Police Spies Chosen to Lead War Protest

Two Oakland police officers working undercover at an anti-war protest in May 2003 got themselves elected to leadership positions in an effort to influence the demonstration …

… undercover Officers Nobuko Biechler and Mark Turpin had been elected to be leaders in the May 12 demonstration an hour after meeting protesters that day …

… "I call that being totalitarian," said Jack Heyman, a longshoremen's union member who took part in the May 12 march.

--Ahem … Jack, I call that being stupid. Does anyone have functioning instincts? Maybe the group that led this event, Direct Action to Stop the War, needed help from folks who can smell a cop a mile away. Or, as Tyrone would mutter under his breath, bacon bacon bacon.

More likely DASW was simply doing their "job" and throwing work and headlines to ACLU, of course. Who can you trust or join if State spies infiltrate this easily and fellow protestors are this gullible?

DASW no longer has a valid website, but have archives here. Hmmm. Now would your government create "activist" groups for you? Sure they would, and have. Lots and lots of them, some decades old, many founded in the 1980s in anticipation of current events. There's a whole lot of "acting" in activism these days.

Elasticity

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered government and cultural bodies to use modified Persian words to replace foreign words that have crept into the language, such as "pizzas" which will now be known as "elastic loaves," state media reported Saturday.

…In other news, US pResident George Bush and Condi Rice (world's first android without sex organs) have modified the Anglo language with "slaughter, murder, war on the Arab world" to be replaced with "freedom" and/or "birth pangs."

Reality Jihadi

It's disgusting the level of deception the ChristoJudeo Crusaders have gone to in order to maintain their "war-on." The slick video of bin Laden's #2, Zawahri, with world trade towers in the background beats any propaganda production to date from the "ruling elite." Oscar winning or at least several nominations.

I'm amazed at the audacity of the propagandists to hire and script men who will eventually meet the same end as Zarqawi, bin Laden Al-forgotten, or Saddam, i.e. dead, bin dead long time, or a look-a-like on trial before being dead. Too bad a beautiful undulating belly dancer, scantily gauzily dressed with firm large breasts can't be worked into the scenes, for Mr. and Mrs. Voyeuristic Viewers.

To hear CNN/Fox spin it, Al-qaeda frets because Hamas and Hizbollah are getting the attention now. Does that really make sense to anyone over age 7?

But there it is. Easily understandable terms Bubba: Three gangs in the global 'hood are vying for world attention by murdering innocent Jews and Christians for no reason other than some psychopathological need for attention. On another channel the head tells it as Qaeda in Iraqa-wherever, Hamas, and Hizbollah are joining forces,– that oughta scare the shit out of us, right? Doesn't it make you fightin' mad Bub to know they call you the Great Satan?

Amazing thing is all the grunt jihadists rushing to follow "leaders" manufactured by the West – that one beats the hell out of me. Just uneffin' believable. That is, if you believe what the controlled airwaves offer and obviously a good deal of the US does since half the population STILL thinks Saddam had WMD.

But what makes me want to cry is half of the other half thinks we should be supporting something called the "netroots new dems" at DK and the other half of that half would have us hugging trees, gays, abortion, illegal immigrants, and supporting Greens, Murtha, Cindy, Cynthia, and Dennis.

With those choices, it's not hard to understand the only thing that will set Bubba's heart on fire is going to fall from the sky.

Zawahri, the newest boogieman, is an Egyptian doctor from a well-connected, wealthy family, etc. Zaw spent a great deal of time in Afghanistan and Sudan with OBL, becoming Osama's chief ideologist. "Zawahri's role included traveling to raise money and to cement ties with other militant groups. In December 1996, he went to Chechnya to see about setting up a base but was arrested in Dagestan and sentenced in April 1997 to six months for illegal entry, after which he was released. Bin Laden paid to bail him out." (Bin Laden is a bail bondsman who has never needed Dog The Bounty Hunter.)

So ya see Bubba, CIA supported Osama and Zawahri as assets once upon a time. The CIA has a long list of has-beens which the Ministry of Truth can use for ideas on how-to look like a former Arab friend, now dead yet still usable. Call make-up and wardrobe please.

For sure many more grunts are now willing to enlist and explode themselves in a dingy or a truck or take out a few Christo-Judeo Crusaders in a pizzaeria - but without backing from a major global player the Z-guys and Al-ladens can do little more than encourage the grunts to remove a few anonymous average feeders from the world stage. Any grand successful operations (WTC, etc.) or assassinations will be the work of the same old network which benefits the most.

Amazing huh that we've had no Western honcho assassinations. Well … maybe not really amazing since all US/Western pols are apparently sucking on the same dick-tatorial power behind the curtain.

Spinning

Brian Springer video captures behind-the-scene maneuverings.

Please Use Energy Efficient Light Bulbs & Turn Down the AC, Per Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth

(July 1, 2006)--Billions of military dollars [is] being spent on the war in Iraq.

Meanwhile, some Army posts back home can't afford to pay the electricity bill or cut the grass.

The Army's Installation Management Agency is $530 million short of what it needs to fund 117 garrisons at posts it oversees in the United States, Europe and Asia through Oct. 1.

Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio hasn’t been able to pay a $1.5 million-a-month electric utility bill since March.

That's prompting the utility system to mail out 1,300 disconnection notices for many of the post's administrative buildings.

Legislation Congress approved June 15 includes $722 million for the Installation Management Agency, to be divided among its installations.

Fort Sam Houston's garrison commander, Col. Wendy Martinson, still doesn't know how much Fort Sam will get.

She expects it'll be enough to pay the $4.6 million electric tab.

Nearly Entire House Give BJ

The resolution, which was passed on a 410-8 vote, also condemns enemies of the Jewish state.

House Republican leader John Boehner cited Israel's "unique relationship" with the United States as a reason for his colleagues to swiftly go on record supporting Israel in the latest flare-up of violence in the Mideast.

Little of the political divisiveness in Congress on other national security issues was evident as lawmakers embraced the Bush administration's position.

-To make a short story even shorter: The resolution condems the attack on Israel (which I guess I alone in the US have not seen proof of the "attack" other than Israel's say so), supports Israel "defending" itself against state supported terrorists and other purposes.

The "Resolution" is to support Jews killing Arabs. Yea vote, Israel can continue defending itself with the best weaponry US taxpayer dollars can buy them. Nay vote, Israel might have to use some restraint?

For shits sake people there aren't enough Jewish voters in the US to do this much courting.

Lets take a look-see at how the current favorite pols of the "left" voted on the matter.

Democrat John "Pentagon Porker" Murtha – Yea.
Democrat Nancy Pelosi – Yea.
Democrat Henry Waxman – Yea.

And Republican of Lebanese descent, Darrell Issa, quoted as saying the resolution "throws in language that AIPAC wants. That isn't always the best thing for this body to endorse," in the end put aside what isn't always the best thing and voted – Yea.

It's quicker to look at familiar names who voted Nay. Conyers, Dingell, Rahall, Paul and 4 more.

Kucinich, you old "lefty" you, answered "Present." (Meaning "the dog ate my vote".) Other Dems who answered "Present" (doggie politics) were Californians Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters, along with Marcy Kaptur (OH).

And imagine my surprise when another favored democrat abstained from voting, Cynthia McKinney. But, she's distracted, in the middle of this week's alternative newslines - Diebold thievery, powerful forces aligned against her, stolen votes causing a runoff … probably nothing to do with her campaigning by email, press releases, and DVD and skipping two televised debates, according to her opponent anyway.

