WhatReallyHappened.com: May 2008 Archives

Sudan raised the spectre of war with neighbouring Chad yesterday, accusing it of backing Darfuri rebels who launched a daring assault on its capital, Khartoum.

Hundreds of fighters from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) also attacked Omdurman, which lies across the Nile from the capital, on Saturday. Sudanese forces responded with artillery and helicopter gunships as fighting raged throughout the weekend. It was the first time that the conflict in Darfur had reached the gates of the capital.

A US warship, which was deployed off Lebanon in February amid concern over Beirut's political crisis, crossed Egypt's Suez Canal on Sunday on its way to the Mediterranean, an official with the canal authority told AFP.

"The USS Cole has crossed the Suez Canal and is headed to the Mediterranean," the official said, adding he did not know its exact destination.

Unless more funding and effort are put into saving the nation's infrastructure, it will continue to crumble, say experts. An estimated $1.5 trillion over the next five years could be needed to avoid large-scale disaster.

With most of our taxpayer dollars going to fund wars and more wars, don't look for there to be any construction on infrastructure until it collapses.

And then look for absolutely no Federal money to be available. - M. R.

With most of our taxpayer dollars going to fund wars and more wars, don't look for there to be any construction on infrastructure until it collapses.

And then look for absolutely no Federal money to be available. - M. R.

Yet 23 Senate Democrats voted against the war ( HT to GN1927 for correction.See comment below for complete list.) And a majority of House Democrats. Also a Republican, Lincoln Chaffee. We must admire these honorable men and women who stood up when the nation needed them.

Fake mavericks like McCain rolled over and played nice. Sen. Clinton fully expected the Primary for Democratic nomination in 2008 to be a coronation: the real attacks would come from Republicans in the General Elections. So she was looking to the right and not the left as she made her decision. She made a crucial decision risking the lives of thousands of soldiers based on a mere political calculation.

But McAuliffe's shady ties to the company go beyond his questionable investment windfall. According to the press reports, McAuliff also did "political work" for Global Crossing CEO Gary Winnick, working out of an office in downtown Washington owned by Winnick. On one occasion, McAuliffe set up a golf outing for Winnick and then-President Clinton. Winnick would later give a million dollars to Clinton's presidential library. The question is: what did he and Global Crossing receive in return?

When you tied those blue and white ribbons around your tree, I never understood what would have caused you to stoop so low as to cheer on the genocide of the Palestinian people. You have a large house on the prestigious North Side of town. What makes you so comfortable with the destruction of the homes of others? You have a father, who adores you and works hard to support you and your mother. He gives you anything you want and need. What makes you so gleeful and self-complacent when other children's fathers are dragged out of their homes to be arrested without charge, imprisoned indefinitely and tortured? Since you are clearly willing to accept the murder of Palestinian families for the sake of confiscating their property for the arrogant indulgence of 'the Jewish people,' how can any of your American neighbors feel safe from you? How dare you insult my family with your ribbons of Jewish supremacism? Who do you think you are? Perhaps the real question is: who do you wish you were?

In 1933 corporate America attempted to implement a coup against the US Government with plans to install a right-wing fascist dictatorship. One of the players in this treason was Prescott Bush, Georgie's grandaddy among other so called captains of industry, whom I refer to as traitors. This coup was thwarted due to the efforts of General Smedley Butler whom corporate america tried to draw into their conspiracy. Unlike the business sector of America, General Butler believed in democracy, he believed in the principles that America was founded upon and it is thanks to him that this coup didn't take place in 1933.

They wheedle and schnorr and contribute to various causes. It's the kind of schnorring that begins with Shaare Zedek Medical Center and could end in court. The question here is why did Talansky, or any other Jewish American, invest, allegedly, in Olmert? What do they receive in exchange for this pot stirring?

See WHO IS SENDING YOUR CHILDREN OFF TO DIE IN WAR? - M. R.

Fierce fighting raged today between supporters of Lebanon's Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition in the northern city of Tripoli.

"About 7,000 people have fled from Bab al-Tebbaneh, which marks the frontlines, because of the battles," he said. Residents of Tripoli could hear heavy machine gun firing and the thump of exploding rocket-propelled grenades, some of which fell inside the city, an AFP correspondent said.

Dr Chris Busby is an internationally renowned scientist and founder of the Low Level Radiation Campaign ( www.llrc.org ) His scientific studies and Reports on the dangers of radiation, proving it unsafe at any level, wrong foot the nuclear and arms industry on an ongoing basis.

Part of our "legacy" in Iraq will be that of the illness and death, for Iraqis, US troops, and their families, due to genetic damage. - M. R.

the degree to which Israel is militarily interconnected with the US is almost an admission that it has become our 51st state. - M. R.

On May 8th, Jes and Leslie Richardson and Medea Benjamin of CodePink crashed a Hillary fundraiser and managed to unfurl a banner protesting her remarks about "obliterating" Iran. Clinton's dismissive reaction as Jes was led from the room was to hope that "he didn't step on any of the cookies or the cakes."

Let's hope that the Pakistani Parliament can do better than this: the Pakistani people deserve a government which can show true leadership to move their country forward. - M. R.

