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28, &nbsp;2009</b></font></A></NOBR></TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="1%" class="fonta">&nbsp;</td></tr></table> <!-- =1111111111= --> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-145></A> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It's remarkable, the lengths the <i>New York Times</i> has gone and continues going to keep from reporting the truth about torture &#151; that <i>it is torture</i>. You're being lied to by the <i>New York Times</i> and every other media outlet, every time you read or hear phrases like "enhanced interrogation", "harsh questioning", etc. Torture is torture, even when it's hidden behind euphemisms. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/opinion/26pubed.html">New&nbsp;York&nbsp;Times</A>&nbsp;]&nbsp; <small>(If the nytimes.com link asks for a password, you can use our login <I>unk.news</i> and password <I>unknown</i>.)</small> <BR> <table border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="8" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="298" align="right"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"><TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonty"> <img src="http://unknownnews.org/protest49.jpg" border="1" width="298" height="217"><p> "While there is a lower class, I&nbsp;am in it; while there is a criminal element, I&nbsp;am of it; and while there is a soul in prison, I&nbsp;am not free." <DIV align="right"> <i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Eugene&nbsp;V.&nbsp;Debs</i> &nbsp; </div> </td></tr></table></td></tr></table> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-959></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">Does anybody else think it's odd, albeit telling, that for chunks of the corporate press corps, the emphasis surrounding the release of the Bush era torture memos is now centered on the political problems they've created for the Obama administration &#151; how the memos reflect poorly on the current White House &#151; and not, y'know, what the memos say about the administration that actually okayed the law breaking in the first <nobr> place?<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904220029?show=1">Media&nbsp;Matters</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- =2222222222= --> <!-- == --><A NAME=pf-512></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Former Vice President and unindicted war criminal Dick Cheney says he's "formally asked" the CIA to release <i>all</i> classified documents regarding torture during the Bush-Cheney administration, because these now-classified documents will show how gloriously successful was torture. And indeed, in his request, Cheney was very specific &#151; he said that the documents he wants could be found in a particular file cabinet from his Vice Presidential office, which, he said, is helpfully marked "Detainees". Thus we can conclude that Cheney, while Vice President of the United States, kept files on "detainees" (the pre-Cheney word was "prisoners") in his office.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cheney, of course, worked very hard to keep government actions utterly secret while he was VP. He went to court to have his office visits kept confidential, he had views of the Vice Presidential mansion obscured on Google Earth, he sought to have virtually all even mildly controversial acts of the Bush-Cheney administration classified, and he was <A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904220003?f=s_search">deeply involved in secret decisions to torture</A> war prisoners. And now he wants absolute open-ness, to let all Americans see everything about Bush-Cheney torture pollicies and practices? Horse pucky, or as an un-named intelligence official says "<A HREF="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/04/22/2009-04-22_dick_cheney_full_of_crap_official.html">Cheney is full of crap</A>".<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I assume Cheney is lying about these <A HREF="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/66895.html">documents that prove "torture worked"</A>, because nobody has ever seen evidence of Cheney telling the truth about any matter of public policy. He's a pathological liar. But much, much more to the point, it doesn't matter whether the torture of some schmuck somewhere led to some meaningful information. Doesn't matter at all, not to me, not to people who grasp the difference between right and wrong. Torture is wrong, and illegal, and those who torture, and those who order torture, must be prosecuted. End of discussion. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5192090/Dick-Cheney-calls-for-release-of-CIA-waterboarding-success-memos.html">London&nbsp;Daily&nbsp;Telegraph</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- =torture --><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="145" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"><BR> <img src="http://unknownnews.org/torture-icon.jpg" alt="Torture is not an American ideal." border="1" width="125" height="167"></td></tr></table><!-- == --><A NAME=pf-113></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Bush-Cheney administration was, of course, torturing prisoners <i>before</i> they got the worst lawyers in the world to write "legal opinions" sanctioning torture. The purpose of the torture was to try to cook up phony "evidence" that Iraq was somehow involved in the hell that happened on <NOBR>9/11/2001</NOBR>. As usual, <A HREF="http://www.correntewire.com/evil">Paul Krugman gets to the heart of the matter</A>:<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">Let's say this slowly: the Bush administration wanted to use 9/11 as a pretext to invade Iraq, even though Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. So it tortured people to make them confess to the nonexistent link.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">There's a word for this: it's <nobr> evil.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/66622.html">McClatchy&nbsp;Newspapers</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-854></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The US <i>must</i> prosecute Bush-Cheney officials who authorized torture, says the UN's top guy on torture. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gTltgMKbsh8zQbZ0m3UarJ8QxAAAD97OTG5G0">Associated&nbsp;Press</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-901></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Obama administration says it'll soon release dozens of photographs (<A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0903-23.html#fa-428">drip, drip, drip</A>)showing the torture at US-run prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama-interrogationapr24,0,1567604.story">Chicago&nbsp;Tribune</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-236></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Obama's "Intelligence Czar", Dennis Blair, says that the Bush-Cheney administration's torture tactics may have rarely yielded some "high value information", but that the damage done to America by torture "far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security." Of course, the media and right-wing sources (but I repeat myself) have portrayed this as Blair's "endorsement of torture", when any sane and fair evaluation of what he said shows that it's the opposite. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/probes-of-bush-administration/what-obamas-intel-chief-really-believes-about-torture/">whorunsgov.com</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=tslcot-244></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">[The torturers] have endangered any American unlucky enough to find himself at the mercy of our enemies in the war on terror. They have impeded our progress in that war. More fundamentally, they traduced their mission, betrayed their fellow soldiers, and disgraced their country. Anyone up or down the chain of command who was criminally complicit should be prosecuted, too.&nbsp;... There's only one way to drain this poison, and it isn't further breast-beating, from the administration or its foes. Bring on the trials, and the <nobr> punishment.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That's from the arch right-wing <i>Weekly Standard</i>, circa 2004, back when the news of torture at Abu Ghraib had just broken, and nobody was yet seriously suggesting that torture was America's official policy.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When everyone thought that the torturers were just some low-level bad apples, "bring on the trials" was the immediate response of reasonable observers from the left and right. Sane observers of all political stripes agreed, and it went without saying that torture is abhorrent and wrong. But everything changed as it became clear that the torture wasn't about bad apples, it was official policy. The <i>Weekly Standard</i> wouldn't dare print those comments today, and nowadays you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone on the right side of the aisle (and far too few on the left) who are willing to even investigate torture.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is what the Bush-Cheney administration has accomplished: To America's eternal shame, it's now <i>debatable</i> whether Americans should torture prisoners, and whether those who torture for America should be punished or applauded. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/04/22/weekly-standard-backs-prosecution-of-bush-officials/">ThinkProgess</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-248></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">Did Obama listen to his own Holocaust <nobr> speech?<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://firedoglake.com/2009/04/24/did-obama-listen-to-his-own-holocaust-speech/">FiredogLake</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=tslcot-754></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; She's lied about it repeatedly, but the evidence is pretty dang irrefutable that as National Security Adviser to President Bush, Condoleezza Rice was hip-deep in giving green-lighting torture. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_interrogation_memos_senate+">Associated&nbsp;Press</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <A NAME=journalism?></A><!-- mainstream corporate news, Fox and other liars, but no pundits --> <table border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="60%" align="right"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"><TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=1><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" class="fonta"> <center><I><B>Corporations own the news</B></I><BR><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/newslogo-abc.jpg" alt="Associated Press" border="0" width="71" height="27"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/newslogo-ap.jpg" alt="ABC News" border="0" width="50" height="50"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/newslogo-cbs.jpg" alt="CBS News" border="0" width="54" height="35"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/newslogo-cnn.jpg" alt="Cable News Network" border="0" width="61" height="33"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/newslogo-nbc.jpg" alt="NBC News" border="0" width="57" height="45"></center><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <I>Virtually all of US media is controlled by corporations and operated solely to make money. Advertisers, readers, and viewers mean profits, while unpleasant or controversial facts only reduce ads and audience, and subtract from the bottom line. As a result, absurd claims are presented as if they're serious, and news that's controversial or expensive to cover often gets minimal coverage that's shallow, inaccurate, or slanted to favor big business.</I><BR> <!-- journalism --> <BR><A HREF="http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/21/pulitzer/index.html">TV newscasts never mentioned Pentagon propaganda story that won Pulitzer</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904220005">ABC concocts fake quote of Bobby Kennedy Jr criticizing Obama</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904240038?f=s_search">Recap: The first 100 days of media myths and misinformation about the Obama administration</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904250002?f=s_search">Media reports Republican criticisms of reconciliation process, ignores Republicans' previous support for same process</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904230021"><I>Philadelphia Inquirer</i> pays far-right ex-Congressman Santorum $1,750 per op-ed column</A><BR> <!-- fools&liars --><!-- pundits and politicians--><BR> <center><I><B>Pundits&nbsp;and&nbsp;politicians</B></I></center> <BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>America's mainstream political discourse is dominated by lies, insults, general nuttiness, and just plain stupidity from right-wing commentators and politicians. And there's really no left-tilted equivalent, since anyone who offers blunt criticism of the right-wing (even when it's warranted and true) is "outside the mainstream", by definition</i>.<BR> <!-- =politicians --> <BR><A HREF="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/04/24/bachmann-harmless-co2/">Stumped by science: Bachmann (R-Minnesota) calls CO2 'harmless,' 'negligible,' 'necessary,' 'natural'</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/right-wing-extremist-congresswoman-denounces-attacks-against-right-wing-extremists.php">Bachmann (R-Minnesota) asks whether Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano has gone "absolutely stark raving mad"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://blog.indecisionforever.com/2009/04/23/republican-congressperson-totally-pwns-secretary-of-energy/">Barton (R-Texas) totally pwns Secretary of Energy</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017870.php">Carter (R-Texas) on DHS report: "Singling out political opponents for working against the ruling party is precisely the tactic of every tyrannical government from Red China to Venezuela"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.dailykostv.com/w/001225/">Culberson (R-Texas) thinks Texas can split into five separate states whenever it wants</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/22/ensign-sasc-report/">Ensign (R-Nevada) lies that Senate Armed Services Committee report is a 'Democrat partisan' document</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017888.php">Two weeks later, Ensign (R-Nevada) is still apoplectic about Obama-Chavez handshake</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.americablog.com/2009/04/gingirch-we-didnt-rush-over-smile-and.html">Gingrich (ret'd R-Georgia, and he's history professor) is unaware that US presidents did indeed "smile and greet" Russians at the height of the Cold War</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/24/fox-mackin-mudd/">McCain (R-Arizona) falsely claims that author of DHS report has been fired</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamattersaction.org/items/200904200002">Gov Perry (R-Texas) has ties to Texas secessionist group linked to domestic terrorism</A><BR> <!-- =pundits (mainstream) --> <BR><A HREF="http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/26/broder/index.html"><I>Washington Post</i>'s Broder demands legal immunity for Bush-Cheney era torture team</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://theburningplatform.com/economy/keep-on-rockin-in-the-free-world">According to the Wall Street shills on CNBC, economic recovery should take at least three months. An honest financial advisor would tell you 10 to 15 years.</A><BR> <!-- =fake journalism --><BR> <center><I><B>Fools and liars and&nbsp;fake&nbsp;news</B></I></center> <BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>And then we have the cable blowhards, radio ranters, fake "watchdogs", and foundation-funded websites that appeal directly to the most ignorant and gullible Americans, with fictional facts, hate-mongering, hyperbole, scary assertions, and a steady supply of nonsense.</i><BR> <center><BR><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/tv-oreilly.jpg" alt="Fox's Bill O'Reilly" border="1" width="111" height="100">&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/tv-beck.jpg" alt="Fox's Glenn Beck" border="1" width="100" height="100"><BR> <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/radio-limbaugh.jpg" alt="Rush Limbaugh" border="1" width="111" height="97">&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/radio-savage.jpg" alt="Michael Weiner (aka Michael Savage)" border="1" width="111" height="97"> </center> <BR><A HREF="http://firedoglake.com/2009/04/24/up-continues-to-be-down-sky-continues-to-be-green/">Among right-wing pundits, up continues to be down, sky continues to be green</A><BR> <!-- =Beck --> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904210017">Fox's Beck implores people to "stop with the lies" that carbon dioxide is a "poison"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904210010">Fox's Beck "wants to hear from" people who cut down trees to celebrate Earth Day</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904240014">Fox's Beck compares Gore's global warming "lies" to "Goebbels or Hitler"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/buchanan_nicaraguan_leader_is_scrub_stock.php">MSNBC's Buchanan uses obscure racist term</A><BR> <!-- =Fox News --> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904220007">Fox financial columnist claims "Chavez Handshake May Cost US Billions"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904210030">Fox Nation joins Hannity, Limbaugh, and Geist in claiming Obama "pals around with Chavez"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904250003?f=s_search">Fox's Goler reverses meaning of Obama quote to falsely suggest he supports European-style health care</A><BR> <!-- =Kristol --> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904210044?f=s_search"><i>Weekly Standard</i>'s Kristol falsely suggests DNI Blair supports torture techniques</A><BR> <!-- =Limbaugh --> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904210015">Limbaugh claims "Anti-Americanism is now policy" at the White House</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/limbaughwire/2009/04/22#0018">For Earth Day, Limbaugh plans to "personally" oversee destruction of two acres of rainforest</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904220026">Limbaugh repeats long-debunked lie that Obama "supports infanticide"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/limbaughwire/2009/04/22#0025">Limbaugh lies that the left wants "mass euthanasia"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904210023">Limbaugh: Obama "has just as much disregard for the men and women of the United States military as every other liberal"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904240026">Limbaugh sub on SCOTUS cameras: People could see when "Kennedy goes wacky or Ruth Bader Ginsburg, you know, invokes foreign law or they start making up stuff"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/limbaughwire/2009/04/24#0022">Limbaugh sub calls Energy Secretary's climate change remarks "shameful" and "science fiction"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904240019">Limbaugh sub: White House is "socialist-leaning," "Marxist-resembling"</A><BR> <!