiative will be overseen by Harry Wu, a veteran human-rights activist and former prisoner of conscience who is probably China's most famous political dissident. |
Olympic Committee defends decision to hold games in China
White House excuse for
millions of missing emails
makes no sense to experts| |
Excerpt: There’s still an |
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Lightning round news |
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| | argument between computer experts who believe that Bush regime officials have simply been incompetent in the archiving of emails and those who believe they knowingly destroyed the data to cover-up illegal acts. However, all arguments dissipate as far as believing officials like Issa and Payton, trying to blame the en masse disappearance on the implementation of a new email archiving technology. |
Guantanamo lawyers says trials are timed to coincide with 2008 elections| |
Excerpt: The brief filed Thursday by Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer directly challenged the integrity of President Bush's war court. Notably, it describes a Sept. 29, 2006, meeting at the Pentagon in which Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, a veteran White House appointee, asked lawyers to consider ... prosecutions in light of the campaign.
"We need to think about charging some of the high-value detainees because there could be strategic political value to charging some of these detainees before the election," England is quoted as saying. |
Five ex-Secretaries of State urge closing of Guantanamo and actual talks with Iran| |
Excerpt: "It says to the world: 'We are now going back to our traditional respective forms of dealing with people who potentially committed crimes,' " said Colin L. Powell, who served as President Bush's first secretary of State.
Powell was joined by Henry A. Kissinger, James A. Baker III, Warren Christopher and Madeleine K. Albright, who sat in a round-table discussion sponsored by the University of Georgia at a sold-out conference center in downtown Athens. |
Iran: America's next war
Bush lies directly to Iranians about their non-existent nukes| |
Excerpt: Bush, in an interview with a US-controlled Farsi-language radio station, said Iran has declared it wants nuclear weapons "to destroy people." The White House on Friday sought to downplay the remarks, saying Bush was merely speaking in shorthand.
Comment: Sure, shorthand for "we're going to bomb the crap out of you in a few months to boost McCain's poll numbers." Madeline Zane PERMANENT LINK |
US Intelligence Czar says his number one worry is Iran getting nukes| |
Excerpt: "My biggest worry at the moment: nuclear weapons in Iran," [Director of National Intelligence Mike] McConnell said, adding that if Iran acquired such a weapon it would set off a "nuclear arms race," changing the Middle East "overnight."
Comment: So in other words, the guy in charge of all US intelligence is delusional. All the evidence suggests that Iran has no nuclear weapons program, and the National Intelligence Estimate concurs that this just isn't the case. So he's just plain batsh*t crazy -- or a liar, trying to help his boss pump yet another insane war. Max PERMANENT LINK |
Saudis prepare for "sudden nuclear hazards" after Cheney visit| |
Excerpt: Last Friday, Dick Cheney was in Saudi Arabia for high-level meetings with the Saudi king and his ministers. On Saturday, it was revealed that the Saudi Shura Council -- the elite group that implements the decisions of the autocratic inner circle -- is preparing "national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the kingdom following experts' warnings of possible attacks on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactors," one of the kingdom's leading newspapers, Okaz, reports. The German-based DPA news service relayed the paper's story. |
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Life in liberated Afghanistan & Iraq
Memo reveals deplorable conditions at Fallujah prison| |
Excerpt: A classified memo written by the top US military officer in western Iraq reveals that a prison in downtown Fallujah is so overcrowded and dirty that it does not even meet basic "minimal levels of hygiene for human beings."
"The conditions in these jails are so bad that I think we need to do the right thing in terms of caring for the prisoners even with our own dollars, or release them," says the memo, written in late February by Maj. Gen. John Kelly, commander of US forces in western Iraq.
The classified document, leaked to the Web site Wikileaks where whistleblowers can "reveal unethical behavior in their governments and corporations," was authenticated by the organization and has not been challenged by the US military when asked about it. |
Bush spins the bloodshed in Basra| |
Excerpt: As fighting rages in Basra, the White House is unleashing a forceful spin campaign to frame the Iraqi government's offensive there as a positive outcome of the US troop surge and a symbol of better days to come. ...
