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July 31, 2004
When we spoke, Sana had just finished several "laps" around her "track:" a small sandy lot just outside of the central Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah that winds its way around greenhouses and partially built tin-roof houses. It is littered with stray copper wires, refuse and thorny wild bushes.
No more than 2 kilometers north of us was the Jewish settlement of Nezarim, a hotspot for frequent exchange of gunfire between trigger-happy Israeli Army snipers and Palestinian resistance fighters. Israeli bullets have too often found their way into a young child's head around these parts.
This was Sana's domain. A far cry, of course, from the multi-million dollar stadium where she will be competing in Athens next month.
In an echo of the savings and loan industry collapse of the 1980's, the federal agency that insures company pensions is facing a possible cascade of bankruptcies and pension defaults in the airline industry that some experts fear could lead to another multibillion-dollar taxpayer bailout.
"The similarities are incredible," said George J. Benston, a finance professor at Emory University in Atlanta who has written extensively on the regulatory failures that led to the costly savings and loan bailout.
Revealed: the special relationship behind America's Middle East policy...
"Okay, so, yeah, maybe America IS doing all this war thing for Israel, but only an anti-Semite would object!"
- M. R.
FLASHBACK: Leaflet Says Extremist Al-Zarqawi Killed...
Zarqawi has become the replacement for "Osama bin Goldstien", but aside from having lost a leg, he was reported killed last March. - M. R.
Land Grab for Building the Wall Goes Ahead, Tighten the Grip on Biet Hanoon...
If the wall is for Israel's security, why isn't it being built on Israel's land? - M. R.
Iran's Spiritual Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday he believed the United States and Israel, rather than Muslims, were responsible for the kidnappings and killings of foreigners in Iraq, Reuters reported.
The new head of secret intelligence service MI6 tried to persuade weapons inspectors in Iraq to harden up a report on their hunt for weapons of mass destruction, it was claimed today.
Meaning he asked them to lie.
- M. R.
Sen. Mark Dayton (D., Minn.), provided some emotional fireworks at the three-hour hearing by contending that the commission's report, which provides a dramatic minute-by-minute narrative of what happened on Sept. 11., shows "unbelievable negligence" on the part of top officials, who then tried to cover it up.
"NORAD [the North American Air Defense Command] lied to the American people, they lied to Congress, and they lied to your commission," Mr. Dayton said.
"We can set up all the organizations we want, but they won't be worth an Enron pension if the people responsible lie to us."
"Umm, nobody is to blame, and more tax money will make it all better."
- M. R.
President Bush's re-election campaign insisted on knowing the race of an Arizona Daily Star journalist assigned to photograph Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Star refused to provide the information.
Vatican's "Sexorcist" Gags Scandal Bishop - To Halt The Damage Being Done By The Child Porn Inquiry...
President Bush is preparing more police state tactics for America as he preps us for a new onslaught of Executive Orders.
THIS PICTURE SHOWS THE REAL AMERICA...
Israeli Occupation Soldiers Attack Wedding, Terrorize Celebrators, Arrest Several Civilians in Bethlehem
Israeli Occupation Soldiers Attack Wedding, Terrorize Celebrators, Arrest Several Civilians in Bethlehem...
White House Projects Highest Deficit Ever...
"No George, you do NOT get the gold medal for that." - M. R.
Israel May Be Compelled to Pre-empt...
As the lies for the conquest of Iraq collapse, fresh lies for the conquest of Iran pour forth. - M. R.
Lebanon says it is still Israeli target...
Also, the sun came up this morning. - M. R.
There is increasing evidence that U.S. doctors, nurses, and medics have been complicit in torture and other illegal procedures in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. Such medical complicity suggests still another disturbing dimension of this broadening scandal.
"Primum non nocere". - M. R.
Sonar used by the military to spot enemy submarines is to blame for increasing cases of whales being stranded on beaches and dying, the scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) said in a report this week.
An 11-year-old boy was among eight Palestinians killed within 48 hours by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), who also extra-judicially executed three activists, as a 16-year-old girl was critically wounded with a bullet in the head.
His 30-year wait to end with launch to Mercury...
Canada now involved in New Zealand passport fiasco...
The Mossad agents jailed for stealing passports in New Zealand entered the country using a stolen Canadian passport. - M. R.
The Canadian Foreign Ministry confirmed Saturday that an investigation has begun into why Mossad agent Uriel Kelman, currently jailed in Auckland, used a Canadian passport to gain entry into New Zealand, in violation of an Israeli promise to refrain from using Canadian passports for illegal purposes.
United Airlines announced on July 23 that it was halting all payments to its pension plan while it remains under bankruptcy protection. The move came only a few days after the world’s second largest airline announced that it would be deferring a $72.4 million payment to the plan.