-- =O'Reilly --> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904240037">Fox's O'Reilly claims ACLU, MoveOn, <i>New York Times</i> "couldn't care less about America</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/23/billo-torture-my-ass/">Fox's O'Reilly describes waterboarding as 'Torture, my ass'</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904230010">Fox's O'Reilly falsely claims Nixon never met with Mao</A><BR> <!-- =Savage --> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904210014">Disney's Savage says "Obama hates" and "is raping America"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904210012">Disney's Savage suggests "gang bump" between Obama and Chavez a "signal" America is heading towards dictatorship</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904220021">Disney's Savage says "gay mafia runs every avenue of this culture"</A><BR> <!-- =Scarborough --> <BR><A HREF="http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/latest-fake-controversy-planet-wingn">MSNBC's Scarborough and Buchanan go apoplectic over Obama-Chavez handshake</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904220017?f=s_search">MCNBC's Scarborough falsely compares harsh interrogations to military training programs</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904210001?f=s_search">Fox's Scarborough claims "history will show" that Obama has "made us less safe as a country, especially people who live in Manhattan and Washington, DC"</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://mediamatters.org/items/200904240024?f=s_search">FBN's Sullivan falsely claims DHS report "named veterans groups as possible extremist groups"</A><BR> <BR><I>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Some of the lies and lunacy we've listed above are just silly, but some of it &#151; specifically Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and Michael Savage &#151; is downright dangerous and must be stopped. Yeah, stopped by law.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For all our adult lives we've been advocates for free speech. Without free speech there's no freedom, without censorship there's no tyranny, and we've always hated people who said "I'm for free speech, but&nbsp;..." but now we're two of them.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We're for free speech, but:&nbsp; When mass media "news" outlets spread blatant lies and fan the flames of misinformed fury to an audience of millions, that's a direct danger to democracy and it should be illegal.</I> <center><A NAME=debunk></A><BR><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="325" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" class="fonta"><iframe src="http://www.unknownnews.org/debunk-frame.html" width="325" height="1750" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="auto" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="325" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="295" bgcolor=black class="fontbox"><TABLE CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="325" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#ffffff" class="fontsm"><I>Scroll down or click for more&nbsp;</I><BR><A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/debunk.html"><B>unknownnews.org/debunk.html</B></A>&nbsp;</TD></TR></TABLE></td></tr></table></center><BR> <I>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And again, sure, there are left-wing commentators just as delusional as the right-wing's numerous nutballs. The difference is, left-wing nuts publish amateur blogs and zines, host cable-access shows, and can be heard muttering to themselves on buses ... while right-wing freaks and fibbers make a handsome living lying at professionally-published websites, writing factually-wrong but nationally syndicated newspaper columns, and airing their hokum and hysteria on big-budget radio and television shows.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It's all brought to you by the same corporations and curiously well-funded foundations that control American industry, media, medicine, and politics. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &#151;H&HH</i> </td></tr></table></td></tr></table> <!-- == --><A NAME=pf-150></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Philip Zelikow, a State Department lawyer in the Bush-Cheney administration, says he wrote a memo pointing out that the "legal advice" sanctioning torture was horse manure. In response, <A HREF="http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Bush_White_House_collected_and_destroyed_0422.html">his memo was destroyed</A>. Zelikow says he was legally unable to go public until now, because the memos he was responding to were just declassified by the Obama administration. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/21/the_olc_torture_memos_thoughts_from_a_dissenter">Foreign&nbsp;Policy</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-905></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A 2002 document sent to the Pentagon's top lawyer called torture torture, warned that it would put US soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in peril when they're captured, and further warned that it would lead to "unreliable information." &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3847881">Washington&nbsp;Post</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=sas-150a></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Who else objected to the Bush-Cheney administration's torture policy? The FBI, the Army, the Marines, and the Air Force. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://firedoglake.com/2009/04/23/fbi-werent-the-only-ones-objecting-to-torture-so-did-the-army-marines-air-force/">firedoglake.com</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=sas-1024></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And who didn't object? Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, commanding officer at Abu Ghraib and since busted back to colonel and drummed out of the service. I'm a little unclear what her complaint is &#151; does she think she and her underlings should be considered exonerated? Or does she just want to see higher-ups get their share of the shame? &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/04/22/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4961519.shtml">CBS&nbsp;News</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=sas-205></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There's a groundswell of support for the impeachment of 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jay Bybee, who wrote some of the memos offering fatuous, flatulent "legal opinions" authorizing torture. You can <A HREF="http://thinkprogress.org/impeach-jay-bybee/"></A>add your name easily, but it's going to be dang near impossible to impeach the bastard while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-My Ass) has Bybee's back. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/04/24/bybee/index.html">Salon</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=sas-155></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The <I>Washington Post</i> says that President Obama has personally "quashed" the notion of a <NOBR>9/11</NOBR> Commission-styled investigation of Bush-Cheney torture policies. Obama's position is summarized as thinking that such an investigation would "ratchet the whole thing up".<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Well, you know our position &#151; we want an investigation, and we want it yesterday &#151; but I can't think of anything more counterproductive than staging another <NOBR>9/11</NOBR>-style faux investigation staffed by doddering politicians and DC lifers. Seriously, we need another <NOBR>9/11</NOBR>-style Commission like we need another <NOBR>9/11</NOBR>. Don't give us another frickin' whitewash, we need a <i>real</i> investigation, preferably headed by a special prosecutor operating independent of the Justice Department, with full subpoena power and a mandate of absolute open-ness and prosecution for broken laws.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If President Obama or the Obama administration stands in the way of an investigation and prosecution, then they're accomplices after the fact in all the Bush-Cheney crimes against humanity, and they should be prosecuted as such. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/22/obama-911-commission/">ThinkProgess</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=pf-512a></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">European prosecutors are likely to investigate CIA and Bush administration officials on suspicion of violating an international ban on torture if they are not held legally accountable at home, according to U.N. officials and human rights <nobr> lawyers.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cripes, I'm weary of all the hand-wringing. Here's a novel idea: When people commit crimes against humanity, they ought to be friggin' prosecuted, and that ought to go without saying. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042103742.html">Washington&nbsp;Post</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=sas-1049></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At least three dozen people known to have been held in the CIA's secret prisons can't be accounted for. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.propublica.org/article/dozens-of-prisoners-held-by-cia-still-missing-fates-unknown-422">ProPublica</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=pf-529></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After answering far too many questions about what Bush-Cheney era crimes against humanity won't be prosecuted, President Obama has finally come close to answering correctly that <i>it's not his call</i>.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">For those who carried out these operations within the four corners of legal opinions, or guidance that had been provided from the White House, I do not think it's appropriate for them to be prosecuted. With respect to those who formulated those legal decisions, I would say that is going to be more of a decision for the Attorney General, within the parameters of various laws. And I don't want to prejudge <nobr> that.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; You get half-credit for this question, Mr President. You're dead wrong, under American and international law, in pretending that you have the authority to absolve criminal acts. But you've got it right, finally, in the second half of your answer. The President of the United States isn't supposed to decide who gets prosecuted for crimes and who doesn't. That's the Attorney General's decision, and his office phone is (202) 353-1555. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/obama-prosecutions-architects-torture">Crooks&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;Liars</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=pf-529a></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "We're going to follow the evidence wherever it takes us, follow the law wherever that takes us," says Attorney General Holder, and then, according to this article, he even says "No one is above the law."<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sounds great, but is that really what Holder thinks? We needn't wait long to find out, for in the same quote he then says "that the department had no intention to prosecute CIA interrogators who acted "in good faith" to follow official legal guidance. So which is it &#151; is no-one above the law? Or are people above the law if they're following orders? &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22549021.htm">Reuters&nbsp;News&nbsp;Agency</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=tina-135></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson has an interesting personal perspective on former Veep Cheney's insincere call for the quick declassification of selected classified memos which probably don't exist:<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">As a witness in the Libby case, Cheney has the legal grounds to release his own testimony. If he feels more comfortable, he can ask permission, though he does not need it, from former President George W. Bush &#151; and ask that Bush release his testimony as well. Because Cheney has called for transparency, why should he or Bush object? Then Pat Fitzgerald can make public the transcripts. It's time for this cover-up to <nobr> end.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-26/freedom-of-disinformation/full/">The&nbsp;Daily&nbsp;Beast</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- =civilliberties= --><!-- == --><A NAME=sas-941></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The US Supreme Court has dramatically scaled back the power of police to search vehicles after stopping the driver for minor traffic offenses. It's an important ruling, it's the right ruling, it's an inappropriate police power that's been abused on an ongoing basis for decades, and I'm startled to see two of the court's ordinary fascists, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, on the correct side of this. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scotus-carsearch22-2009apr22,0,1967319.story">Los&nbsp;Angeles&nbsp;Times</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-733></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As I understand it from years of experience watching cop shows, it's a long-standing principle that once a suspect asks for a lawyer, cops are supposed to stop questioning the suspect until a defense lawyer is present. Near as I can tell from this remarkably poorly-written article (which really reads more like a political opinion column than a news item) the Obama administration wants the police to be able to keep asking questions after the suspect asks for a lawyer.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Associated Press article is just terrible &#151; the reporter says President Obama "now speaks for federal prosecutors", and claims that "the case at issue is <i>Michigan v. Jackson</i>", which isn't true &#151; that's the precedent, but the Supreme Court doesn't just reconsider cases at random, so there must be some new case that raises these issues. But we're told nothing about this new case.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Color me aggravated as hell, by Obama and by AP. You'll find a few more facts at <A HREF="http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/us-challenges-michigan-v-jackson/">SCOTUSBlog</A>, like the name of the case in question, <i>Montejo v. Louisiana</i>. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_go_su_co/us_obama_defendants__rights/print">Associated&nbsp;Press</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <A NAME=tslcot-801></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Wisconsin's Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen (very R) has announced that citizens have a constitutional right to openly carry firearms. Much hilarity ensues as Milwaukee's Police Chief says he'll keep instructing his "troops" that if they see someone wearing a gun they should "put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have a right to carry it". &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2009/04/22/wi/00wis.txt">Associated&nbsp;Press</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=sas-1013></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rep Jane Harman (D-California) is shocked and outraged at the abuse of power she sees in the federal government's eavesdropping on the conversations of Rep Jane Harman (D-California). Of course, all through the Bush-Cheney administration, Harman was just about the staunchest Democratic supporter of illegal wiretapping as a matter of national policy.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And <A HREF="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/04/harman_scheduled_to_speak_at_a.html?wprss=capitol-briefing">guess who's speaking</A> at next month's AIPAC Conference? You guessed right. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/harman-changes-tune">Electronic&nbsp;Frontier&nbsp;Foundation</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --> <A NAME=alttc-1022></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is, in my humble opinion, a pretty dang good commercial for viewers in Iowa, gently asking them not to worry about the recent court ruling on equal rights for gays and lesbians to marry. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33odacwy0y0">YouTube</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- nsr --> <BR><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/stickers.html"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.org/nsrheterosexuals.jpg" alt="No special rights for heterosexuals" border="2" width="225" height="70"></A><BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-303></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If you've ever been in love, this first-person column about a man who lost his husband is sad but also oddly joyous. Things are getting better. Gay marriage is just another manifestation of equal rights. If you're opposed to gay marriage, you're opposed to equal rights. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.americablog.com/2009/04/in-massachusetts-husbands-death-shows.html">America&nbsp;Blog</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=alttc-1214></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">A Muslim legal advocacy group in the United States accused federal agents at borders and airports of routinely selecting Muslim-American travelers and those with ethnic backgrounds perceived as Muslim for searches and interrogations on the basis of race, religion and national origin without any "evidence or even suspicious <nobr> wrongdoing."<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/04/22/71197.html">Al&nbsp;Arabiya</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-438></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">In the first known study of its kind, University of Michigan researchers found that people with a family member or friend in prison or jail suffer worse physical and mental health and more stress and depressive symptoms than those without a loved one behind bars. Moreover, these symptoms worsen the closer the relationship to the person <nobr> incarcerated.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bearing in mind that America imprisons its people at a higher rate than any other nation in the world, bearing in mind that at all steps in the justice process &#151; from cops to prosecutors to judges &#151; whites are treated with more respect and leniency than blacks or Latinos, this is another important pillar in the injustice of America. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=7104">University&nbsp;of&nbsp;Michigan</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-448></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">Under Obama's plan, the wealthiest Americans still pay far less in taxes than under Reagan or <nobr> Nixon.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://s3.moveon.org/images/tax_rate-chart.gif">MoveOn</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=wrigo-638></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Craig Newmark of Craigslist says no to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who wants him to police the site's "erotic services" section. It's a gutsy thing to take a stand over, and a gutsy time to take that stand, and I'm glad he did. Enough already, of people who want to make the world Disney-safe for adults. