A Stand For Justice
US Democrats and pro-Israel lobbies slam Republican Senator's call to halt Israel aid
"You have to ask yourself, are we funding an arms race on both sides? I have a lot of sympathy and respect for Israel as a democratic nation, as, you know, a fountain of peace and a fountain of democracy within the Middle East. But at the same time, I don't think funding both sides of the arm race, particularly when we have to borrow the money from China to send it to someone else. We just can't do it anymore. The debt is all- consuming and it threatens our well-being as a country,” Paul said.
Rand Paul Speaks by Philip Giraldi
For his audacity, Senator Paul has been attacked by the Israel Lobby and by both Democrats and Republicans.
U.S. presidential hopefuls hit the campaign trail in Israel
Because they know THAT'S who they'll be answering to.
Canada-U.S. pipe would cut Mideast oil imports: study
Oil from Saudi Arabia is among the world's cheapest to produce. Crude from Canada's oil sands is more expensive because companies must use a lot of energy to separate usable crude from sticky grit.
Oil hits $101 a barrel as Egypt protests mount
Oil prices smashed through $100 a barrel Monday for the first time since the 2008 economic crisis, as traders worried that unrest in Egypt could disrupt oil flows through the Suez Canal.
No proof Iran is building nuclear weapons: Medvedev
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the international community has no proof that Iran is building nuclear weapons.
Russia says awaiting Iranian response on fuel swap
The Road to National Suicide by Philip Giraldi
One of these wars, in Afghanistan, is costing the US taxpayer $10 billion a month and is tying up more than 100,000 American soldiers. Casualties are rising, most of Afghanistan has become insecure in spite of the effort, corruption and drug cultivation are rampant, and there is no end in sight. To put the cost of the war in some kind of perspective, Afghanistan’s gross domestic product for 2009 was $22 billion, meaning that it is costing nearly six times more to "defend" each year than its total economic activity.
Report: Afghan Civilian Deaths Hit Record Levels In 2010
The report blamed armed opposition groups (AOGs) for 63 percent of the civilian deaths and U.S.-NATO coalition forces for 21 percent of them. It criticized "AOGs for their deliberate killing and harassing of civilian communities and the US-NATO for their labeling of almost every war casualty as being 'suspected insurgent.'"
video Rand Paul Wants Cut Foreign Aid to Everyone
US Embassy Cables: FBI Hunts The 9/11 Gang That Got Away
'NATO must probe cyber attack on Iran'
Dmitry Rogozin said the Stuxnet virus could have sparked a new "Chernobyl tragedy," by causing the centrifuges producing enriched uranium at the Bushehr power plant to spin out of control.
Sputnik Moment or GM Moment? by Patrick J. Buchanan
The day after the president spoke, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the deficit this fiscal year at $1.5 trillion, largest in peacetime history and 10 percent of the entire U.S. economy. Almost 40 percent of the budget will be financed this year by borrowing from our own citizens and foreign countries, China foremost among them.
Thousands of Yemenis Urge President to Quit
Thousands of Yemenis, apparently inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, staged a mass demonstration on Thursday calling on President Ali Abdullah Saleh to quit after being in power since 1978.
GOP senator favors cutting US aid to Israel
The steadfast support for Israel is widespread in Congress and Paul's proposal is certain to face strong opposition. In a fresh example of that support, six senior members of the House sent a letter to President Barack Obama imploring him to promise a veto of a pending U.N. resolution that condemns Israel and urging him to pressure Palestinian leaders to negotiate directly with Israel.
God forbid Capitol Hill puts our interests first.
WikiLeaks Cables Detail Egyptian Repression, Torture
Muslim dignitaries pay their respects at Auschwitz
YouTube - Ron Paul U.S foreign Policy AIPAC Israel greatest obstacle no respect for the constitution
Thousands Protest Against Jordanian Govt
The pro-democracy protests spreading across the Middle East have found some eager supporters in Jordan, where thousands took to the street of Amman to demand that Prime Minister Samir Rifal step down and that a new, elected government be allowed to take its place.
Senate Dems reject call to cut Israel aid
Capitol Hill is Israeli-occupied territory.
Rahm Emanuel's Father specialized in bus bombings in Palestine
British MI-6 files contain information on the elder Emanuel's participation in the terrorist activities of Irgun Zvai Leumi, a Jewish terrorist organization that targeted British forces, UN officials, and Palestinian Arabs in the lead up to Israeli independence in 1948.
Protesters across US offer support to Egyptians
Israeli PM says Iran wants 'another Gaza' in Egypt
Israel's prime minister on Wednesday said Iran wants to take advantage of the chaos in Egypt to create "another Gaza" there, run by Islamic fundamentalists.
Israel worried about Islamic takeover in Egypt
Merkel and nine of her Cabinet ministers were in Israel for a special joint session, highlighting the two nations' strong bond six decades after the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany killed 6 million Jews.
WikiLeaks cables show close US relationship with Egyptian president
Israel agrees to some Egyptian troops in Sinai
Why Washington Clings to a Failed Middle East Strategy
Face of Mideast unrest: young and hungry for jobs
The pledges–under–siege have something else in common: an acknowledgment that the unprecedented anger on Arab streets is at its core a long–brewing rage against decades of economic imbalances that have rewarded the political elite and left many others on the margins.
Hmm.. that sounds vaguely familiar...
Egyptians dream of future freedom and opportunity
Egyptian protesters are conflicted over US role
"The Americans believe in democracy. Now they have to show us,"
Egypt's Crisis: Israel Has Faith Mubarak Will Prevail
Dutch Jews want fast punishment for anti-Semitism
Rising anti–Semitism "can be attributed to the rise of influence of Islam in the Netherlands," said Freedom party member of parliament Joram van Klaveren during the debate. "The more Islam, the more anti–Semitism."
Davos panel sees huge Iranian response to attack
A diverse panel of decision–makers and experts from the United States, Europe and the Middle East found common ground on just one thing when it comes to dealing with the Iranian nuclear program Friday: A military strike could well spark a devastating counterattack.
In the debate at the World Economic Forum, former top U.S. diplomat Richard Haass said there were no good options should diplomacy fail, but stood apart from the others in advocating force as a viable option. He sparred repeatedly with Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki al–Faisal, who urged the United States to instead pressure Israel to quit its own reported nuclear weapons as a way of coaxing Iran to drop its suspected weapons program as well.
CNN’s Cooper describes attack in Egypt ‘pandemonium’
CNN's Anderson Cooper, who was attacked by pro-Mubarak protesters Wednesday, described his crew's experience on CNN's "American Morning"
As Egypt Clashes Continue, Fear of Islamists Paralyzes the U.S.
Israel watches Egypt uprising with fear
They will lose a key puppet regime (not ours).
Could US abandon Israel too?
"In addition, the American public opinion is on our side – some two thirds of the public supports Israel, and in the congress the biggest agreement is over issues revolving Israel," he concluded. Wow. That's a complete lie. 2/3 of Americans actually want our government to take NO SIDE in that conflict, according to 2 recent polls.
Double Slap at Vets in SOTU
I already described not only how brief the President’s remarks on national security/foreign policy were on Tuesday night (I counted the word “veteran” twice in the 7,000-word speech, for example), but how his characterization of the military “progress” in Afghanistan was perilously close to being a bald-faced lie.
'Anti-government' activist arrested after planning to blow up Michigan mosque
A man has been charged with making a terrorist threat and carrying explosives after targeting one of the biggest mosques in the U.S.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352104/Anti-government-activist-arrested-planning-blow-Michigan-mosque.html#ixzz1DKhAEbba
Where's the Protest at Home?
where are the protests in our country? Where is the leadership connecting the dots... between the financial meltdown, the record profits and bonuses on Wall Street, the continuing collapse of home equity, the joblessness, and the assault on public services in the name of budgetary prudence?
CCR Warrantless Wiretapping Case Dismissed By Federal Judge
CCR v. Bush was filed against President George W. Bush, the head of the National Security Agency (NSA), and the heads of the other major security agencies, challenging the NSA's warrantless surveillance of people within the United States. As was widely reported, the NSA, for more than four years and with the approval of President Bush, engaged in a widespread program of warrantless electronic surveillance of telephone calls and emails in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
EFF Uncovers Widespread FBI Intelligence Violations
Justice Department seeks to have all web surfing tracked
Muslims seek change in their Hollywood story
The Chinese Discover Jews and Israel and Can’t Seem To Get Enough
A few days after the academics returned home, it was announced that China Central Television has just produced, in cooperation with Israel’s embassy in Beijing, a 12-part series intended to introduce Chinese audiences to the history of Israel and the Jewish people.
The Israel Project, a Washington-based advocacy group, has proposed building on this interest to create a strong base of support for Israel in China. Last year it conducted a focus group on opinions toward Israel in Shanghai.
Now that the US has gone broke fighting wars in the Middle East (which are thanks in part to our support for Israel, the number one motivation for 911 given by the mastermind, Khaled S. Mohammed), Israel seeks a new host and benefactor, naturally the next rising superpower: China.
Winners and Losers From a Pharaoh’s Fall by Patrick J. Buchanan
No, the United States is not hated across the region because of the freedoms we enjoy or even because of the lectures on democracy we do not cease to deliver. We are hated because we are perceived as hypocrites who say one thing and do another.
Eyeless in Gaza (and Elsewhere) by Philip Giraldi
Israel Urges World to Curb Criticism of Egypt's Mubarak
Israel called on the United States and a number of European countries over the weekend to curb their criticism of President Hosni Mubarak to preserve stability in the region.
The Middle East’s New Normal
The days of the Middle Eastern autocrats, allied with the U.S. and open to some sort of co-existence with Israel — in fact, of the entire American hegemonic project in the Middle East — may be numbered.
US reported 'routine' police brutality in Egypt, WikiLeaks cables show
The batch of US embassy cables paint a despairing portrait of a police force and security service in Egypt wholly out of control. They suggest torture is routinely used against ordinary criminals, Islamist detainees, opposition activists and bloggers.
Israel shocked by Obama's "betrayal" of Mubarak
Oh dear.
Former President Carter guesses Egypt's Mubarak 'will have to leave'
“The United States wants Mubarak to stay in power, but the people have decided,” Carter said.
Jordan's King Abdullah Sacks Cabinet, PM Quits Amid Street Protests
King Abdullah's move comes after thousands of Jordanians took to the streets, inspired by widespread riots in Tunisia and Egypt, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Samir Rifai. Pro-Western Arab governments are falling all over the place, or are in danger of falling.
Inequality Drives Egyptians to Streets, But Ours Worse
While 22 million were searching for jobs in the US this week, Goldman Sachs tripled Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein's base salary and awarded him $12.6 million of stock, a 42 percent increase from '09. The billionaire Koch brothers threw a lavish secret party for their looter cronies, to talk about their election plans.
Groton Guard detachment is heading to Egypt
Connecticut National Guard Detachment 2, Company I, 185th Aviation Regiment of Groton has mobilized and will deploy to the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, to support the Multinational Force and Observers.
Without Egypt, Israel will be left with no friends in Mideast
From now on, it will be hard for Israel to trust an Egyptian government torn apart by internal strife. Israel's increasing isolation in the region, coupled with a weakening United States, will force the government to court new potential allies.
A Model of Middle East Democracy, Turkey Calls for Change in Egypt
As unrest spreads across the Middle East, many have pointed to Turkey's successful melding of a largely Muslim population with an officially secular and working democracy as a role model for what might come next
Egypt protests: America's secret backing for rebel leaders behind uprising
The US government has previously been a supporter of Mr Mubarak’s regime. But the leaked documents show the extent to which America was offering support to pro-democracy activists in Egypt while publicly praising Mr Mubarak as an important ally in the Middle East.
Egypt's Day of Reckoning
you don't need to read the papers to see what has gone wrong. The filth and the slums, the open sewers and the corruption of every government official, the bulging prisons, the laughable elections, the whole vast, sclerotic edifice of power has at last brought Egyptians on to their streets.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Goes After Richard Falk
In Solidarity With the Egyptian People and the Soldiers Refusing to Repress Them
As veterans and friends and families of veterans and active-duty members of the US military, we stand in solidarity with the courageous Egyptian people and the brave members of the Egyptian military who have refused to repress the people, and in some cases, joined them.
Crunch Time Coming for America in the Middle East?
If more and more Arabs breach the wall of fear that has prevented them for decades from demanding their rights, expressing their rage at the corruption and repression of their governments and at regime impotence in the face of Israel’s arrogance of power, there’s one question above all others America’s policy makers will have to ask themselves. Who do we need most if America’s own real interests are to be best protected – the Arabs or Israel? Israel's minions on Capitol Hill won't allow us to do what's in our own best interests, not when it comes to Israel.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Headlines for January 20 - January 26
A Stand For Justice
Tony Blair urges West to take action on Iran
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair made a passionate plea on Friday for the West to use force if necessary against Iran over its disputed nuclear program.
Speaking at a London inquiry into the Iraq War where he was having to explain his decision to join the U.S.–led invasion in 2003, Blair said the time had now come to "get our heads out of the sand" and take action against Iran.
Wow. These people never stop. Someone needs to pass Tony a tissue to wipe the Israeli feces off of his nose.
And the Debt Bomb Ticks On… by Patrick J. Buchanan
Serving Up Palestine One Slice at a Time by Philip Giraldi
In fact, the United States is completely in lock step with Israel on the prospects for a Palestinian state. The White House and State Department have condemned every move to obtain independent recognition of statehood. The US position is summed up by House Resolution 1765, drafted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, "Supporting a negotiated solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognize a Palestinian state, and for other purposes," which had 54 co-sponsors. It declares that "any attempt to establish Palestinian statehood outside the negotiating process will invoke the strongest congressional opposition" and condemns any attempt to "establish or seek recognition of a Palestinian state outside of an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians." Two recent polls (one by Brookings Institute and one by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs) show that 2/3 of the American people want the US to take NO SIDE in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Yet our Congress is almost totally and staunchly pro-Israel (thanks to the efforts of the Israeli Lobby).
Our representatives do not represent us. And it has cost us dearly - in more ways than one.
US warns Palestinians over Security Council resolution
The United States is alone among the five permanent veto–wielding members of the Security Council in opposing the resolution.