There is plenty of reason to doubt the White House spin. Just look at what's happening on the ground, compare that to what the US military is saying about it, and recall the administration's many previous statements of optimism about Iraq. |
Basra and Sadr City under siege| |
Excerpt:
The US military reported Friday morning that American troops had fought running battles with Iraqi militiamen across six neighborhoods of Baghdad the day before. The Pentagon claimed that US forces killed 42 people in the fighting in the Iraqi capital, labeling all of the dead as "terrorists." |
Delusional Bush describes Maliki as "evenhanded"| |
Excerpt: For all the jokes and mockery directed at the president for his apparent confusion about, well, pretty much every issue, subject, and controversy anyone can think of, it’s sometimes hard to get over the fact that when it comes to the war in Iraq, Bush seems unusually fond of arguments that don’t make a lick of sense. |
US warplanes widen airstrikes in Iraq
Charges dropped against another US Marine in another Iraqi atrocity
Thousands in Baghdad protest US assault on Basra
More attacks in US-protected "Green Zone"
US Navy security on merchant ship kills cigarette salesman
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Court clears way for 9/11 illness lawsuit| |
Excerpt: A federal appeals court has refused to give New York City immunity from the lawsuits of thousands of city workers and construction laborers who say they now suffer from respiratory illnesses after they helped clean up ground zero in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. |
The melting economy
Protesters storm Bear Stearns to demand homeowners also get gov't help| |
Excerpt: About 60 protesters opposed to the US Federal Reserve's help in bailing out Bear Stearns entered the lobby of the investment bank's Manhattan headquarters on Wednesday, demanding assistance for struggling homeowners.
Demonstrators organized by the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America chanted "Help Main Street, not Wall Street" and entered the lobby without an invitation for around half an hour before being escorted out by police.
Fed offers another $100-billion to bail out banks |
Proposal would give the Fed vast new powers| |
Excerpt: The plan would not rein in practices that have been linked to the housing and mortgage crisis...
Comment: "The plan would not rein in practices that have been linked to the housing and mortgage crisis..." That says it all. This disaster of a plan has nothing to do with improving the markets. The plan is to consolidate power in a few players outside of the federal government. The Fed is not run by the government -- it is an autonomous, private institution. The voters have no say in anything it does. SirJ PERMANENT LINK
Comment: Just like the official story of 9/11 was hijacked to attack Iraq (which, of course, had nothing to do with 9/11), the Republicans are once again taking a tragedy that could have been prevented if they hadn't been criminally incompetent, and using it to hammer through something that would never pass ordinary scrutiny.
"The plan would not rein in practices that have been linked to the housing and mortgage crisis..." As you say, that says it all. Helen & Harry PERMANENT LINK |
Americans spend record amount on food, energy, health care
One in 10 Ohio residents receive food stamps
UAW membership drops below 500,000
Bush says rebate checks will make economy "stronger than ever before"
Ford sells Jaguar and Land Rover nameplates to India's Tata
Aloha Airlines halts passenger service
Bush gives out wrong phone number for homeowner help hotline
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Starbucks CEO says company will ignore court order to return pilfered tips to employees| |
Excerpt: Starbucks will not pay its California baristas back for tips they shared with shift supervisors, defying a San Diego Superior Court ruling last week.
"The ruling would take away the right of shift supervisors to receive the tips they earn for providing superior customer service," said Chief Executive Howard Schultz, in a voicemail message to employees Wednesday night. "I want you to know that we strongly believe that this ruling is extremely unfair and beyond reason."
Comment: If you're President Bush or a giant corporation, you can just ignore court rulings you don't like... Angry Annie PERMANENT LINK |
Murdoch tries to buy third NYC paper| |
Excerpt: In media news, the business publication Crain’s reports Rupert Murdoch wants to buy a third daily newspaper in New York: the Long Island-based Newsday. Murdoch’s News Corp already owns the New York Post, Wall Street Journal and two major TV stations in New York. Newsday is currently owned by the Tribune Company. |
British government defeats opposition calls for Iraq inquiry| |
Excerpt: Britain's Labour government defeated opposition Conservative proposals for an inquiry into the Iraq war late Tuesday, albeit with a slim majority.
Comment: They can't have an inquiry. Too many heads would roll. Marshall S. PERMANENT LINK |
Experts: Sirhan Sirhan did not kill Robert F. Kennedy| |
Excerpt: New forensics evidence presented Tuesday during a symposium at Foxwoods suggests Sirhan Sirhan did not fire the fatal shots that killed Sen. Robert Kennedy in 1968. Dr. Robert Joling, a forensics investigator who has studied the Robert Kennedy assassination for almost 40 years, determined that the fatal shots must have come from behind the senator.
Sirhan, however, was 4 to 6 feet in front of Kennedy and never got close enough to shoot Kennedy from behind, the investigator said.
The other evidence was the Pruszynski recording. This is the only audio recording of the assassination. Another scientist analyzed it and concluded that at least 13 shots were fired from two different guns. |
Pentagon orders nuclear inventory after admitting nuke parts sent to Taiwan| |
Excerpt: Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a complete inventory of the nation's nuclear arsenal and all associated components after the discovery last week that four secret nuclear missile parts had been mistakenly sent to Taiwan, an error that went unnoticed for more than 18 months.