The number of soldiers forced to remain in the Army involuntarily under the military's controversial "stop-loss" program has risen sharply since the Pentagon extended combat tours last year, officials said Thursday.

Anyone feel a draft? - M. R.

Three large parts of Sadr city were subjected to heavy bombardment that was continuously carried out by U.S. helicopters, starting from Saturday 3:30 p.m. until now, despite the Iraqi government and representatives of the Sadr movement having signed an agreement to stop confrontations in the city.

By this military action, the US has demonstrated very clearly that they do not want this ceasefire to hold.

And heavy air bombardment of densely packed urban areas absolutely guarantees two things:

1. Heavy civilian casualties

2. Radicalizing those left standing even more strongly against the Al-Maliki government and US troops. - M. R.

Ruling party's four senior ministers - Livni, Mofaz, Dichter and Sheetrit - working hectically below the surface ahead of possible primary elections following potential resignation by prime minister. 'No one wants to be caught with his or her pants down,' source in Kadima says

The curious and interesting timing of this scandal couldn't come at a worse moment for Olmert.

Those who would replace him (read: most probably Benyamin Netanyahu or Ehud Barak) are just to the right of Attila the Hun when it comes to any possible rapprochement with the Palestinians, and are great supporters of wars against their neighbors, which -regrettably - they will be expecting either this or the next president of this country to fight for them. - M. R.

For Olmert's use of the word "calm" in the first paragraph, substitute the word "murder", and you get a much clearer picture of what he's talking about. - M. R.

"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, For caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, Will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

Mr. President, it does not require a foreign country to commit terrorist acts on American soil. Terrorist acts can be committed by federal, local, and private entities that are operating under the guise of "protecting the public."

I try not to get angry and usually that's not difficult. I'm not an angry person generally... I do have a problem with injustice. As much as I know that karma is a reality and that everything is under control, no matter how it looks, it still seems to me that we are required as human beings to protest and speak out against injustice. It is less important that we succeed in any particular mission than that we tried. You have to ask yourself what your life is about and what is important to you.

In these days the navel-gazing, self-absorption and pursuit of personal gain is epidemic. Even when people take the high ground on bad behavior, the motive is often the pursuit of their own celebrity rather than giving a damn.

See Buy-Bull Bangers: Regular, or Extra-Crispy? - M. R.

We have a mail carrier here who has a speaker-phone cell phone literally strapped to his wrist on which he chats with his wife all day long while delivering mail. Needless to say a lot of mail gets mis-delivered and we meet our neighbors a lot these days with "Is this yours?" as the opening comment. We tried complaining to the post office (which doesn't even have a listed phone number) and were told that it is next to impossible to fire a postal worker.

Email rules! - M. R.

Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County

Supervisors said okay .

The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners . They feed and care for the strays . Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily . He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior . They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal . He has literally taken stray dogs off the street , given them to the care of prisoners , and had them place in dog shows .

Mayor Gavin Newsom's acceptance of an all-expense-paid trip to Israel this week exhibits poor moral and political judgment. The Jewish Community Federation organized the junket ostensibly to connect Bay Area and Israeli business leaders.

Not coincidentally, the mayor's trip overlaps with Israel's 60th anniversary. As such, the visit communicates a powerful message that Israel is a country to be celebrated, economically integrated and politically sustained.

... but keeps classified everything that challenges the official story. - M. R.

The rabidly Zionist evangelical Christian right constitutes some of the most powerfully visible evidence that Zionism is the premier threat to world peace. Watching these flag-waving religious nut-jobs cheer and weep and pray with fervour for the annihilation of Iran and its people is about as scary as it gets.

These religiously deranged people are convinced that if they help Israel start WWIII that it will bring on the Rapture, and Jesus will come down and invite them all up to the Big House!

As a side note, the Rapture is not in the original Bible. It was created by a preacher named John Darby in the 1830s (who heard it from a delirious women named Margaret MacDonald). The Rapture was added to the Scofield Bible by Cyrus Scofield in 1909. - M. R.

A highly sensitive internal report into the state of the British Army has revealed that many soldiers are living in poverty. Some are so poor that they are unable to eat and are forced to rely on emergency food voucher schemes set up by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The wars are running out of money. - M. R.

The Bush administration recently announced it will allow select members of Congress to read Justice Department legal opinions about the CIA's controversial detainee interrogation program that have been hidden from Congress until now. But as the administration allows a glimpse of this secret law -- and it is law -- we are left wondering what other laws it is still keeping under lock and key.

Tracy Ingle was asleep in his house when armed police using a no-knock warrant burst in. Unsure about what was happening, he reached for a non-functioning pistol, but began to drop it as soon as he realized who they were. The gesture was too late -- officers shot him 5 times.

Mercifully, he survived, but despite not finding any drugs in his house, Tracy is being charged with two felony counts of Aggravated Assault, drug paraphernalia and running a drug premises.

And remember, the terrorists only hate us because we are free! - M. R.