The other four –– Britain, China, France and Russia –– have all indicated they would probably vote for the resolution, diplomats said.
On this issue, the United States, at the behest of Israel, stands in the way of justice. It's the number 1 reason why America is reviled by the Arab world. This stance is also not reflected in American public opinion according to the polls I cited in this news batch. 2/3 of Americans want the US to take NO SIDE in this conflict.
A Bipartisan Crowd, Helped by Bibi, Pleas for Pollard, the Convicted Spy
A recent series of public statements and letters has landed the campaign for the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard its greatest achievement in 25 years: a powerful bipartisan roster demanding clemency for Pollard, the American convicted of spying for Israel and sentenced to a life term.
...the slate of Jewish organizations represented in a January 3 letter to Obama included leaders of all Jewish denominations, alongside hundreds of rabbis from across the nation.
THis is a testament to the power of the Israeli lobby over our Congress. For, it cannot be underestimated the damage Pollard did to the US by passing secrets to the Russians. Anyone that advocates for his release is putting the interests of Israel first.
U.N. Resolution on Israeli Settlements Puts Obama in Bind
A bipartisan group of 16 U.S. Senators, led by New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, has urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to veto the resolution: "Attempts to use a venue such as the United Nations, which you know has a long history of hostility toward Israel, to deal with just one issue in the negotiations, will not move the two sides closer to a two–state solution, but rather damage the fragile trust between them."
I'd like to once again remind you of the polls cited in this news batch. Our representatives do not represent us, on this issue and likely more. The ramifications of this support for Israel cost us Americans dearly - in more ways than one.
Halliburton tops profit forecast on U.S. oil surge
On Real Respect for the Constitution
Our Constitution should be viewed as law, and Members of Congress should be expected to follow, respect, understand, and uphold the law. But a document is just a piece of paper if those who represent us and promise to obey it ignore it instead. Celebrating the Constitution without this understanding will do nothing to restore the greatness of America.
Russia Ratifies US Nuclear Disarmament Treaty
One of the most fundamental disagreements concerns a US decision to pursue a European missile defence shield that Russia had spent years resisting.
Moscow has since modified its stance, saying that it was ready to see the shield go up, but only if it was giving an equal say in how it operates -- and in determining which nations posed a real threat to the West.
How the Chinese Must See Us by Patrick J. Buchanan
Why should any nation emulate the U.S. trade policy of the Bush-Clinton-Bush era that has stripped us of a third of our manufacturing jobs and made us dependent on China and the world for the needs of our national life and the borrowed money to pay for them?
Clinton warns Hezbollah-backed government may alter U.S. ties with Lebanon
U.S. officials said earlier this month that Lebanon's political turmoil would not trigger an immediate cut in U.S. aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces, but suggested that the ties would come under speedy review.
State of the Union: Why the Middle East Won't Be the Focus
The Western-backed regimes surrounding Israel are falling, and in their place perhaps may be more pro-Iran governments. Not looking good for Israel.
Key Obama aide on Iran sanctions steps down
The departure of Stuart Levey from his role as the Treasury Department's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence comes as the United States and its allies appear likely to make a push for stiffer sanctions on Iran.
....Obama nominated Levey's deputy, David Cohen, to replace him. Cohen will need to be confirmed by the Senate.
Britain's foreign minister in Syria for talks
Hague is also expected to discuss the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program and risks of broader proliferation in the Middle East. He's also scheduled to meet with business leaders and prominent Syrian women.
Iran has boosted atomic bomb ability: US scientists
it follows claims by US and Israeli officials that international efforts have slowed Iran's nuclear drive.
A piece of propaganda if I've ever seen one.
Iran not working on bomb: Israel intelligence head
Recently, several senior Israeli officials, including the former head of the Mossad overseas intelligence agency, Meir Dagan, have said that Iran is unlikely to acquire nuclear weapons before 2015.
Hezbollah wins enough support to name new Lebanon PM
Rice: US Army Presence In Iraq Protects Israel
Former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice reassured Israel that the US military presence in Iraq should calm any Israeli security concerns "from the east," minutes from a 2008 trilateral meeting between Rice and the Israeli and Palestinian negotiation teams reveal.
Arab Leaders Warn of More Revolts Amid Growing Anger
Google Comes Under Fire for 'Secret' Relationship with NSA
The “anti-terrorist” witch-hunt and the future of America
In the wake of 9/11, the neocons were strategically enough placed to launch a two-front war: one at home, and one abroad. The post-9/11 coup, in which a handful of neocons seized control of the machinery of the state and lied us into war, also involved waging a war on the home front –against the Constitution. And while the Iraq campaign ended in failure, an outcome currently being replicated in Afghanistan, their domestic campaign to destroy the legacy of the Founders and create the basis for a police state was much more successful. Indeed, I would venture to call it a near total victory. Which is why it boggles the mind that Obama would continue these policies.
Obama May Get Power To Shut Down Internet Without Court Oversight
A bill giving the president an Internet "kill switch" during times of emergency that failed to pass Congress last year will return this year, but with a revision that has many civil liberties advocates concerned: It will give the president the ability to shut down parts of the Internet without any court oversight. Egypt is doing this (along with cutting all phone service) in response to massive protests in that country. Should that happen here, Americans would have to return to using a lantern like in the days of the Revolution: one if by land, two if by sea.
'Remarkable scenes' at Cairo protests
Anti-government protests have broken out in Egypt after an internet campaign inspired by the uprising in Tunisia.
China renews Iran crude deal with steady volume-sources
China has renewed crude import pacts with Iran for 2011 by keeping the total supply amount almost the same as last year at about 460,000 barrels per day, two industry sources with direct knowledge of the deals told Reuters.
U.S. says U.N. expert should be fired for Sept 11 remarks
A U.N. expert on Palestinian human rights who suggested there was a cover–up over the September 11 attacks should be fired, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said on Tuesday.
A DREAM Deferred
Despite the more conservative Congress, as well as the previous Senate’s failure to pass the DREAM Act, many Jewish organizations involved with domestic policy vowed to continue making immigrant rights a top priority. Groups including the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA), American Jewish Committee (AJC), Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), had formally endorsed the act and encouraged their members to call politicians asking for their votes in favor of it.
Make Worms, Not War?
Despite the public drama of statements and snubs, disagreements and delays, the relationship between America and Israel has been extraordinarily tight and trusting for this operation to have succeeded as the Times describes. While begun in the waning days of the Bush administration, the collaboration accelerated when President Obama took office, a pattern seen in other forms of military and defense cooperation between Jerusalem and Washington.
Somehow Israel's problems become OUR problems, and we have paid dearly for that fact - in more ways than one.
Our Fight on Mount Soledad
The involvement of the Jewish War Veterans as a plaintiff in the Mount Soledad case is part of our ongoing fight for the rights of Jewish service members and veterans and on behalf of the values enshrined in the Constitution.
Back in 1986, JWV filed suit to remove or relocate a brightly lit, 65-foot-high memorial cross at Camp H.L. Smith, a Marine Corps base in Hawaii.
....Take, for example, last year’s Supreme Court ruling regarding a cross in California’s Mojave National Preserve. JWV filed an amicus brief in that case, which involved an 8-foot-tall cross honoring American service members who died in World War I.
It is not Muslims that are trying to remove crosses from veteran's memorials, folks.
A New Truth Dawns on the Arab World by Robert Fisk
The Palestine Papers are as damning as the Balfour Declaration. The Palestinian "Authority" - one has to put this word in quotation marks - was prepared, and is prepared to give up the "right of return" of perhaps seven million refugees to what is now Israel for a "state" that may be only 10 per cent (at most) of British mandate Palestine.
....And so where are we going? Could it be, perhaps, that the Arab world is going to choose its own leaders? Could it be that we are going to see a new Arab world which is not controlled by the West?
....This is the end of the Democrats' world in the Arab Middle East. We do not know what comes next. Perhaps only history can answer this question.
Mubarak Faces Historic Challenge
The government, which controls all communications here, started blocking websites in the afternoon as events on the ground heated up and it became clear that many protesters were using the Internet for information.
Israel's new top spy: Iran bomb possible in 2 years
The remarks by Major–General Aviv Kochavi, chief of military intelligence, also appeared aimed at asserting authority over the rival Israeli espionage agency Mossad, whose departing chief said this month Iran might not have nuclear arms before 2015.
Chicken Little Israel can't seem to make up its mind.
Lebanon Hariri says he will seek premiership again
Lebanon faction urges sit-ins against Hezbollah
Israpundit » Blog Archive » Righteous Muslims Protect Christians in Egypt
Economic slavery the next revolt
The first Civil War was fought over people being born into slavery because of the color of their skin. The second civil war will be fought by people against being born into economic slavery -- that is, being forced to part with an inequitable amount of their income to repay government debts left behind by the those who lived and died before them.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Economic-slavery-the-next-revolt-973607.php#ixzz1CwbErpCv
Tony Blair urges West to take action on Iran
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair made a passionate plea on Friday for the West to use force if necessary against Iran over its disputed nuclear program.
Speaking at a London inquiry into the Iraq War where he was having to explain his decision to join the U.S.–led invasion in 2003, Blair said the time had now come to "get our heads out of the sand" and take action against Iran.
Wow. These people never stop. Someone needs to pass Tony a tissue to wipe the Israeli feces off of his nose.
And the Debt Bomb Ticks On… by Patrick J. Buchanan
Serving Up Palestine One Slice at a Time by Philip Giraldi
In fact, the United States is completely in lock step with Israel on the prospects for a Palestinian state. The White House and State Department have condemned every move to obtain independent recognition of statehood. The US position is summed up by House Resolution 1765, drafted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, "Supporting a negotiated solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognize a Palestinian state, and for other purposes," which had 54 co-sponsors. It declares that "any attempt to establish Palestinian statehood outside the negotiating process will invoke the strongest congressional opposition" and condemns any attempt to "establish or seek recognition of a Palestinian state outside of an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians." Two recent polls (one by Brookings Institute and one by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs) show that 2/3 of the American people want the US to take NO SIDE in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Yet our Congress is almost totally and staunchly pro-Israel (thanks to the efforts of the Israeli Lobby).
Our representatives do not represent us. And it has cost us dearly - in more ways than one.
US warns Palestinians over Security Council resolution
The United States is alone among the five permanent veto–wielding members of the Security Council in opposing the resolution.
The other four –– Britain, China, France and Russia –– have all indicated they would probably vote for the resolution, diplomats said.
On this issue, the United States, at the behest of Israel, stands in the way of justice. It's the number 1 reason why America is reviled by the Arab world. This stance is also not reflected in American public opinion according to the polls I cited in this news batch. 2/3 of Americans want the US to take NO SIDE in this conflict.
A Bipartisan Crowd, Helped by Bibi, Pleas for Pollard, the Convicted Spy
A recent series of public statements and letters has landed the campaign for the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard its greatest achievement in 25 years: a powerful bipartisan roster demanding clemency for Pollard, the American convicted of spying for Israel and sentenced to a life term.
...the slate of Jewish organizations represented in a January 3 letter to Obama included leaders of all Jewish denominations, alongside hundreds of rabbis from across the nation.
THis is a testament to the power of the Israeli lobby over our Congress. For, it cannot be underestimated the damage Pollard did to the US by passing secrets to the Russians. Anyone that advocates for his release is putting the interests of Israel first.
U.N. Resolution on Israeli Settlements Puts Obama in Bind
A bipartisan group of 16 U.S. Senators, led by New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, has urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to veto the resolution: "Attempts to use a venue such as the United Nations, which you know has a long history of hostility toward Israel, to deal with just one issue in the negotiations, will not move the two sides closer to a two–state solution, but rather damage the fragile trust between them."
I'd like to once again remind you of the polls cited in this news batch. Our representatives do not represent us, on this issue and likely more. The ramifications of this support for Israel cost us Americans dearly - in more ways than one.
Halliburton tops profit forecast on U.S. oil surge
On Real Respect for the Constitution
Our Constitution should be viewed as law, and Members of Congress should be expected to follow, respect, understand, and uphold the law. But a document is just a piece of paper if those who represent us and promise to obey it ignore it instead. Celebrating the Constitution without this understanding will do nothing to restore the greatness of America.
Russia Ratifies US Nuclear Disarmament Treaty
One of the most fundamental disagreements concerns a US decision to pursue a European missile defence shield that Russia had spent years resisting.
Moscow has since modified its stance, saying that it was ready to see the shield go up, but only if it was giving an equal say in how it operates -- and in determining which nations posed a real threat to the West.
How the Chinese Must See Us by Patrick J. Buchanan
Why should any nation emulate the U.S. trade policy of the Bush-Clinton-Bush era that has stripped us of a third of our manufacturing jobs and made us dependent on China and the world for the needs of our national life and the borrowed money to pay for them?
Clinton warns Hezbollah-backed government may alter U.S. ties with Lebanon
U.S. officials said earlier this month that Lebanon's political turmoil would not trigger an immediate cut in U.S. aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces, but suggested that the ties would come under speedy review.
State of the Union: Why the Middle East Won't Be the Focus
The Western-backed regimes surrounding Israel are falling, and in their place perhaps may be more pro-Iran governments. Not looking good for Israel.
Key Obama aide on Iran sanctions steps down
The departure of Stuart Levey from his role as the Treasury Department's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence comes as the United States and its allies appear likely to make a push for stiffer sanctions on Iran.
....Obama nominated Levey's deputy, David Cohen, to replace him. Cohen will need to be confirmed by the Senate.
Britain's foreign minister in Syria for talks
Hague is also expected to discuss the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program and risks of broader proliferation in the Middle East. He's also scheduled to meet with business leaders and prominent Syrian women.
Iran has boosted atomic bomb ability: US scientists
it follows claims by US and Israeli officials that international efforts have slowed Iran's nuclear drive.
A piece of propaganda if I've ever seen one.
Iran not working on bomb: Israel intelligence head
Recently, several senior Israeli officials, including the former head of the Mossad overseas intelligence agency, Meir Dagan, have said that Iran is unlikely to acquire nuclear weapons before 2015.