Florida Republican Voters Told to Use Absentee Ballots...
Man said to be Zarqawi captured: Reports...
This is interesting. The reports keep flipping back and forth. "We got him", "We don't got him", etc. Is Bush going to save Zarqawi's "capture" for a more opportune moment?
- M. R.
NEVER MIND...
Here’s something on which Democrats, Republicans, George W. Bush and I totally agree: This is one of the most crucial presidential elections in history. Opinion polls show the vast majority of the people think so too. Interest in this election and belief in its importance is far higher than four years ago.
But you would never know that from the greedheads who run the networks. The Democratic National Convention is now on, and the major, over-the-air networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — are devoting barely three hours each to the whole thing.
Times of INdia reporting that someone "assumed" to be Zarqawi has been arrested...
THE COST OF THE WAR...
Compared to spending on education and health. - M. R.
In a shift of U.S. policy, the Bush administration announced this week that it will oppose provisions for inspections and verification as part of an international treaty that would ban production of nuclear-weapons materials.
I guess since the actual inspections undermined the case for war in Iraq, Bush is getting rid of those.
- M. R.
Just days after receiving praise for allowing a paper banned by the former American occupation chief to reopen, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is moving to impose content restrictions on Iraqi media outlets. Allawi has reportedly established a committee to draw up restrictions called "red lines" that will apply to print and broadcast media. These include restrictions on the printing or broadcasting of unwarranted criticism of the prime minister himself.
The Democratic National Convention in Boston this week provided the most powerful refutation of claims that the party’s victory in November will yield a change in course from Washington’s present policy of military aggression abroad and attacks on fundamental social and democratic rights at home.
In the first minute of his July 29 Democratic National Convention (DNC) acceptance speech, John Kerry told us that the Democratic Party has “one simple purpose: to make America stronger at home and respected in the world.” The Republicans have set the standard by which a US President will be judged, and listening to peace and social justice activists is not one of the desired qualities. Regardless of who gets elected, the two parties tell us, the next president will be a “Commander-in-chief”: tough on terrorism, national security and Homeland Security, and easy on corporations, while paying lip-service to jobs, healthcare, and education. According to Democrats quoted in the New York Times (July 25th 2004), this year’s DNC was designed so that you “think you’re looking at a Republican Convention.” Kerry is reaching out to the same base that Bush is, so this election year there is hardly even the pretense of progressive values coming from the Democratic elites on the podium.
One should not mistakenly conclude that these polls vindicate the anti-Chávez pollsters as “unbiased.” Rather, in the hour of truth, some pollsters – after having long engaged in highly biased polling designed to demoralize the government’s supporters and to embolden the opposition – will issue less biased polls in a last-ditch effort to salvage their own credibility in the face of impending defeat.
Something to keep in mind as the domestic poll numbers swing wildly back and forth these next few nonths. - M. R.
US Congressional Fever of Israel-Fealty Intensifying...
"And the gold medal in groveling and abasement goes to..."
- M. R.
Apple Computer on Thursday accused RealNetworks of hacking its popular iPod after the competitor released software that lets iPod users download songs from RealNetworks' own RealPlayer music store.
This seems like a good place to throw in a shameless plug that my wife's first music CD, "Isle Of Sanctuary" is now available for downloading at iTunes. :)
- M. R.
Afghanistan could implode...
The other quagmire the US created. - M. R.
Intelligence officials say the detainee, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, a member of Osama bin Laden's inner circle, recanted the claims sometime last year, but not before they had become the basis of statements by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and others about links between Iraq and Al Qaeda that involved poisons, gases and other illicit weapons.
Were those claimed links made while Libi was being tortured? - M. R.
Behind Tony Blair's Fabricated Intelligence on WMD...
July 30, 2004
Liberals Want Their Own Network...
Anti-War Activist Dragged off DNC Floor in Handcuffs...
Oh yeah, we got a real choice this November.
- M. R.
It was later confirmed that the five detained Israelis were in fact Mossad agents (21). They were held in custody for 71 days before being quietly released. Some of the movers had been kept in solitary confinement for 40 days.(22)
The documents from the Army inquiry reveal that a Lt. Col. Philip Zack was recorded by a surveillance camera entering the lab at 8:40 pm on January 23, 1992 (Zack, no longer employed there, had left Fort Detrick in December of 1991 over the allegations of harassment towards Dr. Assaad, as we have already seen). Apparently, he had been let in by a close friend, Dr. Marian Rippy, who testified, "I can tell you, there was no suspicious stuff going on there with specimens." [11] Of course, contrary to Dr. Rippy's claim, it seems quite apparent that there had, in fact, been a considerable amount of "suspicious stuff" going on at the lab.
