News -- March 12, 2006

The 48 Hour Media-blitz for War with Iran - "In the last 48 hours all the major players in the Bush administration have issued statements warning of the impending danger of Iran. ... Bush, Cheney, Bolton, Rice, Rumsfeld, Burns, Congress, and Israel. Whoa! That’s quite a line-up. All in the last 48 hours! Was it spontaneous or a calculated public-relations campaign? Beyond the political speechmaking are literally hundreds of articles, full of the same predictable fictions and demagoguery which have mischaracterized Iran’s nuclear program from the get-go; fueling the hysteria for another preemptive war. Did Iran become nuclear superpower overnight? Apparently, so. But, just for the sake of argument, let’s remember that according to the IAEA there is “no evidence of a nuclear weapons program or any diversion of nuclear material.”"

Iran raises oil as weapon in nukes standoff - "ran explicitly warned for the first time yesterday that it could use oil as a weapon if the U.N. Security Council imposes sanctions over an Iranian nuclear program that the U.S. and others suspect is trying to produce atomic bombs."

Poison claim over Milosevic death - "Former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic claimed the day before he was found dead that he was being poisoned."

Milosevic might have committed suicide - "Chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte said on Sunday she could not rule out that Slobodan Milosevic might have committed suicide but said she wanted to wait for the results of an autopsy."

Three Years and Counting - "Over the past three years, the Administration has offered us a succession of reasons we must "stay the course" to match the succession of rationales for the war itself. An American withdrawal, we were told, would embolden the insurgency, make Iraq a safe haven for terrorists and foreign jihadis and lead to civil war. One by one each of these predictions has come true. Not, of course, because we withdrew or even announced a timetable for withdrawal or redeployment but because we could not control the forces the war and the occupation unleashed or created."

Tortured, shot, ambushed, victims are found dumped outside morgues. What is happening to Iraq's intellectuals is chilling - " It is estimated that between 250 and 500 intellectuals have been killed or have disappeared since the fall of Saddam Hussein. There is a rising surge of anger over attacks on Iraq's intellectuals and many believe some of the killings may be part of a deliberate policy of targeting those who speak out against the "occupation". A prominent, internationally respected Iraqi academic, who cannot reveal his or her identity for fear of repercussions, says: "Under the American and British occupation, Iraqi academics are being forced out of their jobs and their country under the veil of politics. This is especially true for female Iraqi academics, who once made up nearly half of Iraqi academics in higher institutions and now fear for their lives and the lives of their families. In and outside the workplace they are being targeted by extremists and by the occupiers - more than 200 prominent Iraqi academics have been assassinated in the past three years alone. Those who are not assassinated are abducted or forced out of the country. Iraq is suffering from a huge brain drain that will not be compensated for another 20 years. This is a dramatic loss for the country and, without Iraq's educated middle class, we will be sure to see a rise in sectarianism and extremism, which is what the occupier wants." ... The embargo's brain drain proved a weighty challenge for academia in Iraq, but what is happening to Iraqi intellectuals now is chilling, with people from the entire spectrum of Iraq's professional class dragged from homes, offices and consulting rooms. Tortured, shot, ambushed or simply disappeared, they are found dumped outside hospitals, morgues, slumped over car wheels, on refuse dumps, or in the streets."

US says in talks to close Guantanamo Bay - "The United States is in discussions about how to send terrorism suspects held in Guantanamo Bay back to their home countries and close the detention camp, a senior U.S. official said on Sunday."

Rove Says Troops Will Remain In Iraq - "President Bush's top political adviser says the administration will not pull American troops out ofIraq until victory is won." -- You have waged a war that can not be won. I'm sure you know that.

Bush Jokes are No longer Funny - "There was time when Bush jokes and cartoons were funny. I still maintain a large collection of them myself. But it’s difficult to look at them now or those in the papers. It would be like a decent German citizen looking at Hitler cartoons in the Berlin newspapers in 1945, if such were allowed, as Germany was turned into rubble day by day. Bush humor-if there ever was any — is long gone. It represents a dilemma of sorts for political cartoonists. What more can they do? George Bush is a totally failed president - without doubt the worst president in American history, and he is doing his best-albeit probably unconsciously - to bring the country slowly, but inexorably, to ruin. The Republican Congress is totally spineless, trying nothing more to cling to some concept they call “power,” although they too realize at bottom that “Bush is the worst.” How does one poke fun at all this dreadfulness? Humor, which always clings precariously to truth, has lost its edge, overpowered by gruesome reality."

The Setup To Destroy America - "America is being set up to take the fall for everything that's wrong with the world. In the movie, Americans are portrayed as heartless killers, reminding me of the way Germans were portrayed as the evil perpetrators of World War II. And I sensed at that moment that very soon, if not already, Americans are going to be the targets of a worldwide backlash that will be far worse than anything the Germans ever experienced. And rightly so, because what Americans have done to Iraq, Afghanistan and so many other countries is far worse than anything the Germans ever did to anyone. ... Right now, if you harbor any hope of continued survival, you may wish to focus on that word you were always afraid to mention, and understand what your fear of saying that word has done to you. In case you haven’t noticed, it is about to destroy your life, your country, and your planet."

The New Nazism Taking Hold in the West - "Maybe it's foolish to go over the topic of freedom of expression again, after the insulting cartoons of the noble Prophet were published … and after the tide of Western democracy has washed over the Arab and Muslim world, leaving in its wake traces of corpses, body parts, coffins and tombs. But what's happening with Israeli influence in the United States raises even more questions. ... There is a new ideological Nazism taking control in the West, which doesn't openly declare its totalitarianism, but actually practices it nonetheless. And I see nothing in most of the major and minor Western officials except cloned copies of Hitler. It has gotten to the point that many Western institutions look as though they are run by the Gestapo and the SS."