Hezbollah wins enough support to name new Lebanon PM
Rice: US Army Presence In Iraq Protects Israel
Former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice reassured Israel that the US military presence in Iraq should calm any Israeli security concerns "from the east," minutes from a 2008 trilateral meeting between Rice and the Israeli and Palestinian negotiation teams reveal.
Arab Leaders Warn of More Revolts Amid Growing Anger
Google Comes Under Fire for 'Secret' Relationship with NSA
The “anti-terrorist” witch-hunt and the future of America
In the wake of 9/11, the neocons were strategically enough placed to launch a two-front war: one at home, and one abroad. The post-9/11 coup, in which a handful of neocons seized control of the machinery of the state and lied us into war, also involved waging a war on the home front –against the Constitution. And while the Iraq campaign ended in failure, an outcome currently being replicated in Afghanistan, their domestic campaign to destroy the legacy of the Founders and create the basis for a police state was much more successful. Indeed, I would venture to call it a near total victory. Which is why it boggles the mind that Obama would continue these policies.
Obama May Get Power To Shut Down Internet Without Court Oversight
A bill giving the president an Internet "kill switch" during times of emergency that failed to pass Congress last year will return this year, but with a revision that has many civil liberties advocates concerned: It will give the president the ability to shut down parts of the Internet without any court oversight. Egypt is doing this (along with cutting all phone service) in response to massive protests in that country. Should that happen here, Americans would have to return to using a lantern like in the days of the Revolution: one if by land, two if by sea.
'Remarkable scenes' at Cairo protests
Anti-government protests have broken out in Egypt after an internet campaign inspired by the uprising in Tunisia.
China renews Iran crude deal with steady volume-sources
China has renewed crude import pacts with Iran for 2011 by keeping the total supply amount almost the same as last year at about 460,000 barrels per day, two industry sources with direct knowledge of the deals told Reuters.
U.S. says U.N. expert should be fired for Sept 11 remarks
A U.N. expert on Palestinian human rights who suggested there was a cover–up over the September 11 attacks should be fired, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said on Tuesday.
A DREAM Deferred
Despite the more conservative Congress, as well as the previous Senate’s failure to pass the DREAM Act, many Jewish organizations involved with domestic policy vowed to continue making immigrant rights a top priority. Groups including the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA), American Jewish Committee (AJC), Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), had formally endorsed the act and encouraged their members to call politicians asking for their votes in favor of it.
Make Worms, Not War?
Despite the public drama of statements and snubs, disagreements and delays, the relationship between America and Israel has been extraordinarily tight and trusting for this operation to have succeeded as the Times describes. While begun in the waning days of the Bush administration, the collaboration accelerated when President Obama took office, a pattern seen in other forms of military and defense cooperation between Jerusalem and Washington.
Somehow Israel's problems become OUR problems, and we have paid dearly for that fact - in more ways than one.
Our Fight on Mount Soledad
The involvement of the Jewish War Veterans as a plaintiff in the Mount Soledad case is part of our ongoing fight for the rights of Jewish service members and veterans and on behalf of the values enshrined in the Constitution.
Back in 1986, JWV filed suit to remove or relocate a brightly lit, 65-foot-high memorial cross at Camp H.L. Smith, a Marine Corps base in Hawaii.
....Take, for example, last year’s Supreme Court ruling regarding a cross in California’s Mojave National Preserve. JWV filed an amicus brief in that case, which involved an 8-foot-tall cross honoring American service members who died in World War I.
It is not Muslims that are trying to remove crosses from veteran's memorials, folks.
A New Truth Dawns on the Arab World by Robert Fisk
The Palestine Papers are as damning as the Balfour Declaration. The Palestinian "Authority" - one has to put this word in quotation marks - was prepared, and is prepared to give up the "right of return" of perhaps seven million refugees to what is now Israel for a "state" that may be only 10 per cent (at most) of British mandate Palestine.
....And so where are we going? Could it be, perhaps, that the Arab world is going to choose its own leaders? Could it be that we are going to see a new Arab world which is not controlled by the West?
....This is the end of the Democrats' world in the Arab Middle East. We do not know what comes next. Perhaps only history can answer this question.
Mubarak Faces Historic Challenge
The government, which controls all communications here, started blocking websites in the afternoon as events on the ground heated up and it became clear that many protesters were using the Internet for information.
Israel's new top spy: Iran bomb possible in 2 years
The remarks by Major–General Aviv Kochavi, chief of military intelligence, also appeared aimed at asserting authority over the rival Israeli espionage agency Mossad, whose departing chief said this month Iran might not have nuclear arms before 2015.
Chicken Little Israel can't seem to make up its mind.
Lebanon Hariri says he will seek premiership again
Lebanon faction urges sit-ins against Hezbollah
Israpundit » Blog Archive » Righteous Muslims Protect Christians in Egypt
Economic slavery the next revolt
The first Civil War was fought over people being born into slavery because of the color of their skin. The second civil war will be fought by people against being born into economic slavery -- that is, being forced to part with an inequitable amount of their income to repay government debts left behind by the those who lived and died before them.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Economic-slavery-the-next-revolt-973607.php#ixzz1CwbErpCv
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Headlines for January 13 - January 19
A Stand For Justice
Israel tested worm linked to Iran atom woes: report
In what the Times described as a joint Israeli–U.S. effort to undermine Iran's nuclear ambitions, it said the tests of the destructive Stuxnet worm had occurred over the past two years at the heavily guarded Dimona complex in the Negev desert.
Stuxnet Virus Attack: Russia Warns of ‘Iranian Chernobyl'
Russian nuclear scientists are providing technical assistance to Iran's attempts activate the country's first nuclear power plant at the Gulf port.
But they have raised serious concerns about the extensive damage caused to the plant's computer systems by the mysterious Stuxnet virus, which was discovered last year and is widely believed to have been the result of a sophisticated joint US-Israeli cyber attack.
AIPAC on Trial By Philip Giraldi
Rosen claims to have “about 180” documents that demonstrate that classified information was regularly collected by AIPAC and given to the Israeli Embassy with the full knowledge of the organization’s executive director and other senior officials, something they have denied under oath. He also claims that depositions of FBI agents who questioned AIPAC officials will demonstrate that the collection and use of classified information was routine, generally known, and widely accepted within AIPAC. Notice all of the neoconservatives involved in passing intelligence to AIPAC. Big surprise there, huh?
Government Spy Infiltrated Antiwar Groups Before FBI Raids
“When I speak of disruption, I am referring to an August 2009 solidarity delegation to Palestine. This delegation was a fact-finding mission, where participants were to witness the conditions for Palestinians living under U.S.-backed occupation, and to express our solidarity in a person-to-person way. Officer Sullivan made public her plans to join this delegation, she helped to promote it and fundraise for it here in our community. At the same time, she was secretly working to sabotage the trip entirely. Through her work, reports were passed onto Israeli authorities, who then barred entry to the two Minneapolis women traveling with Karen Sullivan. Her action, on behalf of the U.S. government, deprived these women of their rights to travel, association and dissent. The government was wrong to disrupt our important and legal work against U.S. aid to Israel.”
States Warned of $2 Trillion Pensions Shortfall
International envoys tour key Iranian nuclear site
Iran joins Venezuela, Libya to say no harm in $100 oil
US Debt Passes $14 Trillion, Congress Weighs Caps
Today's debt level represents a $45,300 tab for each and everyone in the country
US drones shot down outside Iran airspace: army
Tony Blair to appear before Iraq war inquiry on 21 January
The inquiry is believed to be concerned about the revelation in documents released in June showing that the day before he privately assured Bush he would back US-led military action, Blair was warned by Lord Goldsmith, then attorney general, that an invasion of Iraq would be illegal.
Foreclosure Filings in U.S. May Jump 20% From Record 2010 as Crisis Peaks
The number of U.S. homes receiving a foreclosure filing will climb about 20 percent in 2011, reaching a peak for the housing crisis, as unemployment remains high and banks resume seizures after a slowdown, RealtyTrac Inc. said.
Economy facing headwinds, but Bernanke hopeful
Jobless claims hit a 10-week high last week while producer prices shot up in December, pointing to headwinds for an economy that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said was showing fresh vigor.
WikiLeaks Activist Searched, Questioned At Seattle Airport
Local Blogger Probed By Feds
Arnott said U.S. Capitol police canvassed members of Congress to come up with a list of people across the country who might be considered potential threats to members of Congress. It's up to local law enforcement to protect members of Congress when they return to their home districts.
$100 a barrel likely as gas prices stay above $3
Gas prices continued their climb above the $3.00 a gallon mark for the third straight week. The national average price of regular grade gasoline was $3.10 Friday, up 2 cents from a week ago. Prices remain 12 cents higher than a month ago, 34 cents above year-ago prices, yet $1.01 below the record of $4.11 set in July 2008.
Why Hezbollah Walked
Mossad Zeros in on Tehran's Nuclear Program
Mossad's attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists right in the center of Tehran has cast a spotlight on Israel's shadowy war
........Targeted killings outside of its borders have been used as a military weapon more often by Israel than by any other country. In its 63 years of existence, Israel has acquired a high degree of craftsmanship when it comes to snuffing out its opponents, and was the first country to develop the technology for targeted killings from the air.
In 1978 Israeli agents used poisoned toothpaste to kill Wadih Haddad, the leader of a faction of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Seven years later they packed a copy of the Koran with explosives and sent it to Ali-Akbar Mohtashamipur, Iran's ambassador to Syria. In 1997 they attempted, but ultimately failed, to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashal with the neurotoxin botulin in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
And exactly a year ago, they appeared unconcerned that surveillance cameras captured each stage of their murder of Hamas activist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh -- allowing the world to examine the anatomy of that Dubai attack. Israel is quite capable of executing murders in even hostile nations such as Iran. Tell me again that it was Hezbollah that killed Hariri? Laughable.
US diplomacy suffers a setback in Lebanon
American diplomacy in the Middle East suffered a setback Wednesday when U.S. ally Saudi Arabia abandoned efforts to mediate the political crisis in Lebanon, where the militant group Hezbollah has toppled the Western–backed government.
The withdrawal of Arab powerhouse Saudi Arabia is the latest sign that the competition over influence in Lebanon is tipping in favor of Hezbollah and its patrons Iran and Syria.
My country ought to stop meddling in the affairs of other nations (at the behest of and on behalf of Israel). We have enough problems and frankly, we don't have a dog in that fight.
First US ambassador in 5 years arrives in Syria
Jewish and English 'Defence Leagues' Alliance Sparks Violent Protests in Canada
Demonstrators representing several anti-racism and social action groups shouted slogans and taunts at members of the JDL, whose Canadian leader, Meir Weinstein, announced recently that his group would ally with the British organization, which is known for violence and extremism. Police on foot and horseback managed to control the protest, but not before one officer reportedly suffered a broken rib.
First indictment filed in Lebanon's Hariri killing
On Monday, Foreign Minister Ali Shami cautioned the U.S. to stop meddling in Lebanon. He summoned American Ambassador Maura Connelly to explain her weekend meeting with Nicolas Fattouch, a key undecided lawmaker, as politicians scramble to form a government.
Lebanon in Limbo: A Nation Haunted by the Murder of Rafiq Hariri
The US/Israeli Coup in Beirut
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton preemptively torpedoed negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Syria by telling "Saudi King Abdullah and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri that the U.S. would reject any settlement at the expense of the UN tribunal." (Tehran Times) Clinton knew that the Saudi-Syria team was close to a "breakthrough" that would have resolved contentious issues related to the investigation of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. She could not allow that to happen because it would derail the US/Israeli plan for regime change and another Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
Avi Shlaim on the Neoconservative Middle East War Agenda
After mentioning the major goals of the plan, including the removal of Saddam’s regime, Shlaim declares: “Thus, five years before the attack on the twin towers, the idea of regime change in Baghdad was already on the agenda of some of Israel’s most fervent Republican supporters in Washington.” (p. 299) Regarding the connection of that policy to actual American interests, Shlaim opines that “While the authors’ devotion to Israel’s interests was crystal-clear, their implicit identification of those interests with American interests was much more open to question.”
Israel troops on alert after Lebanon govt falls
Israeli troops in the north were on alert Thursday over worries that the political turmoil in Lebanon might spill over into renewed violence on their shared border, following the collapse of the Lebanese government.
What Now For Lebanon?
More likely would be Israel undertaking a White House green lighted invasion of Lebanon to degrade Hezbollah and Syria as a forward base-up weakening of Iran from ground level. Congressional sources report that the Pentagon disagrees with Israel and intend to attack not from the base but from above the top of the Resistance pyramid which is Iran. The US will hit Iran hard thus hopefully opening up another attempt to peel away Syria and forced them to accept a peace deal with Israel.
Independent Investigation or US-Israeli Cat's-paw?
In August 2010, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah presented "intercepted Israeli reconnaissance footage" and "the recorded confessions of Israeli spies" at news conference in Beirut to support his claim that Israel was responsible for the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. The aerial footage, taken by Israeli unmanned drones, showed the same route taken by Hariri's motorcade on the day of the assassination, suggesting that the ex-PM was being pursued.
Nasrallah's revelations were compelling but, unfortunately, they were ignored by the western media except for the Christian Scientist Monitor which compiled the information in an article titled "Is Hezbollah right that Israel assassinated Lebanon's Rafik Hariri?"
Here's an excerpt from the CSM:
“Israel has the capability to carry out this type of operation, such as Hariri’s assassination and the other assassinations that targeted Lebanon during the past few years,” said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, adding that Israel’s motive was to cast the blame on its enemies, Syria and Hezbollah. ("Is Hezbollah right that Israel assassinated Lebanon's Rafik Hariri?", Christian Scientist Monitor)
Who Lost the Middle East? By Patrick J. Buchanan
should a new wave of revolts sweep the region, we might see the final collapse of the neoconservative foreign policy of George W. Bush.
Military strike on Iran is what unites Netanyahu and Barak
Netanyahu and Barak have hinted over the past two weeks that Israel is on the verge of a surprising diplomatic move. In his address to foreign reporters, Netanyahu promised that in 2011 "the truth will emerge" about who really wants peace in the region.
Federal Probe May Open New Front in Terror War
Subpoenas issued in December reportedly included no details on the information requested. Maureen Clare Murphy, an activist called to testify, said her subpoena simply told her to appear at a hearing January 25. She said she believes that the subpoena came as a result of her work organizing “solidarity delegations to the West Bank.”