Five years ago Greg Lasrado drove a $500,000 black Lamborghini Diablo, rubbed shoulders with high-powered people such as US president Bill Clinton, lived between multimillion-dollar penthouses and bought racehorses for fun. Today his sole asset is a rusty ute, he lives in his parents' spare bedroom and spends most weekends helping his mum with the housework.

Some purported keepers of that flame claim that supporting Israel means reflexively supporting every Israeli action and implacably opposing every Israeli foe -- adopting the talking points of neoconservatives and the most right-wing elements of the American Jewish and Christian Zionist communities. Criticize or question Israeli behavior and you're labeled "anti-Israel," or worse. But unquestioning encouragement for short-sighted Israeli policies such as expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank isn't real friendship. (Would a true friend not only let you drive home drunk but offer you their Porsche and a shot of tequila for the road?) Israel needs real friends, not enablers. And forging a healthy friendship with Israel requires bursting some myths about what it means to be pro-Israel.

Like the old Canadian CBC game show "Front Page Challenge", where contestants would be given clues and try to guess the answer, the out of control Canadian Human Rights Commission's new policy for disclosure is to black out most of the page, but leave what they call "clues". What sort of disclosure that that?

... This new policy put in place by the CHRC makes a complete mockery of the rules of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, which requires the CHRC to disclose anything that is "arguably relevant". No such exemptions in law exists that the CHRC is trying to invoke.

... Recently it was revealed that the CHRC had a "policy" to lie to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and every Section 13 respondent, by not revealing the spying operations they were conducting. This alone is a scandal of the highest order.

The reason for the cover-up is obvious. CHRC members used phony IDs (in one case pirating a neighborhood wifi access point) to plant racist and inflammatory messages on a website which the CHRC then turned around and sued for racism! - M. R.

This is supposed to make us feel good about what our soldiers are doing in Iraq ... until you realize that if Bush had not lied us into this war in the first place, this girl would never have lost her legs or her little brother Ali. - M. R.

The Bush administration lost no time in seeking to exploit the devastating tragedy in Burma (Myanmar). It has seized upon the cyclone that struck the country over the weekend, killed at least 20,000 and likely many more, to aggressively push its foreign policy agenda in Asia.

May 10, 2008

So why the hype? Well, global warming is a growth industry designed to keep Earth and some bank accounts green.

Gore himself joined the venture capital group, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers just last September. On May 1, the firm announced a $500 million investment in maturing green technology firms called the Green Growth Fund.

The group announced another $700 million to be invested over the next three years in green-tech startup firms. But if the green technology business, uh, cools down, there will be no return on that investment. There would be no need for such investments if global warming wasn't a threat. So Gore just launched, among other things, a $300 million on an ad campaign to convince us it is so.

A decade before Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton admitted fudging the truth during the presidential campaign, federal prosecutors quietly assembled hundreds of pages of evidence suggesting she concealed information and misled a federal grand jury about her work for a failing Arkansas savings and loan at the heart of the Whitewater probe, according to once-secret documents that detail the internal debates over whether she should have faced criminal charges.

During WW2, some great editorial cartoons were produced by Dr. Seuss. Yeah, that Dr. Seuss. Having just recieved the book yesterday, I couldn't help but notice how well a few could apply to our current leadership :

And three weeks later all of our enemies will have the plans for it. - M. R.

Yesterday 20 of us were arrested in the lobby of the San Francisco Jewish Community Center at an event organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council's "Israel @ 60″ Educational Symposium. Many other Jews and allies joined us inside as well as outside to voice our opposition to an organization that continually claims to speak in our name as it supports the continued project of Israeli colonialism.

In our book, 9/11 and Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out, I wrote of Ali Mohamed, the close ally of Osama bin Laden and his mentor Ayman al-Zawahiri.7 It is now generally admitted that Ali Mohamed (known in the al Qaeda camps as Abu Mohamed al Amriki -- "Father Mohamed the American")8 worked for the FBI, the CIA, and U.S. Special Forces.

Lawyers for Mayor Bloomberg are asking a judge to ban any reference to the Second Amendment during the upcoming trial of a gun shop owner who was sued by the city. While trials are often tightly choreographed, with lawyers routinely instructed to not tell certain facts to a jury, a gag order on a section of the Constitution would be an oddity.

The results in Tuesday's twin primaries--Barack Obama by 14 percent in North Carolina and Hillary Clinton by less than 2 percent in Indiana--confirmed that Clinton is finished as a contender. Barack Obama will be the Democratic candidate for president this fall.

... and Wesley Snipes goes to jail. - M. R.

The US-led coalition said they had come under attack after targeting a "foreign fighter network".

But local people said they were civilians and they blocked the main road to the Pakistani border.

Police opened fire and a number of demonstrators are reported to have been killed or injured.

More "winning the hearts and minds of the Afghanis", I see. - M. R.

Nationwide, 411 school districts in 27 states now face intervention.

How California and the other states will turn around those struggling districts is unclear.

Under some of the states' current improvement plans, it would take some districts more than 100 years to bring students' reading and math skills to grade level.

100 years??All kids come into this world with enormous curiosity, and a hunger to find out what this world around them is really about.