Do you think "unique" relationship and US lawmakers embracing Bush's position might encourage those Jewish kids writing "die" on Israeli bombs?

Bill Clinton's BJ For Lieberman

HARTFORD, Conn. -- One of the Democratic Party's biggest guns, former President Bill Clinton, is coming to Connecticut to campaign for Senator Joe Lieberman.

The two politicians have known each other since Clinton worked on Lieberman's first campaign for state Senate in 1970.

Clinton was a student at Yale University at the time. Clinton recently defended Lieberman's position on the war in Iraq, saying he agreed with Lieberman that the US should not set a strict timetable for withdrawing soldiers.

Clinton also said he thought it was wrong for Democrats to challenge one of their own.

-Hmmm, Bill owes many debts to those who gave him power. I wonder if it really sucks when minions have to pay up or if with time it becomes a familiar recreation.

American Torture Not New

(CBS/AP) Special prosecutors investigating allegations that police tortured nearly 150 black suspects in the 1970s and '80s said Wednesday they found evidence of abuse, but any crimes are now too old to prosecute.

In three of the cases, the prosecutors said the evidence was strong enough to have warranted indictments and convictions.

"It is our judgment that the evidence in those cases would be sufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," special prosecutors Robert D. Boyle and Edward J. Egan wrote.

The four-year investigation focused on allegations that 148 black men were tortured in Chicago police interrogation rooms in the 1970s and '80s. The men claimed detectives under the command of Lt. Jon Burge beat them, used electric shocks, played mock Russian roulette and started to smother at least one to elicit confessions.

-Only 148 allegations?

For the Record

Evacuating Americans from Lebanon. The "firestorm" over Americans having to pay for their evacuations is no surprise, and it shouldn't be to any American traveling into hot spots or zones. This has been State Department policy for at least the last 40 years.

From personal experience, when traveling to a volatile area the State Department rule is if you run into trouble "you're on your own" and if they assist in getting you out – you reimburse them. Nothing new or unsual here.

For the last few years the general warning for Lebanon has been "The U.S. Government considers the potential threat to U.S. Government personnel assigned to Beirut sufficiently serious to require them to live and work under a strict security regime. This limits the movement of U.S. Embassy officials in certain areas of the country. This factor, plus limited staffing, prevents the Embassy from performing full consular functions and may hinder timely assistance to Americans in Lebanon. American air carriers are prohibited from using Beirut International Airport (BIA) due to continuing concern about airport and aircraft security arrangements. For similar reasons, the Lebanese carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) is not permitted to operate service into the United States. U.S. citizens who travel to Lebanon despite this Warning should exercise heightened caution when traveling …"

Citizens stranded in Lebanon, however, will likely receive better response and treatment than Katrina victims, and the "firestorm" will last about as long.

In Case of War Affix Label or Decal Here

Extremists hate America. America was attacked. America the Great Satan. They hate us. They behead, worship the wrong god, restrict their women. They need liberation. They need democracy. They attack our friends and allies. Our god is bigger than their god. Evil-doers, axis of evil.

Neocons. Neoconservatives. Bush regime. Rightwing cabal. Evangelical fruitcakes. Conservative fundamentalists. Neocon fundies. BushCo rightwingers.

American neoconservatives. Neocon architects of American foreign policy. Armageddonists. Likud party. Zionist influence. The neocon scripters. Delusional rapturists.

Zionist lobby. Neocons War. Neocon cabal. Neocons. Neocons. American pols, not beholden to the American people. BushCo cabal. PNAC neocons. Neocon cabal. Neocon crazies. Neocons. Rightwing republicans. Neocons.

A generation from now no one will admit to even knowing a neocon much less being one. Like Nazi, it may become a dirty word and like Nazi only the mentally ill will admit to being a neocon. Everyone will claim to have been victims of neocon policy (most of the world).

Schools will teach the idea of Zionist control over the US government as absolute nonsense; a conspiracy theory held by racists and bigots. WW3 may be blamed on (but unlikely) a Zionist faction who have since "disbanded." But never will the J-word be used in accusations of who fueled WW3. And anyone who says they did will be the anti-S word.

The same ancient battle package. Better staged and more false-flagged. A cornucopia of brown enemies for Anglo Christians and Jewish folk. Al-queda, hamas, bollahs, Iraq, Iran, Arab and Islamic terrorists all over the world (even Miami). The enemy wears a turban, burka, or chee wee and dreadlocks. They live in caves, warehouses, on rooftops. The enemy is almost never white, and of course, never Jewish.

In the event of WW3, I'm curious to see how white and almost-white Asian folk align their nations around the official "either with us or against us" choice. Players don't always follow the script.

Never will the Media of the State mention it's the same old class/race war for profit, most profitable to those claiming to be the victims. In the aftermath, horrors will be attributed to vague labels; the neocons started it, queda started it, extremists did it. One or two prominent faces will represent this era's epitome of bad guy (bin Laden/maybe Bush) along with a string of minor Abu Al's. And in the end, as usual, the "innocents," memorialized eternally, will be white and/or Jew, sobbing all the way to the bank.

Clever isn't it.

Lets Do Lunch

Maybe I was not paying close attention in decades passed, but seems in the last 5 years more than the usual amount of "… leaders clearly did not realize that a live microphone was picking up their discussion."

Bush curses Hezbollah's actions in unscripted comments.

(Common folk overhear benign comments of world leaders. Unfortunately we never hear anything useful.)

BUSH: See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over. (Said as he chewed on a buttered roll.)

He (Bush) told Blair he felt like telling U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who visited the gathered leaders, to get on the phone with Syrian President Bashar Assad to "make something happen."

BUSH: Not Coke, diet Coke. ... Russia's big and so is China. Yo Blair, what're you doing? Are you leaving ...

Yo Dubya, who exactly are "they" who can get Hezbollah to stop shit, and can Kofi really make something happen?

KAB opinion: Bush, the obnoxious twit at the lunch table no one wants to sit with.

You Can't Cheat An Honest Man

WashingtonPost"The Army is discontinuing a controversial multibillion-dollar deal with oil services giant Halliburton Co. to provide logistical support to U.S. troops worldwide, a decision that could cut deeply into the firm's dominance of government contracting in Iraq."

National Ledger: "California Democrat Henry Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee and a frequent Halliburton critic, welcomed the move away from the exclusive contract with Halliburton as a good first step, the Washington Post said."

Bloomberg: Halliburton Co.'s multibillion-dollar contract to feed and care for U.S. troops in Iraq and transport war supplies won't be renewed, an Army spokesman said. The five-year-old contract with Halliburton's KBR unit will be put up for bids after its current phase ends later this year, Army spokesman Dave Foster told reporters today at the Pentagon.

"The Pentagon contracts are winding down and they're not a big money maker anyway," said James Halloran, who manages $33 billion at National City Private Client Group in Cleveland, including about 30,600 Halliburton shares. "KBR is going back to building energy complexes, and there's going to be a lot of infrastructure built in the next several decades. That's why you'd buy the stock."

The Army decision was "neither unusual nor unexpected,"' Melissa Norcross, a spokeswoman for KBR, said in a statement. "We have been open and forthcoming that this work may be modified or replaced at any time."

Halliburton has received orders valued at $17.1 billion under a contract won in 2001 to provide services to the U.S. Army worldwide, according to the Army Field Support Command. That includes $15.4 billion for Iraq work.

KBR will be allowed to take part in the re-bidding of the contract, which is unrelated to the company's performance, Foster said. "We are constantly in the review process of formulating how we can do things better in a more effective way," he said.

"The Pentagon has talked about parceling out this contract in the past," Halloran said. "It doesn't mean that KBR won't wind up with significant parts of it.''