....Cole conceded that it’s unlikely for the Times to be prosecuted. This underscores the concerns of Kadidal and others that the Supreme Court ruling could open the door to selective prosecution.
“I don’t think it’s going to be The New York Times that’s going to be prosecuted. I think it’s going to be the small solidarity groups who are working to change the status quo,” said Murphy, the subpoenaed activist.
Do you think this same effort is made to subpoena those that offer material support to Jewish groups on the list of terror organizations? They do in fact have representation on that list, I've seen it. American Israel-supporters send millions and millions of dollars in support of illegal Israeli settlements, war crimes, but not one word is uttered by our officials about it, nevermind any subpoenas.
Capitol Police Compiling Lists of ‘Threats’ to Congressmen
A number of Congressmen have openly discussed imposing harsh new curbs on political speech in the wake of the Tucson shooting, but so far none of those laws has passed, and it seems beyond the simple intimidation factor the FBI can do very little about political critics of seated Congressmen at the moment.
Sen. Joe Lieberman says he will retire in 2012
Turkey prepares to host Iran nuclear talks
Turkey's foreign minister has met EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton for talks ahead of next week's nuclear talks between Iran and world powers in Istanbul.
A Clear Danger to Free Speech
Although this proposed law may be constitutional as applied to government employees who unlawfully leak such material to people who are unauthorized to receive it, it would plainly violate the First Amendment to punish anyone who might publish or otherwise circulate the information after it has been leaked.
Congress quietly prepares to renew Patriot Act
FBI and Department of Justice officials had consistently argued that restricting their blanket authority to conduct warrantless searches would harm national security. The Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves.
Homeland Security's laptop seizures: Interview with Rep. Sanchez
U.S. Officials Privately Say WikiLeaks Damage Limited
Some of the cases of more serious damage have occurred in countries where WikiLeaks' revelations have publicized closer ties with Washington than local officials publicly admit.
Seymour Hersh Unleashed
"What I'm really talking about is how eight or nine neoconservative, radicals if you will, overthrew the American government. Took it over," he said of his forthcoming book. "It's not only that the neocons took it over but how easily they did it -- how Congress disappeared, how the press became part of it, how the public acquiesced."
Latest Chapter in Mideast Tension Is Dennis Ross vs. George Mitchell
The reported friction is, in part, a result of Ross’s increasing influence over Middle East peacemaking efforts. While originally focused on Iran and regional strategic issues, Ross’s portfolio has broadened to include Israel, as the White House has felt a need to repair frayed ties with American Jews and Israeli officials disturbed over perceptions that the administration was pressuring Israel.
....“Dennis is the closest thing you’ll find to a melitz yosher, as far as Israel is concerned,” said the Anti-Defamation League’s national director, Abraham Foxman, who used the ancient Hebrew term for “advocate.”
Yes, that makes sense : have a pro-Israeli as a 'peace negotiator'.
Israel tested worm linked to Iran atom woes: report
In what the Times described as a joint Israeli–U.S. effort to undermine Iran's nuclear ambitions, it said the tests of the destructive Stuxnet worm had occurred over the past two years at the heavily guarded Dimona complex in the Negev desert.
Stuxnet Virus Attack: Russia Warns of ‘Iranian Chernobyl'
Russian nuclear scientists are providing technical assistance to Iran's attempts activate the country's first nuclear power plant at the Gulf port.
But they have raised serious concerns about the extensive damage caused to the plant's computer systems by the mysterious Stuxnet virus, which was discovered last year and is widely believed to have been the result of a sophisticated joint US-Israeli cyber attack.
AIPAC on Trial By Philip Giraldi
Rosen claims to have “about 180” documents that demonstrate that classified information was regularly collected by AIPAC and given to the Israeli Embassy with the full knowledge of the organization’s executive director and other senior officials, something they have denied under oath. He also claims that depositions of FBI agents who questioned AIPAC officials will demonstrate that the collection and use of classified information was routine, generally known, and widely accepted within AIPAC. Notice all of the neoconservatives involved in passing intelligence to AIPAC. Big surprise there, huh?
Government Spy Infiltrated Antiwar Groups Before FBI Raids
“When I speak of disruption, I am referring to an August 2009 solidarity delegation to Palestine. This delegation was a fact-finding mission, where participants were to witness the conditions for Palestinians living under U.S.-backed occupation, and to express our solidarity in a person-to-person way. Officer Sullivan made public her plans to join this delegation, she helped to promote it and fundraise for it here in our community. At the same time, she was secretly working to sabotage the trip entirely. Through her work, reports were passed onto Israeli authorities, who then barred entry to the two Minneapolis women traveling with Karen Sullivan. Her action, on behalf of the U.S. government, deprived these women of their rights to travel, association and dissent. The government was wrong to disrupt our important and legal work against U.S. aid to Israel.”
States Warned of $2 Trillion Pensions Shortfall
International envoys tour key Iranian nuclear site
Iran joins Venezuela, Libya to say no harm in $100 oil
US Debt Passes $14 Trillion, Congress Weighs Caps
Today's debt level represents a $45,300 tab for each and everyone in the country
US drones shot down outside Iran airspace: army
Tony Blair to appear before Iraq war inquiry on 21 January
The inquiry is believed to be concerned about the revelation in documents released in June showing that the day before he privately assured Bush he would back US-led military action, Blair was warned by Lord Goldsmith, then attorney general, that an invasion of Iraq would be illegal.
Foreclosure Filings in U.S. May Jump 20% From Record 2010 as Crisis Peaks
The number of U.S. homes receiving a foreclosure filing will climb about 20 percent in 2011, reaching a peak for the housing crisis, as unemployment remains high and banks resume seizures after a slowdown, RealtyTrac Inc. said.
Economy facing headwinds, but Bernanke hopeful
Jobless claims hit a 10-week high last week while producer prices shot up in December, pointing to headwinds for an economy that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said was showing fresh vigor.
WikiLeaks Activist Searched, Questioned At Seattle Airport
Local Blogger Probed By Feds
Arnott said U.S. Capitol police canvassed members of Congress to come up with a list of people across the country who might be considered potential threats to members of Congress. It's up to local law enforcement to protect members of Congress when they return to their home districts.
$100 a barrel likely as gas prices stay above $3
Gas prices continued their climb above the $3.00 a gallon mark for the third straight week. The national average price of regular grade gasoline was $3.10 Friday, up 2 cents from a week ago. Prices remain 12 cents higher than a month ago, 34 cents above year-ago prices, yet $1.01 below the record of $4.11 set in July 2008.
Why Hezbollah Walked
Mossad Zeros in on Tehran's Nuclear Program
Mossad's attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists right in the center of Tehran has cast a spotlight on Israel's shadowy war
........Targeted killings outside of its borders have been used as a military weapon more often by Israel than by any other country. In its 63 years of existence, Israel has acquired a high degree of craftsmanship when it comes to snuffing out its opponents, and was the first country to develop the technology for targeted killings from the air.
In 1978 Israeli agents used poisoned toothpaste to kill Wadih Haddad, the leader of a faction of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Seven years later they packed a copy of the Koran with explosives and sent it to Ali-Akbar Mohtashamipur, Iran's ambassador to Syria. In 1997 they attempted, but ultimately failed, to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashal with the neurotoxin botulin in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
And exactly a year ago, they appeared unconcerned that surveillance cameras captured each stage of their murder of Hamas activist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh -- allowing the world to examine the anatomy of that Dubai attack. Israel is quite capable of executing murders in even hostile nations such as Iran. Tell me again that it was Hezbollah that killed Hariri? Laughable.
US diplomacy suffers a setback in Lebanon
American diplomacy in the Middle East suffered a setback Wednesday when U.S. ally Saudi Arabia abandoned efforts to mediate the political crisis in Lebanon, where the militant group Hezbollah has toppled the Western–backed government.
The withdrawal of Arab powerhouse Saudi Arabia is the latest sign that the competition over influence in Lebanon is tipping in favor of Hezbollah and its patrons Iran and Syria.
My country ought to stop meddling in the affairs of other nations (at the behest of and on behalf of Israel). We have enough problems and frankly, we don't have a dog in that fight.
First US ambassador in 5 years arrives in Syria
Jewish and English 'Defence Leagues' Alliance Sparks Violent Protests in Canada
Demonstrators representing several anti-racism and social action groups shouted slogans and taunts at members of the JDL, whose Canadian leader, Meir Weinstein, announced recently that his group would ally with the British organization, which is known for violence and extremism. Police on foot and horseback managed to control the protest, but not before one officer reportedly suffered a broken rib.
First indictment filed in Lebanon's Hariri killing
On Monday, Foreign Minister Ali Shami cautioned the U.S. to stop meddling in Lebanon. He summoned American Ambassador Maura Connelly to explain her weekend meeting with Nicolas Fattouch, a key undecided lawmaker, as politicians scramble to form a government.
Lebanon in Limbo: A Nation Haunted by the Murder of Rafiq Hariri
The US/Israeli Coup in Beirut
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton preemptively torpedoed negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Syria by telling "Saudi King Abdullah and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri that the U.S. would reject any settlement at the expense of the UN tribunal." (Tehran Times) Clinton knew that the Saudi-Syria team was close to a "breakthrough" that would have resolved contentious issues related to the investigation of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. She could not allow that to happen because it would derail the US/Israeli plan for regime change and another Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
Avi Shlaim on the Neoconservative Middle East War Agenda
After mentioning the major goals of the plan, including the removal of Saddam’s regime, Shlaim declares: “Thus, five years before the attack on the twin towers, the idea of regime change in Baghdad was already on the agenda of some of Israel’s most fervent Republican supporters in Washington.” (p. 299) Regarding the connection of that policy to actual American interests, Shlaim opines that “While the authors’ devotion to Israel’s interests was crystal-clear, their implicit identification of those interests with American interests was much more open to question.”
Israel troops on alert after Lebanon govt falls
Israeli troops in the north were on alert Thursday over worries that the political turmoil in Lebanon might spill over into renewed violence on their shared border, following the collapse of the Lebanese government.
What Now For Lebanon?
More likely would be Israel undertaking a White House green lighted invasion of Lebanon to degrade Hezbollah and Syria as a forward base-up weakening of Iran from ground level. Congressional sources report that the Pentagon disagrees with Israel and intend to attack not from the base but from above the top of the Resistance pyramid which is Iran. The US will hit Iran hard thus hopefully opening up another attempt to peel away Syria and forced them to accept a peace deal with Israel.
Independent Investigation or US-Israeli Cat's-paw?
In August 2010, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah presented "intercepted Israeli reconnaissance footage" and "the recorded confessions of Israeli spies" at news conference in Beirut to support his claim that Israel was responsible for the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. The aerial footage, taken by Israeli unmanned drones, showed the same route taken by Hariri's motorcade on the day of the assassination, suggesting that the ex-PM was being pursued.
Nasrallah's revelations were compelling but, unfortunately, they were ignored by the western media except for the Christian Scientist Monitor which compiled the information in an article titled "Is Hezbollah right that Israel assassinated Lebanon's Rafik Hariri?"
Here's an excerpt from the CSM:
“Israel has the capability to carry out this type of operation, such as Hariri’s assassination and the other assassinations that targeted Lebanon during the past few years,” said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, adding that Israel’s motive was to cast the blame on its enemies, Syria and Hezbollah. ("Is Hezbollah right that Israel assassinated Lebanon's Rafik Hariri?", Christian Scientist Monitor)
Who Lost the Middle East? By Patrick J. Buchanan
should a new wave of revolts sweep the region, we might see the final collapse of the neoconservative foreign policy of George W. Bush.
Military strike on Iran is what unites Netanyahu and Barak
Netanyahu and Barak have hinted over the past two weeks that Israel is on the verge of a surprising diplomatic move. In his address to foreign reporters, Netanyahu promised that in 2011 "the truth will emerge" about who really wants peace in the region.
Federal Probe May Open New Front in Terror War
Subpoenas issued in December reportedly included no details on the information requested. Maureen Clare Murphy, an activist called to testify, said her subpoena simply told her to appear at a hearing January 25. She said she believes that the subpoena came as a result of her work organizing “solidarity delegations to the West Bank.”
....Cole conceded that it’s unlikely for the Times to be prosecuted. This underscores the concerns of Kadidal and others that the Supreme Court ruling could open the door to selective prosecution.
“I don’t think it’s going to be The New York Times that’s going to be prosecuted. I think it’s going to be the small solidarity groups who are working to change the status quo,” said Murphy, the subpoenaed activist.
Do you think this same effort is made to subpoena those that offer material support to Jewish groups on the list of terror organizations? They do in fact have representation on that list, I've seen it. American Israel-supporters send millions and millions of dollars in support of illegal Israeli settlements, war crimes, but not one word is uttered by our officials about it, nevermind any subpoenas.
Capitol Police Compiling Lists of ‘Threats’ to Congressmen
A number of Congressmen have openly discussed imposing harsh new curbs on political speech in the wake of the Tucson shooting, but so far none of those laws has passed, and it seems beyond the simple intimidation factor the FBI can do very little about political critics of seated Congressmen at the moment.
Sen. Joe Lieberman says he will retire in 2012
Turkey prepares to host Iran nuclear talks
Turkey's foreign minister has met EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton for talks ahead of next week's nuclear talks between Iran and world powers in Istanbul.
A Clear Danger to Free Speech
Although this proposed law may be constitutional as applied to government employees who unlawfully leak such material to people who are unauthorized to receive it, it would plainly violate the First Amendment to punish anyone who might publish or otherwise circulate the information after it has been leaked.
Congress quietly prepares to renew Patriot Act
FBI and Department of Justice officials had consistently argued that restricting their blanket authority to conduct warrantless searches would harm national security. The Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves.
Homeland Security's laptop seizures: Interview with Rep. Sanchez
U.S. Officials Privately Say WikiLeaks Damage Limited
Some of the cases of more serious damage have occurred in countries where WikiLeaks' revelations have publicized closer ties with Washington than local officials publicly admit.
Seymour Hersh Unleashed
"What I'm really talking about is how eight or nine neoconservative, radicals if you will, overthrew the American government. Took it over," he said of his forthcoming book. "It's not only that the neocons took it over but how easily they did it -- how Congress disappeared, how the press became part of it, how the public acquiesced."