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090425/ap_on_re_us/us_craigslist_killing">Associated&nbsp;Press</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-824></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Plan B "morning-after" or emergency contraceptive pill is now supposed to be available to 17-year-olds without a prescription. The savage right-wing will no doubt shriek in horror, but I'm wondering why 17 is the dividing line instead of 16, or younger. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-morning-after-pill23-2009apr23,0,1563712.story">Los&nbsp;Angeles&nbsp;Times</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- =3333333333= --> <!-- =bailout= --><A NAME=pf-525></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, a man who seems perpetually over his head dealing with the economic hellhole, says <A HREF="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/66608.html">big banks in America are doing fine and dandy</A>. C'mon, dude, over the past eight years we've gotten weary of fairy tales and blatant unambiguous lies from our leaders &#151; at least tell us lies that sound semi-plausible.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And Geithner has announced that his work is going slowly because "uncertainty about the value of legacy assets is constraining the ability of financial institutions to raise private capital." This is, you may recall, pretty much what top economists (along with pretty much anyone who has the common sense God gave a grasshopper) <A HREF="http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/geithner-hard-value-bank-assets-just">have been saying all along</A>. Duh &#151; banks that are essentially bankrupt ought to declare bankruptcy. Fake-propping up bad banks with bailout billions is super-colossal stupidity from the Bush-Cheney era, and following in GW's footsteps on this is probably the stupidest thing Obama's done so far.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sigh. Geithner is the non-cartoon embodiment of Homer Simpson. He makes me feel like I know more about economics than the Treasury Secretary, and believe me, I don't know much about economics. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/21/news/too.big.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009042112">Cable&nbsp;News&nbsp;Network</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-949></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Another union has made another round of wage and benefit concessions to another company, so what's described as a "major obstacle" to the Fiat-Chrysler merger is removed. Workers and retirees sacrifice again, while management never does.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The concept of a union contract is of no use anymore. The hereto sanctity of contracts is null and void. They aren't worth the paper that they're written on, so of what use is a union now? If the company tells the government it can't survive because the workers are sucking the lifeblood (money) out of it, the government then says the workers have to give up more and more. The union movement has been completely wiped out finally by the United States Government. The Goofy Old Party has won. <nobr>&nbsp; --Wig</nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j-ETZWbWOTGJa_1zqrYK9kw8zdfgD97QI5PG0">Associated&nbsp;Press</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <A NAME=think></A> <table border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="60%" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"><BR><TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=1><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" class="fonta"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="40" class="fonty"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/thinker.jpg" alt="'The Thinker' statue" border="0" width="40" height="40"></TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle" class="fonta"><I><B>It made me stop&nbsp;and&nbsp;think</B></I></TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="40" class="fonty"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quesplanation.jpg" alt="Stop and think" border="0" width="40" height="40"></TD></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "So now we come to what is called, in the treacly, touchy-feely parlance of our day, a 'teachable moment'. Here is one of the most clear-cut points of national decision and self-definition that can be imagined. Clear, credible evidence of atrocity and conspiracy has been produced. The course prescribed by law is clear: criminal investigation and, if warranted, prosecution. If, as you claim, your state is founded upon the rule of law, then there simply is no choice in the matter: the torture program and all of its perpetrators, facilitators and instigators must be subjected to the due process of law, without fear or favor.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "If this does not happen, then your state, however modernized and sophisticated, is nothing but a gilded barbarism, a gangland, where the brute force of money, privilege and power hold tyrannical sway. There is no law, only the triumph of the will of corrupt and criminal factions as they preen and jostle for position atop a fetid heap of blood and filth." <nobr>&nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/3/1749-top-of-the-heap-the-democrats-teachable-moment-on-torture.html">Chris Floyd</A>&nbsp;]</nobr><BR> <BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "One of the distinguishing characteristics of a 'Banana Republic' is an unaccountable chief executive who ignores the rule of law when it suits his/her purposes. The ruling junta in a 'Banana Republic' eschews accountability, commits heinous acts in secret, tolerates widespread corruption, and generally embraces a totalitarian attitude in which the leader can break laws whenever he/she feels it's justified to protect the state.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Does any of this sound familiar?" <nobr>&nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017886.php">Steve Benen</A>&nbsp;]</nobr><BR> </td></tr></table></td></tr></table> <!-- == --><A NAME=tina-1232></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; So General Motors proposes killing Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, and Saturn, laying off 21,000 workers, and closing some 2,600 dealerships, all in hopes of surviving by getting another big bailout from the US government. And again we see the American auto industry, which actually makes a pretty good product sometimes, being forced to bend over and grab its corporate ankles in order to get any slow, grudging government assistance, while Wall Street giants get trillions on demand quicker than you can pull $20 out of an ATM. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gm28-2009apr28,0,7093793.story">Los&nbsp;Angeles&nbsp;Times</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=tina-1040></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">Goldman Sachs Group Inc., unbowed by the securities industry's worst year since the Great Depression, increased its trading bets at the fastest rate on Wall <nobr> Street<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr> in the first three months of 2009.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I'm reminded of an amusing anti-Bush bumper sticker: "Yee-haw is not a foreign policy." It's also not a sound business strategy. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a.DWey.dMKrw&refer=home">Bloomberg&nbsp;News&nbsp;Service</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=tina-1259></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Meanwhile, executive pay on Wall Street has rebounded nicely, and it's already back where it was a year before the floor fell away. JPMorgan Chase projects that the average employee in its trading and investment banking unit will make $509,524 this year. At Goldman Sachs it's $569,220. And that's the average, not the high end. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/business/story/687590.html">New&nbsp;York&nbsp;Times</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=pf-213></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">In the first major disclosure of corruption in the $750-billion financial bailout program, federal investigators said Monday they have opened 20 criminal probes into possible securities fraud, tax violations, insider trading and other <nobr> crimes.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tarp-fraud21-2009apr21,0,2443377.story?track=rss">Los&nbsp;Angeles&nbsp;Times</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=pf-620></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Chrysler Financial, the underwriting arm of the imperiled automaker, said "no thanks" to $750-million in emergency funding from the government, because the money comes with pay caps for executives. Stop and ponder that, the next time you're told that workers have to take a pay cut &#151; Chrysler Financial would rather risk going out of business, than see its top executives take a pay cut. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.truthout.org/042109D">Washington&nbsp;Post</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=alttc-1037></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Bush-Cheney administration's Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, basically coerced Bank of America to force it to buy Merrill Lynch. Good Christ, this ain't no way to run an economy, and other than the names nothing's changed in the Obama administration's Treasury Department. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/66824.html">McClatchy&nbsp;Newspapers</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-600></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This woman was required to pay the county for housing her son in a juvenile prison. When she couldn't pay, she was jailed herself. When she finally scraped together the funds to pay for her son's incarceration, the county demanded that she pay for her own incarceration as well. It's barbaric but not at all uncommon in present-day America, to be forced to pay for your own incarceration. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/04/guilty-of-being-poor/">Disident&nbsp;Voice</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <A NAME=health></A><A NAME=science></A> <table border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="60%" align="right"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"><TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=1><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" class="fonta"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="40" class="fonty"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/medicine.gif" alt="medicine" border="0" width="40" height="40"></TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle" class="fonta"><I><B>Health&nbsp;and science&nbsp;corner</B></I></TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="40" class="fonty"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/science.jpg" alt="science" border="0" width="40" height="40"></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><A HREF="http://www.americablog.com/2009/04/more-americans-postponing-doctor-visits.html">More Americans are postponing doctor visits due to cost</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2009/04/24/high-fructose-corn-syrup-is-poisoning-everyone/">High-fructose corn syrup is poisoning everyone</A><BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.madison.com/wsj/blogs/oncampus/448142">Researcher sends message just by thinking</A><BR> </td></tr></table></td></tr></table> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-925></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ford Motor Company reports a loss of $1.4-billion in the first quarter of 2009, and remarkably, that looks like good news. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/24/AR2009042401203.html?hpid=topnews">Washington&nbsp;Post</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- =world= --> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-8272></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">Taliban militants have extended their grip in northwestern Pakistan, pushing out from a valley where the government has agreed to impose Islamic law and patrolling villages as close as 60 miles from the <nobr> capital.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Coming soon: a nuclear-armed Taliban. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090422/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan">Associated&nbsp;Press</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-158></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, made a surprise visit to Baghdad yesterday to reassure Iraqi leaders that the Obama White House would refrain from withdrawing its troops from urban areas if renewed violence continued to <nobr> worsen.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Don't you wish you could doubt, even momentarily, that the Obama administration could be that stupid? &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/26/clinton-iraq-us-army-withdrawal">The&nbsp;Observer</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-943></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Archbishop Louis Sako says that the Christians killed in Iraq last week were "innocent people who have no relation with politics and never harmed anyone", and maybe he's right that they were "killed by terrorists in their homes just because they were Christians".<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Come what may, it's time to pull our troops out into staging areas preparatory to bringing them home and let Maliki's government stand or fall on it's own. Any continuation of trying to work with the Iraqi military is only going to be met with accusations and more ill will that it's worth. Stop digging the hole. <nobr>&nbsp; --Wig</nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD97QP91O0">Associated&nbsp;Press</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=tina-1220></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">Iraq considers a US military raid that killed two people a crime and wants US forces to hand over those responsible to the courts, an Iraqi official said on Sunday. Hundreds of Iraqis protested in the southern city of Kut against US forces and the provincial governor also condemned the military <nobr> operation.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE53P18C20090426?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews">Reuters&nbsp;News&nbsp;Agency</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <A NAME=lla-116></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Insiders close to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have announced the (non-existent) dangers of Iran's (non-existent) nuclear weapons program present such a clear and present (non-existent) danger to Israel that the problems of Palestine will just have to wait, and wait, and wait...<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If we take out Iran to satisfy Israel, what will they come up with next to stall on the Palestinian question? As to the "destabilizing" of the Middle East, it has been Israel with it's incessant invasions of Lebanon and occupation of the Palestinians. <nobr>&nbsp; --Wig</nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042103998.html">Washington&nbsp;Post</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <A NAME=mysterylinks></A> <table border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="45%" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"><TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=1><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" class="fonta"><center><A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/mysterylinks.html"><b><i>Our mystery&nbsp;links</i></b></A><BR>(mostly just for fun)</center><BR>Links in <FONT COLOR=red><B>red</B></FONT> are not safe for work, and links in <FONT COLOR=magenta><B>pink</B></FONT> include audio and/or video.<center><iframe src="http://www.unknownnews.org/myslinks.html" width="295" height="370" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></center><DIV align="right"><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/mysterylinks.html">... more mystery links</A>&nbsp;</div> </TD></TR></TABLE></td></tr></table> <!-- == --><A NAME=tina-1018></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who's almost always described in media accounts as a dictator or despot despite his election and re-election by landslides, has offered to give an island to New Jersey as a natural preserve. No doubt we'll be reading that this shows what a tyrant Chavez is. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/23/venezuela.island/index.html">Cable&nbsp;News&nbsp;Network</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-858></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Klansman David Duke has been arrested in Czechia, on suspicion of denying the Holocaust. Cripes, these "Don't you dare deny the Holocaust" laws are stupid and counterproductive, and the longer Duke faces legal problems the bigger hero he'll be to his brain-dead followers. <nobr>&nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.weartv.com/template/inews_wire/wires.international/30b6f1a8-www.weartv.com.shtml">WEAR-TV</A>&nbsp;]</nobr><BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=wrigo-639></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; North Korea has re-started its nuclear program. And I still think <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-14.html#yc-648">the international panic over this</A> is about 75% hypocritical, and 20% just plain phony. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iURO8fOyWVOA0ytFlaAGuC9F7R9wD97P9IEO0">Associated&nbsp;Press</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-507></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We have a GREAT independent newspaper here, and they just published an article about the massive cover up that went on when the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor melted down. Very timely, as most "experts" feel that nuclear energy is safe &#151; never mind about the massive amounts of highly radioactive waste that is stored all over the place. <nobr>&nbsp; --Heather&nbsp;G.</nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A393821">IndyWeek</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-508></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The same issue has another GREAT story of how a woman has decided to save old houses from being torn down &#151; she moves them, renovates them (green of course) and then sells them at below value costs to people that need homes. <nobr>&nbsp; --Heather&nbsp;G.</nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A393816">IndyWeek</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=wrigo-645></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Roxana Saberi, the American and Iranian journalist convicted of spying in what was probably a sham trial in Iran, has been on a hunger strike for several days. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090425/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_us_journalist">Associated&nbsp;Press</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- =dc= --> <!