A family connection of ours used to teach in one of the most unforgiving school districts in LA, and what that staff was able to do with kids from poor, urban environments, was nothing short of amazing.

Additionally, kids at educational risk also need families which are educated to value education, because they understand that it's the only ticket up and out from poverty.; they have to believe that it is possible for their kids to overcome poverty through education.

The future generations are always a country's most important resource, and should be treated accordingly. - M. R.

Sounds like the "purge" of commanders opposed to war with Iran has started. - M. R.

Support is growing in Democratic ranks for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland as vice president. He would bring to the ticket maturity (66 years old), experience (six terms in Congress) and moderation (rated "A" by the National Rifle Association). He is very popular in Ohio, a state Republicans must carry to elect a president.

Roger Clinton was hacking his way through a friendly game of golf in 1999 when his foursome was interrupted by a visitor who drove up on a cart and, after a brief conversation, handed Mr. Clinton a box containing a Rolex watch.

The encounter near the 10th hole of the Rancho Park golf course in Los Angeles might have been forgotten but for a few salient details. Current and former federal government officials say the young man who delivered the watch was Tommy Gambino, son of a convicted heroin trafficker serving a 45-year sentence. And, unknown to Mr. Clinton, his partners included two Air Force intelligence officers who reported the incident and said that Mr. Clinton had said he was ''helping'' Tommy Gambino's father, Rosario Gambino.

See also THE CRIMES OF MENA - M. R.

In the fall of 1995, President Clinton was introduced to a Macau businessman and told he had been ''very helpful'' in arranging a Hong Kong reception for Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown, according to a newly released White House videotape of Democratic Party events.

In the two years since then, the Macau businessman has been linked to organized crime in Asia, and the Hong Kong reception has been criticized by some participants as a thinly veiled and highly unusual overseas campaign fund-raiser for the Democratic Party.

Of course, you read it here at WRH years ago!

PHOTOGRAPH OF CRIME LORD NG LAP SENG WITH HILLARY CLINTON.

Click for full size picture.(199.4K)

Here we have a photo taken at an official DNC fundraiser with Bill and Hillary posed with Ng Lap Seng, Macau Crime Lord who controls Prostitution in that region. His Fortuna Hotel is actually a high class bordello where young girls (often underage) are available for a price. Ng, through his American contact Charlie Trie, donated close to a million dollars to the Democrats.

- M. R.

The United States tortures prisoners in violation of international law, former President Carter said Wednesday.

"I don't think it. I know it," Carter told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

"Our country for the first time in my life time has abandoned the basic principle of human rights," Carter said. "We've said that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to those people in Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo, and we've said we can torture prisoners and deprive them of an accusation of a crime to which they are accused."

Three small-town eighth-graders in Minnesota were suspended by their principal for not standing Thursday morning for the Pledge of Allegiance, violating a district policy that the principal now says may soon be reworded to protect free speech rights.

The Internet is now becoming a new front in the phony terror war. Legislation like the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 that is in the forms of HR 1955 and S 1959 which seek to give the government powers to define thoughts and belief systems as homegrown terrorism, is on the brink of being pushed down our throats.

First off, the threat of terrorist operated Internet sites is a complete fraud. IntelCenter a CIA front group which supposedly finds all of these Al-Qaeda terrorist video and audio tapes on the Internet never provides the source of where they obtain the terrorist propaganda. If these materials were real terrorist propaganda and they didn't want to reveal the source, why have we not seen warrants served, the web servers seized and people questioned?

This Al Qaeda (nudge nudge wink wink) ?

The goal as always is to trick the enemy into killing each other off. - M. R.

The food situation was as bad as the famine that hit the country in the mid-1990s, which left as many as 2 million people dead, Seoul-based Good Friends -- a Buddhist-affiliated group that sends food and other aid to the North -- cited an unidentified North Korean official Friday as saying.

The State Department "Office of Global Anti-Semitism" says the New Testament claim that the Jews had Christ crucified is "classical anti-Semitism"--a historic form of hate. It included as an "anti-Semitic incident" the case of a Polish priest who said Jews killed Christ.

When Riad Hamad's body, bound with duct tape, was pulled from the water, the initial reaction was that a murder had occurred. But quickly-some say too quickly-the Austin Police Department said Hamad had likely bound himself to make his suicide look like a murder. Some questioned whether federal authorities had suggested to APD investigators that the ruling of "suicide" would make things easier for everyone.

The image of a key has become the symbol of the Palestinian people's dream of returning to the homes they were driven out of by the zionist pogroms of 1948. These were homes that families lived in for generations, homes that contained memories, homes that BELONGED TO THEM!

On a day when across the country, hundreds of thousands attended official military shows, firework displays and communal barbeques, this was the biggest event held by Palestinians inside Israel. Participating in the procession were the very top level Arab leaders, including Knesset members, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee and the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated his warning that the Jewish state will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran, but expressed hope the international community would be successful in checking Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Were I a betting person, I would almost be willing to bet that the Palestinian/Israeli negotiations will be at the bottom of the agenda for talks between Olmert and Bush when Bush comes to Israel this week.

The highest priorities will be the Hezbollah coup in Lebanon, and how to "sell" an American-lead attack against Iran.

