WhatReallyHappened.com: December 9, 2007 - December 15, 2007 Archives

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee told the Christian Broadcasting Network he had a theology degree, he told voters in Iowa he had a theology degree, he repeated the claim in last month's CNN YouTube debate ... but, his campaign now says, it was not true.

Now, 40 years later, I am here to tell the story of what happened on June 8th, 1967 to nearly 300 American boys onboard a ship known as the USS Liberty when it was attacked by Israel for nearly 2 hours. People may dismiss what I say as the rantings of an angry old man, but given what is taking place today regarding the war in the Middle East and everything that may happen, my suggestion is that�while there is time�people turn off the Britney Spears, the Desperate Housewives and the football games and listen, listen carefully to what happened, as it is likely to happen again, because, as the old saying goes, �a leopard does not change its spots.�

The administration argued it was not obligated to preserve the videotapes and told U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy that demanding information about them "could potentially complicate the ongoing efforts to arrive at a full factual understanding of the matter."

"We are above the law!" -- Official White Horse Souse - M. R.

As for propaganda, it was decided during this meeting that a relentless campaign would be waged against the American report, but not by official Israeli agencies. It was agreed during the meeting that on official military and political levels in Israel it is prohibited to appear as though Israel wants to push the American administration towards military confrontation with Iran at any price. It was thus decided that this campaign would be undertaken by Israeli propaganda experts in cooperation with retired generals, atomic energy experts, and retired heads of intelligence agencies, and in coordination with the heads of Jewish groups in the United States and all American parties that have criticized the report.

THE planned deployment of US interceptor missiles in Poland could trigger a missile strike by Russia if those missiles are ever used, the Russian army's chief of staff has warned.

"We are talking about the possibility of a retaliatory strike being triggered by the mistaken classification of an interceptor missile," Yury Baluyevsky said at a press conference broadcast on state television.

War with Russia, anyone? - M. R.

Schwarzenegger said he would issue the declaration next month, triggering a special session and a constitutional mandate for the Legislature to rip open the current budget and either cut costs or increase taxes within 45 days.

Wanna bet which way they go? - M. R.

Bush is such a liar. Or is he just out to lunch on the most important issue that he faces? In October, he charged that Iran�s nuclear weapons program was bringing the world to the precipice of World War III, even though the White House had been informed at least a month earlier that Iran had no such program and had stopped efforts to develop one back in 2003.

"Okay, now hold that ink pad above the water and roll your thumb across it..." - M. R.

"God wills it! God wills it!" (stab, stab, bleed, bleed). - M. R.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced plans to lend $40 billion to banks. By my count, it's the fourth high-profile attempt to rescue the financial system since things started falling apart about five months ago. Maybe this one will do the trick, but I wouldn't count on it.

In past financial crises - the stock market crash of 1987, the aftermath of Russia's default in 1998 - the Fed has been able to wave its magic wand and make market turmoil disappear. But this time the magic isn't working.

It isn't a credit crisis, it's a repayment crisis. - M. R.

The large investment banks have concluded that renewable energy will never comprise more than a very small fraction of the world's total energy profile. They have also realized the world is plunging into an era of oil wars. Thus they are disproportionately moving their money into new weapons technologies over new energy technologies.

The capture of 15 Royal Navy personnel by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard during an operation in the Gulf in March was an embarrassment to the country, a report by the Commons Defence Committee said yesterday.

It seems that the rejection of the US dollar has become a fashion trend in modern-day business relations. Several major oil and gas exporters have recently announced their plans to use a different currency in their deals with other countries. The heads of Iran, Venezuela and Ecuador expressed such an opinion at the OPEC summit in November. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad particularly stated that Iran needs to replace the dollar because of its ongoing setback. His Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, expanded on the idea and put forward a suggestion to change the dollar for the basket of currencies (apart from the dollar it includes the euro, the British pound, the Japanese yen, the Chinese yuan and the Venezuelan bolivar) to recalculated world prices on oil. Ahmadinejad continued with an idea to set up the OPEC Oil Exchange and the OPEC Bank.

What does the interrogator Maimon tell his children when he goes home? What do Eldad and Sagiv tell their wives about their daily labors before they turn in? That they tortured another helpless prisoner until they turned him into a cripple? That they beat this charming young man brutally and that at the end of the interrogation he was tried for only marginal offenses? And where is the Supreme Court, which in 1999 prohibited precisely the chain of torture that Luwaii Sati Ashqar, 30, who was married three years ago, underwent in the Kishon detention facility?

By supporting Israel with any financial and military aid, this is the kind of behavior your tax dollars are supporting.

Doesn't it make you proud???? - M. R.

It appears that this policy of denying desperately needed medical help until death is Israel's "final solution" for sick Gazan kids.

Take a good look at this child, surrounded by a maze of tubes and monitors.

There's medical treatment that can save her, but Israel won't let her travel to get it.

Now imagine, just for one moment, that this was YOUR kid. - M. R.

The Department of Justice declined to prosecute a State Department employee who allegedly sexually assaulted a female Halliburton/KBR worker in Iraq, despite a recommendation from the State Department that he be charged, according to an internal document obtained by ABC News.