-- == --><A NAME=alttc-442></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">Seventy-five former state attorneys general, including ten Republicans, have sent a letter to Atty Gen Eric Holder saying that former Alabama Gov Don Siegelman's defense lawyers have raised "gravely troublesome facts" about whether he got a fair trial, reports the <i>New York Times</i>. The letter cites Holder's recent decision to ask that the charges against Ted Stevens be dropped, thanks to prosecutors' failure to turn over evidence to the defense, as required. It argues that there is evidence of similar misconduct in Siegelman's case, and that the charges should similarly be dropped if that's borne out in an investigation. <nobr><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It's impossible, inconceivable that the Obama administration is unaware of Siegelman's railroading by the jaw-droppingly corrupt Bush-Cheney Justice Department. The letter couldn't have told them anything they didn't already know, but reading about it in the <i>New York Times</i> might provide a needed kick in the arse. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/seventy-five_ex-ags_to_holder_review_siegelman_cas.php">New&nbsp;York&nbsp;Times, distilled&nbsp;by TPM&nbsp;Muckraker</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-337></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Legal&nbsp;Schnauzer</i> goes deeper into the indictment of John McTiernan we mentioned <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-21.html#swcp-835">last week</A>. McTiernan is best known for directing <i>Die Hard</i> and <i>The Hunt for Red October</i>, but his recent documentary about Karl Rove seems much more pertinent to his indictment. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2009/04/make-film-exposing-rove-then-get.html">Legal&nbsp;Schnauzer</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=alttc-448></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Justice Department is picking up the tab for the lawyers hired by the corrupt prosecutors in the prosecution of former Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Several readers sent this item to us with some alarm, so here it is, but it's really only newsworthy if you think it's somehow surprising or scandalous, and I don't think it is. It's proper, I think, that the DoJ pays for lawyers to defend employees accused of misconduct. The outrage is that the scumbags were hired, specifically to do what they did. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/justice_picking_up_tab_for_stevens_six_defense.php?ref=fp6">TPM&nbsp;Muckraker</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- stt --><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="245" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/stickers.html"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.org/stupidwars.jpg" alt="Wanna support the troops? Stop sending them on stupid wars." border="2" width="225" height="70"></A></td></tr></table> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-653></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Obama administration has found a new place and purpose for Americans to die. They're going to send National Guardmen to Mexico as part of the war on what people want to smoke or snort. It's a stupid decision, deadly and typical. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/24/AR2009042402222.html?nav=rss_email/components">Washington&nbsp;Post</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-200></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Defense insiders want the US to set up an "operational international center to coordinate the world's response" ... to teenaged pirates. Why make everything complicated? Haven't any of our geniuses hit upon the concept of employing decoys and sweeping in and capturing the pirates before a seizure takes place? A few pirate captures would make the "bad guys" reconsider the practice. Or is this too simple to work? The pirates came up with a simple idea (to seize big cargo ships with simple small craft) that has the world's most brilliant military brass and politicians sitting on their butts twiddling their thumbs whining. <nobr>&nbsp; --Wig</nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/04/18/needed-international-counter-piracy-center/">DoDBuzz</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-450></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There's an increasing hubbub about perhaps operating Congress under special short-term rules to rush through health care reform without Republican interference. This is, of course, nothing but show biz. Whatever so-called health care reform is passed, it'll be a sham that funnels money to insurance companies, with health care as at best an incidental by-product. If it ain't a single-payer plan &#151; and the Obama administration isn't even <i>considering</i> single-payer plans &#151; it ain't gonna solve any of the problems. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.singlepayeraction.org/blog/?p=545">Single&nbsp;Payer&nbsp;Action</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=tslcot-222></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) says he'll filibuster Obama's nomination of David Hamilton as a Judge. It's flabbergasting, because Hamilton is a bland, middle-of-the-road judge with really nothing controversial or even liberal in his record. He was chosen by Obama specifically for this virtue, "to send a signal that the process need not be contentious". And yet, Republicans dig in their heels and fight.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is what happens when Obama "reaches out to Republicans", so the lesson to be learned is, why bother reaching out? &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017845.php">Washington&nbsp;Monthly</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-130></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Obama administration has proposed what looks to me like cutting the middleman out of college loans. Looks like a great idea at first blush, but it doesn't have a snowball's chance in a pizza oven. It would cut too much profit from the filthy scumsuckers of the finance industry. The Republicans in Congress won't stand for it, and always, <i>always</i>, the Democrats will yield. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://news.aol.com/article/obama-touts-plan-to-change-college-loan/445284">Associated&nbsp;Press</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=tslcot-227></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; First they say something less-than-flattering about Rush Limbaugh. Then the right-wing explodes in fury, and within a few days there's an apology or a very gracious explanation, including praise for the wit and wisdom of Rush Limbaugh. A <i>fifth</i> Republican, Congressman Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kansas) has now followed this predictable path.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">The congressman believes Rush is a great leader of the conservative movement in America &#151; not a party leader responsible for election losses ... Nothing the congressman said diminished the role Rush has played and continues to play in the conservative <nobr> movement.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It would be downright comical, if only ... no wait, it <i>is</i> downright comical. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017838.php">Washington&nbsp;Monthly</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=alttc-417></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; How insane are Republicans? According to this poll, Texas Republicans are evenly split, 48-48, on whether the state would be better off seceding from the Union. And this is the political party that routinely calls its ideological opponents "un-American". &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/poll-texas-republicans-approve-of-rick-perrys-secession-remarks.php?ref=fp2">Talking&nbsp;Points&nbsp;Memo</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <A NAME=pf-201></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Louisiana lawmakers are striking back against human-animal hybrids. Raise your hand if you're surprised that Republicans and the Catholic Church are prominently involved. <nobr>&nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/humananimal_hybrid_ban_sought.html">New Orleans Times-Picayune</A>&nbsp;]</nobr><BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=tslcot-420></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Former President Bill Clinton will make a publicity appearance, a joint "conversation" with former President George W Bush. Sickening but far from unexpected. They have much more in common than their differences, after all. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090420.wibbitson21/BNStory/International/home">The&nbsp;Globe&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;Mail</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=alttc-1056></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is the Democratic National Committee's idea of a hard-hitting ad against Republicans. It's probably effective if your entire existence is inside the beltway or you're utterly immersed in political news. If you're anyone else, like say an ordinary American, you'll be bored silly and change the channel long before the commercial gets anywhere near making its point. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.dailykostv.com/w/001222/">Democratic&nbsp;National&nbsp;Committee</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=sas-959></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Governor Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) has been accused of another ethics violation. Yawn. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.adn.com/palin/story/769505.html">Anchorage&nbsp;Daily&nbsp;News</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-904></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It was too damned close and I'm tired of too damned close elections, but the new CongressCritter in New York's 20th District will be Scott Murphy (D), who's defeated Jim Tedisco (R) by a few hundred votes. Unlike Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota), Tedisco has the decency to concede when he's clearly lost.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">New York's 20th is a Republican district &#151; as recently as 2006, GOP voter registrations in the district outnumbered Democratic registrations by 15 points &#151; and Republicans invested heavily to win this race. For that matter, Tedisco is a well-known leader in the state legislature, while Murphy only moved to the district three years ago. It was, at least on paper, a race Republicans should have won. They <nobr> didn't.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr> &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017898.php">Washington&nbsp;Monthly</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=lla-428></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">Bill Kristol, quietly let go as a columnist for the <i>New York Times</i> last year, landed a gig with the <I>Washington Post</i> &#151; and today got the news he'll get a quarter of a million just for being Bill Kristol, who is most famous for being wrong about pretty much everything he talks <nobr> about&nbsp;...<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Well, yeah, and everything Joan Walsh is saying here is correct, but let's look at the big picture, too. It's damned hard to break through and become a respected pundit, whether you're of a left-wing or right-wing persuasion. But if you're of a right-wing persuasion, as is Kristol, there are extra opportunities. The right-wing has a TV network; the left-wing doesn't. The right-wing has a fleet of corporate- and kook-funded "think tanks", while the left-wing has very few. The right-wing's heavy thinkers, even those who repeatedly get the facts wrong, the implications mistaken, and the predictions backwards, are always welcome on talking head shows and as paid "experts" on newscasts, while the left-wingers have far fewer such opportunities, and are basically punished or blackballed if they get the facts right or the implications correct, or if their predictions come true. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/politics/2009/04/22/kristol/index.html">Salon</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <A NAME=sas-856></A><!-- Pirate Bay --><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="143" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"><BR> <img src="http://unknownnews.org/logo-piratebay.jpg" alt="Pirate Bay" border="0" width="123" height="123"></td></tr></table> <BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The judge who last week ruled against The Pirate Bay seems to have some conflicts of interest. He sits on the board of the Swedish Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, and he works at the Swedish Internet Infrastructure Foundation, where Monique Wadsted, the RIAA's top person in Sweden, also works. Why didn't he recuse himself? And is the answer to that question as obvious as it seems? &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-lawyer-is-biased-calls-for-a-retrial-090423/?a=a">torrentfreak.com</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-700></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released its data on airliners hitting birds in flight. It's an increasing but still rare risk, but what caught my attention was that until now, the data has been treated as top secret. So why was it released? Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who's also boss of the FAA, said he reconsidered his "keep it secret" mantra after President Obama ordered CIA torture documents released.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Keep grousing about the Obama administration, please. I certainly will, because they're doing a lot of things wrong. But they're also doing some things right. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103448809">National&nbsp;Public&nbsp;Radio</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-718></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The nomination of Gov Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kansas) as Secretary of Health and Human Services remains stymied, but contrary to the news reports, it's really not being blocked by Republicans. It's being blocked by Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-My Ass), who's allowing the stall tactics.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">At the start of the session today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) proposed taking a vote after five hours of debate. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) objected, arguing that lawmakers needed more time to consider her "fairly contentious" <nobr> selection.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And what is it that's "fairly contentious" about Sebelius, the utterly boring, middle-of-the-road, mega-moderate Democrat from Kansas? Like most Democrats, she supports a woman's right to choose abortion, which has been the law of the land for 36 years. And she's accepted campaign donations from a doctor who performs this completely legal procedure. That's it.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; By no standard of serious discourse is this a "fairly contentious" nomination. By no standard of debate or discussion are Sebelius's record or positions even slightly controversial. But some blowhard Republican wants to pretend there's reason for delay, and Harry Reid, the Democrats' alleged leader, folds like lawn furniture, again. And again and again. Cripes, he's Don Knotts reincarnated, but without the saving grace of being funny. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/04/23/gop_stymies_vote_on_sebelius.html?hpid=news-col-blog">Washington&nbsp;Post</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-1149></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Senator Ben Nelson (D-Supposedly) says he'll oppose Dawn Johnsen as White House Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) chief because she once worked as a lawyer for the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). Abortion again. Abortion, of course, has nothing to do with the job at OLC, and abortion isn't the reason anyone's opposing Johnsen's appointment. She was adamantly opposed to the previous regime's torture policies, and the bastards oppose her because they think she might whisper the word <i>prosecute</i> in President Obama's ear.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Meanwhile, someone needs to whisper in Senator Nelson's ear, <i>Get out of the Democratic Party, you quiver-kneed coward</i>. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.anonymousliberal.com/2009/04/wanker-of-decade-ben-nelson.html">anonymousliberal.com</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=tina-1112></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Shane Murphy, the second-in-command aboard the American merchant ship seized by pirates, lashed out at Rush Limbaugh for the talk show host's racial characterization in discussing the rescue of the ship's captain by the Navy.&nbsp;...<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "There you have it, three teenagers shot on the high seas at the order of President Obama," said Limbaugh according to a transcript of an April 14 broadcast on his Web site. "Just imagine the hue and cry had a Republican president ordered the shooting of black teenagers on the high seas," Limbaugh said.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Murphy said Limbaugh's remarks were unacceptable. "It feels great to be home," Murphy said. "With the exception of Rush Limbaugh who is trying to make this into a race issue. It's disgusting. The president did the right thing. It's a war. It's about good versus evil. And what you (Limbaugh) said is evil, that is hate speech. I won't tolerate it," Murphy said. <nobr>&nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/19273935/detail.html">WCVB-TV</A>&nbsp;]</nobr><BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=tina-137></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Whigs are back, as a party of moderates, neither left nor right. But we already have a political party for the milquetoast middle &#151; the Democrats. What we need is a political party of the left. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1501272.html">News&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;Observer</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- Fox News --><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="152" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"> <img src="http://unknownnews.org/foxnewslogo.jpg" alt="Fox News" border="0" width="132" height="99"></td></tr></table> <!-- =corporations= --> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-812></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Fox News planted a flock of people at a GE shareholders' meeting, who one by one waited in line at the microphone to complain about the alleged "liberal bias" at MSNBC and, much more improbably, NBC News.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-begin.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13">"A couple of people made the comment that MSNBC is tarnishing the brand. I've heard that from Bill O'Reilly, and I kinda thought, 'OK, that's interesting,' but I can tell you, a lot of people who spoke at the shareholder meeting appeared to share that sentiment," he <nobr> said.<img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/quote-end.jpg" alt="quote" border="0" width="15" height="13"></nobr><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And if you believe that&nbsp;...