But it appears that reporters at the Washington Post, interviewing Olmert, are equally gutless as those interviewing Bush, McCain, Obama, or Clinton on one particular issue.

If the US and/or Israel attack Iran, what is Russia going to do?

Russia has a long history with its neighbor Iran in terms of trade.

If the US and Israel think for one moment that Russia will simply stand by and allow such an attack to proceed with impunity, they had better not get this horribly wrong. - M. R.

Former President Jimmy Carter says delegates from Florida and Michigan should not be counted at the Democratic National Convention because they "disqualified themselves." Advertisement

On "The Tonight Show" today, Carter also warned of a disaster if party insiders try to wrest the nomination from the candidate with the largest number of votes and state victories.

Apparently Jimmy Carter also thinks Hillary is going to try something. - M. R.

... canceled after US realized none of them was from Iran - M. R.

There was something interesting missing from Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner's introductory remarks to journalists at his regular news briefing in Baghdad on Wednesday: the word "Iran," or any form of it. It was especially striking as Bergner, the U.S. military spokesman here, announced the extraordinary list of weapons and munitions that have been uncovered in recent weeks since fighting erupted between Iraqi and U.S. security forces and Shiite militiamen.

Neither the United States nor Iraq has displayed any of the alleged arms to the public or press, and lately it is looking less likely they will. U.S. military officials said it was up to the Iraqis to show the items; Iraqi officials lately have backed off the accusations against Iran.

If the US had irrefutable proof of Iranian weapons being used against US soldiers, they would be showing it and screaming, it from the rooftops.

What they have are.....accusations. - M. R.

This new gap - from March 1, 2003, to May 23, 2003 - also may have wiped out evidence of how George W. Bush and his top aides reacted to the emerging criticism from former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson that the White House had sold the war using false claims about Iraq seeking uranium from Niger in Africa, an investigation by The Public Record http://www.pubrecord.org has found.

Find your local farmer's markets and buy your produce from your local community. The food will be fresher because it hasn't been shipped from another continent, and the prices are lower than the big stores. - M. R.

A high school in California was locked down after about 600 students fought in a lunchtime brawl that had to be quelled by police in riot gear.

The Times reported school officials separated Latino students from black students.

Apparently, the gangs in LA have taken over the public school system, and there is apparently nothing teachers or parents can really do about it at this point. - M. R.

In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, May 22, New Yorker magazine investigative journalist Seymour Hersh repeated charges he published in that magazine in March, that the Bush Administration has been working with Saudi Arabia to arm Sunni fundamentalist cells, to fight Hezbollah. The recent explosion of violence in northern Lebanon between the Lebanese Army and the previously little-known group Fatah al-Islam, is but the latest example of this rotten collusion, Hersh charged.

The US is trying to put the blame for the Lebanon melt-down onto designated patsies Iran and Syria, but the reality is that the US has been playing their usual covert games, and it just blew up on their faces. - M. R.

No, what has happened is that the US had their puppet in Lebanon start to attack Hezbollah's infrastructure to make way for a new Israeli invasion. And now that it looks like Hezbollah might actually prove tougher than expected, the US (as usual) looks for someone else to blame. - M. R.

An unidentified army officer complained earlier Friday after visiting the military's mortuary at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to pay respects to a comrade who had been killed in combat, officials said.

He discovered that the soldier was to be cremated at a facility off the base that had a sign outside saying it was a pet crematorium, they said.

So this is the kind of "respect" this government gives to its war dead.

Unflipping believable. - M. R.

The weak U.S. dollar is the main reason behind oil prices rising to record levels, not demand or supply factors, an Iranian Oil Ministry official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

"We must be aware that it is not the price of crude oil that has risen but the dollar value that has weakened," said Mohammad Ali Khatibi, deputy director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company.

The dollar is worth half of what it was just three years ago. It therefore follows that all imported products (which are most of what we buy) have doubled in price in that time.

Every time the Federal Reserve prints up more money with which to prop up0 the banks, brokerages, and lending institutions, the less the money you have is worth. They are literally stealing wealth from your pocket to save themselves from the fundamental failings of a debt-based monetary system. Rising prices are a symptom, one that is about to get a lot worse. - M. R.

The former head of Israel's intelligence Aaron Zeevi Farkash said that he had warned Washington against relying on its allies in Lebanon. "We advised the CIA not to rely on Walid Jumblatt or Saad Hariri because we tested them in 2006 and they proved helpless in the face of Hezbollah."

Iraq's government on Saturday agreed a truce with the movement of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to halt weeks of fighting in eastern Baghdad between Shi'ite militia and security forces, officials said.

The truce could end violence that has killed several hundred people, trapped the 2 million residents of Sadr City in a battle zone and prompted aid workers to warn of a humanitarian crisis.

Translation: Al-Maliki blinks.....again.

And I guarantee you: the US is not going to like this one bit. - M. R.

"Did I mention Iran? Good. I gotta mention Iran. We may have charlie foxtrotted Lebanon by pushing the Sunni to attack Hezbollah, but we still have a shot at getting into Iran before I ~~get kicked out of~~ leave office." -- Official White Horse Souse - M. R.