----KBR/Halliburton & subsidiaries get to bleed new veins in the treasury. And frequent critic Henry Waxman doesn't look bad either, helping ensure "real competition which saves the taxpayers money."

How do they keep a straight face?

Since coming to Congress, Rep. Waxman has earned the reputation of being an expert on Middle East policy and an effective proponent of American aid to guarantee Israel's security and survival.

And remember, Waxman helped rid Iraq of evil-doer Saddam. "Whether one agrees or disagrees with the Administration's policy towards Iraq, I don't think there can be any question about Saddam's conduct. He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do. He lies and cheats; he snubs the mandate and authority of international weapons inspectors; and he games the system to keep buying time against enforcement of the just and legitimate demands of the United Nations, the Security Council, the United States and our allies. Those are simply the facts."--Henry Waxman, Oct 10, 2002

The 2002 piece is an excellent, excellent CYA piece from a pol and "expert on Middle East policy" who supported the Bush War Resolution. Written like a man with a knowledge of where the script was going, as on March 17, 2003, three days before invasion, Waxman "called for an investigation of the revelation that the President relied on false intelligence sources to present the case for war with Iraq to the American people and the United Nations." Didn't waste any time after voting yes to start questioning the intelligence of it. That's slick, really slick.

Dubya Dubya III

Israel Blames Attacks on Syria-Iran Axis.

"We now in the Middle East have an axis of terror and hatred comprising Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah, which is trying to attack Israel and prevent peace in the area," said Israel's consul general in New York, Arye Mekel.

Israel asserts that the kidnappings were the result of a deliberate strategy crafted by Syria and Iran, and implemented by Hamas and Hezbollah, to stoke violence on the Palestinian front. Mekel tracked the coordination back to a little-noticed January 2006 visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Damascus, during which he met Syrian President Bashar Assad, as well as the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, and two other terrorist groups: Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. At a joint press conference, Ahmadinejad and Assad vowed to fight the plots of "world arrogance and Zionism" in Lebanon and called for "continued resistance" to Israeli "occupation of the holy Islamic lands."

According to Mekel, this "terror summit" served to coordinate anti-Israeli activities just as Hamas won the Palestinian Authority elections. "We know [Hamas leader Khaled] Mashal ordered the kidnapping of Shalit," Mekel said, "and we know Syria and Iran have a vested interest in keeping the Palestinian issue alive, and use the Hamas government as a beachhead."

Jewish groups held rallies Monday in front of the Syrian diplomatic missions in New York and Washington to demand Shalit's release. They accused the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad of allowing the alleged mastermind of the kidnapping, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, to operate freely in Damascus."

--Are we inching closer to WW3 for all, or a prolonged profitable slaughter of non-Jews led by Judaic-Anglo crusaders of the New American Century? This is exactly why an idiot was placed in the White House 5+ years ago. Can our only hope be that Dubya doesn't take his ass-whipping this time lying down?

Mini-Me Disturbing

As my daughter and I pushed our cart throught Wal-mart parking lot yesterday around 4:30 p.m. we noticed a squad car just in front of my jeep. We eased up to get a better view just as a bald, jackbooted officer began his theme scream from Bad Boys Bad Boys - "Get down, get down, get down on the ground." Now on our side of town on a Saturday night this is heard occasionally - but we were in the parking lot of Wal-mart with white folks on a weekday afternoon for heavens sake.

My first thought was to hit the ground as gunfire might erupt but then we heard the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzp. My first view of the recipient, his car just in front of mine, was a twitching jerking figure, sprawled on the ground next to his car with a weeping and screeching young girl in the passenger seat.

The few of us in the front row (4 white 4 Black) were totally shocked and awed. The incident had taken place so quickly and with little provocation. Something ominous hung over our little crowd. As if witnessing a grim future, a warning notice. It was so over the top and so public.

It seems this is what occured: Wal-mart has no security here in Bumfudge and request the local copshop to patrol for them which our city tax funds apparently are happy to do. An officer doing a parking lot drive through claims he witnessed the young man allegedly smack his girlfriend and, being the chivalrous knight in midnight blue armor, he came to her rescue. The girlfriend was sobbing he had NOT hit her, but too late, young dragon boy was felled by one zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzp. From my view I did not see the boy make any threats or provoke this response. Likely he'll be issued a citation and pay a fine; the city needs more revenue to patrol Wal-mart.

The young man, stunned and cuffed was walked to a cruiser. One of the robocops, grinning, strutted over to our small group and asked if we saw anything. I saw how disturbing it is to witness up close a human body spasm and twitch while a skin-headed barrel-chested cop stood by like God. My daughter (out of work comedienne) remarked she was in shock that they needlessly tazer white people too. Mini-Me cop missed the humor in that one but everyone else laughed (nervously).

Clive Crook

Clive's self-indulgence at the Aspen Festival of ideas, draws ire. "… How loathsome … How do you spell hypocrite? Limousine liberal! …

CLIVE: "At 6.30am we glided out of Aspen in a fleet of silent shining limos (furnished by Lexus, one of the meeting's sponsors: I could get used to it). Our destination was the Maroon Bells Amphitheatre; our purpose, breakfast at one of the most stunning viewpoints in the United States, and a talk on landscape photography given by...well, given by me, … "

Strictly speaking, I haven't lectured on any subject before, though I suppose it depends on what you mean by "lecture". Elizabeth Baker Keffer, a colleague of mine at Atlantic Media, and one of the guiding forces behind the Ideas Festival, ambushed me with a "suggestion" that I do this several months ago (the dear woman has some of my pictures on her wall), and before I had stopped saying "er", the venue was secured. Elizabeth achieves a great deal through means such as this. She is an inspiration to me.

So I gave my students the benefit of my wisdom on the subject. It was wonderful to talk against that magnificent backdrop. It was novel and lovely to have an audience that was avid to hear my views--and had no thought of questioning them, or my motives for advancing them."

Clive's bio, the usual rap sheet: … a senior editor of The Atlantic Monthly … writes a column for National Journal … chief editorial adviser to David Bradley, the chairman of Atlantic Media Group … formerly on the staff of The Economist … graduate of Oxford and the London School of Economics … served as consultant to the World Bank … worked as an official in the British Treasury ... lives in Washington, DC.

… can the Crook grovel and suck-up or what? Was this his first time at rubbing elbows (or assholes) in a Lexus limo? Your tax free foundations and institutes, working hard to stimulate ideas.

Hot Frog Soup

Political networkers to get new Web site, HotSoup.

"HotSoup.com launches in October, shortly before U.S. congressional elections, and aims to draw top political personalities as well as grass-roots community organizers to swap opinions and ideas.

Its creators hail from the Democratic and Republican camps, including Joe Lockhart, who was press secretary to President Bill Clinton for two years, and Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for President George W. Bush's reelection campaign in 2004.

"There is a group of 30 to 40 million people in this country that are basically the (political) opinion drivers or influencers," Dowd said during a conference call. "All of us saw a need and desire for a richer conversation."

Ron Fournier, a former senior political writer for the Associated Press, will serve as editor-in-chief of the site."

- Oh my, the "ruling class" has such a sly sense of humor. Hotsoup, a sort of Hannity & Colmes online with a cast of millions of netroot folks. This oughta keep net-rooters occupied (and identified) in their "need and desire for richer conversation." That's quite the management team they're sending out. Hmmm, now why was the analogy that came to my mind that of a frog in boiling water?

Government Studs

Medicare premiums to rise 11.2 percent.