<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Back on Planet Earth, MSNBC has two increasingly popular prime time opinion-shows hosted by liberals Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, who are (correct me if I'm forgetting anyone?) the only liberals allowed to share their opinions as TV hosts in America. The network deserves mild kudos for that, and deserves the increasing ratings and profits that result, but MSNBC is also the home of right-winger Joe Scarborough, Alan Greenspan's wife Andrea Mitchell, cloaked conservative Ed Schultz, and blathering idiot Chris Matthews, so the joint ain't exactly <i>Pravda</i>. And the complaint comes from the all-arch-right Fox News, which means it isn't worth the time I've spent typing about it. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i888016761f9ec824f862a5c265de605c?pn=2">Hollywood&nbsp;Reporter</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- =4444444444= --> <!-- == --><A NAME=tina-1216></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A lawsuit alleges that Wells Fargo lied to customers, promising them that auction-rate securities were as good as cash, and that they could easily get a refund within eight days of purchase. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fi-wells-fargo24-2009apr24,0,486244.story?track=rss">Los&nbsp;Angeles&nbsp;Times</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-372></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Randi Rhodes returns to radio on May 11. She's signed with Premiere Radio Networks, the same subdivision of Clear Channel Radio that syndicates Rush Limbaugh. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://ltradio.blogspot.com/2009/04/randi-returns.html">LTR&nbsp;Blog</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- =5555555555= --><!-- =peculiar --><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="127" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"><BR> <img src="http://unknownnews.org/peculiar.jpg" border="1" width="107" height="136"></td></tr></table> <!-- == --><A NAME=alttc-1018></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; How many children did Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo father, while he was a supposedly celibate Catholic bishop? One for sure, two more alleged ... &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/66717.html">McClatchy&nbsp;Newspapers</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=mshbbot-442></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bruce Schneier conducted a little test by lying on Twitter, and found that hundreds of right-wingers were willing to sign up and swallow his lies almost immediately. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/04/fake_facts_on_t.html">Schneier&nbsp;on&nbsp;Security</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=sas-1030></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This school district objects to a stay-at-home mom keeping her kids at home with her for "Take Your Kids to Work Day". Hope she kept 'em home anyway. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10235278">WAAY</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=sas-1001></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The powers that be in Ohio's Warren County are refusing stimulus funding, with relish. A County Commissioner says, "I'll let Warren County go broke before taking any of Obama's filthy money, and quotes Reagan as he emphatically says no to new buses for taking elders and the handicapped to doctors and such.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There are no doubt reasonable and principled reasons to turn down federal funding, but you don't get the impression that's what you're reading about here. Instead it just looks like Warren County, Ohio has dreadful, neanderthal leadership with Rush Limbaugh for inspiration and hay for brains. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/warren-county-to-obama-keep-your-filthy-money-90323.html">Dayton&nbsp;Daily&nbsp;News</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <!-- == --><A NAME=pf-915></A><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A court has nixed former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's hopes of starring in a reality show before his trial. &nbsp;[&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE53L0HO20090422">Reuters&nbsp;News&nbsp;Agency</A>&nbsp;]<BR> <BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished and it will be no defense to say, 'I was just following orders'." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/17/sprj.irq.bush.transcript/">US President George W. Bush</A>, March 17, 2003<BR> <BR><center>Recommended sites for gathering unknown or underreported news:<BR> &nbsp;<A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://mediamatters.org/">Media&nbsp;Matters</A>&nbsp; &nbsp;<A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://www.propublica.org/">Pro&nbsp;Publica</A>&nbsp; &nbsp;<A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://thinkprogress.org">ThinkProgress</A>&nbsp; &nbsp;<A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/">Washington&nbsp;Monthly</A>&nbsp; &nbsp;<A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://www.truthout.org/">TruthOut</A>&nbsp; </center> <BR><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle" WIDTH="23%" class="fonta"> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-21.html"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.org/leftarrow.jpg" border="0" width="75" height="11"><BR>Older entries</A> </TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="54%" class="fonta"> Compiled by Helen&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;Harry&nbsp;Highwater<BR>for&nbsp;<A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/">www.unknownnews.org</a></TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle" WIDTH="23%" class="fonta"> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0905-05.html"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/rightarrow.jpg" border="0" height="10" width="75"><BR>Newer entries</A></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=dialogue></A><BR><TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="dddddd" class="fonty"><TABLE CELLPADDING="4" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%" bgcolor="dddddd" class="fonty"> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#dialogue"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/dialogue-bubbles.jpg" alt="dialogue" border="0" width="75" height="75"></A></TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="86%" bgcolor="dddddd" class="fonty"> <span class="fontpq"><BIG><B>What do <I>you</i> think?</B></BIG></span><BR> <i>We welcome news tips, comments, questions, or criticisms. Our email is &#60;<A HREF="mailto:unknownnews@inbox.com">unknownnews at inbox.com</A>&#62;, and if that address ever fails you can also reach us at <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/contact.html">these back-up email addresses</A>.</i></TD></TR></TABLE> <iframe src="http://www.unknownnews.org/dailydialogue.html" height="32" width="600" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=27AH1032></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#27AH1032"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; Wow, this looks really bad for the GOP. My comments follow&nbsp;...<BR><BR> <A HREF="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/430261?rel=hp_picks">GOP Know-Nothings fought pandemic preparedness</A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonta"><BR> <I>Excerpt:&nbsp;</I> When House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who has long championed investment in pandemic preparation, included roughly $900 million for that purpose in this year's emergency stimulus bill, he was ridiculed by conservative operatives and congressional Republicans.<BR><BR>Obey and other advocates for the spending argued, correctly, that a pandemic hitting in the midst of an economic downturn could turn a recession into something far worse &#151; with workers ordered to remain in their homes, workplaces shuttered to avoid the spread of disease, transportation systems grinding to a halt and demand for emergency services and public health interventions skyrocketing. Indeed, they suggested, pandemic preparation was essential to any responsible plan for renewing the US economy.<BR><BR>But former White House political czar Karl Rove and key congressional Republicans &#151; led by Maine Senator Susan Collins &#151; aggressively attacked the notion that there was a connection between pandemic preparation and economic recovery.</TD></TR></TABLE><BR> OH, BUT WAIT ... the House and Senate Democrats responded to the GOP's withering attacks and REMOVED the $900 billion from the stimulus bill. So, once again the Democrats prove to be spineless. Ameboids. With no convictions or even beliefs, just a bunch of focus group tested talking points. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Austin Heiber &nbsp; </div><BLOCKQUOTE><i> Generally speaking, Republicans and Democrats work together in Congress toward the same Republican goals. They stage a dramatic ritual again and again, wherein Dems eloquently stand up for some proper principle while the cameras are rolling, and then compromise all principle away and give the Republicans pretty much what they want. The script can be adapted to any issue, apparently any number of times, and it seems to work almost as well with a Democratic majority as with a Republican majority.<BR><BR>I'm sure there are instances where the Democrats in Congress actually stood up to Republican pressure and did the right thing, but at the moment nothing comes to mind. With only the rarest exceptions, the pattern is almost always the same &#151; Democrats fold under the slightest pressure from Republicans &#151; and it seems more like abject hypocrisy than mere spinelessness. </i><BR><BR><DIV align="right"><i>Helen & Harry Highwater</i></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=27TL936></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#27TL936"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; The Drudge Report has been blasting out a code red on the swine flu for two days. Perhaps there is some cause for alarm, though this article's author is skeptical:<BR><BR> <A HREF="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/blogs/on-the-house/2366373/Swine-flu-panic-just-hogwash">Swine flu panic just hogwash</A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonta"><BR> <I>Excerpt:&nbsp;</I> But let's have some perspective, shall we? Every year, the flu kills an estimated 500,000 people around the world. There are up to five million cases. People die and are hospitalized right here in New Zealand from the flu every year as well.</TD></TR></TABLE><BR> Obviously, the smart thing to do is to go to the doctor within the first 3 days of flu symptoms appearing and get an Rx for Tamiflu or Relenza &#151; just in case. It is not advisable to try to just tough out the flu at home...this time... and don't wait until you're nearly dying to get the medicine, as that could turn an easily treatable illness into a totally financially destructive hospital stay.<BR><BR>And if you have to go to the doctor or emergency room, consider wearing a gauze mask because there are plenty of sick people at those place and who know what they've got. Other than that, I'd say keep cool and disregard the terrorizing propaganda coming from our "leaders" &#151; they are full of sh*t, as always. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Theo Lipschitz &nbsp; </div><BLOCKQUOTE><i> Once in a very great while we see genuine widespread epidemics &#151; the killer flu in my grandparents' time, and AIDS certainly qualifies &#151; and perhaps the swine flu of 2009 is another. But most likely it's not. The media offers scare stories about coming epidemics at least several times yearly, and no doubt we could find more such worried reports if we looked for them.<BR><BR>Here's a sad memory: We used to have a friend who sent us such epidemic news on a regular basis, reports of odd diseases and unexplained deaths... but he passed away a few years ago. He was hit by a truck, which is a much, much more common way to die. </i><BR><BR><DIV align="right"><i>Helen & Harry Highwater</i></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> </TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=27BC906></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#27BC906"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; Bush-Obama allocated $12 trillion for the banking and investment corporations and increased the "defense" budget by 4% &#151; then went back and asked for an $81 billion supplemental for the Afghan/Iraq clusterf*cks. And jack-sh*t for the poor... The Federal government is running a $2 trillion budget deficit this year and at least $1 trillion a year in the red for the next decade. And jack-sh*t for the poor.<BR><BR>Where is the money going?!@#$<BR><BR>And the Democrats are responsible for undoing the Glass-Steagall Act, as well as unregulated derivatives &#151; plus their Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac sponsorship &#151; all of which helped create the current credit crisis.<BR><BR>On top of that, the Democrats helped tie health insurance to employment, which created the conditions for what we have today: corporations keep employees part-time and temporary so that they don't have to provide benefits.<BR><BR>So, just as the Republicans co-opted the Tea Party movement for their own ends, the Democratic propaganda machine blitzed the airwaves with willful ignorance and stupidity to portray the outrage of ordinary Americans as victimhood of the Republican propaganda.<BR><BR>The truth is that ordinary Americans know that their government is squandering trillions of dollars to help the rich and blow up half the world while they and their children go without. It literally makes me feel nauseous to see the Democrats pretend to be completely ignorant of the true state of affairs, that they are not responsible for the bankrupting of America. The Republicans didn't start the process and they are not in control now. The blame *must* be laid on the doorstep of the White House and Congress because of their do-nothing complicity in the Bush Regime years and their legislative deeds before and after Bush.<BR><BR>... So now lets get to the article:<BR><BR> <A HREF="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,620754-2,00.html">Soup kitchens and tent cities:<BR> Crisis plunges US middle class into poverty</A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonta"><BR> <I>Excerpt:&nbsp;</I> In the United States, the economic downturn has developed into a social crisis of a dimension the country has not experienced since the Great Depression early in the 20th century. In addition to bringing down stock prices and corporate earnings, the current crisis has deprived millions of people of their livelihood.<BR><BR>Poverty as a mass phenomenon is back. About 50 million Americans have no health insurance, and more people are added to their ranks every day. More than 32 million people receive food stamps, and 13 million are unemployed. The homeless population is growing in tandem with a rapid rise in the rate of foreclosures, which were 45 percent higher in March 2009 than they were in the same month of the previous year.&nbsp;...<BR><BR>The president must now look on as the country comes apart at the seams. With jobs disappearing and incomes shrinking, America's future seems vulnerable today.<BR><BR>The crisis in the lower third of society has turned into an existential threat for some Americans. Many soup kitchens are turning away the hungry, and even hastily constructed new facilities to house the homeless are often inadequate to satisfy the rising demand.<BR><BR>Many private corporations across America are withdrawing their funding for social welfare projects. Ironically, their generosity is ending just as mass poverty is returning to America.<BR><BR>The government is also contributing to a worsening of the crisis. Although the national government in Washington has made additional funds available to care for the homeless, many state governments have cut back their social budgets. One of the reasons for the cutbacks has to do with state constitutions, which prohibit states from going into debt, imposing a forced regime of frugality.&nbsp;...<BR><BR>Recent statistics confirm his predictions, as America begins to turn into a brutal place once again. April has already gone down as one of the bloodier months in American criminal history. A week before Easter, a 22-year-old man killed three police officers in Pittsburgh. On the same day, a 34-year-old man in Washington State shot his five children before turning his gun on himself. A day earlier, a man killed 13 people at an immigrant resource center and then took his own life. During the same month, a man from Priceville, Alabama shot his wife, his sister, her 11-year-old son, his own 16-year-old daughter and, finally, himself.<BR><BR>"This is the American way," <i>New York Times</i> columnist Bob Herbert writes cynically. He points out that Americans have killed about 120,000 of their fellow Americans since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 &#151; nearly 25 times the number of Americans killed to date in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.<BR><BR>More and more experts attribute the rise in crime in recent months to the dire state of the economy. "I've never seen such a large number (of killings) over such a short period of time involving so many victims," Jack Levin, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University in Boston, told the <I>Washington Post</i>.&nbsp;...<BR><BR>The crisis can disrupt everything, including Americans' faith in the beneficial actions of their own government. The Obama administration has already pumped billions into the banking system, and additional billions have been earmarked for road and bridge construction. Nevertheless, the social situation has steadily deteriorated.<BR><BR>The euphoria over the country's first black president, a man who won the election with catchwords like "change" and "hope," has ebbed away considerably. Obama's appealing words still sound appealing, but his listeners have recently starting paying more attention to what he does than to what he says.<BR><BR>When the president discusses the economic situation nowadays, the euphoria has given way to disenchantment in many places. When Obama stepped up to the microphone at Washington's Georgetown University last week, he warned his audience that his speech would be "prose and not poetry." But those words seemed superfluous, since these days no one would think of calling out: "Yes, we can!"</TD></TR></TABLE><BR> In short, Obama is a lying sack of sh*t, and his Democratic pals are equally full of sh*t. They belong in prison along with the Bush Regime leadership. The country is being looted, lock stock and barrel and there is no change &#151; except for the worse. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Billie Cavanaugh &nbsp; </div><BLOCKQUOTE><i> You say it plain and it needs to be said. Inarguably, sir, you are correct.