Unchallenged by Lebanon's army, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah routed Sunnis loyal to the U.S.-allied government and seized control of large swaths of Beirut's Muslim sector Friday in a telling demonstration of its military prowess.

This may turn out to be a major foreign policy blunder. As part of the ongoing "Let's you and him fight" strategy of pitting the Sunni and Shia against each other in order to have them kill each other off, the US supported the Sunnis and manuevered them into an attack on Hezbollah. But as the Israelis already found out two summers ago, Hezbollah is a lot tougher than expected, and Lebanon could easily fall under Hezbollah control. This will make Israel VERY UNHAPPY. You kids be expected to deal with the mess. - M. R.

It now seems that every enemy of the Neo-cons (whether it is Iran or Hezbollah or the 911 truth movement) is turning out to be also an enemy of "Al Qaeda". If "my enemy's enemy is my friend", then "Al Qaeda" (even if it exists) is back in bed with its creator and financier.

May 9, 2008

You WILL believe what you are told to believe! - M. R.

Relative to tonight's radio show. - M. R.

History repeats: Weimar Republic 1922 - M. R.

Pakalolo has no dignity, brah! - M. R.

According to the Hezbollah people manning the berms on airport road, the airport will stayed closed until the 'three conditions" are met; i.e the pro-US government pledges to keep its hands off the optic fiber telecommunication network of the Resistance; the Government reinstates head of Beirut Airport Security General Wafiq Shouqair; and the Majority agrees to a dialogue. Until that happens, West Beirut and the airport will stay closed.

I do not condone racism. BUT ...

This feels like an intentionally-timed attempt to distract the Secret Service; to tie up their senior managers with this scandal, with court, with hearings, with the media, etc.

What are they being distracted FROM? - M. R.

Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.

The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security.

In the latest debate over gas taxes, Harvard Professor and best selling author of economic texts, Greg Mankiw, came out in favor of even HIGHER gas taxes.

This morning the Harvard prof woke up to read that Massachusetts officials are " are studying a plan to levy a 2.5% annual tax on the portion of college endowments that exceed $1 billion."

Mankiw took the whole thing in stride. He proposed that, should the tax be implemented, Harvard should move.

United States threatened by a representative of the Security Council "Zalmay Khalilzad" impose sanctions against Hezbollah and the countries supporting him in a reference to Syria and Iran, at a time when an Iranian aircraft landed at dawn yesterday in Beirut airport, abruptly.

Zalmay Khalilzad (along with Hamid Karzai) is one of the Unocal consultants who went before Congress and demanded regime change in Afghanistan because the Taliban would not sell them the right of way for a petroleum pipeline at the price the consortium wanted to pay.

Funny how these oil company guys wound up as ambassadors and heads of state. - M. R.

Nineteen years ago, the fall of the Berlin Wall effectively eliminated the Soviet Union as the world's other superpower. Yes, the USSR as a political entity stumbled on for another two years, but it was clearly an ex-superpower from the moment it lost control over its satellites in Eastern Europe.

Less than a month ago, the United States similarly lost its claim to superpower status when a barrel crude oil roared past $110 on the international market, gasoline prices crossed the $3.50 threshold at American pumps, and diesel fuel topped $4.00. As was true of the USSR following the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the USA will no doubt continue to stumble on like the superpower it once was; but as the nation's economy continues to be eviscerated to pay for its daily oil fix, it, too, will be seen by increasing numbers of savvy observers as an ex-superpower-in-the-making.

The message travels among Guantanamo detainees in whispers between recreation areas and shouts through slots in cell doors: Don't trust the Americans. Boycott.

Guards call it the Detainee News Network, and it is now prompting inmates to turn their backs on their war-crimes trials at this U.S. Naval station in southeast Cuba.

These men understand that this isn't about any real justice: this is about "show trials" and kangaroo courts.

And if the prosecution in these cases wasn't terrified of some of these people telling the truth, why do they have an "off switch" in the witness booth to prevent observers from hearing what the prosecution doesn't want them to hear? - M. R.

"If members of the Homeland Security Committee cannot enforce their right to read secret plans of the Executive Branch, then the systems of checks and balances established by the U.S. Constitution would seem to be failing.

To put it another way, if the White House is successful in frustrating DeFazio, then Continuity of Government planning has arguably already superseded the Constitution as a higher authority."

The police had the wrong house, and did what to this guy?

Very obviously, "to protect and serve" needs to be painted off every police car in Connecticut. - M. R.

Speaking with the Alex Jones Show, actor Tommy Chong, whose offices were subject of a raid this week by the FBI who seized 10,000 political DVD's, said he "absolutely" doubted the official story of 9/11 and compared it to the JFK assassination in that the truth will take many years to finally come out.

No it won't. The truth is out NOW! The US Government lied to the people. That is all that really matters. The fine details are irrelevant. The issue that the American people MUST confront is a government that lies to us all to start wars, take our money, and send our children to be killed and crippled. - M. R.

Some of the criticism brewing in Canada against the state of Israel, including from some members of Parliament, is similar to the attitude of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned yesterday.