The Hartford Courant has been the only paper to have covered this
story in detail. They reported that "Zack left Fort Detrick in
December 1991, after a controversy over allegations of
unprofessional behavior…." The paper later reported Dr. Zack was
observed entering the lab after hours on January 23, 1992. A
surveillance camera recorded Dr. Marian Rippy, one of the "Camel
Club" members, letting Dr. Zack inside the building.
Lab technicians noticed a late-night intruder was tampering with
their equipment. A 1992 inquiry found someone was conducting
unauthorized research involving anthrax during the evening hours.
An audit of the lab showed 27 sets of specimens -- including
anthrax spores -- were unaccounted for or missing. One former
commander at the facility said he did not believe any of the
missing specimens were ever found.
After the seizures in late 1942 of five U.S. enterprises he managed on behalf of Nazi industrialist Fritz Thyssen, Prescott Bush, the grandfather of President George W. Bush, failed to divest himself of more than a dozen "enemy national" relationships that continued until as late as 1951, newly-discovered U.S. government documents reveal.
It looks like the FBI's Boston field office faked a threat of domestic terrorism just before the start of the Democratic National Convention by leaking "unconfirmed" reports of white supremacist groups readying an attack against media vehicles in Boston.
The effect of this probably was to make the press even more suspicious of anti-war demonstrators than it already is—to even view them as possible terrorists, and if not actual terrorists, then a crowd within which terrorists could operate.
DOCUMENTS SHOWING BUSH ILLEGAL MONEY LAUNDERING AND TRANSFERS...
FAKE TERROR - THE ROAD TO DICTATORSHIP...
Relinked by reader request.
- M. R.
9/11 and Anthrax - FRAMING ARABS...
FLASHBACK: The fake 2001 Osama bin Laden video tape...
The US Government has a history of fakery when it comes to 9-11.
- M. R.
The phony (Mossad) Al Qaeda Cell in Palestine...
Relinked by reader request. - M. R.
Given what we now know about Iraq, says Malcolm Rifkind, it is intolerable that the PM remains in office while journalists have been forced to resign.
A Malawian court has convicted a Catholic priest and a nun of disorderly conduct after they were caught engaged in a sexual act in a parked car with tinted windows.
UK Anti-War Party Wins First Election...
If only WE had an anti-war party!
- M. R.
Charles McGee, the former executive director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, admitted yesterday to jamming Democratic party phone lines on election day in November 2002.
Explosions hit US and Israeli embassies in Uzbek capital...
Delta thinks of charging more for American voice on phone...
Soooo, you can make the call, but you have to pay extra to reach someone who actually understands what you want.
- M. R.
Our Media kills a Troubling Story that the Rest of the World Saw...
US economy cools amid shopping slowdown...
Sleepless troops may be sent into battle on a high...
There is another aspect to this doping of the troops. People juiced up on amphetamines are less likely to hesitate in killing other people. - M. R.
Maggots Found in Patient's Nose at VA Hospital...
Just a reminder of how much the government cares for those wounded in wars of conquest.
- M. R.
A campaign worker for President Bush said on Thursday American workers unhappy with low-quality jobs should find new ones -- or pop a Prozac to make themselves feel better.
QUESTIONS FOR MICHAEL MOORE...
Law enforcement keeps protests down to a peep...
His highnessness will be pleased. - M. R.
Three Army commanders were granted immunity from prosecution Friday in the case of two Iraqi civilians forced to jump from a bridge. One of the two allegedly died.
Fear of Death Wins Minds and Votes, Study Finds...
Which is WHY we are expecting another staged "terror" (nudge nudge wink wink) attack soon.
- M. R.
U.S. civilian authorities in Baghdad failed to keep good track of nearly $1 billion US in Iraqi money spent for reconstruction projects and can't produce records to show whether they got some services and products they paid for, an audit concludes.
The timing of the disclosure rekindles controversy surrounding an earlier report by the New Republic that the White House was pressuring Pakistan to produce a "high value target" in July during the Democratic convention. We talk to New Republic editor John Judis.
Eating candy a U.S. capital offence...
"I hope you brought enough for everybody, citizen!" - M. R.
Networks give short shrift to convention...
That's because Kerry's campaign promises are aimed at Tel aviv.
- M. R.
The movement for an honest election picked up steam but then landed right in the comfortable lap of the enemy. Will your vote be counted in November? Maybe.
Britain has bowed to US pressure to keep the name of a notorious arms trafficker, allegedly involved in supplying coalition forces in Iraq, off a list of those subject to planned United Nations sanctions, the Financial Times reported.