Latest Chapter in Mideast Tension Is Dennis Ross vs. George Mitchell
The reported friction is, in part, a result of Ross’s increasing influence over Middle East peacemaking efforts. While originally focused on Iran and regional strategic issues, Ross’s portfolio has broadened to include Israel, as the White House has felt a need to repair frayed ties with American Jews and Israeli officials disturbed over perceptions that the administration was pressuring Israel.
....“Dennis is the closest thing you’ll find to a melitz yosher, as far as Israel is concerned,” said the Anti-Defamation League’s national director, Abraham Foxman, who used the ancient Hebrew term for “advocate.”
Yes, that makes sense : have a pro-Israeli as a 'peace negotiator'.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Headlines for January 6 - January 12
A Stand For Justice
Economists Foretell of U.S. Decline, China's Ascension
"The age of American predominance is over," he told a panel. "The (Chinese) Yuan will be the world's reserve currency within two decades."
Mossad chief: Iran won't go nuclear before 2015
Israel's newly retired spy chief thinks Iran will not be able to build a nuclear bomb before 2015, Israeli media reported Friday – further pushing back Israeli intelligence estimates of when Tehran might become a nuclear power.
Appropriators Sound Support for Israel Missile Defense
In August, House appropriators pushed funding for Israeli missile defense to $422.7 million, its highest level ever.
Funding for Israel missile defense over the past two years adds up to nearly $1 billion. Aid to support the short-range David's Sling anti-missile system, for example, more than doubled from $37 million in FY 2008 to $80 million in FY 2010.
With the mounting Iranian threat and Israel's role as America's strongest ally in the Middle East, lawmakers say, Congress will need to continue to strongly fund these programs.
"I continue to view the Jewish state as America's most important military and intelligence and economic ally and friend in that most dangerous and important part of the world," said Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), who sits on the Appropriations subcommittees on Defense, Homeland Security and State and Foreign Operations As more Americans are jobless and go hungry, Congress continues to shovel billions to Israel.
Poisonous Politics by Patrick J. Buchanan
As of today, there is not a shred of evidence of any connection between what Sarah Palin or Fox News said and what Jared Loughner did. From the evidence, Loughner had his first and perhaps his only encounter with Giffords in 2007, a year before Palin ever came to national attention as the running mate of John McCain.
The man charged with this awful atrocity is Jared Loughner.
The Meaning of WikiLeaks by Philip Giraldi
Classified information and how it is used was also the focus in the trial that was terminated in May 2009 of Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, AIPAC employees who passed sensitive intelligence to Israeli government officials and to Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post. The very same people at the Wall Street Journal and the Weekly Standard who are now calling on the federal government to declare war on WikiLeaks and to summarily execute Julian Assange were at that time complaining about the fact that Rosen and Weissman had been charged with a crime because "everyone" passes around classified information in Washington. Excellent points made by Mr. Giraldi.
Patriot Act, a Nazi Law: Ex-CIA Officer
“The Patriot Act was similar to legislation carried out by the Nazis because essentially it was using terrorism in both cases as an excuse to strip civil liberties that were enjoyed in both countries; in the United States and Germany,” Phillip Giraldi said in an interview with Press TV.
Lockheed’s Shadow
Lockheed Martin doesn’t actually run the U.S. government, but sometimes it seems as if it might as well. After all, it received $36 billion in government contracts in 2008 alone, more than any company in history. It now does work for more than two dozen government agencies from the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s involved in surveillance and information processing for the CIA, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Pentagon, the Census Bureau, and the Postal Service.
....While the bulk of its influence-peddling activities may be perfectly legal, the company also has quite a track record when it comes to law-breaking: it ranks number one on the “contractor misconduct” database maintained by the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington-DC-based watchdog group.
...Tim Shorrock, author of the seminal book Spies for Hire, has described Lockheed Martin as “the largest defense contractor and private intelligence force in the world.” As far back as 2002, the company plunged into the “Total Information Awareness” (TIA) program that was former National Security Advisor Admiral John Poindexter’s pet project. A giant database to collect telephone numbers, credit cards, and reams of other personal data from U.S. citizens in the name of fighting terrorism, the program was de-funded by Congress the following year, but concerns remain that the National Security Agency is now running a similar secret program.
....In the meantime, since at least 2004, Lockheed Martin has been involved in thePentagon’s Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), which collected personal data on American citizens for storage in a database known as “Threat and Local Observation Notice” (and far more dramatically by the acronym TALON). While Congress shut down the domestic spying aspect of the program in 2007 (assuming, that is, that the Pentagon followed orders), CIFA itself continues to operate. In 2005, Washington Post military and intelligence expert William Arkin revealed that, while the database was theoretically being used to track anyone suspected of terrorism, drug trafficking, or espionage, “some military gumshoe or overzealous commander just has to decide someone is a ‘threat to the military’” for it to be brought into play. Among the “threatening” citizens actually tracked by CIFA were members of antiwar groups. As part of its role in CIFA, Lockheed Martin was not only monitoring intelligence, but also “estimating future threats.” Holy crap, Batman. Clearly they don't have as much power over our government than the Israeli lobby. Or do they? Hmm....put your white hat on and ride, LM.
Netanyahu: Only 'credible' military threat led by U.S. can stop nuclear Iran
Only the convincing threat of military action headed by the United States will persuade Iran to drop plans to build an atomic bomb, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
Israel’s Post-American Future
In an example of dialectical thinking run amok, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has turned the strategic logic behind the patron-client state relationship on its head. He has “threatened” Washington that unless it supports his radical Zionist agenda, Jerusalem would ally itself with another global player that would supposedly be willing to prop up a militarized anti-Arab Jewish Ghetto in the Middle East.
US forced to import bullets from Israel as troops use 250,000 for every rebel killed
Israel admits Iran incapable of producing nuclear weapon before 2015
"There's a lot that's happened. We've seen this worm, this virus that's attacked the computers that run the Iranian uranium enrichment process,” Steinberg said. “We've seen some scientists who have been killed and injured, people who are working on the nuclear enrichment program in Iran, and we've seen sanctions. When you put those pieces together, it makes sense to see a slowdown in the process." Israel was behind those events.
What Would Einstein Say? By Fidel Castro
Today the leaders of the State of Israel practice genocide and are associating themselves with the most reactionary forces on the planet.
Iran says it has arrested spy ring linked to Israel
Law and Disorder by Philip Giraldi
So why the sympathy in the media and within government circles for the oligarchs? Well, it is the usual nonsense. Hardliners in Washington, many of whom are our good old friendly neocons, need an enemy and Russia was available. Some have also cleverly woven into their narrative the theme of anti-Semitism, always available when all else fails. The fact is that most oligarchs and their enablers from the West who looted Russia were Jewish and a number were Israeli citizens. But they were also criminals Another must read article by Philip Giraldi.
AIPAC Challenged in Court Over Espionage and Theft of Classified Report Investigation
On January 10, 2011, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was challenged in the District of Columbia Superior Court over its past receipt, duplication and redistribution of U.S. government classified documents.
Hezbollah and its allies topple Lebanon government
Disputes over the tribunal have paralyzed the government for months, with Hezbollah denouncing the court as a conspiracy by the U.S. and Israel and urging the prime minister to reject any of its findings. But Hariri has refused to break cooperation with the Netherlands–based tribunal.
Pentagon Must Sharpen Iran Strategy to Counter Arms Buildup, Congress Says
The provision is the second in as many years directing the military leaders to initiate a specific task pertaining to Iran. Congress last year, in its fiscal 2010 defense bill, required an unclassified report on Iran's current military capabilities and strategy.
The new section goes further and "appears to reflect the views of those who believe a more well–developed military option" is needed to counter Iran's potential nuclear weapons program, said Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East analyst with the non–partisan Congressional Research Service.
Israel pleased, no doubt.
Iran warns neighbors not to aid Israel
Iran warned neighboring countries not to help its arch–foe Israel, one day after announcing it had rounded up a spy ring linked to Israel which it said had assassinated an Iranian nuclear scientist.
Lebanon's Hariri urges more U.N. pressure on Israel
Lebanon's prime minister urged the U.N. chief on Sunday to increase pressure on Israel to end all violations of Lebanese borders, and to help prevent it from exploiting Lebanese oil and gas, a Lebanese official said.
Iran vows to bring Israel to justice for 'crimes against humanity'
Iran has declared that it intends to seek international action against Israel after blaming the Mossad for the murder of a nuclear scientist last year, Iran's Press TV reported on Tuesday.
Israeli Anti-Missile System Faces Fire at Home and Delays in U.S. Funding
speaking under usual diplomatic rules of anonymity, an Israeli diplomat said that Congress’s strong bipartisan support for funding the program meant that Israel had nothing to worry about, despite the unfortunate delay.
As Americans go hungry..
The Uses of Political Violence by Justin Raimondo
Although the neoconservatives were generally discredited in the wake of the Iraq war, when the complete failure of their policies – and prophecies – became all too apparent even to many of them, the dead-enders among them have sought to make a comeback by transferring their war on Muslims from the Middle East to the home front.
Ex-CIA officer charged with giving reporter secrets
A former CIA officer was arrested on Thursday on charges of illegally disclosing national defense information about Iran to a New York Times reporter who wrote a book.
The U.S. Justice Department said Jeffrey Sterling, 43, was charged with six counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and one count of unlawfully keeping national defense information, mail fraud, unauthorized conveyance of government property and obstructing justice.
Clinton urges Gulf to keep focus on Iran sanctions
Speaking on her plane as it landed in Abu Dhabi, Clinton advised caution when asked about new Israeli estimates suggesting Iran would take longer to acquire the capacity to build a nuclear bomb than previously feared.
"We don't want anyone to be misled by anyone's intelligence analysis," Clinton told reporters.
Wage Drop Has Been Worst In Decades
America Has ‘Reached The Point Of No Return,’ Reagan Budget Director Warns
Republicans, who were elected to a majority in the House of Representatives on promises to cut government spending, promised to cut $100 billion from the budget in their first year. Relatively few have proposed significant decreases in defense spending, and GOP leadership has outright dismissed the possibility.
Are the Deficits Forever? by Patrick J. Buchanan
As Boehner put it, we can’t kick the can up the road anymore, because we’ve come to the end of the road. Like Greece and Portugal, Ireland and Illinois, New York and New Jersey, we have arrived at Hotel California.
Who is Responsible for Giffords? by Philip Giraldi
The terrorist attack on Congresswoman Giffords and her entourage raises some interesting questions of culpability since the laws governing terrorism have been made so elastic that almost anyone can be charged for almost anything. If Jared Loughner were a Muslim, this shooting would have been called a terrorist attack. For those that claim that not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims: it's true because only those crimes committed by Muslims are called terrorist attacks. When the crime is committed by a European-American, who is not Muslim, this simply is branded a murder.
Iran broadcasts 'confession' of man it says was part of assassination plot
Iran's state TV has broadcast the apparent confession of a man it describes as "the main element" of an Israeli-trained network involved in the assassination of an Iranian scientist last year.
Helping Mujahideen-e-Khalq
The material-support statute doesn’t need revision to accommodate non-existent defects. What it does need — and does not often enough get for fear of offending some Muslim organizations — is rigorous enforcement against accurately designated organizations, of which MEK is not one. ~Mukasey, Ridge, Giuliani, and Townsend
Economists Foretell of U.S. Decline, China's Ascension
"The age of American predominance is over," he told a panel. "The (Chinese) Yuan will be the world's reserve currency within two decades."
Mossad chief: Iran won't go nuclear before 2015
Israel's newly retired spy chief thinks Iran will not be able to build a nuclear bomb before 2015, Israeli media reported Friday – further pushing back Israeli intelligence estimates of when Tehran might become a nuclear power.
Appropriators Sound Support for Israel Missile Defense
In August, House appropriators pushed funding for Israeli missile defense to $422.7 million, its highest level ever.
Funding for Israel missile defense over the past two years adds up to nearly $1 billion. Aid to support the short-range David's Sling anti-missile system, for example, more than doubled from $37 million in FY 2008 to $80 million in FY 2010.
With the mounting Iranian threat and Israel's role as America's strongest ally in the Middle East, lawmakers say, Congress will need to continue to strongly fund these programs.
"I continue to view the Jewish state as America's most important military and intelligence and economic ally and friend in that most dangerous and important part of the world," said Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), who sits on the Appropriations subcommittees on Defense, Homeland Security and State and Foreign Operations As more Americans are jobless and go hungry, Congress continues to shovel billions to Israel.
Poisonous Politics by Patrick J. Buchanan
As of today, there is not a shred of evidence of any connection between what Sarah Palin or Fox News said and what Jared Loughner did. From the evidence, Loughner had his first and perhaps his only encounter with Giffords in 2007, a year before Palin ever came to national attention as the running mate of John McCain.
The man charged with this awful atrocity is Jared Loughner.
The Meaning of WikiLeaks by Philip Giraldi
Classified information and how it is used was also the focus in the trial that was terminated in May 2009 of Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, AIPAC employees who passed sensitive intelligence to Israeli government officials and to Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post. The very same people at the Wall Street Journal and the Weekly Standard who are now calling on the federal government to declare war on WikiLeaks and to summarily execute Julian Assange were at that time complaining about the fact that Rosen and Weissman had been charged with a crime because "everyone" passes around classified information in Washington. Excellent points made by Mr. Giraldi.
Patriot Act, a Nazi Law: Ex-CIA Officer
“The Patriot Act was similar to legislation carried out by the Nazis because essentially it was using terrorism in both cases as an excuse to strip civil liberties that were enjoyed in both countries; in the United States and Germany,” Phillip Giraldi said in an interview with Press TV.
Lockheed’s Shadow
Lockheed Martin doesn’t actually run the U.S. government, but sometimes it seems as if it might as well. After all, it received $36 billion in government contracts in 2008 alone, more than any company in history. It now does work for more than two dozen government agencies from the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s involved in surveillance and information processing for the CIA, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Pentagon, the Census Bureau, and the Postal Service.
....While the bulk of its influence-peddling activities may be perfectly legal, the company also has quite a track record when it comes to law-breaking: it ranks number one on the “contractor misconduct” database maintained by the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington-DC-based watchdog group.