Iran builds a secret underground complex as nuclear tensions rise - "Iran's leaders have built a secret underground emergency command centre in Teheran as they prepare for a confrontation with the West over their illicit nuclear programme, the Sunday Telegraph has been told."

Revealed: UK develops secret nuclear warhead - "BRITAIN has been secretly designing a new nuclear warhead in conjunction with the Americans, provoking a legal row over the proliferation of nuclear weapons."

Analysis: States Steadily Restricting Info - "States have steadily limited the public's access to government information since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a new Associated Press analysis of laws in all 50 states has found. Legislatures have passed more than 1,000 laws changing access to information, approving more than twice as many measures that restrict information as laws that open government books. Some things your government doesn't have to tell you about:
• The safety plan at your child's school, if you live in Iowa.
• Medication errors at your grandparent's nursing home in North Carolina.
• Disciplinary actions against Indiana state employees.
... "I don't know why all of a sudden the holy grail of security and safety is now closing records," Mark Thomas, head of the Oklahoma Press Association, said after the bill was introduced. "It seems to me we would be more secure if we knew what was going on around us. ... Apparently there are those in government who want to close all these records and say, 'We'll keep you safe, trust us.'""

S.517 - "Weather Modification Research and Technology Transfer Authorization Act of 2005 (Reported in Senate) ... It is the purpose of this Act to develop and implement a comprehensive and coordinated national weather modification policy and a national cooperative Federal and State program of weather modification research and development."

H. R. 2995 - "To establish the Weather Modification Operations and Research Board, and for other purposes."

Buyer's Remorse for Bush - "It has become clear that the buyer’s remorse here in the Rockies is due to more than simple disagreement with Bush’s policies. Westerns have developed serious doubts about Bush’s judgment and character as well."

They Will not go Gentle into that Good Night - "A certain portion of this country are like ticks on the belly of a pig. They are in lockstep with their jackbooted leaders. Another portion of this country is so incredibly stupid that I could not begin to describe them. Another portion of this country is being buggered by a non-existent Jesus who is leading them through the Judas Gate. A majority portion of this country knows what is right and correct even if a lot of them are confused and afraid. It is a great tragedy that they cannot see how it is possible for their leaders to be as bad as I say they are. Open your fucking eyes! ... You mock and deride those who seek to protect and free you. You jeer at your liberators from behind the bars of your master’s prisons. You let it happen inch by inch and day by day and you applaud when others are tortured and murdered in your name. What kind of human being are you? I cannot understand your composition. I cannot understand that you do not see. One thing you can count on, “What goes around comes around.” Oh yes indeed."

Army Guard Refilling Its Ranks - "A driving force in this year's early success, Guard leaders say, is that thousands of Guard members have now returned from Iraq and are reaching out to friends, old classmates and co-workers -- widening the face-to-face contacts that officials say are critical to recruiting. Guard members "are staying with us and want to fill up units with their neighbors and friends," Blum said in an interview. "Now that they're back -- watch out.""

Is Bill O'Reilly a Terrorist? - "One of the provisions of the new PATRIOT Act signed in to law by George W. Bush makes it illegal to make threats to try and coerce someone to change their opinions. It is defined as an act of terrorism. Anybody who would continue to do so can be reported to the FBI."

Internet blows CIA cover - "The CIA asked the Tribune not to publish her name because she is a covert operative, and the newspaper agreed. But unbeknown to the CIA, her affiliation and those of hundreds of men and women like her have somehow become a matter of public record, thanks to the Internet."

The Fed Officially Kicks Off the Next Recession - "It is official. A recession is coming. How do I know? Because this week new Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gave an official warning to bankers about commercial real estate loans. That is always the kickoff to a recession."

If You or Your Relatives Go to America … - "If you or your friends or relatives go to America, and the following events happen, don't think too much of it, because these things happen only in America: In America, if you order a pizza and an ambulance at the same time, the pizza will get there faster than the ambulance. ... In America, you may go to court over a cup of coffee that is too hot; thieves that climb up onto the roof of your house and fall down may sue you, and robbers can also sue you because of your company's lack of oversight of their firearms."

Holland launches the immigrant quiz - "TWO MEN kissing in a park and a topless woman bather are featured in a film that will be shown to would-be immigrants to the Netherlands. The reactions of applicants — including Muslims — will be examined to see whether they are able to accept the country’s liberal attitudes. ... The new test — the first of its kind in the world — marks another step in the transformation of Holland from one of Europe’s most liberal countries to the one cracking down hardest on immigration."

Can cellphone use lead to cancer? - "But Carlo, who was once the cellphone industry's hired gun, has morphed into one of the industry's biggest critics. Carlo's afraid there is a possible health threat. He thinks we should be told. What's changed? Carlo says the scientific research the cellphone industry paid him to oversee, turned up some problems. "Is it absolute definitive proof? No, does it raise red flags of concern among public health people? Absolutely."
Carlo says research on rats found cellphone use could lead to genetic damage, which some argue, could lead to cancer. He says another small study on humans showed an increased tendency of tumours among cellphone users. Carlo reported his findings to the industry and recommended it warn the public. "When they found that we had findings of genetic damage and increasing risk of cancer they cut off our money completely.""

Scientists Generate Unimaginable Heat in Lab Experiment - "A particle accelerator at Sandia National Laboratories has heated a swarm of charged particles to a record 2 billion degrees Kelvin, a temperature beyond that of a star's interior."




Quote of the Day
"You simply can not hide from the ugly truth."
~ Matthew Sweet, (The Ugly Truth)