Well, there you have it: the State Department is completely above the law! - M. R.

Zionism's privatisation does not symbolise a strategic change but rather a tactical one. The state has been shedding some of its responsibility, while private entities have been taking on the tasks that until recently had been carried out by the government. The major difference is that the private firms are even less liable than the state. Hence, the use of teenagers to evict Bedouins from their homes is not only a reflection of this insidious process of privatisation, but also the unrelenting corrosion of moral accountability.

And just what are these Bedouins, who are Israeli citizens, supposed to do after their homes are demolished?

This points out how, in Israel, some citizens are absolutely more equal than others.

Ask any of those folks who just got their homes destroyed. - M. R.

Amid such a blur of perfidy, major events that portend disaster in the future can slip by with barely a notice by the media, by Congress, or by the public at large. For example, does one voter in a hundred know that the Department of Defense has quietly activated a new regional military command? Just type in the acronym "AFRICOM" into a search box, and the reader will find a DOD website that presents the new United States Africa Command, in the same boosterish manner that Microsoft rolls out a new operating platform.

Translation: we're after the resources, pure and simple.

Africa is the next Middle East, in terms of largely untapped wealth in oil, uranium, and natural gas. - M. R.

President Bush's repeated insistence that "we don't torture" appeared even more transparently bogus yesterday as the White House threatened to veto a House bill that would explicitly ban a variety of abhorrent practices.

This is from the Washington Post! - M. R.

All five voting systems used in Ohio, a state whose electoral votes narrowly swung two elections toward President Bush, have critical flaws that could undermine the integrity of the 2008 general election, a report commissioned by the state�s top elections official has found.

An estimated 3,800 people under age 24 go homeless each night in New York City, but they blend in so well they are hard for social workers to find, according to the city's first-ever census of homeless youth.

"Essentially, it's the ordinary people, caught up in the conflict, paying the price for this political failure," said John Ging, director of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, which serves the majority refugee population. "The humanitarian situation is atrocious, and it is easy to understand why -- 1.2 million Gazans now relying on U.N. food aid, 80,000 people who have lost jobs and the dignity of work. And the list goes on."

Israeli military and political leaders say the restrictions are prompted by near-constant rocket and small-arms attacks and concerns over what uses Palestinian gunmen might have for some materials entering Gaza, particularly fuel and batteries

The White House campaign to stampede this nation into war, to smash Iran's nuclear facilities before she acquires the capability to build an atom bomb, has been derailed, probably for the duration of the Bush presidency.

... barring another 9-11, of course. - M. R.

Sergei Shnatko, the head of the Russian state contractor Atomstroiexport building the plant says difficulties with Iran have been resolved and the two sides have agreed on a timetable for the project to finish.

These people don't have to meet to "discuss differing assessments on Iran: Israel is trying one last-ditch effort to get the US military to strike Iran while Bush is still in office

Even with every analysis of every election scenario here next November, they are unsure as to precisely how carnage-prone his successor will be on this issue, and to what lengths the US will go militarily to neutralize Israel's perceived enemies in the region. - M. R.

Strategic-Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman threw down a clear challenge to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday when he said that his Yisrael Beiteinu party�s mission was to �make sure that nothing comes out of the Annapolis process�.

Mr Lieberman announced his position during a tour of Har Homa in Jerusalem, where building tenders caused tensions last week between the Israeli and United States governments.

Memo to Minister Lieberman: having stated so clearly that your party would put the cabosh on any possible rapprochement for peace, I have a wonderful suggestion: the US should immediately withdraw any and all aid of any kind to Israel, starting now.

And hey, if Israel wants to attack Iran all on its lonesome, please be our guest.

But remember: Russia has stated that any attack on Iran will be perceived as an an attack on Russia.

So if Israel really wants to go to war with Russia, that's fine: the citizens of the USA are really tired of neutralizing your perceived enemies in the Middle East, and are truly willing to watch Israel go it alone. - M. R.

The crucial elements in the Fed�s move yesterday is not so much the sum of money on offer - $20bn next week, $20bn the week after - but that all depository banks in America can draw from the tap anonymously, without the risk of being found out.

You've got to shake your head and ask: is this the same Administration which is salivating over the enactment of the Compromise Bill on SB 1959, the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act" the so-called thought crime act?

This legislation is written so loosely that even a logical dissent from the administration's position may be equated with sedition and terror.

And a short memo to the white house foreign policy staff: have any of you people ever heard of the word "irony"? - M. R.

The increase in incomes of the top 1 percent of Americans from 2003 to 2005 exceeded the total income of the poorest 20 percent of Americans, data in a new report by the Congressional Budget Office shows.

Looking at the very weak dollar, who in their right mind can blame them? - M. R.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused Friday to give Congress details of the government's investigation into interrogations of terror suspects that were videotaped and destroyed by the CIA. He said doing so could raise questions about whether the inquiry is vulnerable to political pressure.

"It's nunyabidness." -- Official White Horse Souse - M. R.