Translation: "Yeah, well, okay, maybe Israel IS an apartheid state, but you can't SAY that!" - M. R.

Liberal MP Bob Rae asked the Tory house leader to point out the "anti-Semites" in the Opposition benches following comments by the prime minister in which he suggested some politicians are encouraging anti-Semitism with their anti-Israeli attitudes.

The US demanded that Iran admit that it has been interfering in Iraq and also commit itself to taking steps to end the support of various militant groups. There was also a warning about interfering in Lebanon. The Iranian government reportedly responded quickly, restating its position that it would not discuss the matter until the US ceases its own meddling employing Iranian dissident groups. The perceived Iranian intransigence coupled with the Lebanese situation convinced the White House that some sort of unambiguous signal has to be sent to the Iranian leadership, presumably in the form of cruise missiles.

It is to be presumed that the attack will be as "pinpoint" and limited as possible, intended to target only al-Qods and avoid civilian casualties.

Do policy makers in this country think that Iran will not retaliate?

This potential attack can plunge the region into a wider war (if not a world war), and will put our military in Iraq far more deeply in harm's way than they are already.

And let's talk about the five thousand pound elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about: Russia.

Russian diplomats have said, and continue to say, that an attack against Iran will be perceived as an attack against Russia.

Is the leadership of this country so insane as to think that war with Russia (which does have nukes) is a really good idea??

For the sake of the survival of this country, one would hope not. - M. R.

The Bush administration accused Iran and Syria on Friday of fueling ongoing violence in Lebanon by inciting members of the radical Shiite Hezbollah movement to take up arms against the country's western-backed government.

We saw that one coming a mile away. - M. R.

The malaise which the endless Democratic primary campaign has inspired across the political spectrum was summed up by the writer Nora Ephron, who described the ongoing contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as an "unending last episode of Survivor. They're eating rats and they're frying bugs and they're frying rats and they're eating bugs; no one is ever going to get off the island and I can't take it any more!"

On Thursday morning, the average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the region crept to a record $3.67 a gallon, global food prices continued to soar and a Gallup poll showed that 86 percent of Americans believe the economy is getting worse. Yet Cheney said Americans should be "confident of the road ahead."

Sometimes, the abilities of Bush and Cheney to completely disconnect from reality is truly,horrifically amazing.

Between the national debt, trade deficit, worthless dollar, taxes, mortgage defaults, the credit crisis, and rising food and energy costs, many Americans are struggling to just barely get by. - M. R.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton struck a publicly defiant posture on Wednesday about continuing her presidential bid despite waning support from Democratic officials and donors. Some of her advisers acknowledged privately that they remained unsure about the future of her candidacy.

"Dammit, we wanna INVADE, not pussyfoot around with this 'negotiatins' crap!!!" -- Official White Horse Souse - M. R.

As US President, Jimmy Carter showed his commitment to Israel by giving it more aid than anywhere else and brokering the only peace deal with an Arab regime the country has ever enjoyed. He also wants to see a safe and secure Palestine alongside it - so last year he wrote a book called Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. It is a bland and factual canter through the major human rights reports. There is nothing there you can't read in the mainstream Israeli press every day. Carter's comparison of life on the West Bank (not within Israel) to Apartheid South Africa is not new. The West Bank is ruled in the interests of a small Jewish minority; it is bisected by roads for the Jewish settlers from which Palestinians are banned. The Israeli human rights group B'tselem says this "bears striking similarities to the racist Apartheid regime". Yet for repeating these facts in the US, Carter has widely called "a racist". Several universities have even refused to let the ex-President speak to their students.

A new hospital superbug resistant to all antibiotics could be killing hundreds of patients, experts have warned.

The infection, known as 'Steno', is on the increase and could be harder to tackle than MRSA and C.difficile.

The bug spreads almost exclusively in hospitals through wet areas such as taps and shower heads, and is thought to kill a third of the people it infects after entering the bloodstream.

Even with countless media outlets available these days, a Sunday New York Times cover story could always be counted on to send a jolt through the television news cycle.

But apparently that's no longer the case. Indeed, reporter David Barstow's 7,600-word investigation of the Pentagon's military analyst program -- whereby ex-military talking heads, often with direct ties to contractors, parroted Defense Department talking points on the air -- has been noticeably absent from television airwaves since the story broke on April 20.

But Miley Cyrus' Vanity Fair pictures got OODLES of coverage! - M. R.

No mere donut shop can stand up to the power of the blogs!!!!!! :) - M. R.

The White House yesterday confirmed that it has opposed a meeting between President Bush and Israeli and Palestinian leaders next week in Egypt, and said the peace process can go forward even if Israel's prime minister is ousted from office.

Translation: the "peace process" is, from Israel's and the US's perspective, simply a sham.

What I am sure will be discussed, however, will be the timing of a potential attack against Iran. - M. R.

Citigroup Inc, hit hard by the global crunch, will announce plans to sell roughly $400 billion of non-core assets when it meets investors and analysts on Friday, people familiar with the situation said. Newly installed Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, scrambling to slash Citi's costs and overcome credit market problems, also intends to reaffirm his promise to cut annual expenses at the largest U.S. bank by some 20 percent, one of the sources said.