WASHINGTON - The elderly will face another double-digit rise in their Medicare premiums next year, resulting in monthly payments of nearly $100.

The monthly premiums for supplementary medical insurance will rise from $88.50 to at least $98.40, the Bush administration projected Tuesday. That’s an 11.2 percent increase, and it’s possible the amount will be slightly higher.

Mark McClellan, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the higher premiums are being generated through an increase in the volume of care provided Medicare patients. Doctors make greater use of imaging, physical therapy, lab tests and physician-administered drugs.

“We can’t keep pumping more money into a payment system that is not sustainable,” McClellan said.

KISS: When physicians and medical facilities could not sustain their titles of Medicare & Medicaid Millionaires on defrauding the public treasury, they introduced the "greater use of imaging, physical therapy, lab tests and physician-administered drugs" to stay on the gravy train.

KISS: "We can't keep pumping" money into the old and poor (and the corrupt medical field which serves them) because we's got to keep pumpin' money into War, Wall Street, and the global Banksters. (Pump your fist and say "Feels good.") Who's your grandma? Millie?

KISS: The government slowly begins to pick the pockets of the affluent, although in the case of Medicaid Millionaires I can't think of a more deserving class. Alas, Tom Frist and family (brother of good ol' boy Bill Frist) have made their money, with Tom's estimated wealth being 1.4 billion off of HCA fraud.

Trickle Trick

Today's rightwing truckling toad, Tom Nugent, writes an I-told-you-so smirk-smirk piece regarding the NYT headline: Tax Cuts Curb US Deficit.

Nugent points out that tax (rate) cuts to the wealthy work because of the Laffer Curve. Who-doo voo-doo economics. Reaganomics. Rightwing economists will point at charts and boast of the benefits of the Bush economy (with a straight face too), the corporate tax receipts, the rising tide in tax payments, and that the budget deficit will decline. Dems will spin it as yea, sure revenues are up but still lagging behind economic growth, and not what BushCo predicted, and where's the jobs, etc.

While senators and tycoons and experts from every aisle squabble and pen their economic spin on the matter what none explicitly mention (after their ooom…ohhh…ahhh capitalist orgasm) is where the "revenue" really goes:

You will not see new schools built or improved education from the receipts, or healthcare provided to all, or reduction in poverty. Nor more energy choices. You will not have "safer borders." Nor will you find high-wage factory start-ups dotting the land from sea to shining sea. There will not be architecturally amazing new dams, roads, or toll free highways built. Your inner cities will remain blighted. There will be no marvels of safe, affordable, rapid public transportation. I'll bet right now some of you are finding local/county services shutting down or cutting back. Brown clouds will continue to hang over the valleys and skyscrapers. Arsenic in your water. Funds for "community development" is code for more futuristic robogear to local cops from the Department of Homeland Security. Culturally you will continue to be informed and entertained with propaganda and garbage under the auspice of public access and first amendment "freedoms."

But lets KISS (keep it simple stupid) all the economic spin and call a government pie chart the real cow patty it is because :

The wealthy gladly forfeit a portion of rising income made from obscene profits in war portfolios, as they are guaranteed their tax payments are returned to them many times over, as usual, with more corporagovernment contracts. War is profit - Wall Street loves ya. The rich get richer and the poor get … to "make the world safe" for the whole grand con game.

Casting Call To Fill Vigorous Roles

July 9 - Washington Post (another trustworthy media outlet) reports: The Bush administration briefed top lawmakers on a significant intelligence program only after a key Republican committee chairman angrily complained of being left in the dark, the chairman said yesterday.

That angrily complaining chairman is Pete Hoekstra, republican, war supporter, BushCo cheerleader.

Hoekstra: "Some people within the intelligence community brought to my attention some programs that they believed we had not been briefed on. They were right."

The administration's briefing top lawmakers on a significant intel program has, for the moment, appeased Hoekstra and other allies. Rep. Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said in a statement that she agrees with Hoekstra that "vigorous congressional oversight is impossible unless the administration shares critical information with the appropriate committees of Congress."

However, today July 10: "Hoekstra exposes what he sees as a dissident faction within the CIA that he says "intentionally undermined" the policies of US President George W. Bush."

Rumors about the existence of such a group have circulated in the US capital for a long time (says who?) but the comments by Representative Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, marks the first time they were confirmed by an official with intimate knowledge of the intelligence community. (Well, if it's official intimacy it must be true.)

Hoekstra: "In fact, I have been long concerned that a strong and well-positioned group within the agency intentionally undermined the administration and its policies," Mr. Hoekstra wrote in a letter to Mr. Bush dated May 18, and made public today.

Dissident CIA faction, intentionally undermining the policies of President George W. Bush? Lol. Lol. Haaaahaaa. Okay, which Hollywood cokehead came up with this script?

(Casting call for roles as group extras in The Faction: "It's a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma" spooky movie. Not too many lines and must be able to bend over vigorously on cue.)

Business As Usual Outside

Last October "The Carlyle Group Agrees to Acquire an 85% Stake in Xugong Group Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. for US$375 million (RMB 3 billion); Transaction Will Help China’s Leading Construction Machinery Producer Grow Domestically and Internationally."

"Under the takeover agreement inked by the two parties last October, Xugong Group is to sell 85 per cent of shares of its subsidiary Xugong Group construction machinery co. to Carlyle at USD 375 million. The Chinese machinery giant with annual revenues of 17 billion yuan (USD 2.1 billion), controls more than 50 per cent of China's crane and road paving equipment market."

(At least someone gets new roads.)

At the moment a Chinese blogger is trying to stop the sale. Chinese Blog Tries to Derail Sale of Firm to Carlyle Group. BEIJING -- Armed with a blog and some nationalist rhetoric, a Chinese businessman is campaigning to derail the sale of a construction-equipment maker to U.S. investors.

"Selling anything is fine, but selling out the country is wrong!" is a typical sentiment on the businessman's blog. What gives the declarations more impact is their author: Xiang Wenbo, the 44-year-old executive president of heavy-machinery maker Sany Corp., which has roughly $750 million in annual sales."

You go Xiang Wenbo.

Sany has hired a local securities firm to help with its plan to buy Xugong Group Construction Machinery, the Shanghai Securities News reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.

The paper said Sany Group had appointed Guosen Securities to conduct the preliminary work for a potential offer to buy Xugong Group.

An official at Guosen Securities who declined to be named said the brokerage had taken on a role as consultant to Sany Group, but couldn't give more details.

"At the appropriate time, Sany Group and I will reveal all to the outside world," the paper quoted executive president Xiang Wenbo as saying."

Go Wenbo.

Carlyle's Asian Invasion. Carlyle is not alone in China of course. In the '90s megacorporations jumped into Asia/China like white on rice. Boeing, Nike, IBM, TRW, Allied Signal, Motorola, ConAgra, Rockwell, Dresser, Eastman Chemical, GM, UTC, Ford, AIG, AMP, and American Standard. Under Bubba Clinton?

And oh yes, life in China sweatshops has improved.)

Although China initially opposed the US war on Iraq it also "voted for the Security Council Resolution 1546 in June 2004, legitimizing the presence of the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq." And currently Chinese news portrays the US role in Iraq as downright positive, "safeguarding the new Iraqi government and helping train army officers and policemen."

Any question what part of the world will get most of Iraq's petro when production rises again? Surely the US will not fight a billion Chinese over ME oil when all the world's tennis shoes and teevees need to be made in Asia.

Name That Syndrome

I know a book can't be judged by its cover but to me Steven Green looks capable of rape and multiple murder, including murder of a child. Green was discharged earlier this year from the Army with a "personality disorder." A euphemistic way of not calling someone a psychopath even when they are one.