The hype and hysteria reached even the sleepy North Shore of Boston. In the weeks leading up to the summer's seminal event in The Big City, local police chiefs were predicting endless commutes and near-constant gridlock. Many advised locals to "go to New Hampshire for the week and don't look back." Thanks to the comfort of an overwhelming Police (State) presence, the terrorists, tourists, troublemakers and travelers were kept at bay.
July 29, 2004
There are reports five men suspected of being involved in the attack on the World Trade Centre set up cameras to record the atrocity.
The men set up cameras by the Hudson River and trained them on the twin towers.
The New York Times reports they congratulated each other when the crashes occurred.
These are the infamous "dancing Israelis".
- M. R.
Report: Israel tried to bury New Zealand Mossad affair...
Which essentially admits they did it, that they refuse to apologize for it, and want everyone else to shut up about it.
- M. R.
Sieg Heil website gives Holocaust lesson...
This is a very dangerous precedent. The government can hijack a URL and redirect it to another site, possibly one that even looks like the original but contains materials designed to discredit the authors of the real site.
- M. R.
Vanunu to be questioned on possible parole violation...
Soldiers Die In Apparent Murder-Suicide...
THE TRUTH COMES OUT AND YOU READ IT HERE FIRST!
Cars that report your every false move to local law authorities. Huge databases with detailed information on every citizen. Companies that only honor privacy guidelines when it's profitable for them to do so.
These were some of the winners of Privacy International's sixth annual U.K. Big Brother Awards, announced Wednesday. The awards are an annual attempt to publicly name and shame the government and private-sector organizations that have done the most to invade personal privacy in Britain.
It's Offical - Bloggers Changing How the World Gets Its Information!...
Sharon: U.S. Wants Israel to Have Nukes...
9/11 and Anthrax - FRAMING ARABS...
Posted in response to the Jewish Press column "A Crusade We Must Win".
- M. R.
In his book, "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower," William Blum warns of how the media will make anything that smacks of "conspiracy theory" an immediate "object of ridicule."
The biggest government conspiracy of all is the claim that there are no government conspiracies.
- M. R.
Oil price at 21-year record as fears grow...
One of four soldiers charged with shoving two Iraqi civilians into the Tigris River where one of them drowned says his superior officers ordered up the incident and told him what to say to officials looking into the death, an Army investigator testified Wednesday.
Speaking of hoaxes......
At Dove's decree, thousands of her followers send letters, postcards and e-mails to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Pentagon, Congress and the halls of international justice. They wave banners, pass out fliers and hold demonstrations on three continents, demanding announcement of a secret law that doesn't exist, anticipating the delivery of easy fortunes that never come.
Democratic Delegates Differ with Kerry on Iraq...
Glossing over the fact that Kerry is defying his own party to support more war.
- M. R.
THE PART OF THE 9-11 STORY MICHAEL MOORE MISSED!...
More and more people are starting to comment that Mr. Moore has an obvious blind spot! - M. R.
At a Massachusetts political rally, Michael Moore leveled some well-deserved zingers at the media, while ducking a key question. The film goes on about filial revenge and oil, but it never ventures onto really touchy turf -- namely the role of fiercely pro-Israel neocon hawks in convincing Bush to go to war. The elephantine Mr. Moore conveniently fails to mention that other pachyderm in the Democratic room. Why didn't Fahrenheit go there, Mr. Moore?
Rahm Emmanuel, former Clinton adviser, current congressman from Illinois, staunch supporter of Israel, and suspected by many of being "Mega", the Mossad mole in the Clinton White House, has a brother, Ari Emmanuel, who just happens to be Michael Moore's agent. Maybe a few of you would write Mr. Scotti at ciro_scotti@businessweek.com and let him know about this compromising connection. Also mention the Questions for Michael Moore.
- M. R.
QUESTIONS FOR MICHAEL MOORE...
The silence from Mr. Moore is deafening.
- M. R.
Dov Zakheim and the 9/11 Conspiracy
Dov Zakheim and the 9/11 Conspiracy
In a document called "Project for a New American Century"(1), SPC International executive, Dov Zakheim, called for a 'Pearl Harbor' type of incident being necessary to foster the frame of mind needed for the American public to support a war in the Middle East that would politically and culturally reshape the region. A respected and established voice in the intelligence community, his views were eagerly accepted, and Dov went from his position at Systems Planning Corporation to become the Comptroller of the Pentagon in May 2001. (2) Tridata, a subsidiary of Systems Planning Corporation, was in charge of the investigation after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.
BREAKING: Watergate Deep Throat Suspect Found Dead in Hotel Room...
Americans' incomes fell for two years...
While the government taxes and spends (and gives it away to Israel) and borrows more and spends that like there is no tomorrow.
- M. R.
A key overseer of the Bush administration's unsuccessful efforts to create a more comprehensive screening process for airline passengers resigned in disgrace four years ago from the New Hampshire Supreme Court to avoid prosecution over his conduct on the bench.