...Tim Shorrock, author of the seminal book Spies for Hire, has described Lockheed Martin as “the largest defense contractor and private intelligence force in the world.” As far back as 2002, the company plunged into the “Total Information Awareness” (TIA) program that was former National Security Advisor Admiral John Poindexter’s pet project. A giant database to collect telephone numbers, credit cards, and reams of other personal data from U.S. citizens in the name of fighting terrorism, the program was de-funded by Congress the following year, but concerns remain that the National Security Agency is now running a similar secret program.
....In the meantime, since at least 2004, Lockheed Martin has been involved in thePentagon’s Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), which collected personal data on American citizens for storage in a database known as “Threat and Local Observation Notice” (and far more dramatically by the acronym TALON). While Congress shut down the domestic spying aspect of the program in 2007 (assuming, that is, that the Pentagon followed orders), CIFA itself continues to operate. In 2005, Washington Post military and intelligence expert William Arkin revealed that, while the database was theoretically being used to track anyone suspected of terrorism, drug trafficking, or espionage, “some military gumshoe or overzealous commander just has to decide someone is a ‘threat to the military’” for it to be brought into play. Among the “threatening” citizens actually tracked by CIFA were members of antiwar groups. As part of its role in CIFA, Lockheed Martin was not only monitoring intelligence, but also “estimating future threats.” Holy crap, Batman. Clearly they don't have as much power over our government than the Israeli lobby. Or do they? Hmm....put your white hat on and ride, LM.
Netanyahu: Only 'credible' military threat led by U.S. can stop nuclear Iran
Only the convincing threat of military action headed by the United States will persuade Iran to drop plans to build an atomic bomb, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
Israel’s Post-American Future
In an example of dialectical thinking run amok, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has turned the strategic logic behind the patron-client state relationship on its head. He has “threatened” Washington that unless it supports his radical Zionist agenda, Jerusalem would ally itself with another global player that would supposedly be willing to prop up a militarized anti-Arab Jewish Ghetto in the Middle East.
US forced to import bullets from Israel as troops use 250,000 for every rebel killed
Israel admits Iran incapable of producing nuclear weapon before 2015
"There's a lot that's happened. We've seen this worm, this virus that's attacked the computers that run the Iranian uranium enrichment process,” Steinberg said. “We've seen some scientists who have been killed and injured, people who are working on the nuclear enrichment program in Iran, and we've seen sanctions. When you put those pieces together, it makes sense to see a slowdown in the process." Israel was behind those events.
What Would Einstein Say? By Fidel Castro
Today the leaders of the State of Israel practice genocide and are associating themselves with the most reactionary forces on the planet.
Iran says it has arrested spy ring linked to Israel
Law and Disorder by Philip Giraldi
So why the sympathy in the media and within government circles for the oligarchs? Well, it is the usual nonsense. Hardliners in Washington, many of whom are our good old friendly neocons, need an enemy and Russia was available. Some have also cleverly woven into their narrative the theme of anti-Semitism, always available when all else fails. The fact is that most oligarchs and their enablers from the West who looted Russia were Jewish and a number were Israeli citizens. But they were also criminals Another must read article by Philip Giraldi.
AIPAC Challenged in Court Over Espionage and Theft of Classified Report Investigation
On January 10, 2011, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was challenged in the District of Columbia Superior Court over its past receipt, duplication and redistribution of U.S. government classified documents.
Hezbollah and its allies topple Lebanon government
Disputes over the tribunal have paralyzed the government for months, with Hezbollah denouncing the court as a conspiracy by the U.S. and Israel and urging the prime minister to reject any of its findings. But Hariri has refused to break cooperation with the Netherlands–based tribunal.
Pentagon Must Sharpen Iran Strategy to Counter Arms Buildup, Congress Says
The provision is the second in as many years directing the military leaders to initiate a specific task pertaining to Iran. Congress last year, in its fiscal 2010 defense bill, required an unclassified report on Iran's current military capabilities and strategy.
The new section goes further and "appears to reflect the views of those who believe a more well–developed military option" is needed to counter Iran's potential nuclear weapons program, said Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East analyst with the non–partisan Congressional Research Service.
Israel pleased, no doubt.
Iran warns neighbors not to aid Israel
Iran warned neighboring countries not to help its arch–foe Israel, one day after announcing it had rounded up a spy ring linked to Israel which it said had assassinated an Iranian nuclear scientist.
Lebanon's Hariri urges more U.N. pressure on Israel
Lebanon's prime minister urged the U.N. chief on Sunday to increase pressure on Israel to end all violations of Lebanese borders, and to help prevent it from exploiting Lebanese oil and gas, a Lebanese official said.
Iran vows to bring Israel to justice for 'crimes against humanity'
Iran has declared that it intends to seek international action against Israel after blaming the Mossad for the murder of a nuclear scientist last year, Iran's Press TV reported on Tuesday.
Israeli Anti-Missile System Faces Fire at Home and Delays in U.S. Funding
speaking under usual diplomatic rules of anonymity, an Israeli diplomat said that Congress’s strong bipartisan support for funding the program meant that Israel had nothing to worry about, despite the unfortunate delay.
As Americans go hungry..
The Uses of Political Violence by Justin Raimondo
Although the neoconservatives were generally discredited in the wake of the Iraq war, when the complete failure of their policies – and prophecies – became all too apparent even to many of them, the dead-enders among them have sought to make a comeback by transferring their war on Muslims from the Middle East to the home front.
Ex-CIA officer charged with giving reporter secrets
A former CIA officer was arrested on Thursday on charges of illegally disclosing national defense information about Iran to a New York Times reporter who wrote a book.
The U.S. Justice Department said Jeffrey Sterling, 43, was charged with six counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and one count of unlawfully keeping national defense information, mail fraud, unauthorized conveyance of government property and obstructing justice.
Clinton urges Gulf to keep focus on Iran sanctions
Speaking on her plane as it landed in Abu Dhabi, Clinton advised caution when asked about new Israeli estimates suggesting Iran would take longer to acquire the capacity to build a nuclear bomb than previously feared.
"We don't want anyone to be misled by anyone's intelligence analysis," Clinton told reporters.
Wage Drop Has Been Worst In Decades
America Has ‘Reached The Point Of No Return,’ Reagan Budget Director Warns
Republicans, who were elected to a majority in the House of Representatives on promises to cut government spending, promised to cut $100 billion from the budget in their first year. Relatively few have proposed significant decreases in defense spending, and GOP leadership has outright dismissed the possibility.
Are the Deficits Forever? by Patrick J. Buchanan
As Boehner put it, we can’t kick the can up the road anymore, because we’ve come to the end of the road. Like Greece and Portugal, Ireland and Illinois, New York and New Jersey, we have arrived at Hotel California.
Who is Responsible for Giffords? by Philip Giraldi
The terrorist attack on Congresswoman Giffords and her entourage raises some interesting questions of culpability since the laws governing terrorism have been made so elastic that almost anyone can be charged for almost anything. If Jared Loughner were a Muslim, this shooting would have been called a terrorist attack. For those that claim that not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims: it's true because only those crimes committed by Muslims are called terrorist attacks. When the crime is committed by a European-American, who is not Muslim, this simply is branded a murder.
Iran broadcasts 'confession' of man it says was part of assassination plot
Iran's state TV has broadcast the apparent confession of a man it describes as "the main element" of an Israeli-trained network involved in the assassination of an Iranian scientist last year.
Helping Mujahideen-e-Khalq
The material-support statute doesn’t need revision to accommodate non-existent defects. What it does need — and does not often enough get for fear of offending some Muslim organizations — is rigorous enforcement against accurately designated organizations, of which MEK is not one. ~Mukasey, Ridge, Giuliani, and Townsend
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Headlines for December 30 - January 5
A Stand For Justice
US Military Investigates 'Death Squad' Accused of Murdering Afghans
In the chat, Winfield says he is troubled by one murder by other members of his unit. "Some innocent guy about my age just farming. They made it look like the guy threw a grenade and them and mowed him down ... Everyone pretty much knows it was staged. If I say anything it's my word against everyone. There's no one in this platoon that agrees this was wrong. They all don't care."
Leading conservatives openly support a Terrorist group
GOP Rep. Peter King is launching a McCarthyite Congressional hearing to investigate radicalism and Terrorism sympathies among American Muslim while ignoring his own long history of enthusiastic support for Catholic Terrorists in Northern Ireland; as Marcy Wheeler says: "Peter King would still be in prison if the US had treated his material support for terrorism as it now does."
Israeli PM appeals to US to free convicted spy
Israeli analyst Yossi Alpher speculated that it could be part of a deal over the stalled peace talks. He said Netanyahu could sell concessions to his hard–line government more easily if he won freedom for Pollard at the same time.
On the other hand, Alpher said, it could be just a "populist gesture on Netanyahu's part directed at various circles in Israel and the American Jewish community."
How is it that releasing an American traitor would please the American Jewish community? Explain that one to the rest of us.
Pollard Again by Philip Giraldi
That this man should go free to curry favor with the Israel Lobby and with a snake like Netanyahu is despicable. Bill Clinton almost did it and one wonders if a politically damaged Obama will take the plunge. If he does, the defense and intelligence communities will not stand for it, setting up an interesting confrontation with the White House over the next two years. Obama should once and for all state emphatically that Pollard will never go free.
'Mossad, US, UK cooperating to sabotage Iran nukes'
The sabotage included, according to the report, the introduction of the Stuxnet computer virus into 30,000 computers in Iran’s nuclear reactors and explosions in October in which 18 Iranian technicians were killed at a factory in the Zagros mountains that manufactured Shihab missiles.
According to the sources, the assassination of five Iranian nuclear scientists were also carried out by the Mossad in cooperation with the American and British intelligence agencies.
Will 2011 Become 1848? by Philip Giraldi
Sarah Palin recently paused in her campaign to amass as much money in as short a time as possible to inveigh against Iran in December 23rd’s USA Today. Mamma Grizzly, who in all probability had the article written for her by some neocon hack like Bill Kristol, opens up with “Iran continues to defy the international community in its drive to acquire nuclear weapons” and goes downhill from there. “Israel would face the gravest threat to its existence…Iran’s leaders have repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction”…“a second Holocaust”…“Iran has provided arms used to kill American soldiers”…she is the “biggest state sponsor of terrorism.”
Iran claims to down spy planes but offers no proof
Iran's Revolutionary Guard claims to have shot down several Western spy planes, including two in the Persian Gulf, but provided no evidence.
Iran invites world, save US, to tour nuclear sites
Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton Are Terrorists Now
The former Bush officials presumably like the MEK because the MEK wants to kill Iranians, which is a good thing right now even though Saddam Hussein probably killed more Iranians than anyone who ever lived and that didn't seem to get him much sympathy from John Bolton.
US memo: Iranian hard-liners blocked nuke deal
Census: Number of Poor May Be Millions Higher
The number of poor people in the U.S. is millions higher than previously known, with 1 in 6 Americans — many of them 65 and older — struggling in poverty due to rising medical care and other costs, according to preliminary census figures released Wednesday. Let's send Israel another billion.
Number of Uninsured Americans Soars to 50 Million
Last week the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured issued a new report giving a grim assessment of the toll the recession and high unemployment has taken on the nation's workforce: the number of uninsured rose to 50.0 million in 2009, an increase of 4.3 million. Let's send Israel another billion dollars.
63 Percent of Americans Oppose War in Afghanistan
Opposition to the war in Afghanistan is at an all-time high, with 63 percent of the public now opposed to U.S. involvement there, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey.
What’s “Weird” About Ron Paul?
Truth be told, from the last election to today, the degree to which Paul has been out of sync with his party and the larger conservative movement has more often reflected where everyone but Ron Paul has strayed from conservative principles. National Review is correct to note that the congressman is weird among conservatives — Ron Paul has never been as confused, hypocritical or politically schizophrenic as the larger conservative movement. Weird
Judith Miller Scolds Assange for not ‘Verifying’ Sources
Judith Miller was heavily exploited as a very useful, very willing tool for the neoconservatives pushing the country into war with Iraq in 2003. Citing unverified evidence of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear ambitions, Miller wrote for The New York Times a series of reports that were later used by the Bush Administration as grounding for the invasion. Here was her response when it all backfired and fingers started pointing to her shoddy, agenda-ridden reporting:
“[M]y job isn’t to assess the government’s information and be an independent intelligence analyst myself. My job is to tell readers of The New York Times what the government thought about Iraq’s arsenal.”
Dramatic spike in gas prices forecast
The former head of Shell Oil has warned that gas prices could hit $5 a gallon by 2012 because of fast-growing demand in emerging countries such as China and India, where more and more people are buying cars, combined with restraints on drilling in the U.S. in the wake of last year's disastrous Gulf oil spill.
Aftenposten: Israel gears up for Iran attack
Standing together against US government witch hunt
In a press release issued by the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Murphy stated, "Along with several others, I am being summoned to appear before the Grand Jury on Tuesday, January 25th, in the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago. We are being targeted for the work we do to end US funding of the Israeli occupation, ending the war in Afghanistan and ending the occupation of Iraq. What is at stake for all of us is our right to dissent and organize to change harmful US foreign policy" First they came for ...
Max Blumenthal « Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton and Charles Goyette
how the David Project – an Israel-lobby-created college campus group targeting pro-Palestinian academics – laid the foundation for the Islamophobia crusade; Pamela Geller‘s interesting history and close affiliation with European fascists; and how widespread fear of a global Islamic caliphate gives the US empire a reason for existence and serves to justify the otherwise nonsensical wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
UK cable in 1980 said Israel ready to use bomb
A British ambassador to Israel warned as early as 1980 that Israel would detonate a nuclear bomb in case of a new war with the Arabs, according to previously secret state documents released on Thursday.
Oil settles below $90 as monthlong rally sputters
"The question everyone has is how much further do we have to go before we start stunting the economic recovery,"
WikiLeaks quotes IDF chief: Iran could hit Israel within 12 minutes
Ashkenazi is supposed to have also told the American delegation on November 15, 2009 that Israel was preparing for a large-scale war with Hamas or Hezbollah.