He looks like one of thousands of skinny white boys in the Heartland raised on sugar and Ritalin and a big chip on the shoulder, nurtured by parents who didn't really want to be bothered with the too many kids they keep having.

Without knowing his biography I would predict Green spent his youth in Midland, Texas slapped around and ignored by an alcoholic promiscuous mama and an absent daddy who buzzed on a disability check and prescription drugs.

The US has been breeding a lot of Greens (of all colors); going into the 3rd generation now. Texas does seem to contribute more than its share, having placed one in the top job at the White House.

The "right" will spin atrocity as unconnected from the illegal war or failed government policy, and there's a grain of truth to that. Boot camp didn't make a monster. They'll praise the military for weeding Green out although not in time for the Iraqi family he destroyed. They'll praise the military for investigating and charging the perps.

And after the "left" has gotten its mileage off Green and similar cases, i.e. how troops are becoming rapists and killers, the "left" can protest the death penalty for psychopaths like Green who never developed a conscience and never will (GW an excellent example of failed conscience).

Many will pretend the military made men into monsters rather than our own social structure of ignorance, coarseness, pharma's artificial happiness, and no one personally responsible; blindly breeding yet another generation of "disorders."

Taliban Kate

ATLANTA Jul 7, 2006 (AP)— A father accused of poisoning his children's soup in a scheme to sue the Campbell Soup Co. was indicted on tampering and fraud charges, authorities said. The children, a 3-year-old boy and his 18-month-old sister, were taken to hospital emergency rooms three times in January.

According to investigators, their father fed them tainted soup each time. On the third occasion, authorities said, he used the prescription drugs Prozac and Amitriptyline both used to treat depression making his young daughter so ill she was flown by helicopter to an Atlanta hospital.

William Allen Cunningham, 40, was charged with tampering with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or serious bodily injury. He also was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and communicating false statements that a consumer product had been tampered with.

- I'm tired of crimes against children. KAB feels appropriate punishment for this idiot would be 2 counts of attempted murder and 20 years without parole, just after his balls are cut off and handed back to him in a cup of noodle soup. Mmm-mmm-mmm good. Mmm-mmm-mmm good.

Feared Ya, Made Ya Look

Racist extremists active in U.S. military.

"July 7, 2006 -- Under pressure to meet wartime manpower goals, the U.S. military has relaxed standards designed to weed out racist extremists. Large numbers of potentially violent neo-Nazis, skinheads and other white supremacists are now learning the art of warfare in the armed forces.

Department of Defense investigators estimate thousands of soldiers in the Army alone are involved in extremist or gang activity. "We've got Aryan Nations graffiti in Baghdad," said one investigator. "That's a problem."

Military extremists present an elevated threat both to their fellow soldiers and the general public. Today's white supremacists become tomorrow's domestic terrorists.

"Neo-Nazi groups and other extremists are joining the military in large numbers so they can get the best training in the world on weapons, combat tactics and explosives," said Mark Potok, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project.

"We should consider this a major security threat, because these people are motivated by an ideology that calls for race war and revolution. Any one of them could turn out to be the next Timothy McVeigh."

- "Under pressure … U.S. miltary … large numbers of potentially violent … supremacists … thousands of soldiers … involved in extremist … activity."

If you trust Wiki, the SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center) seems to have quite the sleazy history themselves regarding funding and internal accusations of institutionalized racism.

Also weighing in on the issue, the trustworthy NYT (snort, snicker): "The report quotes Scott Barfield, a Defense Department investigator, saying, "Recruiters are knowingly allowing neo-Nazis and white supremacists to join the armed forces, and commanders don't remove them from the military even after we positively identify them as extremists or gang members."

In May '06 Chicago SunTimes: "I have identified 320 soldiers as gang members from April 2002 to present," said Scott Barfield, a Defense Department gang detective at Fort Lewis in Washington state. "I think that's the tip of the iceberg."

Lordy, 320 out of a million man army. (And doesn't NYT's "defense department investigator" sound more uppity and important than SunTimes' "gang detective at Fort Lewis".)

In the same SunTimes article: "Christopher Grey, spokesman for the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, did not deny the existence of gang members in the military, but he disputed that the problem is rampant -- or even significant."

Also in the Sun: "Barfield said most of the gang members he has identified are black and Latino." Huh? I thought they were white supremacists?

Well folks, is it future White McVeighs or Crips and Latin Kings we should fear? Or are these reporters and investigators and the SPLC just picking nits off the 800 pound gorilla in our living room?

Don't Want Them T-Shirt Honky-Tonk Blues

Every 3 months or so I read Man/Student/Woman Arrested for T-Shirt!! Here is the quarterly t-shirt-arrest country-gone insane item.

"Jesse Brown, Vietnam vet, was having coffee at a Chicago VA hospital when arrested for his shirt. "You can't be in here protesting," Officer Adkins said, pointing to my Veterans For Peace shirt."

Technically, no protests of any kind are allowed on, near, at, in, or by a military facility, installation, property, etc. A t-shirt could be likened to a sign I suppose.

Mike was issued a citation after refusing to leave (the cop also a vet), lost his Swiss pocket knife, and was told he could pay the $275 fine or appear in court. Next time he would be booked and jailed. He's currently looking for an attorney to take his case as he plans "to sue them -- from Dubya on down."

- The cop commented to Mike that he had his "15 minutes" so likely someone complained to the cop, or maybe Mike was drawing a crowd although Veterans for Peace tees, the ones I've seen, are not crowd drawers, i.e. innocent enough with a dove logo.

I always receive Tees from my children at Xmas (what else for the woman who has everything right? Or my kids are cheap!). Last Xmas I received doubles of a couple. One, the Meet the Fuckers with Bush/Cheney pic, and the other of a figure bending over with a gas nozzle near his rear and the words "Bush's America – Taking It In The Gas." My favorite of all from a few years back, quite threadbare, is my tee of a Hitler mustachioed face of Bush.

I wear all out publicly except the Meet the F'ers. Not because of the sentiment of it, but the obscenity of the F-word which my Bible Belt neighbors might find offensive. It's not that I mind offending them but there are better ways I can trespass against them.

I also have large signs (and have since January 2001) on my home, yard, and vehicles, stating a variety of personal opinions. Another Son-of-a-Bush, or I Have 3 Sons In The Corp/What's Your Investment In Elite Oil – and Buck Fush, etc. No one has bothered me about them (yet, knock on wood).

Don't tell anyone, but since 2002 my granddaughter and I have printed anti-war, anti-BushCo, pro-peace flyers at home and in the buttcrack hours of dawn we make a run through town plastering them on poles, empty storefronts, inside newspaper vending machines, etc. We also print and carry business cards with alternative websites, peace links, etc. and quietly leave them in stores, offices, schools, windshields in a parking lot, inside books at the library; wouldn't leave home without 'em.

Had I been Mike, I would have left the scene quietly when requested, for the simple fact that there's no way I'm going to fill the coffers of the system with more revenue by paying a $275 fine. We can buy a lot of paint, posterboard, ink and paper with $275. But, each to his own.

Colin Powell's Rocky Mountain High

ASPEN, Colo. - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was briefly hospitalized early Friday after he fell ill at a restaurant where he was dining with former President Clinton and others, police said.

Aspen police state it appeared to be a combination of altitude sickness and something he ate. Powell, (former My Lai whitewasher and current Iraq WMD liar) was in Colorado for the Aspen Ideas Festival, a conference in its second year that invites some of the world’s leading thinkers.