<BR><BR>At least, that's my thinking this morning, but I sometimes argue with myself about such things. I'm more inclined than you to wait and see and give Obama a little longer to smarten up, before measuring him for one of those orange prison jumpsuits. </i><BR><BR><DIV align="right"><i>Helen & Harry Highwater</i></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> </TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=27KF550></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#27KF550"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; I disagree with <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-21.html">your take on gun control efforts</A>. Much of the increased gun sales are a result of H.R. 45, introduced by Bobby Rush of Chicago which attempts to make it almost impossible to purchase a handgun from other than licensed dealers, requires a new national database of ALL gun owners with fingerprints, addresses, etc. I would urge you to read the text of the legislation for yourselves; it can be found online at various places like Thomas library of Congress.<BR><BR>What pisses off most conservatives and moderates (me) is that we have a constitutional mandate against any infringement to the right to keep and bear arms; that is the supreme law of the land. We also have a method for amending this law if we see that it no longer works for us. Conservatives may play fast and loose with business ethics, but liberals are far more dangerous in that if they don't agree with a law, they merely circumvent it or ignore it.<BR><BR>I'd be the first to admit that when it comes to guns, what works for western Nebraska where one can fire a gun in any direction and not hit anything except maybe a prairie dog, won't work in Rush's neighborhood in Chicago where one might accidentally hit an ACORN worker. However, we need a constitutional convention if we are going to attempt ANY type of gun ownership restrictions. Neither Congress nor the President has any inherent legal authority to change or circumvent the Constitution and judges have no authority to re-interpret such precisely chosen words. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Ken F. &nbsp; </div><BLOCKQUOTE><i> "Precisely chosen words"? Are we talking about the same Second Amendment? I'd like to go back in time and kick the founding fathers in their sanctimonious asses over that one. It's written sloppy, leading to endless annoying arguments over what a "well-regulated militia" means.<BR><BR>To me the Second Amendment means (and it ought to say it plain) we the people can own guns. The courts have determined that gun ownership can be restricted, and I'm OK with that if it means reasonable licensing, background checks, and no guns for felons or psychotics. That's just common sense. But when cities enact outright gun bans, that's just wrong (and that's a law I won't be following).<BR><BR>H.R. 45 is just piffle, Ken. Some bills in Congress are destined to become law while others are just résumé-builders. Rush's H.R. 45 is written to impress the voters back home, nothing more. It's going nowhere. If it makes you want to buy more guns & ammo, hey, there's nothing wrong with that, but here's <A HREF="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/show">the pertinent quote</A> on H.R. 45: "There are no co-sponsors to the bill, and there is very little chance it will be adopted." </i><BR><BR><DIV align="right"><i>Helen & Harry Highwater</i></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> Don't know what kind of constitutional scholar you are, but it took 11 years to write our constitution and every word was chosen to mean something very precise. There is no doubt what "militia" means and there can be no confusion over the words "state" and "people". The words "well regulated" are simply descriptive in nature, implying a chain of command. It should also be noted that a militia is not a standing military and therefore neither the state or federal government has direct control over it, simply the right to call "it" up in times of emergencies as provided for in the constitution.<BR><BR>As far as the courts determining gun restrictions, that stems from arguments early in the 20th century over state's rights to control a militia. A few judges wrongly determined that the 2nd amendment wording gave power to the states to regulate a militia and thus gun ownership. The writers of our constitution would never have used the phrase "right of the people" as synonymous with states' rights. This amendment is brilliantly worded in it's simplicity and leaves no doubt to anyone with a modest command of the English language that the "..right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed". The states therefore cannot exert a claim to disarm a militia in peacetime since doing so is in direct conflict with the last part of the 2nd amendment.<BR><BR>A few liberal judges do not get to make law superseding the constitution. As I stated before, we have a method for amending our constitution and liberal judges, legislators or socialists cannot change the law without due process of amending the constitution, which I am all for if it is deemed necessary by a majority of the states, not a minority of liberal judges or congressmen.<BR><BR>As far as H.R. 45, I live in Illinois and I have been assured by one of our Senators that this is a serious bill with a better than average chance of passage as is or slightly modified. It is not "piffle" as you describe it, although I wish that it were. There are inducements in the bill to tempt gun dealers to sign on. I urge you to read the full text of the legislation, not just the Cliff notes version at opencongress.org. Try Thomas library of congress. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Ken F. &nbsp; </div><BLOCKQUOTE><i> Ken, if Congress starts debating that bill, I'll read it. Seriously. Until then, life is too short to spend hours reading thousands of words of legalese in legislation that's not going to pass or even come to a vote.<BR><BR>1787-1776=11, but that doesn't mean eleven years was spent writing the constitution. It took about a year, off and on, September to 1786 to September 1787.<BR><BR>The Bill of Rights was drafted and signed over the summer of 1789, a few months' work by fallible men, and it's far from perfection.<BR><BR>The meaning of the Second Amendment has been debated by lawyers and smarter fellers than me for at least as long as I've been alive, and it's only at gun shows that there's no doubt, no confusion, and it's "brilliantly worded in its simplicity".<BR><BR>Liberal judges are rare but usually right, socialists have no discernable impact on American current events, and there's not going to be a constitutional convention soon.<BR><BR>From all this I conclude, cordially, that a chat between us about the Second Amendment is the very definition of wasted time, yours and mine. We're in agreement that there's a right to bear arms, and that's a good place to shake hands and bid each other a pleasant day and a fulfilling life. </i><BR><BR><DIV align="right"><i>Helen & Harry Highwater</i></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> In that case, I will leave you with the comments of Thomas Jefferson:<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonty"><BR> "Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean everything or nothing at pleasure."<DIV align="right">Thomas Jefferson to William Johnson, 1823. &nbsp; </div></TD></TR></TABLE><BR> Words mean what they mean and just because some liberal or conservative minds may be sharper than the rest of us, doesn't mean they are not pushing specific agendas which lead them to attempt to foist erroneous conclusions on the rest of us. Seems to me these are the very people Jefferson, Adams, and the others warned us about.<BR><BR>The founders may have been fallible men, but my reading of their words leads me to conclude they were head and shoulders above anyone in politics today.<BR><BR> Cordially,<BR><BR><DIV align="right">Ken F. &nbsp; </div> </TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=24EC919></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#24EC919"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; Re <A HREF="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/04/24/bachmann-harmless-co2/">Stumped by science: Bachmann (R-Minnesota) calls CO2 'harmless,' 'negligible,' 'necessary,' 'natural'</A><BR><BR> This Bachmann chick is really, really, <i>really</i> stupid beyond belief. Can she go ten days without saying something retarded? <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Elliot Cook &nbsp; </div></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=24HP511></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#24HP511"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; I don't know whether it's true or apocryphal, but this is <A HREF="http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200811/20081105_belafonte.html">a story told by activist Harry Belefonte</A> to Tavis Smiley on his TV show:<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonta"><BR> I'm reminded of something that Eleanor Roosevelt once told a group of us at a dinner. It was when she had first introduced A. Philip Randolph, a great labor leader back in the 1930s up to and including the civil rights movement.<BR><BR>And she introduced him to Franklin Delano Roosevelt for the first time at a dinner, and Roosevelt beseeched him to please tell him what he thought of the nation, what he thought of the plight of the Negro people and what did he think, where the nation was headed.<BR><BR>And A. Philip Randolph held forth and spoke eloquently on his thoughts, and at the end of it Roosevelt said to him, "You know, Mr. Randolph, I've heard everything you've said tonight, and I couldn't agree with you more. I agree with everything that you've said, including my capacity to be able to right many of these wrongs and to use my power and the bully pulpit." He said, "But I would ask one thing of you, Mr. Randolph, and that is go out and make me do it." </TD></TR></TABLE><BR> The political reality is that even if Obama wanted to prosecute the Bush era war criminals, he couldn't do it... at least, not now. But I'm starting to sense that there might be something to Helen & Harry's theory of <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0903-23.html#fa-428">drip, drip, drip</A>. I'm seeing a lot of people get a lot of pissed off about the torture revelations, and I don't know whether it'll be enough to force a touch of justice. But I know absolutely that we wouldn't be having this public discussion if Obama had held the documents back, which was certainly within his power. I am starting to suspect that he's waiting, like Roosevelt, to be <i>forced</i> to do what he wants to do, because politically, he can't do it unless he's forced to. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Heidi Papademetriou &nbsp; </div></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=23JSB426></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#23JSB426"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; Re&nbsp; <i><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-21.html">There's one sector</A> of the American economy that's still booming, and that's guns & bullets.</i><BR><BR> I have seen so many internet pictures of people going and buying guns at these huge what looks like back yard gun sales of military grade giant machine guns and even children practicing shooting. It is insane. I don't like guns. The pictures I saw look like people who where their Nazi like anti- Obama tee shirts, are so paranoid. It seems they are purposely trying to create something nasty to happen. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Jodi S B. &nbsp; </div></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=24TC242></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#24TC242"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; I recall the outrage and horror exclaimed by your contributors when Israel attacked Gaza City. For the record, I would just like to know why there is not the same expression of outrage over what is happening now in Sri Lanka. It is absolutely the same scenario, in fact, even more violent and destructive ... and yet ... not a peep from your readers.<BR><BR>Gasp! Is it because they are not Israelis and Palestinians? <BR><BR><DIV align="right">The Canadian &nbsp; </div><BLOCKQUOTE><i> I can't speak for the readers and their peeps, but about all I know about Sri Lanka is that there's been civil war there since Reagan was President, and it's gotten bloodier in recent weeks. Even that minimal knowledge I've garnered on my own, with no help from Katie Couric or Anderson Cooper. We get our news from the US news media, which gives huge attention to the Middle East because there's oil there, and because Israelis are perceived as white and thus important, while Arabs, Africans, and Sri Lankans are perceived as neither.<BR><BR>And our ignorance is our fault, too. Like most Americans, our interest is primarily in America's governmental and institutional crimes and misdemeanors. Ongoing wars and injustices elsewhere are secondary to us. That's just the way our heads work. So please, brief me &#151; Is the US underwriting the killing in Sri Lanka, like it does in Israel? Is the US supplying the weapons for one side as it surrounds and slaughters the other side, like in Israel? </i><BR><BR><DIV align="right"><i>Helen & Harry Highwater</i></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> Oil & Gas: huge offshore fields, some refining capacity.<BR><BR> Weapons of war suppliers to Gov't forces: India/USA, Britain, China. <br><br><center>== &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; == &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ==</center><br> <i>Re swine flu</i>&nbsp; The recombinant DNA matrix of this "flu" is highly unique. It would not surprise me that this is synthetic.<BR><BR><DIV align="right">The Canadian &nbsp; </div> </TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=24LW1248></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#24LW1248"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; I don't know, after being laid off twice last year and then filling out over 350 applications and receiving only 5 interviews for positions in my chosen field, I get the feeling that something isn't right, more-so than just tough times at the old ballpark.<BR><BR>Again, I don't know but there is an ever pervading feeling that this is an almost engineered series of events, something that was intended more than just happenstance. I myself am no rocket scientist but the Good Lord has provided some clarity for me to see what is happening before my eyes.<BR><BR>Down here, there is a sign wielding person at almost every highly traveled intersection, asking for help. I am devastated to drive by them because I am almost in their same situation, yet still, I've handed them a dollar or two and said it's on it's way back up, stick in there buddy (even though I didn't believe it).<BR><BR>I've even been out on the medians hawking resumes in an effort to possibly reach more employers with my availability. All that got me was a temporary stint as a consultant. (Boy, was that one messed up event, is incompetence now the standard?) (crap, there was a shining example of personal ownership, compassion and consideration in one of the problems in that situation, though).<BR><BR>I don't have the range to see the bigger picture but what it looks like from my vantage point is that this whole situation is being driven and it will culminate in one crescendo the likes that have been never heard on this planet.<BR><BR>Again, I don't know... and I am not sure that I would like to. I'll just keep at it and believe that this is supposed to be the was it transpires in the "Big Picture" world. I'll leave that aspect alone and continue to attempt to make my little sphere of influence as comfortable as I can while doing the little bit that I can do to help others. That, however, is quite a difficult task when one has a log in their own eye... <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Larry W. &nbsp; </div><BLOCKQUOTE><i> On the one hand they tell us they're experts, the Greenspans and Geithners and other such goons. And on the other hand they tell us it was a big surprise, nobody saw the economic collapse coming. But nobody among all the &nbsp;</i>non-experts<i>&nbsp; I know &nbsp;</i>didn't<i>&nbsp; see it coming. So yeah, it would be pretty silly for someone to say you're mistaken, you're nuts, it couldn't possibly be on purpose.<BR><BR>But stay optimistic, my friend. It's on it's way back up. Stick in there, buddy&nbsp;... </i><BR><BR><DIV align="right"><i>Helen & Harry Highwater</i></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=24CD1250></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#24CD1250"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; Re <A HREF="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/16/bachmann-ellison-imams/">Bachmann (R-Minnesota) falsely claims that Muslim leaders detained in Minnesota in 2006 were on their way to victory party for Ellison (D-Minnesota)</A><BR><BR> Can this Bachmann woman go more than a week without embarrassing herself on an international level? Does the Republican Party push ahead the careers of insane freaks like Bachmann and Palin to discourage women with a modicum of sense from aspiring to politics? Of course, sensible isn't their target demographic and they manage to gain the support of idiots that can't look past the gender of the representatives and decide that it constitutes progress to have women in the government even if they're out of touch with reality.<BR><BR>I have lost track of how many outright lies she has pulled out of her ass and spoon-fed to the media, lies EASILY EXPOSED by even a casual observer with the gumption to look into PUBLIC RECORD! She should have resigned in disgrace six or seven racist fact-distortions ago.<BR><BR> Just a funny realization about Bachmann's version of events she just made up. First she claimed the Imams were going to attend Ellison's party, then she gave a cock-and-bull story painting them as terrorists potting to hijack the plane. So which is it? Crashing the party or crashing the plane? No wait, they were crashing the plane into the party! <BLOCKQUOTE><i> It's enormously dangerous to America, if you ask me, when mainstream media reports her lies without debunking them. They pretty much have to report what she says, and they should &#151; she's a CongressCritter. But most Americans are working their asses off trying to keep their heads above water, and don't have the time or (understandably) the interest to research everything a politician says. That's a reporter's job, a newspaper's job, even a TV newscaster's job, but they don't do their frickin' jobs any more. When I was a kid, if your CongressCritter says something stupid, false, paranoiac, or just wingnutty, the media will call her on it &#151; but now they rarely do. The media just quotes the lies and regurgitates the lies, so it's easy for an ordinary person to hold the (wildly mistaken) impression that people such as Bachmann aren't bonkers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; H&amp;HH</i></BLOCKQUOTE> <center>== &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; == &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ==</center><br> Just a quick little note about the second amendment. When it was penned, there was no appreciable difference between a hunting rifle and a military rifle, let alone such things as long-range ballistic missiles. Even then if someone kept a cannon in their backyard it was bound to draw some scrutiny.<BR><BR>The problem is that when people start spewing gun control rhetoric they lump guns together as a concept. The original assault weapon ban years ago drew the same stupid fearmongering claims that they were being disarmed. Comparing taking an M-16 away to taking the ol' Mossberg is a bunch of empty double-talk.