In August, the Air Force unknowingly flew nuclear warheads between North Dakota and Louisiana, losing track of them for 36 hours. |
Sen. Nelson: End electoral college system| |
Excerpt: Sen. Bill Nelson, the Florida Democrat whose state is embroiled in a presidential primary debacle, said Thursday that he will pursue a constitutional amendment that would replace the Electoral College system with a national popular vote.
Comment: The Republicans would never let this happen. It's the source of their rigged-election power. Marshall S. PERMANENT LINK |
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This week's commentary
The "news" is not news at all
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Come the inevitable collapse of the world's economy, as it succumbs to the ravages of parasites, the only news that will matter is what is happening in your neighborhood as you struggle to survive. In many ways that will be a healthier cognitive environment. Nothing undermines health like a steady diet of lies. |
Moqtada al-Sadr, the fighting in Basra, & oil
by Marie K., Unknown News| |
Excerpt: This site called the Iraq Oil Report in its Mar. 28, 2008 report offers some interesting info that isn’t usually discussed -- in particular, one important explanation for the recent fighting by the al-Sadr Mahdi Army resistance group (Shiite Iraqi nationalists AGAINST the break up of Iraq, against Iranian involvement, and against the foreign takeover of their still nationalized oil) versus the "collaborator" Shiite Iraqi forces sent in by Prime Minister al-Maliki to Basra (Iraq’s second largest city & key oil hub). Al-Maliki is backed by the Badr organization (that includes former Iraqi exiles in Iran) and the Kurdish Coalition. US and British forces are providing backup planning and air strikes. Clearly, the emphasis in the report is on Iraq’s oil, but the details matter. ... |
Making money the old fashioned way: Smart friends
by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: If West Virginia were a rich state then houses would cost more, but it isn't so they don't. Even with the US dollar so cheap, how many Germans want to invest in Charleston fixer-uppers? |
Warnings from an ancient past
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: The bad news is that the niche that humans occupy, that of the intelligent, tool-using terrestrial animal, will most likely be filled again by evolution, leading to a likely replay of our mistakes. The good news is that we can attempt to warn such a future intelligent species and perhaps end this cycle of intelligent self-destruction before it starts again. |
An economy that takes from its people and gives nothing back
by Chris D., Unknown News| |
Excerpt: All the ideals behind Capitalism were centered around the self-employed and small time businesses. Competition, diversity, and the so-called free market are all much more effective on smaller scales. |
The latest Bush administration bull: Social Security's is "unsustainable"
by Spud Packard, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Social Security faces a 4.3 trillion dollar unfunded liability over the next 75 years? BIG F**KING DEAL. George W. Bush blew through 5 trillion in just 7 years, increasing the actual national debt from under $5 trillion to almost $10 trillion. |
Our main enemy is our willingness to pursue fantasies
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Taking control of our lives back from the fascists will likely not be a pretty process, but imperfect starts toward self-reliance are what we will need to depend on to get the process off the ground. |
Bosnian bullsh*t
by Don Nash, Unknown News
Sensory overload
by Sherri B., Unknown News| |
Excerpt: It is strange for me that this is the first time that I ever noticed how people can get so lost and confused. It is not strange to see how easily media can be used to frighten, circumvent plans, confuse, and downright mislead those that fight the good fight. |
The solution is in the people's hands
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: A neighborhood group could, for instance, try to establish a neighborhood clinic that works on a cash only basis. Such a group could elicit support from the large number of uninsured and underinsured who would sign up as potential patrons of such a clinic. Just a few thousand folks willing to state their intent to patronize such a non-profit, cash only clinic, and willing to contribute a small membership fee to get things moving, could end up providing for their own medical care in a remarkably short time. |
On hair-trigger alert
by The Canadian, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: The big question is this: will Iran/Syria pull the trigger via their proxy army or will they simply use the threat of war to achieve a measure of protection to sustain their domestic political and nuclear agendas? |
You have no rights in school
by JS Magruder, Why Not Resist?| |
Excerpt: Being sent to the principal’s office is now a situation that has the potential to follow with an arrest. Should parents be notified before children are questioned? Are they read their rights? Do they have the right to an attorney? Can "confessions" in the principal’s office be used to charge a student with a criminal offense? These are valid questions, and I can’t believe it has taken this long to get some attention in the media. Am I wrong to think that because it happened to a middle-class white kid in a nice town is the only reason this is being covered in the Globe? How often are kids arrested in Roxbury without a care for their legal rights? |
Update on World War III
by Daniel F., Opening Inner Space| |
Excerpt: Phase 3 is the Israeli air attack against the Iranian nuclear facilities using American supplied bunker buster bombs. The Iranians have said they will respond by firing 11,000 missiles and artillery shells in the first 60 seconds. The Iranians have Russian made Sunburn and Yakhonts anti-ship missiles. They also have Chinese designed rocket artillery with a range up to 150 kilometers. This phase will be very brief lasting only a matter of hours as Israel will allow America to do most of the fighting and dying.