Meteor lights up central Victorian sky....
Sounds like de-orbiting space debris. - M. R.
Simon Mann allegedly led 69 suspected mercenaries on a take-over attempt in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.
Kerry's aides complain: Sharon prefers Bush...
"Well, Ariel, howzabout I bomb Iran, and Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon, AND Syria for you? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?"
- M. R.
Intellectual Espionage...
American literacy has plunged since the end of WW2. - M. R.
News > View Article" href="http://www.jewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=4010" target="_blank">A Crusade We Must Win...
Yeah, but, if this crusade is all that important to you, why aren't YOUR kids on the front lines? Why wasn;t Israel listed as a member of the "Coalition of the willing"? Israel is quick to pick the targets, so long as other people's children die for it.
- M. R.
Buried in the 9/11 commission's report is a recommendation that the federal government should standardize identification documents issued by states, including driver's licenses.
Which will make things easier for those people who made the fake IDs the 9-11 perpetrators were using.
- M. R.
Whichever candidate clinches the U.S. presidential election, Ariel Sharon wins. George W. Bush (for whatever mix of political and - scary - religious reasons) has basically taken a what-Ariel-wants-Ariel-gets approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And John Kerry isn't about to tick off the influential lobby group, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), by allowing much daylight between his position and Bush's. Both men support the construction of the wall running along and into the West Bank (Kerry recently agreed with Bush that the International Court of Justice, which recently ruled the barrier illegal, had no authority to tackle the matter); both say Palestinian refugees do not have the "right of return"; both say Jerusalem must not be divided; and both say that Israel will hold on to some of the land seized in the 1967 War.
Bush on drugs...
If you were in a race to see who could sell out the country to Israel fastest, would you stay stone cold sober?
- M. R.
Another reason Bush hates the internet
Bush's search for clean Cuban hookers goes awry
Another reason Bush hates the internet Bush's search for clean Cuban hookers goes awry...
July 28, 2004
The George W. Bush Presidency -- The issues, the politics, the election, the record of the Bush Administration
The George W. Bush Presidency -- The issues, the politics, the election, the record of the Bush Administration...
PayPal lawsuit claims web site...
Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee! - M. R.
Officer Robert Rhodes, mistakenly believing the Chinese woman standing nearby was involved, allegedly sprayed her with pepper spray, threw her against a wall, kneed her in the head as she knelt on the ground and struck her head on the ground while holding her hair, according to witnesses.
This is WHY we are spposed to have due process and civil rights.
- M. R.
Bush accuses Castro of promoting prostitution...
"If people want to pay to get laid they should go to Las Vegas!!!!"
- M. R.
Whether it's Bush or Kerry, Israel wins...
... and America loses. - M. R.
Irwin Kappes: One of the problems is the name Israel...
While both Republican and Democratic members of Congress have for decades engaged in an unseemly competition for Jewish-American votes and contributions, usually by expressing their continual and blind support for Israel, this past spring has seen them figuratively falling all over each other to convincingly express their fealty to Israel and commitment to causes seen as of interest to Jewish Americans.
Remember the good old days when the United States Congress was worried about the United States?
- M. R.
Fine for anti-Jew-attack faker...
No jail after all, and a 1 Euro fine. - M. R.
DNC protesters refuse to use Boston's "Free speech zone"...
LATEST VIRUS BULLSHIT FROM THE HACKERS...
Okay folks, so once again we get to stop doing whatever it is we get paid to do and waste oodles of hours making sure that this latest gift from the hackers hasn't ruined our computers.
- M. R.
Among the newly agreed deals was the decision to start using Ukraine's Odessa-Brody oil pipeline, which stood empty for three years as the two countries argued over which direction the oil in it should flow. The United States has been pushing for Ukraine not to allow Russia to export oil by pumping it from Brody to the Black Sea port of Odessa, saying that an increase in oil shipments through the Bosporus will further clog the strait as well as make Ukraine more dependent on energy resources from Russia.
WMD was the rationale for invading Iraq. But what was really driving the US were fears over oil and the future of the dollar.
This relates to my comment on the national debt which follows, and another comment about where is all the oil and money GOING since it does not seem to be coming here. The US Government may be so broke that its "creditors" have given the US Government a simple choice; use up our kids in wars fought for plunder or be foreclosed.
- M. R.
The White House will project soon that this year's federal deficit will exceed $420 billion, congressional aides said Tuesday, a record figure certain to ignite partisan warfare over President Bush's handling of the economy.
It is time to face facts, people. The governmemnt of the United States is too deeply in debt to ever get out. You could work yourself to death to pay higher taxes and it would not change the inevitable destiny of the government. The only choice We The People have is whether to allow ourtself to continue being sucked down into poverty, or to quit shoveling good money after bad, cut our losses, let the rotted and debt-ridden carcass in DC collapse, and start a new nation with better fiscal sense.