<BR><BR>Imagine for a moment that everyone arrested in the US for keeping bomb making materials suddenly spoke up about their second amendment rights. Their right to bear ALL arms, whether they are low-capacity civilian model pistols as some European countries will allow, bolt action hunting rifles or hunting shotguns, SMGs, Heavy machineguns, military satchel charges, or Anthrax.<BR><BR>They're all 'arms' aren't they? So saying I can't have a WMD is like taking away my right to bear arms.<BR><BR>But then again, a simple six-shot revolver has always been more than enough to deal with a home invader. A lot of people would counter that argument with "What if he has a bigger gun than you, huh?" Well what if he couldn't just walk into Wal-Mart and buy a bigger gun? What if, hey here's a crazy idea, size didn't frigging matter and you were happy with an adequate weapon for self defense and realized that all you have to do is hit the one guy threatening you instead of hosing down the entire house with lead like a flipping idiot and causing collateral damage to your property and to anything outside your walls when the rounds pierce through them.<BR><BR>Americans in particular like to think superior firepower keeps the peace. So with that in mind, rather than proliferation of weapons designed to kill en-masse (in such a way that they can't be traced) why not keep the big guns in the hands of those that are supposed to be accountable to the public? Unless of course the real reason you want that big ass gun in the first place is to be able to plot a coup against your own government or to outgun the police when they come a knocking. Of course, for police and government outspoken ideas have always been much more dangerous than armor-piercing rounds so really that's a moot point. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Chris D. &nbsp; </div><BLOCKQUOTE><i> Well said, sir. Sounds like you try to view things from a perspective of common sense, which always seems like a good rule to me. There are lots of solid common sense reasons that a person might want or need a pistol, a rifle, or a collection of pistols and rifles, but there ain't no viable reason for ordinary people to own Uzis or missiles or bombs. </i><BR><BR><DIV align="right"><i>Helen & Harry Highwater</i></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=24Anton1154></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#24Anton1154"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; Re&nbsp; <i><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-21.html#iaw-227">Obama's cowardly, sniveling so-called "stance"</A> on torture infuriates me, with all his talk of "looking forward" and "no retribution" that amounts to a green light for future administrations to resume torture with impunity.</i><BR><BR> Obama promised change. He changed his mind. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Anton &nbsp; </div></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=24Wig1224></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#24Wig1224"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; In spite of all reports that torture occurred at Abu Ghraib Republican members of Congress are all over TV spouting the line of nonsense that the "few bad apples" there engaged in only personal tomfoolery. That they were not engaged in interrogation. <br><br><center>== &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; == &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ==</center><br> Re <A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042102602.html?hpid=topnews">US might not try pro-Israel lobbyists</A><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonta"><BR> <I>Excerpt:&nbsp;</I> The review of the case against Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman was triggered by a series of recent court rulings that make it harder for the government to win convictions, the sources said. Those included an appeals court decision allowing the defense to use classified information at trial and a judge's ruling that said prosecutors must show the two men knew the information they allegedly disclosed would harm the United States and help a foreign country. That set a high bar for prosecutors because criminal intent can be difficult to prove.</TD></TR></TABLE><BR> Hasn't this routine become BORING? <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonta"><BR> <I>Excerpt:&nbsp;</I> "It's not because 'oh, this is getting ink, it's getting too hot, we need to drop it,' '' said one law enforcement source, who was not authorized to speak about the case. "We would never do it for that reason.''</TD></TR></TABLE><BR> LOL!!!!!! Where have we heard that one before? <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonta"><BR> <I>Excerpt:&nbsp;</I> Harman, meanwhile, sent Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. a letter today expressing outrage over the wiretapping of conversations she had with a man described in a Congressional Quarterly report as a "suspected Israeli agent" and demanding that the full transcripts of the tapes be released in unredacted form to the American public.</TD></TR></TABLE><BR> Geez, doesn't Harman KNOW that those tapes can't be revealed because they might be harmful to NATIONAL SECURITY? <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonta"><BR> <I>Excerpt:&nbsp;</I> "I've had a long friendship with AIPAC. I didn't need to cut some deal with AIPAC. ... No deals were cut with any groups for any reason ever," she added."</TD></TR></TABLE><BR> The friendship is known, of course; but as to the rest: "where there's smoke there's fire". <br><br><center>== &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; == &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ==</center><br> Re <A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042102125.html">Supreme Court limits warrantless car searches</A><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonta"><BR> <I>Excerpt:&nbsp;</I> Stevens was joined by two of his most liberal colleagues &#151; Justices David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg &#151; and two of his most conservative &#151; Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.</TD></TR></TABLE><BR> Scalia and Thomas? Surely that must be a misprint. But then again, perhaps there is such a thing as a miracle. <BLOCKQUOTE><i> Yeah, very strange, very surprising. Somewhere deep inside these monstrous men, Scalia and Thomas, there's a touch of humanity. It's a reminder, perhaps, that as easy as it is to see people like Scalia and Thomas as all bad, rotten from eyebrows to anus, very few people are really so evil as we imagine. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; H&amp;HH</i></BLOCKQUOTE> <center>== &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; == &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ==</center><br> <A HREF="http://www.alternet.org/workplace/138189/testicular_politics:_obama_is_getting_punked_by_the_big_dogs_of_banking,_does_he_have_the_balls_to_do_what's_right/?page=entire">Testicular politics: Obama is getting punked by the big dogs of banking, does he have the balls to do what's right?</A><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonta"><BR> <I>Excerpt:&nbsp;</I> Forget the financial numbers. What we are witnessing is a high-stakes melodrama of glandular politics. This rival power center, though gravely weakened, is contesting for control with the president. Think of dogs circling one another to establish who will be leader of the pack. For three decades, the Wall Street guys in good suits have ruled the economy, demanding deference from the political system and from corporate managements, too. Those who failed to follow them were punished, either through stock prices or election financing. Despite their catastrophic failure, the surviving bankers and financiers are trying to hold on to their thrones.</TD></TR></TABLE><BR> We'll soon see if my conclusion of Obama's experience is valid. I didn't vote for him (nor for McCain) because I didn't think he had the experience or background for the Presidency. He's good at making professorial speeches daily; but he is buffaloed by the financiers (both Right & Left). While bending to the Wall Streeters he lets the union workers twist in the wind with nothing but an inevitable unemployment future. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Wig &nbsp; </div></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=24TBR1226></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#24TBR1226"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; Re&nbsp; <i><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-21.html">There's one sector</A> of the American economy that's still booming, and that's guns & bullets.</i><BR><BR> Major, most well-known shooting gallery/gun supply ship in town had a sign last summer:<BR><BR>ARMAGEDDON IS COMING<BR>BUY YOUR GUNS NOW<BR><BR>The citizen extension of the military-industrial complex.<BR><BR> Yo, I'm aware of the wingnut danger.<BR><BR>My remarks awhile back about Obama are based on what has to me massive shift in black perception of power engagement entitlement prerogative etc. in America now that one of them's in charge.<BR><BR>They love Obama more than the rest of us: blood runs deep. But love can make the nastiest hate (should he prove to be a charlatan). <BR><BR><DIV align="right">The&nbsp;Blue&nbsp;Rajah &nbsp; <A NAME=29SB1010></A></div> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#dddddd" class="fonta"> <A HREF="#29SB1010"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; <i><B>4/29/2009:</B></i> &nbsp; In regard to the Blue Rajah and this comment:<BLOCKQUOTE><i>My remarks awhile back about Obama are based on what has to me massive shift in black perception of power engagement entitlement prerogative etc. in America now that one of them's in charge.<BR><BR>They love Obama more than the rest of us: blood runs deep. But love can make the nastiest hate (should he prove to be a charlatan).</i></BLOCKQUOTE> Just exactly have many Black people did he speak with in order to make a determination of their perceptions of power engagement entitlement prerogative etc?<BR><BR>Now that one of "them" is in charge? The last time I checked the "them" that is in charge (Obama) IS an American regardless of the fact the he is (unless Mr. Rajah has forgotten) BOTH White and Black.<BR><BR>So do tell... where are the detailed statistics, conversations, mass opinions shared with Mr. Rajah by the African-American public at large that has fueled his perceptions? <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Sherri B. &nbsp; </div><!-- reply --> </TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=23SP433></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#23SP433"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; Re&nbsp; <i><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-21.html#jkg-917"></A>Does </i>The Huffington Post<i> have a great business model or what? </i>Playboy<i> pays journalist. Journalist undergoes an extremely sanitized and safe version of torture. </i>Playboy<i> publishes report. Then millionaire Arianna Huffington swipes it, adds advertising, pays nobody, and includes a link to </i>Playboy<i>'s home page (because no-one could guess that URL) but no link to </i>Playboy<i>'s publication of the work it's profiting from.</i><BR><BR> You could say that about half the articles on the internet. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Space Poet &nbsp; </div><BLOCKQUOTE><i> It's one thing when Frank Schoembechler in Tucson steals content for his blog with eleven readers. It's something else again when a millionaire steals content for a heavily publicized ad-driven website. </i><BR><BR><DIV align="right"><i>Helen & Harry Highwater</i></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=22LR120></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-28.html#22LR120"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; <i>How power is concentrated in the hands of the few:</i>&nbsp; May I suggest you do everything you can to promote Gary Fielder's video "<A HREF="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4020719354420953428">The Gig Is Up: Money, the Federal Reserve and You</A>." or perhaps ask him to contribute comment. He is not at all interested "in Area 51, the Bilderberg Group, the Bohemian Grove, the Club of Rome, the Council on Foreign Relations, dim-headed denial of evolution or global climate change or the holocaust, eyeballs inside pyramids, flying saucers, freemasons, Vince Foster's suicide, Paris Hilton, the Illuminati, JFK's assassination, the New World Order, the North American Union or its alleged Amero, Barack Obama's birth certificate, Planet X, prophecies of the End Times, Protocols of the Elders, the Rockefellers, Rosicrucians, Rothchilds, Skull & Bones, space aliens, technologies supposedly suppressed, the Trilateral Commission, theories you don't really understand about the collapse of the World Trade Center, or the latest fake news we've already debunked." But he does explain how control over the western world is PLAUSIBLY in the hands of a very few men. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">Laurence R. &nbsp; </div><BLOCKQUOTE><i> I shall give the video a look-see, and post a comment here if I have anything to say in response. </i><BR><BR><DIV align="right"><i>Helen & Harry Highwater</i></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"> <I><B>More comments:</B></I> <BR><BR><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-21.html#24HG136"><FONT COLOR=blue> Heather&nbsp;G. replies to Helen & Harry</FONT></A> about peeing at the ball park <BR><BR><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-21.html#21RD458"><FONT COLOR=blue> Rufus D. replies to Helen & Harry</FONT></A> about being full of sh*t <BR><BR><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-21.html#24Wig1220"><FONT COLOR=blue> Wig replies to Helen & Harry</FONT></A> about the backstory in Pakistan <BR><BR><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0904-21.html#24Wig1202"><FONT COLOR=blue> Wig replies to Sven Goldstein</FONT></A> about US activities in Pakistan </TD></TR></TABLE> <center><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="625" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="100%" class="fonty"><BR> <iframe src="http://www.unknownnews.org/support-wide.html" width="625" height="550" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></TD></TR></TABLE></center> <center>|&nbsp;&nbsp; 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</TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="96%" class="fonty"> © &nbsp;Helen & Harry Highwater and the individual authors.</center> </TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="2%" class="fonty"><!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup"startspan ALT="Site Meter"--><script type="text/javascript"language="JavaScript">var site="sm4unknownnews"</script><script type="text/javascript"language="JavaScript1.2" src="http://sm4.sitemeter.com/js/counter.js?site=sm4unknownnews"></script><noscript><A HREF="http://sm4.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=sm4unknownnews"target=_top><img src="http://sm4.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=sm4unknownnews&refer=&hours=8&minutes=53&rtype=4" border=0 title="Site Meter" height="10" width="10"></A></noscript><!-Copyright (c)2000 Site Meter --><!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup"Endspan --></TD></TR></TABLE> </TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="5" BGcolor=white class="fonttnr">&nbsp;</TD> </TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="5" BGcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonttnr">&nbsp;</TD> <TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="310" BGcolor="#eeeeee" class="font14"> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="300" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle" WIDTH="1%" BGcolor="#eeeeee" class="font14">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle" WIDTH="57%" class="font14"><BR> <!-- Translation--> <form action="http://www.google.com/translate" ><script language="JavaScript"> <!-- document.write ("<input name=u value="+location.href+" type=hidden>") // --></script> <input name="hl" value="en" type="hidden"> <input name="ie" value="UTF8" type="hidden"> <input name="langpair" value="" type="hidden"> <input name="langpair" value="en|ar" title="Arabic" src= "http://unknownnews.org/flagArab.gif" onclick="this.form.langpair.value=this.value" height="16" type="image" width="23"> <input name="langpair" value="en|zh-CN" title="Chinese" src= "http://unknownnews.org/flagChina.gif" onclick="this.form.langpair.value=this.value" height="16" type="image" width="23"> <input name="langpair" value="en|fr" title="French" src= "http://unknownnews.org/flagFrance.gif" onclick="this.form.langpair.value=this.value" height="16" type="image" width="23"> <input name="langpair" value="en|de" title="German" src= "http://unknownnews.org/flagGermany.gif" onclick="this.form.langpair.value=this.value" height="16" type="image" width="23"> <input name="langpair" value="en|it" title="Italian" src= "http://unknownnews.org/flagItaly.gif" onclick="this.form.langpair.value=this.value" height="16" type="image" width="23"><BR> <input name="langpair" value="en|ja" title="Japanese" src= "http://unknownnews.org/flagJapan.gif" onclick="this.form.langpair.value=this.value" height="16" type="image" width="23"> <input name="langpair" value="en|ko" title="Korean" src= "http://unknownnews.org/flagKorea.gif" onclick="this.form.langpair.value=this.value" height="16" type="image" width="23"> <input name="langpair" value="en|pt" title="Portuguese" src= "http://unknownnews.org/flagPortugal.gif" onclick="this.form.langpair.value=this.value" height="16" type="image" width="23"> <input name="langpair" value="en|es" title="Spanish" src= "http://unknownnews.org/flagSpain.gif" onclick="this.form.langpair.value=this.value" height="16" type="image" width="23"> </form> </TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle" WIDTH="42%" BGcolor="#eeeeee" class="font13"> <A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/RSSfeed.html"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/RSS-button.gif" alt="Subscribe to our RSS feed" border="0" width="72" height="54"></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=casualties-box></A> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="290" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" bgcolor=black WIDTH="100%" class="fonty"> <iframe src="http://www.unknownnews.org/casualtieslog.html" width="100%" height="115" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe> </TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=today></A><A NAME=wdwb></A><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="295" border=1><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="300" bgcolor="#E3E4FA" class="fonta">Like the URL says, this website is about "unknown news". We post a once-weekly round-up of reports we think merit more attention, from mainstream, professional journalists, or (rarely) other sources we trust entirely.<BR><BR><center><BIG><B>What we believe</B></BIG></center><BR> We believe in liberty and justice for all, so of course, we oppose many US government policies. This doesn't mean we're anti-American, redneck scum, pinko commies, militia members, or terrorist-sympathizers. It means we believe in freedom, as more than merely a cliché. <BR><BR> We believe you have the right to live your own life as you choose, and others have the equal right to live <I>their</I> lives as <I>they</I> choose. It's not complicated.