Phase 4 is the justification of World War III to the American public. |
An election without meaning
by Peter Philips, Project Censored| |
Excerpt: The 2008 presidential race is a media entertainment spectacle with props, gossip, accusations, and public relations. It is impression management from a candidates’ perspective. How can we fool the most people into believing that we stand for something? It is billions of dollars of gravy for the media folks and continued profit maximization for the war machine, Wall Street, and insurance companies no matter who is determined the winner in November.
We must face the fact that the US government’s primary mission is to protect the wealthy and insure capital expansion worldwide. The US military -- spending more than the rest of the militaries of the world combined -- is the muscle behind this protect-capital-at-all-costs agenda, and will be used against the American people if deemed necessary to support the mission. |
Shame on them and shame on us
by Joe Galloway, McClatchy Newspapers| |
Excerpt: Vice President Cheney again stuck both feet in his mouth by saying and then repeating that we should remember that our military is composed entirely of volunteers; that our troops all volunteered for this duty, this burden, this sacrifice.
What's your point, Mr. Vice President? That because they volunteered to serve our country in uniform it’s okay to squander their lives in a war of choice, your choice and your president’s, and that it somehow matters less than if they'd been dragooned into service by press gangs or a draft like the one you dodged with five deferments during the Vietnam War because, you said, you had "better things to do"?
The 58,249 Americans who were killed in the war of your youth had better things to do than rest under their white marble, government-issue tombstones. I’m certain, too, that the 4,000 Americans who've died in the war that you and President Bush launched five years ago for no good reason and several that weren't true had better things to do than die under your command. |
What can and cannot
be spoken on television
by Glenn Greenwald, Salon| |
Excerpt: The American media has a script to which they loyally adhere. The US can make mistakes and government leaders can be criticized for incompetence, but we can never do anything that is actually destructive or evil or which justifiably provokes hatred towards us by people in other countries -- not even bombing them and occupying them for years and imprisoning tens of thousands of them with no charges and replicating the behavior of their hated dictator. Any views that suggest such a thing are simply not heard. |
Previous commentary
Come the revolution
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Modern technology has armed the forces of oppression to degrees that surpass understanding. But be reassured. With every increased measure of oppression, the pressure for change grows exponentially in reaction. Have faith that the rear guard actions of the system will eventually cause it to crumble in a sudden and spectacular ways. |
Blood-sucking Wall Street parasites
by Leon Fisher, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: If we reject the idea of being exploited by some Wall Street moneychanger who compares our existence upon the face of this Earth to some commodity like toilet paper or garbage bags, then it is time to begin the process of removing their poison from our economic and our political body. |
Ass-clowns in Wonderland
by Hazel Burke, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Is it really good public policy to have millions of people homeless, without jobs or healthcare while homes sit empty and work remains undone? |
The color of global oppression is in shades of white
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Racism is a very personal issue and needs our personal ground truth involvement to beat it back. To the extent that we are willing to be fully human, we need to accept the realities of the suffering of all our brothers and sisters. Love thy neighbor as thyself. |
Trillions of reasons to be optimistic
by Hazel Burke, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: At the end of all this, Americans will be hungry and organized, which is a scary combination! I think this is inevitable, because we will have oodles of Experience. We will have seen the worst, most depraved atrocities of the people in government and on Wall Street, and we will be highly motivated to reclaim what is ours -- not just our freedom, wealth, privacy and self-respect, but our country! Maybe even the stars. |
On the up side of this disaster
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: Vision is important. No vision, no future. Realism is also important. No realism, no survival. |
A modest proposal for the immodest problem of a failing health care system
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News| |
Excerpt: We have a choice. We can wait for politics to reform itself and solve the problem of declining access to our current system of health care and its declining quality, or we can get to work introducing practical solutions on the community level. I submit that waiting for the political system to reform itself is an untenable approach. My proposal, or some other proposal that links patients and providers in a mutually beneficial and ethical way, will be needed to circumvent our current paralysis. |
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