- M. R.
SADDAM'S 'STROKE'...
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.
- M. R.
A study by the college of economics at Baghdad University has found that the unemployment rate in Iraq is 70%.
The study says the problem of high unemployment is going from bad to worse, with the security situation deterioriating and the reconstruction process faltering.
Oh yeah, Bush really made life better for those folks. - M. R.
Earlier this year, the White House released documents it said proved President Bush fulfilled his National Guard service during the Vietnam War. White House spokesman Scott McClellan at the time said the documents "means he served" and that there was no longer any question about whether the President actually showed up to fulfill his duty. But according to new records released late last week, Bush did not accumulate any flying hours at all for several months during 1972.
The Philippines is set to carpet the Australian ambassador over Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's comments about Manila's decision to pull out of Iraq.
Meanwhile, people in America aren't just having to work longer to make ends meet--and increasingly just to keep their jobs; they can also forget about retiring at 65-and even about getting a pension.
Virtually all American employers long ago did away with so-called defined benefit pension plans-the ones that established a certain level of monthly benefits and then paid those benefits based on the number of years a worker was employed-and replaced them with so-called defined payment plans, where workers (and sometimes employers) paid into a plan and then the pension, upon retirement, would be based on how much was paid in, and on how well the company managed to invest those paid-in moneys.
Now many companies are trying to weasel out of those meager pension plans too.
Former UK Official Says Oil And Dollar Behind Iraq War...
Exept that the oil and dollars seem to be going somewhere else!
- M. R.
'Billionaires for Bush' brought their hilarious yet sharply pointed political message to the streets of Boston yesterday evening. In a exuberant display of conspicuous assumptions and in the finest spirit of Noblise N'oblige, an ostentatious parade of billionaires reawakened the hearts and minds of ordinary Bostonians to the kind of respect and deference to the wealthy that has been the foundation of proper societies throughout the history of Western civilization.
Cancer and birth defects have been spreading like wildfire in Iraq since the1991 US-led Gulf War, prompting doctors to describe them as the Iraqi version of flu.
Depleted uranium (DU) used by the United States and its allies against Iraq has taken its toll on around120 , 000to140 , 000Iraqis, according to the latest estimates released by the Iraqi health ministry.
GO FIND ME A WAY TO DO THIS: HOW BUSH AND BLAIR CHOSE WAR AND THEN CHOSE JUSTIFICATION...
"He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbours."
Colin Powell February 24, 2001 - M. R.
Saddam could die before his trial...
Oooooh, and what a shame THAT would be, eh Dubya?
- M. R.
FOX News As Good as Pravda...
Actually, these days Pravda seems to be more accurate.
- M. R.
Chafee criticizes Bush for ''host of mistakes'' in Iraq...
Sorry Chafee, but if you are going to call lying to the people a "host of mistakes" then you are a liar too and should be voted out of office.
- M. R.
Asserting this war has made us safer won't make it so...
Australia, another country with troops in Iraq at American behest, is in the process of going through an examination of its role there similar to what took place in Spain and is occurring in the United States and the United Kingdom.
FIRE THE LIARS! - M. R.
The scandal is unfolding in gigantic proportions... and we can hardly keep up with the developments. Responding to a publicity and solidarity campaign by Indymedia, the Government of the Republic of Cyprus has been forced to admit that they were acting under orders from the US Government to carry out an intelligence investigation of Cyprus Indymedia and of one of its founding members, Petros Evdokas, in order to assess whether he "constitutes a threat to US interests."
A computer crash erased detailed records from Miami-Dade County's first widespread use of touchscreen voting machines, raising again the specter of election troubles in Florida, where the new technology was supposed to put an end to such problems.
"I wonder if that really big magnet we were using to stick notes to the front of the disk drive had anything to do with it?"
- M. R.
The alleged beating of a Chinese businesswoman by a Customs and Border Protection officer at the Rainbow Bridge last week has turned into an international issue.
"We's Amerucuns; beating the crap outa furriners is what we DO!"
- M. R.
UK troops held torture contests, Iraqi claims...
Prizes were gold, silver, and bronze cattle prods.
- M. R.
Spain's former Interior Minister Angel Acebes has defended his government's actions in initially blaming Basque militants Eta for the Madrid bombings.
The Madrid case is unraveling fast. The police are accused of concealing evidence, two of the bombers were police informants, there was a surplus of letters left behind pointing the finger of blame at Arabs, and the early political decision to blame ETA (which backfired on Aznar) is still being promoted by those who hitched their reputations to it. - M. R.
This time it's the BBC.