Remember back in January when Citi lowered the maximum allowed withdrawal limit from ATM machines? Remember how they said it was a hacker attack? Remember how your humble webmaster called 'BULL BISCUITS' on that claim because no other banks were reporting hacker attacks, and I predicted this was the first sign of trouble for Citi? - M. R.

In Northeast Philadelphia Thursday morning, Vice President Dick Cheney said that America's economy "remains the envy of the world," and that a recent economic "slowdown" could have been much worse without President Bush's economic policies.

So, the fact that the Titanic sank in 2 hours instead of just 1 is a credit to Captain E.J. Smith, right? - M. R.

"They did WHAT?!?!?!?" -- Adolf Hitler - M. R.

Comment by a WRH reader: This video of the Soviet Union's created starvation famine in the Ukraine is remarkable. Few today even know about it, and even fewer would care as "it didn't happen here." I was given an abbreviated secretly filmed copy back in the 1970s much of what appears in this edition. Actual bodies left to lie in the streets was shocking. If the filmmaker were ever caught, execution would have been his fate.

Note that Stalin knew that to control the food is to control the people. The Ukraine had been able to feed all of Europe up until the great Communist-inspired famine. Will the US Government blame our own farmers for shortages which are to come as they now blame the oil companies for high oil prices? Will they bring in foreign troops to quell the resulting unrest? - M. R.

This reminds me of that classic scene in "Apocalypse Now" where Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (played by Robert Duvall) takes his men surfing on the beach while a major firefight continues behind them. - M. R.

No longer is it the governments job to serve the public with courteous employees. It's the general public which must be conditioned to be servile to the typically rude TSA agents. Enjoy the new police state folks, you voted for it...

No we didn't. - M. R.

Because THEY want a war!

We are failing miserably in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the US economy is absolutely in the commode, for most working Americans.

So what does this administration have in store for us?

More war, and a new enemy to blame for all our problems.

Of course it's completely insane, and fixes nothing.

But unfortunately, this administration couldn't find a logical domestic or foreign policy at this point with a flashlight and both hands. - M. R.

Looking at this data, there's one, almost inescapable conclusion; with these continuing "wars without end "this administration (and a couple of presidential candidates) appear to love having continue, it's only a matter of time before a draft is reinstated in the US.

The legislation has been lying dormant, in committee, until congress feels it's the right time.

And don't be so certain that their concept of "the right time" won't be right in the middle of an election year; after all, it appears that this administration is gearing up for some kind of an attack on Iran right in the middle of an election year. - M. R.

After failing to anticipate Hamas's victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.

"Yeee-HAAAAA, the yacht's paid for!!!!" -- Oil company executives. - M. R.

Now, in addition to HMO accountants dictating medical practice, doctors now have to worry about "legal" versus "Illegal" diagnosis! - M. R.

The US government has, since 1991, and without regard to party, has shown itself capable of unthinkable crimes against mankind. Are we Americans capable of understanding this without first feeling the impact of a complete collapse in our economy? A certain pastor, who would have once been unassailable by the press because of his profession, his race, and his record of military service, was recently vilified for saying something like this.

Is there anything, short of seeing the church parking lot and the collection plate stand empty, that will arouse "men of God" to demand that politicians respect human life and honor Jesus' call for peace?

Black uniformed death squads seem to be everywhere now, from Peruvian riot police, to SWAT teams, to the Robocop police outfits of the future. The power elite that rule this world want us to indulge in evil and partake in our own destruction, and it would seem that evil is now good and back in black.

Global inflation has re-emerged as a major threat to the world economy, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday in a stark warning that marked an abrupt change of tone from its emphasis on the risks to growth.

John Lipsky, IMF deputy managing director, said "inflation concerns have resurfaced after years of quiescence" due to soaring energy and food prices. Mr Lipsky said global growth was slowing but headline inflation was "accelerating."

Dear Tim Horton Donut company.

A 16 cent donut hole given to a child buys a lot of good will among customers. Call it cost of advertising.

FIRING an employee for giving a small child a donut in the store (we can assume the mother had made a purchase of some kind) is BAD FOR YOUR COMPANY IMAGE. There are no Tom Horton donut sops here in Hawaii, but if there were, they would join Best Buy as places I WILL NO LONGER GO INTO. I cannot abide by companies that place so much importance on a penny that they are blind to the fact that there are other aspects to running a business, like keeping customers happy.

I understand wanting to control losses. Those cops coming in for free donuts can get out of hand. But I would suggest a more reasonable policy is to simply tell employees that they must pay for anything they give out. I am certain the woman in question would not have minded the 16 cents at all. - M. R.

As 55 people died in Iraq on Saturday, the holiest day on the Shiite Muslim religious calendar, Sen. Hillary Clinton said that much of Iraq was "functioning quite well" and that the rash of suicide attacks was a sign that the insurgency was failing.

"Mission Accomplished"

"Final Throes"

"Insurgency failing..." - M. R.

May 11, 2008

May 10, 2008

May 9, 2008