Lawmaker Plans Controversial Hearings on Islamic Threat
New York Rep. Peter King has long railed against a “wall of political correctness” blocking out his warnings about the mass threat he sees coming from the mosques of America. Now, as incoming chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, the Long Island Republican is poised to do something about this.
King, who has vowed to make hearings on this perceived threat his first order of business as chairman, promises to “do all I can [to] drive the public debate on Islamic radicalization.” But some question whether a former supporter of the Irish Republican Army, which targeted civilians with its bombs, is the right person for this job.
Recall this article, and also this one. The greatest amount of anti-Muslim vitriol in this country effuses from Israel-supporters.
AIPAC Protests Disclosure of Its Secret Files by Grant Smith
AIPAC is determined to treat the Rosen defamation lawsuit as that of a “disgruntled former employee” while dodging more relevant questions about its own handling of government classified information. Rosen has continually introduced highly sensitive AIPAC documents into court filings while threatening to put more about AIPAC’s most sensitive operations into the public domain Well well well. Read the entire article. What was this all about, hmm?...
Now the rich get richer quicker
These figures show that the shocking economic collapse of the last two years has been no collapse whatsoever for the most affluent, even while it remains traumatic for most, and catastrophic for many. Yet instead of generating a sense of moral urgency, this condition has produced a spirit of entitlement among the privileged, complacency among the struggling middle, and resignation among the impoverished.
The Tea Party and Foreign Policy
They really need to get informed on what really is happening overseas. And this knowledge is not going to be gleaned from the likes of Fox News.
Soon To-Be Ex-Congressman John Hall Warns Against Creeping Fascism
In a wide-ranging interview before he prepares to leave the House of Representatives, Hudson Valley Congressman John Hall warned that the nation could quickly descend into Fascism if more is not done to curb the influence of corporate money in politics.
Khodorkovsky's trip to the slammer: "Booyah, Putin"
US worried by 'trend' of Christian attacks
In the past few days, anti–Christian attacks left 21 people dead in Egypt, two slain in Iraq and 86 slaughtered in Nigeria.
There's no substitute for Washington
This week it emerged that $205 million in American aid pledged for the acquisition of an additional Iron Dome missile interception system is being delayed because of a dispute in Congress. And Israel expects the administration to abide by its commitment and increase annual defense aid to $3 billion, an all-time record, while it deliberates over cuts in its defense budget.
US Military Investigates 'Death Squad' Accused of Murdering Afghans
In the chat, Winfield says he is troubled by one murder by other members of his unit. "Some innocent guy about my age just farming. They made it look like the guy threw a grenade and them and mowed him down ... Everyone pretty much knows it was staged. If I say anything it's my word against everyone. There's no one in this platoon that agrees this was wrong. They all don't care."
Leading conservatives openly support a Terrorist group
GOP Rep. Peter King is launching a McCarthyite Congressional hearing to investigate radicalism and Terrorism sympathies among American Muslim while ignoring his own long history of enthusiastic support for Catholic Terrorists in Northern Ireland; as Marcy Wheeler says: "Peter King would still be in prison if the US had treated his material support for terrorism as it now does."
Israeli PM appeals to US to free convicted spy
Israeli analyst Yossi Alpher speculated that it could be part of a deal over the stalled peace talks. He said Netanyahu could sell concessions to his hard–line government more easily if he won freedom for Pollard at the same time.
On the other hand, Alpher said, it could be just a "populist gesture on Netanyahu's part directed at various circles in Israel and the American Jewish community."
How is it that releasing an American traitor would please the American Jewish community? Explain that one to the rest of us.
Pollard Again by Philip Giraldi
That this man should go free to curry favor with the Israel Lobby and with a snake like Netanyahu is despicable. Bill Clinton almost did it and one wonders if a politically damaged Obama will take the plunge. If he does, the defense and intelligence communities will not stand for it, setting up an interesting confrontation with the White House over the next two years. Obama should once and for all state emphatically that Pollard will never go free.
'Mossad, US, UK cooperating to sabotage Iran nukes'
The sabotage included, according to the report, the introduction of the Stuxnet computer virus into 30,000 computers in Iran’s nuclear reactors and explosions in October in which 18 Iranian technicians were killed at a factory in the Zagros mountains that manufactured Shihab missiles.
According to the sources, the assassination of five Iranian nuclear scientists were also carried out by the Mossad in cooperation with the American and British intelligence agencies.
Will 2011 Become 1848? by Philip Giraldi
Sarah Palin recently paused in her campaign to amass as much money in as short a time as possible to inveigh against Iran in December 23rd’s USA Today. Mamma Grizzly, who in all probability had the article written for her by some neocon hack like Bill Kristol, opens up with “Iran continues to defy the international community in its drive to acquire nuclear weapons” and goes downhill from there. “Israel would face the gravest threat to its existence…Iran’s leaders have repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction”…“a second Holocaust”…“Iran has provided arms used to kill American soldiers”…she is the “biggest state sponsor of terrorism.”
Iran claims to down spy planes but offers no proof
Iran's Revolutionary Guard claims to have shot down several Western spy planes, including two in the Persian Gulf, but provided no evidence.
Iran invites world, save US, to tour nuclear sites
Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton Are Terrorists Now
The former Bush officials presumably like the MEK because the MEK wants to kill Iranians, which is a good thing right now even though Saddam Hussein probably killed more Iranians than anyone who ever lived and that didn't seem to get him much sympathy from John Bolton.
US memo: Iranian hard-liners blocked nuke deal
Census: Number of Poor May Be Millions Higher
The number of poor people in the U.S. is millions higher than previously known, with 1 in 6 Americans — many of them 65 and older — struggling in poverty due to rising medical care and other costs, according to preliminary census figures released Wednesday. Let's send Israel another billion.
Number of Uninsured Americans Soars to 50 Million
Last week the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured issued a new report giving a grim assessment of the toll the recession and high unemployment has taken on the nation's workforce: the number of uninsured rose to 50.0 million in 2009, an increase of 4.3 million. Let's send Israel another billion dollars.
63 Percent of Americans Oppose War in Afghanistan
Opposition to the war in Afghanistan is at an all-time high, with 63 percent of the public now opposed to U.S. involvement there, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey.
What’s “Weird” About Ron Paul?
Truth be told, from the last election to today, the degree to which Paul has been out of sync with his party and the larger conservative movement has more often reflected where everyone but Ron Paul has strayed from conservative principles. National Review is correct to note that the congressman is weird among conservatives — Ron Paul has never been as confused, hypocritical or politically schizophrenic as the larger conservative movement. Weird
Judith Miller Scolds Assange for not ‘Verifying’ Sources
Judith Miller was heavily exploited as a very useful, very willing tool for the neoconservatives pushing the country into war with Iraq in 2003. Citing unverified evidence of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear ambitions, Miller wrote for The New York Times a series of reports that were later used by the Bush Administration as grounding for the invasion. Here was her response when it all backfired and fingers started pointing to her shoddy, agenda-ridden reporting:
“[M]y job isn’t to assess the government’s information and be an independent intelligence analyst myself. My job is to tell readers of The New York Times what the government thought about Iraq’s arsenal.”
Dramatic spike in gas prices forecast
The former head of Shell Oil has warned that gas prices could hit $5 a gallon by 2012 because of fast-growing demand in emerging countries such as China and India, where more and more people are buying cars, combined with restraints on drilling in the U.S. in the wake of last year's disastrous Gulf oil spill.
Aftenposten: Israel gears up for Iran attack
Standing together against US government witch hunt
In a press release issued by the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Murphy stated, "Along with several others, I am being summoned to appear before the Grand Jury on Tuesday, January 25th, in the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago. We are being targeted for the work we do to end US funding of the Israeli occupation, ending the war in Afghanistan and ending the occupation of Iraq. What is at stake for all of us is our right to dissent and organize to change harmful US foreign policy" First they came for ...
Max Blumenthal « Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton and Charles Goyette
how the David Project – an Israel-lobby-created college campus group targeting pro-Palestinian academics – laid the foundation for the Islamophobia crusade; Pamela Geller‘s interesting history and close affiliation with European fascists; and how widespread fear of a global Islamic caliphate gives the US empire a reason for existence and serves to justify the otherwise nonsensical wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
UK cable in 1980 said Israel ready to use bomb
A British ambassador to Israel warned as early as 1980 that Israel would detonate a nuclear bomb in case of a new war with the Arabs, according to previously secret state documents released on Thursday.
Oil settles below $90 as monthlong rally sputters
"The question everyone has is how much further do we have to go before we start stunting the economic recovery,"
WikiLeaks quotes IDF chief: Iran could hit Israel within 12 minutes
Ashkenazi is supposed to have also told the American delegation on November 15, 2009 that Israel was preparing for a large-scale war with Hamas or Hezbollah.
Lawmaker Plans Controversial Hearings on Islamic Threat
New York Rep. Peter King has long railed against a “wall of political correctness” blocking out his warnings about the mass threat he sees coming from the mosques of America. Now, as incoming chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, the Long Island Republican is poised to do something about this.
King, who has vowed to make hearings on this perceived threat his first order of business as chairman, promises to “do all I can [to] drive the public debate on Islamic radicalization.” But some question whether a former supporter of the Irish Republican Army, which targeted civilians with its bombs, is the right person for this job.
Recall this article, and also this one. The greatest amount of anti-Muslim vitriol in this country effuses from Israel-supporters.
AIPAC Protests Disclosure of Its Secret Files by Grant Smith
AIPAC is determined to treat the Rosen defamation lawsuit as that of a “disgruntled former employee” while dodging more relevant questions about its own handling of government classified information. Rosen has continually introduced highly sensitive AIPAC documents into court filings while threatening to put more about AIPAC’s most sensitive operations into the public domain Well well well. Read the entire article. What was this all about, hmm?...
Now the rich get richer quicker
These figures show that the shocking economic collapse of the last two years has been no collapse whatsoever for the most affluent, even while it remains traumatic for most, and catastrophic for many. Yet instead of generating a sense of moral urgency, this condition has produced a spirit of entitlement among the privileged, complacency among the struggling middle, and resignation among the impoverished.
The Tea Party and Foreign Policy
They really need to get informed on what really is happening overseas. And this knowledge is not going to be gleaned from the likes of Fox News.
Soon To-Be Ex-Congressman John Hall Warns Against Creeping Fascism
In a wide-ranging interview before he prepares to leave the House of Representatives, Hudson Valley Congressman John Hall warned that the nation could quickly descend into Fascism if more is not done to curb the influence of corporate money in politics.
Khodorkovsky's trip to the slammer: "Booyah, Putin"
US worried by 'trend' of Christian attacks
In the past few days, anti–Christian attacks left 21 people dead in Egypt, two slain in Iraq and 86 slaughtered in Nigeria.
There's no substitute for Washington
This week it emerged that $205 million in American aid pledged for the acquisition of an additional Iron Dome missile interception system is being delayed because of a dispute in Congress. And Israel expects the administration to abide by its commitment and increase annual defense aid to $3 billion, an all-time record, while it deliberates over cuts in its defense budget.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Headlines for December 23 - December 29
A Stand For Justice
Stealth Resolutions by Congress by Philip Giraldi
Then comes the really interesting part. The mainstream media did not report on the passage of House Resolution 1765, as if it did not happen. Nothing appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, NBC, ABC, CBS, or PBS. Nada. Did some gatekeeper news editors decide that the story did not reflect well on Israel and its friends in Congress so it had to vanish down the memory hole? Congress again lining up and bending its knee before AIPAC was not news? Apparently not.
....You have created that evil, Frank, you and all your buddies in Congress who line up to do AIPAC’s bidding and pass shameful pieces of paper like House Resolution 1765, which do terrible damage to the United States and its interests on behalf of Israel. Dante’s Ninth Circle of Hell, the lowest level, was reserved for those who betray their own country. If God truly exists and will someday mete out justice, I expect to learn that you and many of your colleagues from the 111th Congress someday will be doing hard time there. Former CIA Philip Giraldi, hat's off to you, Sir.
West has 3 years to rein in Iran: Israeli minister
The United States and its allies have up to three years to curb Iran's nuclear programme, which has been set back by technical difficulties and sanctions, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday.
Somehow Israel's problems become OUR problems.
Xmas joy mixed with threats for Mideast Christians
Democrats up in arms over hints of reduced aid for Israel
David Harris, president of the National Jewish Democratic Council, charged that “for America to remain engaged as a world leader, and for the sake of Israel’s security, Congress must fully fund foreign aid and aid to Israel together. As the pro-Israel community has said for decades, the two cannot be separated for a host of reasons.”
Harris referred to Israel aid as the “centerpiece” of the pro- Israel community’s agenda.
“To do any less would threaten the bipartisan support that has been the hallmark of this issue – and risk the future of foreign aid,” he said. Israel's shills on Capitol Hill are trying to find ways to spare Israel any cuts to its share of US foreign aid in the midst of cuts to others'. AIPACers are naturally behind it. How many services will be cut to AMERICANS as a result?
US Congress approves defence spending legislation
This year's bill, which received largely bipartisan support in Congress, agreed to $725bn in defence proposals, including $158.7bn for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If approved by the president, the measure would continue to restrict the Pentagon's ability to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp as well as prohibit the transfer of detainees to the US.
Britain forms plan for Gulf evacuation in event of war with Iran
The British armed forces are drawing up contingency plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of British residents and tourists from Dubai and other Gulf cities in the event of war with Iran.
'WikiLeaks to publish Israel cables on Second Lebanon War, Dubai assassination'
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Assange said that only very few files related to Israel were published so far and that WikiLeaks intends on releasing many more documents over the next six months. Hmm?
Iran hangs man convicted of spying for Israel
According to IRNA, Siadat confessed to spying for Israel starting in 2004 in return for $60,000, as well as an additional $7,000 each time he met with Israeli handlers. IRNA said he met up with Israeli intelligence agents during "foreign trade" trips to Turkey, Thailand and the Netherlands and that he transferred data through a digital camera, transmitters and laptop.
WikiLeaks to Release Israel Documents in Six Months
WikiLeaks will release top secret American files concerning Israel in the next six months, its founder Julian Assange disclosed yesterday.
In an excusive interview with Al Jazeera, Assange said only a meagre number of files related to Israel had been published so far, because the newspapers in the West that were given exclusive rights to publish the secret documents were reluctant to publish many sensitive information about Israel.