Iraq suicide blast kills 68...
Gee, we turned Iraq into Palestine! - M. R.
July 27, 2004
WOLF! WOLF! WOLF!...
A Russian official said here Tuesday that Russia should lodge a protest to the U.S. over its threats against Iran. A Duma member and Head of Iran-Russia Parliamentary Friendship Committee Youri Savilov, in an interview with the website 'Iranro' added, "The threats by the U.S. and Israel against Iran contravene international law."
Wanna play "Nookular" with the Russians, Dubya?
- M. R.
Spain is investigating why it took police three months to find a stolen car used by the Madrid bombers even though it was abandoned close to a van they used, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said on Sunday.
Spain probes if police hid bomb evidence...
The story here isn't that some letters were hidden, but how MANY letters, written in Arabic, containing calls to martyrdom, etc. etc. etc. were littered all over the place waiting to be found.
- M. R.
photos of mondays cheney rally...
COMMON DREAMS WEBSITE HACKED....
Once again hackers show their love of freedom of speech.
- M. R.
USA Today Drops Ann Coulter...
Kp Index goes off the top of the scale...
Rough night for short wave listeners and long power lines. Auroras were reported in Arizona last night!
- M. R.
Muslim charity says FBI made up case against it...
While playing down reports that the antiwar activists were "in revolt" against Kerry, fellow Kucinich delegate Jessica Beckett, 19, a Seattle student, reminded us: "We're Democrats. We don't march in lockstep."
A politician who was supposed to be taking part in a debate on road safety was caught watching a porn movie in parliament.
Ignoring the Israeli Spy story completely, and in a film putatively about exposing FOX they fail to mention this major story that was censored by FOX... pulled and purged from their website as well. What is the bigger issue here?
When they seized Adam's computer equipment, he was given written documentation stating that it would be returned within 60 days. The equipment that they did return did not arrive until more than 8 months later, and only then after much prodding from his lawyer. Much of it was damaged beyond repair - one laptop had a shattered LCD screen, an empty tape backup drive was ripped apart for no apparent reason, his fiancee's iBook was badly damaged when it was pried apart with a screwdriver.
Attention FBI: A screwdriver is not a prybar. It is intended to loosen the screws holding the computer together. You insert that flat (or cross shaped) part at the tip into the correspondingly shaped recess in the screw, press inward gently, while rotating counter-clockwise. Repeat until the screw can be removed. Then the computer can be taken apart for inspection, and more to the point, reassembled afterwards.
Next week; we learn to tie our shoelaces. - M. R.
Several Colorado activists said they have been questioned by FBI agents who wanted to know if they had any information about plans to cause trouble at the Democratic and Republican national conventions.
Strange how the same FBI that can take the time to question students who have not actually done anything wrong cannot seem to find the time to question Dr. Philip Zack, the man actually caught entering the storage area where the Anthrax used in the infamous letters was kept, without authorization, and after losing his job over a racially motivated attack on an Egyptian co-worker. - M. R.
Student Says FBI 'Just Scaring People'
"The message is: Hand over your guns, now!" said Corey Graff, executive director of Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc. "This is a blatant case of guilty-until-proven-innocent and an abuse of police power."
Searching For Michael Moore...
Crude futures edge closer to a record above $42...
"Iran responds to regional and Israeli threats of attack by vowing to wipe Israel "off the face of the earth" if it attacks the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities."
"Iran responds to regional and Israeli threats of attack by vowing to wipe Israel "off the face of the earth" if it attacks the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities."...
Is there an "understanding" between Iran and Russia regarding defense?
- M. R.
ALL THIS BECAUSE OF A LIE...
Slow load; lots of pictures.
- M. R.
FLASHBACK: U.S., Germany, Japan Investigate Unusual Trading Before Attack...
You know, the trading the SEC now says never happened.
- M. R.
FLASHBACK: THE LIE THAT TOOK US TO WAR...
Bush's letter activating the congressional authorization for the use of force in Iraq. Both claims made in that letter, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that threatened the United States, and that Iraq was connected to 9-11, were lies. Bush had no proof of those claims when he signed that letter. Bush knew he was lying. - M. R.
U.S. colonel admits to holding Iraqi children; Fresh torture charges...
Illiteracy Does Not a Good Electorate Make...
The dumbing down of America has set the stage for dictatorship. - M. R.
Israel grabbing more land...
July 26, 2004
New MyDoom virus spreads quickly...
iNFORMATION iNQUEST dot com...
Every day, more blogs take up the cause of truth and freedom. - M. R.
Jewish Leader Warns of 'Growing US Moslem Community'; CAIR Calls on Hoenlein to Step Down From Leadership of Umbrella Group
Jewish Leader Warns of 'Growing US Moslem Community'; CAIR Calls on Hoenlein to Step Down From Leadership of Umbrella Group...