The 2006 Aspen Ideas Festival is proudly sponsored by:
Booz Allen Hamilton, Lexus, Altria, Boeing, Chevron, Ernst & Young, GE.

With support from the following donors:
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Casey Family Programs
Bezos Family Foundation
Resnick Family Foundation
William A. Haseltine foundation for Medical Sciences and the Arts.

No invitation required. "Unfortunately, despite the institute's efforts to make Ideas Fest an accessible public event, there is little chance at this point of fully participating in the utopian exchange of ideas. Tickets have been sold out since January, and even if you could get your hands on some, they would run you $1800 each. So absent a miracle, most of the common men, at least here in the valley, will be stuck on the outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of greatness eating a slice at New York Pizza or arguing the merits of American foreign policy while waiting for a table at Jimmy's. It is this fact that has kept this festival largely obscure to most in the valley, even as it assembles some of the greatest minds alive today.

As Elliot Gerson, the executive vice president in charge of seminars for the Institute puts it, at any one moment, the festival might deal with "Shakespeare or Darfur, the future of the universe, or the future of the species, energy or terrorism, America or Africa, politics or poetry, medicine or the media."

But hey, isn't it true that where foundations and their famous friends gather to eat, drink, and defecate it's good for the local economy? Somebody gotta cook that food and change those sheets whilst catching a glimpse of the haves-more species. Can't you just imagine where the future of the universe would be without all these foundations and institutes stimulating their intellects?

Cheney Makes Notes Proving He's Almost as Stupid as His Boss

Found this link over on WRH to a TPM document. It's a copy of the Joseph Wilson op-ed, What I Didn't Find in Africa, with Dick Cheney comments written in the margin.

Cheney wrote:
1. Have they done this sort of thing before? Send an Amb[assador] to answer a question.
2. Do we ordinarily send people out pro bono to work for us?
3. Or did his wife send him on a junket?

I was shocked, I tell you, shocked. The 3 questions Dick notes are not those of a major player in the game or even of someone who knows half of what's going on. (Leaving a written trail isn't all that brilliant either.)

1. Cheney has to ask if the CIA sends an ambassador to answer a question? What kind of question is that for an old political hound who has been around the Bushes and CIA as long as he has? Who but a dumbass would ask that? The CIA can do anything, whether they have done it before or not.

2. Would YOU do pro bono work for the CIA? If so, why would you? Why would Cheney even care if Wilson was paid?

3. How many DC'ers on the cocktail circuit knew Wilson's wife could have sent him on a junket? How covert does a cover have to be for the VP to not know the agent is covert? Because that sounds to me like an offhand comment about somebody and something which everyone else knew – Plame's job as an in-house analyst.

In Wilson's op-ed piece he also states: "Though I did not file a written report, there should be at least four documents in United States government archives confirming my mission. The documents should include the (1)ambassador's report of my debriefing in Niamey, (2) a separate report written by the embassy staff, (3) a C.I.A. report summing up my trip, and (4) a specific answer from the agency to the office of the vice president (this may have been delivered orally). While I have not seen any of these reports, I have spent enough time in government to know that this is standard operating procedure."

SOP FYI: (1)The embassy would document Wilson was in the country but (2) an embassy debriefing report is not always made, (3) and (4) if the administration wants it - the CIA can make reports go away, disappear, poof. And if, as Wilson suggests, a report was "delivered orally" that's 1 document that would not be in the US Government archives "confirming his mission."

I've no idea what Cheney's published notations are supposed to prove, disprove, or inform the public of regarding the entire Cheney-Wilson-Plame game.

But – it convinces me of one thing - that Dick "The Sneer" Cheney too is a big bald evil puppet, doing the bidding of unseen and unnamed powerful others. It means to me Sharpshooter Dick didn't recognize a set-up for his own downfall if the need came to be, and he was staring right at it. Who the hell is really running the country. (Rhetorical question.)

Total Stranger Makes Putin Purrrr Publicly

Putin explains tummy kiss.

As the Russian president talks with Nikita for several seconds, he tugs at the boy's shirt before finally lifting it up and kissing him on his bare stomach.

"He seemed to me very independent, very serious, but at the same time a boy is always vulnerable. He was very sweet. I'll be honest: I felt an urge to squeeze him like a kitten, and that led to the gesture that I made. There was nothing behind it really," Putin said, smiling.

We the little people and our little offspring really are pets. Here kitty kitty kitty ... here little vulnerable kitty kitty ...

Dig Deeper

Christopher Dickey. American Dream, American Nightmare – US Nationalism Run Amok. Dickey, CFR member, long-time fluffster and "left" leaning writer has been around a while. I remember his "exposé" products during the '80s era of Contra, Corruption, and Crooks.

From his Paris apartment Newsweek's Dickey parses and pusses around with words in this fluff piece on nationalism versus patriotism using Orwell definitions. "The nationalist's thoughts "always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations." (So do soccer games and the Super Bowl. Politics. Beauty pageants. Job promotions.)

But for a couple of statements in the article I would have ignored the piece and surfed on to read elsewhere. But a few words, as often does in fluff like this, irritated my craw; specifically his use of adjectives and the nouns they describe.

Dickey: "Is Israel’s current strategy of crippling the rudimentary infrastructure of Gaza, forcing one million people to suffer for the kidnapping of one Israeli soldier, in any way proportional? No, nor humane, nor very relevant to winning his release. But it fits into a nationalist narrative that says the only way to deal with Palestinians is to hand them one humiliating collective defeat after another.

And in the same paragraph: "… a Muslim fanatic’s slaughter of innocent Israelis…"

Are not Israeli racists slaughtering innocent Palestinians? Guess not, Israel is merely "crippling" the "rudimentary" (primitive) infrastructure of Gaza. Palestinians "suffer … humiliating … defeat." Muslims slaughter innocent Israeli. Oh, I see the difference.

Dickey fluff on Americans: "We pushed westward because we wanted to have land, which was almost free, and we wanted to have the freedom to forget whatever histories bound us to the past. Ours has become a society based on "having" in a way that's almost indistinguishable from "the American dream," or indeed, "the pursuit of happiness." There’s no need to apologize."

"No need to apologize" … where have I heard that before. Native genocide and slavery were for "freedom… and land ... which was almost free." Ummm, I see.

Dickey: "In Africa, the forces of tribally based nationalism constantly threaten the future of a continent…" And, it was "in Balkans in the 1990s, this history-driven, blood-driven nationalism can become brutally racist and explosively xenophobic: we belong, you do not." I see, Africa, whose borders were drawn up by white folks, threatens itself with nationalistic tribalism (the need to belong). Has nothing to do with white folks still arming, financing, and backing "warlords"?

America has a much neater method for the "we belong, you do not" crowd - i.e. white flight, institutionalized racism, gutting New Orleans, prison industrial complex, the legal system, drugs to the ghetto, 2 textbooks to a classroom, illegal labor, outsourcing, 7 knucklehead patsies from Miami, Viacom/BET, etc.

Basically Dickey claims there's a difference between cultural needs of "belonging" versus "having." Dark-skinned and/or Muslim folks prefer "belonging" and Americans/Anglo with "having," which I guess explains "ever-strengthening sectarian and racial nationalisms" over there. Does that mean Arabs prefer to "belong" to violent sects rather than "having" materialism and peace? Remember, psycho-babble experts agree US gang members (black and brown) have a deep need to "belong." Would that mean gangs are culturally "having" to "belong" in their pursuit of happiness? Silly Dickey.