<BR><BR>We believe freedom leads to peace, progress, and prosperity, while its opposite -- oppression -- leads to war, terrorism, poverty, and misery. <BR><BR> We believe it's preposterously stupid to hate people because of their appearance, their race or nationality, their religion or lack of religion, how they have sex with other consenting adults, etc. There are far more apropos reasons to hate most people. <BR><BR> We believe in questioning ourselves, our assumptions, each other -- and we especially believe in questioning authority (the more authority, the more questions). We believe obedience is a fine quality in dogs and young children, but not in adults. <BR><BR> Like America's right-wingers, we believe in individual responsibility, hard work to get ahead, and stern punishment for serious crimes. We believe big government should not be blindly trusted.<BR><BR> But unlike most right-wing leaders, we mean it. <BR><BR> Like America's left-wingers, we believe in equal treatment under law, war as a last (not first) resort, and sensible stewardship of natural resources. We believe big business should not be blindly trusted.<BR><BR>But unlike most left-wing leaders, we mean it. <BR><BR> Like libertarians, we believe it's wrong and <I>reprehensible</i> to arrest people for what they think, believe, look like, wear, eat, smoke, drink, inhale, inject, or otherwise do to themselves. <BR><BR> But unlike many libertarians, we're not obsessed with the gold standard, we don't believe incorporation is humanity's highest achievement, and we don't believe everything in life comes down to dollars and cents. We've read and enjoyed Ayn Rand's novels, but we understand that they're works of fiction.<BR><BR> We're skeptical, and we're sick of so-called 'journalists' who aren't skeptical at all. <BR><BR>A reader asks, what are our solutions?<BR><BR>We propose no solutions except common sense, which is never common. We like the principles of democracy, and the ideals broadly described as 'American'. The US Constitution is a fine and workable framework for solutions, when it's actually read and thoughtfully understood by intelligent statesmen and women. So, no manifestos from us. We don't dream that big, and if there's one thing the world <i>doesn't</i> need it's yet another manifesto.<BR><BR>Our suggestion is: think.<BR><BR>A fact-based instead of faith-based approach leads to solutions for most of the recurring issues of our time, from abortion to global climate change, pollution to universal health care, careful but real regulation of industry and economy, hunger, war, terror, human rights for humans not for corporations, science not religious doctrine in public schools, equal protection and prosecution under law, etc. Approach problems without glorifying stupidity, without demonizing intelligence, and answers usually come into focus. <BR><BR> These pages are published by <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.net/bighowdy.html">Harry and Helen Highwater</A>, happily married low-income nom de plumes and rabble-rousers from Madison, Wisconsin (with a few friends scattered around the world helping out). <BR><BR> We try to spotlight news that hasn't gotten enough (or appropriate) attention in American media, along with our opinions and yours. <BR><BR> We bang our keyboards against the wall, because it doesn't hurt as much as banging our heads. <BR><BR><center><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/bighowdy.html"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/Highwaters-oldtime.jpg" border="3" width="199" height="277"></A></center><BR> <DIV align="right"><i><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/contact.html">Helen &amp; Harry Highwater</A></i> &nbsp; <BR><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;(from <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/about.html">About <I>Unknown News</i></A>)&nbsp;&nbsp;</div> </TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=height></A><BR> <A NAME=cops></A><A NAME=cops-box></A><!-- =cops= --><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="295" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" class="fonta"><iframe src="http://www.unknownnews.org/policelog.html" width="295" height="2250" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="auto" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="295" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="375" bgcolor=blue class="fontbox"><TABLE CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="295" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#ffffff" class="fontsm"><I>Scroll down or click for more&nbsp;</I><BR><A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/cops.html"><B>unknownnews.org/cops.html</B></A>&nbsp;</TD></TR></TABLE></td></tr></table><BR> <A NAME=oldnews></A><A NAME=unymhm></A><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="295" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" bgcolor="#eeeeee" WIDTH="100%" class="fonty"><TABLE CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="center" WIDTH="100%" BGcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonty"><center><iframe src="http://www.unknownnews.org/oldnews-frame.html" width="295" height="2250" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="auto" frameborder="0"></iframe></center><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="295" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="295" bgcolor=darkred class="fontbox"><TABLE CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="295" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#ffffff" class="fontsm"><I>Scroll down or click for more&nbsp;</I><BR><A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/oldnews.html"><B>unknownnews.org/oldnews.html</B></A>&nbsp;</TD></TR></TABLE></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table><BR> <A NAME=introduction></a><TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="295" border=1><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="300" bgcolor="#E3E4FA" class="fonta"> <B><I>If you're new to Unknown News,</I></B>&nbsp; here are some answers to <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/faq.html">frequently asked questions</A> about the site, and <A HREF="#wdwb"><font color=blue>answers to questions we wish you'd ask instead</font></A>. Here's <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/RSSfeed.html">our RSS feed</A>, and here's some <A HREF="#unymhm"><FONT COLOR=blue>unknown news you might have missed</FONT></A>. If you'd like to say hello or add a comment, here's <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/contact.html">our email address</A>. And yes, <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/stickers.html">we <i>do</i> sell bumper stickers</A> and <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/stickers.html#stuff">stuff</A>. <BR><BR> We assume our readers are well-<BR>informed before they click here, so we focus on news that's generally unknown or under-reported. We're generally disinterested in such non-news as reports on what politicians might do, may do, or should do, and we don't usually mention the murders, kidnappings, house fires, auto wrecks, celebrity crap, wacky fluff, and other nonsense that's pushed <i>real</i> news right out of the newscasts. <A NAME=disclaimer></A> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="60" align="right"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="right" width="100%"> <img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/right-PG13.gif" border="0" width="45" height="250"> </td></tr></table><BR><BR> <B><I>Disclaimer for&nbsp;dummies:</I></B>&nbsp; Our front page is free from nudity and profanity, but interior pages and external links may not be safe for work, and you may be shocked, offended, or in trouble with your boss. A link doesn't imply that we agree with every sentence and every sentiment on every site we link to. We use our noggins, and suggest you use yours. <BR><BR><B><I>We always welcome comments from readers</I></b>, and we're especially interested in hearing and considering different perspectives, so please don't be shy. All we ask is that you conduct yourself sanely and civilly, so consider yourself invited to speak your mind.<BR><BR>You can contact Helen &amp; Harry at &#60;<A HREF="mailto:unknownnews@inbox.com">unknownnews at inbox.com</A>&#62;. If that address ever fails, check <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/contact.html">our contact page</A> for our alternate email addresses.<BR><BR><b><I>Anything sent to Unknown News may be published.</I></b> If you don't want it published, say so plainly. When we publish incoming emails, we <I>usually</I> edit out the sender's last name, email address, or anything else that would tend to identify the author in the real world (if we slip up, please let us know). 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Emails about these and similar matters will be chuckled at but quickly deleted.<BR><BR> We never knowingly link to sites that allow "news" to be posted without editorial control, nor to amateur sites where we've seen easily debunked "news" in the past. We never link to 'news' from unreliable sources such as americanfreepress.net, Art Bell, cloakanddagger.ca, Tom Flocco, David Icke, Alex Jones, Lyndon LaRouche, <A HREF="http://unknownnews.org/WayneMadsen.html">Wayne Madsen</A>, Henry Makow, Al Martin, <i>Prison Planet</i>, Sherman Skolnick, Edgar Steele, Webster Tarpley, or your brother-in-law. Due to time constraints, if you send links or references to such sources we'll be unable to take you or your comments seriously.<BR><BR> Please don't email us unless you're sending an original communication that you're not sending to anyone or everyone else. 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We try to avoid coding practices that intentionally frustrate or annoy readers. <A NAME=help></a><BR><BR> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="72" align="right"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="right" width="100%"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/begging.jpg" border="0" width="57" height="85"></td></tr></table> <B><I>You can help:</I></B>&nbsp; We try not to whine too much or&nbsp;too loudly, but we are poor and this site eats a&nbsp;lot of time and especially <I>money</I>. Just a buck or two can make all the difference and help keep <I>Unknown News</I> alive.<BR><BR> <center><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/donations.html">Donations</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/advertising.html">Sponsorships</A> <BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/stickers.html">Stickers and stuff for sale</A> <BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/subscriptions.html">Subscriptions</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/wishlist.html">Wish list</A> <BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/credits.html">Thank you</A> </center><BR> <DIV align="right"><i><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/contact.html">Helen &amp; Harry Highwater</A></i> &nbsp; </TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" class="fonta"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If the news frustrates or angers you, please, <A HREF="http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml"><b>contact your elected officials.</b></A> Seriously. Perhaps it sounds hokey and futile, but someone on the other end will actually take your call or read your letter and pay attention to what you say &#151; and if you say it well you can make a difference.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A helpful hint:&nbsp; Sending a letter on paper or making a phone call takes more time and might cost a little more than sending an email, which is why <A HREF="http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa020199.htm"><b>a well-written letter</b></A> or a well-rehearsed phone call is <i>more effective</i> than an email.</TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <A HREF="https://secure.aclu.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2125&2125.donation=form1&s_src=UNW080001C00&s_subsrc=getinvolvedmenu_join_hp&JServSessionIdr006=wnbcqvc7x1.app20a"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/aclu_logo.gif" border="3" alt-"American Civil Liberties Union" width="190" height="74"></A><BR><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="220" border=1><TR> </TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor=white class="fonty"> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="50" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"> <A HREF="https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=36"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/thumbtack.jpg" border="0" width="40" height="40"></A> </td></tr></table><BR> <A HREF="https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=36">Help ACORN fight<BR>the Right-wing's&nbsp;lies</A><BR><BR></TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="3%" class="fonty"> </TD><TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="49%" class="fonty"> <A HREF="http://article31.org/"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/article31.gif" border="1" width="148" height="70"></A> </TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="4%" class="fonty"> </TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="37%" class="fonty"><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=1><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="middle" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor=white class="fonty"> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="50" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"> <A HREF="http://www.actblue.com/"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/thumbtack.jpg" border="0" width="40" height="40"></A> </td></tr></table> <BR><A HREF="http://www.actblue.com/">Act<BR>Blue</A><BR><BR> </TD></TR></TABLE> </TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="7%" class="fonty"> </TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="5" CELLSPACING="5" WIDTH="295" border=2><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" class="fonty"> <TABLE CELLPADDING="5" CELLSPACING="5" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" class="fonty"> "A mind-blowing mix of<BR>fact and fantasy, hard science<BR>and well-grounded speculation, with concrete how-to info to top it all off -- resulting in some of the best and strangest stuff on Earth..."<BR><BR> <A HREF="http://www.jrmooneyham.com"><BIG><B>www.jrmooneyham.com</B></BIG></A> </TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="1" WIDTH=300 border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH=300 BGcolor=darkred class="fonty"><TABLE CELLPADDING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="100%" BGcolor=ivory class="fonty"><B> Do we know the answers to <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/911.html">these questions about September 11?</a><BR><BR>Of course not. Nobody will know the answers until there's an open and honest investigation.<BR><BR>But anyone courageous enough to <I>think</I> can see that the pertinent questions for any serious "investigation" were never asked, let alone answered, by the official investigators.<BR><BR></B> <CENTER><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.net/stickers.html"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/911investigationsticker.jpg" border="3" width="233" height="78"></A></CENTER> <DIV align="right"><BR> <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #dddddd">&nbsp;&nbsp;More: &nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/911.html"><FONT COLOR=blue><B>unknownnews.org/911.html</B></FONT></A>&nbsp;&nbsp;</SPAN></div> </TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="300" border=2><TR> <TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor=white class="fonty"> <iframe src="http://www.unknownnews.org/blogroll.html" width="295" height="2000" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="auto" frameborder="0"></iframe> <DIV align="right"><BR> <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #dddddd">&nbsp;&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/kissback.html"><FONT COLOR=blue><B>unknownnews.org/kissback.html</B></FONT></A>&nbsp;&nbsp;</SPAN></div><BR> </TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="300" border=2><TR> <TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor=white class="fonty"> <iframe src="http://www.unknownnews.org/recentthanks.html" width="295" height="2000" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="auto" frameborder="0"></iframe> <DIV align="right"><BR> <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #dddddd">&nbsp;&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/credits.html"><FONT COLOR=blue><B>unknownnews.org/credits.html</B></FONT></A>&nbsp;&nbsp;</SPAN></div><BR> </TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=8><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="white" class="fonta"> <center><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/bill-of-rights.jpg" alt="U.S. Bill of Rights" border="0" width="270" height="151"><A NAME=preamble></A></center><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <!-- 300x168 --> Congress of the United States begun and held at the City of New York, on Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine. The Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution expressed a desire in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.<BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several states as Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all or any of which articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures to be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the said Constitution. viz: Articles in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress and Ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.<BR><A NAME=FirstAmendment></A><BR> <b>The First Amendment</b><BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. <BR><A NAME=SecondAmendment></A><BR> <b>The Second Amendment</b><BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. <BR><A NAME=ThirdAmendment></A><BR> <b>The Third Amendment</b><BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. <BR><A NAME=FourthAmendment></A><BR> <b>The Fourth Amendment</b><BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. <BR><A NAME=FifthAmendment></A><BR> <b>The Fifth Amendment</b><BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. <BR><A NAME=SixthAmendment></A><BR> <b>The Sixth Amendment</b><BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. <BR><A NAME=SeventhAmendment></A><BR> <b>The Seventh Amendment</b><BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. <BR><A NAME=EighthAmendment></A><BR> <b>The Eighth Amendment</b><BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. <BR><A NAME=NinthAmendment></A><BR> <b>The Ninth Amendment</b><BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. <BR><A NAME=TenthAmendment></A><BR> <b>The Tenth Amendment</b><BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. </TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <center><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-2996608746973398"; google_ad_width = 300; google_ad_height = 250; google_ad_format = "300x250_as"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_ad_channel = ""; google_color_border = "8B0000"; google_color_bg = "FFFFFF"; google_color_link = "000000"; google_color_text = "000000"; google_color_url = "0000FF"; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script></center><BR> </TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="5" BGcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonttnr"> </TD> </TR></TABLE> </body> </html>