....“The Guardian, El-Pais and Le Monde have published only two percent of the files related to Israel due to the sensitive relations between Germany, France and Israel. Even New York Times could not publish more due to the sensitivities related to the Jewish community in the US,” he added. Really now?
Egyptian has 'revealed three Israeli spy cells'
The aim of the missions was to deliver sums of money to a Syrian holding a "sensitive" post with the security services.
Al–Shuruk daily said Abdul Razzak has provided investigators with copies of reports he had passed on to Israeli intelligence from a Syrian chemist working for the security services in connection with a Syrian nuclear programme.
The Syrian expert had been spying for Israel for 13 years, according to the confessions. He was executed in Syria last month, said Al–Shuruk, which did not give sources for its report.
Israel destroyed Syria nuclear reactor: WikiLeaks
Former US president George W Bush recounted in his memoirs that he resisted Israeli pressure to bomb the site.
In 2008, current US President Barack Obama said when he was a Democratic hopeful for the White House that Israel was right to bomb the suspected nuclear facility in Syria.
IF Obama could put America’s own real interests first…
UAE 'held back full story of hotel assassination'
Report: Accused Egyptian spy says Israel paid Syrian agent for nuclear plan details
An Egyptian charged with spying for Israel told authorities that his Syrian counterpart was paid 1.5 million dollars to provide Israel with information on Syrian nuclear activities, Egyptian media reported Wednesday.
Counter-terror ‘Expert’ Tells Cops: Kill Militant Muslims, ‘Including Children’
A counter-terrorism consultant told a meeting of law enforcement officials that the way to combat militant Muslims is to "kill them ... including the children," says a news report.
Walid Shoebat, a self-described "former PLO terrorist" who "now speaks out for USA and Israel," reportedly made the comment at a speech during a conference of the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association in Las Vegas this past October, according to the Huffington Post's Chip Berlet.
Commies Are At It Again by Philip Giraldi
What this is really all about is the hidden message, conveyed by Clinton’s reference to selective. Khodorovsky is Jewish, as are most of the oligarchs who stripped Russia of its wealth in the 1990s, and he has his own claque of supporters who regard his conviction as anti-Semitism.
The fact is that anyone who has looked into the looting of Russia knows very well that Khodorovsky is guilty as hell on all charges. This case is demonstrative of the ever-increasing philosemitism of the American government. The spread of philosemitism, not democracy, has become their mission. Conversely, the demonization of those that do not subscribe to this supremacism is also taking place by this same institution.
“National Security” Means Tyranny
Given the free and open nature of the internet, as enjoyed by WikiLeaks, Sen. Joe Lieberman has introduced the “Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010,” which would allow government regulation of the internet in the name of protecting the nation’s financial security, even giving the president a “kill switch” ability to shut down the entire internet. Despite Congress denying the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) such power and federal courts declaring it unconstitutional, last week the FCC pushed forward. Said Sen. Jim DeMint of this legislation, “Americans loudly demanded a more limited federal government this November, but the Obama Administration has dedicated itself to expanding centralized government planning. Today, unelected bureaucrats rammed through an internet takeover, even after Congress and the courts warned them not to.”
2010: What Came, What Went, What’s Next
You wouldn’t know it from listening to Jewish liberals, but November 2 was a great day for our people. Finally, there will be a Jew in the top leadership ranks of the House of Representatives. After Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn, we can take pride in the ascension of Eric Cantor! More seriously, the election is great for Jews on almost every issue we care about: Israel (more support), Iran (more pressure), education (more choice), national security (more serious), immigration (more reform) and the peace process (more realistic). In addition, like all Americans, we can hope the fiscal mess made by previous Congresses will now be addressed.
Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/134149/#ixzz1A74d2n79
Pharmaceutical Industry Fraud
A resolution -- sponsored by House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Howard Berman (D-CA), Middle East Subcommittee Chair Gary Ackerman (D-NY), and soon-to-be House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) -- condemned the findings of the UN Human Rights Council report for documenting such infringements on civil liberties and other human rights violations by the Israeli government. Should be noted for the other form of treason Congress demonstrates (aside from its treason regarding foreign lobbies).
Which ISPs Hand Private Surfing Info Over To Secretive Private Group Who Monitors It For The Feds?
A Vigilant press release says that the organization tracks more than 250 million IP addresses a day and can "develop portfolios on any name, screen name or IP address."
The merger of journalists and government officials
The rich are much richer than you and me
The poorest U.S. households have had a negative net worth in every reading dating back to 1962, meaning that their debts and other liabilities outweigh their assets. They fell deeper into a hole the last two years, with their net worth falling to negative $27,000 on average, or nearly twice as much as they owed two years earlie
Why Wikileaks will be the death of big business and big government.
The Wikileaks revolution isn’t only about airing secrets and transacting information. It’s about dismantling large organizations—from corporations to government bureaucracies. It may well lead to their extinction.
In Money-Changers We Trust
The failure to provide serious regulation of the financial industry to avoid future downturns is documented in devastating detail in that Dec. 28 Bloomberg report, written by Christine Harper: "The U.S. government, promising to make the system safer, buckled under many of the financial industry's protests. Lawmakers spurned changes that would wall off deposit-taking banks from riskier trading. They declined to limit the size of lenders or ban any form of derivatives."
Terrorist watch list: One tip now enough to put name in database, officials say
FoxNews Keeping You Safe From Terrorism?
Indy woman linked to terrorist groups
Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 1
Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 2
Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 3
Press TV's Waqar Rizvi talks to James Morris on "Mossad in Iraq"
Stealth Resolutions by Congress by Philip Giraldi
Then comes the really interesting part. The mainstream media did not report on the passage of House Resolution 1765, as if it did not happen. Nothing appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, NBC, ABC, CBS, or PBS. Nada. Did some gatekeeper news editors decide that the story did not reflect well on Israel and its friends in Congress so it had to vanish down the memory hole? Congress again lining up and bending its knee before AIPAC was not news? Apparently not.
....You have created that evil, Frank, you and all your buddies in Congress who line up to do AIPAC’s bidding and pass shameful pieces of paper like House Resolution 1765, which do terrible damage to the United States and its interests on behalf of Israel. Dante’s Ninth Circle of Hell, the lowest level, was reserved for those who betray their own country. If God truly exists and will someday mete out justice, I expect to learn that you and many of your colleagues from the 111th Congress someday will be doing hard time there. Former CIA Philip Giraldi, hat's off to you, Sir.
West has 3 years to rein in Iran: Israeli minister
The United States and its allies have up to three years to curb Iran's nuclear programme, which has been set back by technical difficulties and sanctions, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday.
Somehow Israel's problems become OUR problems.
Xmas joy mixed with threats for Mideast Christians
Democrats up in arms over hints of reduced aid for Israel
David Harris, president of the National Jewish Democratic Council, charged that “for America to remain engaged as a world leader, and for the sake of Israel’s security, Congress must fully fund foreign aid and aid to Israel together. As the pro-Israel community has said for decades, the two cannot be separated for a host of reasons.”
Harris referred to Israel aid as the “centerpiece” of the pro- Israel community’s agenda.
“To do any less would threaten the bipartisan support that has been the hallmark of this issue – and risk the future of foreign aid,” he said. Israel's shills on Capitol Hill are trying to find ways to spare Israel any cuts to its share of US foreign aid in the midst of cuts to others'. AIPACers are naturally behind it. How many services will be cut to AMERICANS as a result?
US Congress approves defence spending legislation
This year's bill, which received largely bipartisan support in Congress, agreed to $725bn in defence proposals, including $158.7bn for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If approved by the president, the measure would continue to restrict the Pentagon's ability to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp as well as prohibit the transfer of detainees to the US.
Britain forms plan for Gulf evacuation in event of war with Iran
The British armed forces are drawing up contingency plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of British residents and tourists from Dubai and other Gulf cities in the event of war with Iran.
'WikiLeaks to publish Israel cables on Second Lebanon War, Dubai assassination'
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Assange said that only very few files related to Israel were published so far and that WikiLeaks intends on releasing many more documents over the next six months. Hmm?
Iran hangs man convicted of spying for Israel
According to IRNA, Siadat confessed to spying for Israel starting in 2004 in return for $60,000, as well as an additional $7,000 each time he met with Israeli handlers. IRNA said he met up with Israeli intelligence agents during "foreign trade" trips to Turkey, Thailand and the Netherlands and that he transferred data through a digital camera, transmitters and laptop.
WikiLeaks to Release Israel Documents in Six Months
WikiLeaks will release top secret American files concerning Israel in the next six months, its founder Julian Assange disclosed yesterday.
In an excusive interview with Al Jazeera, Assange said only a meagre number of files related to Israel had been published so far, because the newspapers in the West that were given exclusive rights to publish the secret documents were reluctant to publish many sensitive information about Israel.
....“The Guardian, El-Pais and Le Monde have published only two percent of the files related to Israel due to the sensitive relations between Germany, France and Israel. Even New York Times could not publish more due to the sensitivities related to the Jewish community in the US,” he added. Really now?
Egyptian has 'revealed three Israeli spy cells'
The aim of the missions was to deliver sums of money to a Syrian holding a "sensitive" post with the security services.
Al–Shuruk daily said Abdul Razzak has provided investigators with copies of reports he had passed on to Israeli intelligence from a Syrian chemist working for the security services in connection with a Syrian nuclear programme.
The Syrian expert had been spying for Israel for 13 years, according to the confessions. He was executed in Syria last month, said Al–Shuruk, which did not give sources for its report.
Israel destroyed Syria nuclear reactor: WikiLeaks
Former US president George W Bush recounted in his memoirs that he resisted Israeli pressure to bomb the site.
In 2008, current US President Barack Obama said when he was a Democratic hopeful for the White House that Israel was right to bomb the suspected nuclear facility in Syria.
IF Obama could put America’s own real interests first…
UAE 'held back full story of hotel assassination'
Report: Accused Egyptian spy says Israel paid Syrian agent for nuclear plan details
An Egyptian charged with spying for Israel told authorities that his Syrian counterpart was paid 1.5 million dollars to provide Israel with information on Syrian nuclear activities, Egyptian media reported Wednesday.
Counter-terror ‘Expert’ Tells Cops: Kill Militant Muslims, ‘Including Children’
A counter-terrorism consultant told a meeting of law enforcement officials that the way to combat militant Muslims is to "kill them ... including the children," says a news report.
Walid Shoebat, a self-described "former PLO terrorist" who "now speaks out for USA and Israel," reportedly made the comment at a speech during a conference of the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association in Las Vegas this past October, according to the Huffington Post's Chip Berlet.
Commies Are At It Again by Philip Giraldi
What this is really all about is the hidden message, conveyed by Clinton’s reference to selective. Khodorovsky is Jewish, as are most of the oligarchs who stripped Russia of its wealth in the 1990s, and he has his own claque of supporters who regard his conviction as anti-Semitism.
The fact is that anyone who has looked into the looting of Russia knows very well that Khodorovsky is guilty as hell on all charges. This case is demonstrative of the ever-increasing philosemitism of the American government. The spread of philosemitism, not democracy, has become their mission. Conversely, the demonization of those that do not subscribe to this supremacism is also taking place by this same institution.
“National Security” Means Tyranny
Given the free and open nature of the internet, as enjoyed by WikiLeaks, Sen. Joe Lieberman has introduced the “Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010,” which would allow government regulation of the internet in the name of protecting the nation’s financial security, even giving the president a “kill switch” ability to shut down the entire internet. Despite Congress denying the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) such power and federal courts declaring it unconstitutional, last week the FCC pushed forward. Said Sen. Jim DeMint of this legislation, “Americans loudly demanded a more limited federal government this November, but the Obama Administration has dedicated itself to expanding centralized government planning. Today, unelected bureaucrats rammed through an internet takeover, even after Congress and the courts warned them not to.”
2010: What Came, What Went, What’s Next
You wouldn’t know it from listening to Jewish liberals, but November 2 was a great day for our people. Finally, there will be a Jew in the top leadership ranks of the House of Representatives. After Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn, we can take pride in the ascension of Eric Cantor! More seriously, the election is great for Jews on almost every issue we care about: Israel (more support), Iran (more pressure), education (more choice), national security (more serious), immigration (more reform) and the peace process (more realistic). In addition, like all Americans, we can hope the fiscal mess made by previous Congresses will now be addressed.
Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/134149/#ixzz1A74d2n79
Pharmaceutical Industry Fraud
A resolution -- sponsored by House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Howard Berman (D-CA), Middle East Subcommittee Chair Gary Ackerman (D-NY), and soon-to-be House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) -- condemned the findings of the UN Human Rights Council report for documenting such infringements on civil liberties and other human rights violations by the Israeli government. Should be noted for the other form of treason Congress demonstrates (aside from its treason regarding foreign lobbies).
Which ISPs Hand Private Surfing Info Over To Secretive Private Group Who Monitors It For The Feds?
A Vigilant press release says that the organization tracks more than 250 million IP addresses a day and can "develop portfolios on any name, screen name or IP address."
The merger of journalists and government officials
The rich are much richer than you and me
The poorest U.S. households have had a negative net worth in every reading dating back to 1962, meaning that their debts and other liabilities outweigh their assets. They fell deeper into a hole the last two years, with their net worth falling to negative $27,000 on average, or nearly twice as much as they owed two years earlie
Why Wikileaks will be the death of big business and big government.
The Wikileaks revolution isn’t only about airing secrets and transacting information. It’s about dismantling large organizations—from corporations to government bureaucracies. It may well lead to their extinction.
In Money-Changers We Trust
The failure to provide serious regulation of the financial industry to avoid future downturns is documented in devastating detail in that Dec. 28 Bloomberg report, written by Christine Harper: "The U.S. government, promising to make the system safer, buckled under many of the financial industry's protests. Lawmakers spurned changes that would wall off deposit-taking banks from riskier trading. They declined to limit the size of lenders or ban any form of derivatives."
Terrorist watch list: One tip now enough to put name in database, officials say
FoxNews Keeping You Safe From Terrorism?
Indy woman linked to terrorist groups
Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 1
Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 2
Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 3
Press TV's Waqar Rizvi talks to James Morris on "Mossad in Iraq"
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