Mindless 5-minute-to-write fluff and crap articles/columns like US Nationalism Run Amok feed the semi-schooled, potentially critical, small group of progressive hungry Americans who read it as the voice of "opposition" speaking for them. Voices presented as serious political analysts - but Dickey is damn near as entertaining as Olbermann, Stewart, and Colbert.

The Toll Roads Are Coming, The Toll Roads Are Coming

IT’S THE LAW! FEDS PAVE THE WAY TO TOLL AND PRIVATIZE THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS AS PART OF AMERICAN UNION.

"This malicious plan is being implemented all across America. Such plots survive and thrive only in the dark."

Oh my. As I have said for 25 years America is rushing toward Third World White. But tagging and tracking Joe Blow is not the primary goal here. It is for, and my favorite word to cap, REVENUE.

Any tracking info that can be sold is an extra bonus. The government thugs are in a real bind for more revenue because too many Joe Blows are quietly refusing to pay taxes to the Feds. That is why the Heartland has so many late night ads for "tax amnesty" every April. Sure, turn yourself in and clear your tax debt for pennies on the dollar. Bubba laughs so hard at those commercials.

Let's not forget the numbers of workers being paid under the table. The underground economy is booming in some areas of the country. But publicizing the extent of the unwashed non-tax paying masses might give others the idea so the government finds other means of collecting revenue for the puppetmeisters.

Just as in Mexico and other cesspools the elite have created, the big boss man own the land and the nice highways is on it. If you have ever driven through a country such as Mexico you'll thank Kinich Ahau and all the pothole and tope gods for toll roads and pray for more tolls up ahead.

No pedestrians allowed on Mexico toll roads. However, on the awful roads there are Pop-up People who appear on the roadside just when you thought you were in the middle of nowhere. Maybe our future toll roads will be cruised by middle class tourists from China and India and Joe drives the pay-nothing seldom repaired frontage road, or becomes a walking Pop-up Joe.

Tolls ahead coming to America, maybe owned by a Spanish-Australian consortium. Isn't going global everything you thought it would be? And more.

The proposed new Superhighway from Mexico to Canada is nothing more than YOU paying for the elite to transport their wares around Pan America which they then gouge you for at inflated prices in superstores which you also helped build through other wheeling and dealing.

So, what to do what to do? Politicians are not going to stop themselves from bending over for the global elite. But hey, at least their reaming is well compensated.

If you don't buy it, eat it, wear it, play with it, use it, or pay tax for it ... who is left to fund the bastards. Consume l-e-s-s.

Otherwise, we may all be fighting for the maid and waitress jobs at tourist spots and casinos in Mississippi.

Ken Lay Dead

Well, knock me over with a feather. Ken Lay, Enron founder and overlord, found dead of a massive heart attack.

Condolences goes to wife Linda, children Robin and Mark, and future descendents who will enjoy the few billion Big Daddy Boy Lay put safely aside for them. Possibly using SWIFT tranfers (see below).

Big Daddy Lay claimed he had done all he could to avoid Enron's collapse, which he described as the "most painful thing" in his life. Indeed, for him nothing was more painful than the cash drawer slamming while both his hands were still in the till.

But you know Lay's death has to be a conspiracy, a wellstoning, as it is anatomically impossible for corporate vampires to have massive attacks of the heart. You have to drive a stake through them.

NYT & Banking Data Distraction

Here we go again. Another spying-on-us tale to gasp and tsk-tsk and get the knickers in a knot. A knot that will have as much impact and relevance as did Wilson-Plame and Fitzmas. Or al-Zarqawi's dead and resurrected and dead again saga.

The tale will die faster than the too stupid to even argue headlines for or against torture. Quicker than Judy Liar Miller in the spotlight for going to jail to protect her source before giving up the name of her source to the slightly longer-lasting hero Patrick Fitzmas who has not and will not and never intended to deliver the goods (Cheney or Rove or Bush heads on a platter).

Because - it comes from the same NYT, employers of Judy Liar Miller, whose "exclusives" on WMD came from Ahmad Chalabi who everyone with one eye and half a brain knew was also a liar.

The same NYT who aided and abetted the BushCo case for war.

The same NYT who "broke" the warrantless surveillance of phone calls and e-mails into and out of the U.S., which also lasted slightly longer than a headline.

This week, the used-to-lie NYT is the hero under fire because the newspaper is attacked and accused of compromising national security when it exposed a Treasury Department program that secretly monitors worldwide money transfers - to track terrorist financing.

The "government" monitored Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications. SWIFT is a dedicated computer network to support funds transfer messages internationally between member banks world-wide. SWIFT's global network handles approximately 3.5 million messages daily with an average daily transaction of several trillion US dollars.

Geeze, where does the NYT get all this information to expose since there really is no media, only government propaganda apparatus.

And, none other than Arlen Specter, good old JFK magic-bullet boy, is protecting the nation, busy at work on bill S.2453 which would "provide the president with the means to protect against terrorism without compromising the very civil liberties he seeks to safeguard."

Come on people – the US government, decades ago, degenerated into a large group of highly-bribed pathological liars who can barely remember their lines and perform appropriately without lots of rehearsal.

The elite thugs running the theater are casting for much bigger fish than we the people, if they're casting at all. They've always monitored your barely break even account down at First State. Your "very civil liberties" are all safe as long as you don't rile up the niggers on the plantation.

Dammit I knew my transfers to Singapore and Belgium weren't secure.

Love You to Tender

WASHINGTON — North Korea defied international objections and prompted a diplomatic scramble Tuesday by launching a long-range missile capable of reaching the USA, U.S. officials said. The Taepodong-2 missile failed within a minute and landed in the sea.

[Tony] Snow said the administration planned to move forward in "a cool and diplomatic" manner. "The last thing we want to do is escalate this," he said. Even so, "it is definitely a provocation."

The US is sending short-range interceptor missiles to Japan after extensive talks with Tokyo - a move that comes amid mounting concerns about North Korea’s intention to test fire yet another missile into the North Pacific.

The missile agreement - reached earlier this month - means that the US can install the missiles as soon as possible, according to the Pentagon, which refused to elaborate on the specifics of the arrangement and the number of missiles heading to the Far East.

The US currently has about 100,000 troops stationed in Japan.

- Maybe this could all have been avoided had Bush taken Kim Jong Il along with Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi on that tacky visit to the ever tackier Graceland last week. Hunka hunka burning love.

You Best Hurry America The Perplexed & Figure Out Who Is Really Managing the Opposition As Time Is Growing Short

(CNSNews.com) - Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan announced Wednesday (June 21) that she plans to begin an "open-ended hunger strike" on July 4 to urge the Bush administration to bring troops home from Iraq.

(What the hell is an "open-ended" hunger strike? An adaptable diet? A happy meal when it fits the situation?)

The fast, organized by Code Pink and Sheehan's Gold Star Families for Peace, will begin on Independence Day in Washington, D.C. In her statement Sheehan said she would move the fast to Crawford, Texas, where the president owns a ranch …

(Wait a minute … fast? I thought it was a hunger strike. Oh, here it is) …. celebrities like singer Willie Nelson, actor Danny Glover and comedian Dick Gregory will show their support for her by joining in a one-day fast.

(So it's a 1 day fast for the stars. Quite a sacrifice for these old coots; even I can go longer than that.)

Sheehan is currently in Vienna, Austria, protesting President Bush's appearances there.

(Man, I bet summer in Austria is much nicer than dog days in Crawford. I hope they stuffed on Austrian cheese dumplings and strudel before heading to the ranch.)