What if the headline were, "White Leader Warns of 'Growing US Black Community'"?
I think a lot of people would be upset. And rightly so.
This is not a nation where members of one race are allowed to decide for the rest of the country what populations are good or not good to have around. Hoenline's statement reveals more than stark racism, it reveals an arrogant assumption that he and those like him have the right to decide just who is and who is not supposed to be an American. - M. R.
Jackie Mason Calls Islam a 'Murderous Organization'; CAIR Urges Radio Network to Apologize, Offer Muslim Viewpoint
Jackie Mason Calls Islam a 'Murderous Organization'; CAIR Urges Radio Network to Apologize, Offer Muslim Viewpoint...
In an unprecedented ruling, the World Court has declared that the separation wall Israel is building in occupied Palestine is contrary to international law, and must be dismantled. Most importantly, the Court asked the UN Security Council to resolve the situation.
An Israeli newspaper, Sunday Haaretz, claims Mossad asked its New Zealand counterparts to help cover up the matter but Helen Clark prevented that from happening.
There has been no evidence produced that Iran knew of the 9/11 attacks or assisted them. But never mind Iran. The Bush Administration still has not published the White Paper promised by Colin Powell in late 2001 proving Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida were behind 9/11. What we have seen is a faked tape of bin Laden, a lot of faked documents produced by the Afghan communists who run the so-called Northern Alliance, and more fakery from the Chalabi group in Iraq.
Why would Iran, knowing it was in Bush’s gunsights, join in a monstrous terrorist attack that, if linked to Tehran, could have brought US nuclear retaliation? Iranians are a very clever, sophisticated people, and certainly not suicidal.
An IDF soldier was seen first beating and then shooting out of control at a Palestinian student at a roadblock north of Nablus on Sunday, inflicting wounds that sent Mohammed Canaan, 26, a student at A-Najah University in Nablus, to hospital.
It must be pretty evident to most New Zealanders that the attack on Helen Clark by Ted Lapkin, of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council's journal, was founded on a series of factual misrepresentations, false comparisons and unsupported inferences.
Yeah, well, that's what they DO to people who dare speak out about Israel's crimes.
- M. R.
Court convicts woman for fabricating anti-Semitic attack...
The local head of a campaign to hunt down Nazi war criminals in Hungary has resigned amid criticism over the project's legality, the campaign's worldwide coordinator said Monday.
Israel is embarking upon a more aggressive approach to the war on terror that will include staging targeted killings in the United States and other friendly countries, former Israeli intelligence officials told United Press International.
Powerful Bomb Explodes In Volusia County Park...
Practice? - M. R.
'Fahrenheit 9/11' banned by Australian Defence Force...
Fahrenheit 9/11 is Having "Devastating" Impact on Military Morale...
It's not fun finding out you've invaded another nation because of a lie.
- M. R.
Excerpt from report by Kuwaiti news agency Kuna web site Baghdad, 24 July: Informed sources at the Iraqi Defence Ministry today [24 July] said that a ministerial decision was issued dismissing five ranking officers including Gen Amir Bakr al- Hashimi, the chief of staff of the new Iraqi Army. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the same sources told the Kuwaiti news agency, Kuna, that the collective dismissal decision came in the wake of the assassination of Isam al-Dujayli, director- general of the Supplies and Contracts Department at the ministry, in Baghdad last week by gunmen, whose identities were identified later.
From now until September 3, we'll be taking nominations from the blogosphere on the best weblogs from this political season. Whose rants could give Dennis Miller a run for his money? Who's making the best use of the technology? Who will be around long after the hype has died down?
Fresh Attacks Kill 8 in Iraq; Jordanians Seized...
VIDEO OF THERESA KERRY AND REPORTER...
Sorry Theresa; you did say, "Un-American" and the reporter was therefore justified in asking for a clarification of what you meant.
- M. R.
Last night, I had my first direct experience with the so-called free speech zone. It left me with one conclusion: whatever you do, do NOT go inside. It’s not only a blatant offense to free speech, but also highly dangerous and unsafe.
An Oregon anti-terrorism bill would jail street-blocking protesters for at least 25 years in a thinly veiled effort to discourage anti-war demonstrations, critics say.
However, organisers of the convention have said protesters can gather only in a large wire cage that has been built under Boston's elevated train tracks. It has one entrance and one exit, and is topped by razor wire.
Naturally, the protesters are protesting. Late last night they made their views known in silence - they left the cage empty. They won't go in there. It resembles an internment camp and is an affront to free speech, they say.
Despite being quite wrong in law and in politics over Iraq, Prime Minister Blair of the United Kingdom continues to escape public judicial censure. I