In an interview posted on Code Pink's website, the group's co-founder Diane Wilson said the fast would show solidarity with Iraqis and U.S. troops. "Their bodies are on the line every day," Wilson said, referring to Iraqi civilians. "And so are the bodies of the U.S. soldiers. So shouldn't we be putting our bodies on the line?"

(Ummmm. Why not put your bodies on the line at 1600 Pennsylvania and the Hart Senate Building for a long open-ended occupation; sort of like the US in Afghanistan and Iraq. The people and the pols might hear you ....)

Reality Beneath

Paul Craig Roberts, shill for the system, pens 2 cents worth in The Reality Beneath the Flag Waving.

I'm so damn tired of the leftist-look-alike, their techniques, and their bull. Roberts as usual puts in the standard comments about Bush supporters being "brown shirts" similar to Hitler's bunch of low morals and low IQ crowd. Personally, I wouldn't call the architects of the Third Reich members of the low IQ crowd. Roberts may be practicing misunderestimation.

Roberts, as I've written before is a phony, doing his part to maintain the system. Giving a blowjob. Telling you what you want to hear is how a shill gives head.

The reporting of the most recent troop rape and murder is well and good. However, Roberts claims "Bush supporters" are in denial regarding any and all incidents from Abu Ghraib to Haditha. I don't think it denial Paul. I've not heard one conservative/Bush man or woman I know personally deny the reports. Some may attempt to lessen the impact, but apparently many believe and expect the military to investigate and take care of their criminals, which has been done as Roberts admits in the piece above with the reporting of the rape/murder incident by military investigators to the Associated Press.

In Reality Beneath the Flag Roberts states "Many Americans are so unsophisticated that they refuse to believe anything bad about their country. They regard acceptance of unpalatable truths as disloyalty. This failure of American character is why Bush has been able to get away with transgressions that scream out for his impeachment and trial as a war criminal."

Wrong. It's not that Americans are "unsophisticated." It's that they simply don’t care or have time and energy to care. To date there have been 14 convictions of troops accused of unlawful deaths of Iraqi since March 2003, and more under investigation. Considering the horror show of daily murder/rape at home in the neighborhood, these 14 felons hardly make the average "unsophisticated" American fear for the safety of Iraqi citizens.

Roberts, as with all the pseudo-progressives, would have one believe that troop barbarity is rampant, or in his words "premeditated rape and murders are just the latest in the long line of horrific war crimes." Well, asshole, that is not the reality. Reality is of approximately 150,000 troops over 3 years a few will commit acts of outrage. But the majority of troops are trying to survive this latest elite crime, with honor, and come home in one piece.

Note Roberts throws out that "impeachment and trial" never-gonna-happen bullshit. If impeachment did take place it's only to occupy the gullible and ignorant while the global elite continue staying their course.

Roberts is right in the "failure of American character." Americans too often accept the rants of carefully groomed characters the mainstream or "alternative" media presents. The cause of this character failure goes beyond BushCo and came long before his regime. Roberts isn't looking at the long-term past/present/future big picture and doesn't want you to either.

Roberts twists and pisses on more truth with "according to news reports, recruitment problems have resulted in the military accepting felons, drug users, thugs, low-IQ high school dropouts, and illegal Mexicans promised green cards for signing up. Apparently, the same people who make America's streets unsafe for Americans make Iraqi streets unsafe for Iraqis." (Wow, Paulie – another Vietnam era type setup of some day throwing away the vets.)

No. There has not been a severe drop in recruitment, however much the shills want their readers to believe there is. The Army missed its last effort by 6600. That is not a big deal. Mental patient, drug user, low IQ high school dropout or felons are still not allowed. A couple of high profile cases of recruiters lying and desperate to make their quota does not represent military recruiters across the board.

A few months ago the Army instituted a program of paying for a GED. (If you think a public high school diploma is any better think again. Home schooled are also accepted by the Marines as #3 son was homeschooled all 12 years.)

As for the felons – those are cases where the recruit has a juvenile offense, usually auto or theft of some kind, and waivers have long been given for that. Drug user? Was that for ADD/ADHD drugs or illegal drugs? The Military Personnel Procurement Manual lists the prescribed use of Ritalin as a "permanent disqualifier" for joining the military as Ritalin is classified as a Class II controlled substance, along with morphine and other amphetamines – but – if the recruit has outgrown his need for daily Ritalin (drug use) waivers can be obtained. ADHD is a personality/mental disorder and Big Pharma and the AMA, doing their patriotic duty, will claim young patients are "cured" and fit for duty.

"Illegal Mexicans promised green cards." Must be talking about my daughter-in-law from Zacatecas who deploys next month to Afghanistan. Honest though, she is the sweetest thing and not a thug wanting a green card and making American streets unsafe for Americans. (Wonder if Paul writes anything supporting another favorite pet effort of "liberals," the fight to save the illegal Mexicans.)

So Roberts pretends there's a problem with recruitment when the truth is there is no problem. Why is there no problem? Economics are driving enlistment. The "poverty draft." The time arrived when for many young people the choice is a criminal career, lifetime freeloading and low wage jobs, or the military. That's been the choice for millions of our youth for 3 decades. The difference now is a recruit knows he/she will likely see combat at some point.

Many in today's military are willing to risk life and limb for a chance at college and healthcare and a resumé (benefits the upper classes are given at birth thanks to the grunts securing "American interests").

I had so many what-an-asshole moments in this Reality article of Roberts that I lost count. First and foremost his condescension and obvious writing down to the ignorant peons he assumes his readers are (likely true if they swallow). This "America has become a land of evil. The rest of the world hates and despises us. And we are going to pay a terrible price for it. Bush's belief that our superpower status makes us immune to the opinion of others goes beyond hubris into insanity."

Roberts, like all good propagandists, throws out the correct buzzwords of the day: Brown shirts, Hitler, Nazis, impeachment, neocons denial, insanity.

The entire Middle East situation is not just about the US. It's not just a Bush regime thing. It's global elite hubris. The Brits, Aussies, French, Germans, and all those really white countries in Europe are in this with US. China loves US for securing all that oil which their Anglo-investor factories will need to make little plastic flags. Russia loves US for wasting our nation exactly as they did theirs – all guided by that 60-year-old fabricated concern for stability in the ME and Israel of course.

The idea that the "world hates and despises us" is not new. Anyone who ever had a candid conversation with an honest intelligent non-American knows the foreign elite have never respected the US for anything other than a protection racket for global interests.

We're the land of opportunity where money can be made for retirement back to the villa or chateau, freedom to indulge hedonistic vices on the QT. A place where store shelves are loaded and choices are dazzling whether you have $10 or a million. Where summertime is rich and the women easy. The land of meth and honey.

Since inception, the US has been the best little whorehouse on the planet, with guys like Paul Craig Roberts, conservative columnist/cum-propagandist - giving head to the American "left."

A Three Way?

Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire who owns 9.9 percent of General Motors made his big play Friday by pushing the GM board to explore an alliance with automakers Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co.

Brazilian Lebonese Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of both Renault and Nissan, is a "a turnaround expert and a ruthless cost cutter" who also thinks consolidation a good idea. Nickname "Le Cost Killer."

Carlos is one of the new millenium's typical corporate cowboys. The continuance of the Reagan/Bush/Clinton era of businessmen who have no inclination to consider the community or people – it's all maximum profit and government legislating the way. Yeeeeehaw.

The next generation of Joe Blows will drive tiny painted beer can cars of whatever dull color is cheapest to produce, good on mileage, but never without a car payment as the putt-putt-putt is planned obsolescence. Made by wage slaves at home and abroad, and probably assembled in Mexico.

The New American Century of the Elite – ride 'em cowboy.