The strike was expected to be a fight over pay formulas. But the writers have turned it into an epic struggle to force the media conglomerates who control the entertainment industry into ceding some of that control to the workers.

In court documents filed Friday night, government lawyers told U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy that demanding information about the tapes would interfere with current investigations by Congress and the Justice Department.

It was the first time the government had addressed the issue of the videotapes in court.

This destruction of the tapes has nothing to do with the safety of the interrogators: it had everything to do with preventing thinking American citizens to witness what was - and still is - done with their tax dollars and in their name. - M. R.

Note the objectivity of the newspaper report.

Truth needs no law to support it. Truth is self-evident to all. Truth withstands re-examination. Truth survives questions. Throughout history, from Galileo to Zundel, only lies and liars have resorted to the courts to enforce adherence to dogma. - M. R.

You paid for the Missile Defense System, but Israel gets the keys. - M. R.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy said Friday he is disappointed at the Justice Department for its outright refusal to hand over any information about the interrogation videotapes destroyed by the CIA two years ago.

Memo to Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy: stop wringing your hands and stomping your feet on this.

You're the folks who confirmed this guy, even when he appeared unable to state whether water boarding was actually torture.

You kicked the wheels, sat behind the steering wheel, and took this man's judicial convictions for a spin.

You knew precisely what you were getting with Mucasey, and now you're experiencing "buyer's remorse"?

What you and your fellow Senators appear not to have the male attributes to do is subpoena the guy, and if he refuses, hit him with a Contempt of Congress charge.

But the spineless 110th congress just seems to collectively snivel, stomp their feet like cranky two year olds, and do.....absolutely nothing. - M. R.

ut because utopian visions sooner or later must clash with real-world realities, it was perhaps inevitable that this newer intellectual ethos would itself be subjected to the same scrutiny previously reserved for pre-1965 America and its 21st-century remnants. The Achilles� heel of the new establishment is Israel and the influence of its supporters in America, particularly the organized Jewish community. Some of the very same organizations, such as the ADL, that have been at the forefront of enforcing and extending the cultural revolution of the 1960s�the revolution that views the eclipse of white America as a moral imperative�have also been at the forefront of promoting Israel and defending it against criticism. But it�s becoming apparent to quite a few observers that the emperor has no clothes.

MATRIX was developed by Hank Asher, a wealthy data entrepreneur and founder of Seisint. According to news reports, Asher called Florida police right after the attacks, claiming he could pinpoint the hijackers and others who might pose a risk of terrorist activity. He offered to make this powerful law enforcement database available quickly, for free. Asher, reportedly a former government informant involved with drug smuggling, resigned from Seisint at the end of August following a series of critical newspaper reports - reports that also reminded Florida residents that it was Asher's former company, Database Technologies, that administered the contract that stripped thousands of African Americans from the Florida voter rolls before the 2000 election, erroneously contending that they were felons.

Iran is suddenly enjoying a thaw with its Arab neighbors � all close US allies � in the wake of a US intelligence report that judged Iran probably suspended its work on nuclear weapons four years ago.

I offer this experiential advice to the various chairs and ranking members of Congressional oversight committees who are now eyeball to eyeball with the newest Bushie troll on the block, Attorney General Michael Mukasey. You had best coldcock him now, while you have the chance. And that means moving to impeach his sexagenarian ass -- to get his attention, if nothing else.

It is impossible to overstate the fundamental differences between the foreign-policy philosophy of our American ancestors and the foreign-policy mindset that guides our country today. The philosophy of our ancestors was nicely summed up in the Fourth of July address to Congress in 1821 by John Quincy Adams.

In essence Adams said, There are lots of bad things all over the world � dictatorships, tyranny, oppression, famine, and starvation. Nevertheless, he said, the U.S. government did not go abroad �in search of monsters to destroy.� Instead, the American people devoted their time and energies to developing the freest and most prosperous nation in history, which the world could then emulate.

How much of this went to troops in Iraq? None, some don't even have BASIC body armor on many of their vehicles. And the Interceptor body armor they have now is heavy and doesn't even wrap around the whole torso. We shouldn't be in Iraq in the first place, but you think the people who sent them there would want to at least give them the best armor. Maybe Iran can buy some dragon armor through third parties.

December 14, 2007

Buddy-buddy with the spies. - M. R.

Supporters of "citizen journalism" argue it provides independent, accurate, reliable information that the traditional media don't provide. While it has its place, the reality is it really isn't journalism at all, and it opens up information flow to the strong probability of fraud and abuse.

You know, like claiming Saddam had nookular bombs. Everyone knows it was those pesky bloggers who ... ummm... ah ... never mind. - M. R.

I don't see you doing anything to stop it, Madam Speaker. - M. R.

This article includes instructions on how to check which DNS servers your system looks at. FOR EXPERIENCED USERS ONLY. - M. R.

Many of the "DNS liars" impersonated sites in an attempt to harvest user credentials and perform man-in-the-middle attacks. Others simply tried to drive traffic to their sites by redirecting users to parked pages loaded with ads and porn. In some cases, the impostors acted as proxies to the sites being spoofed, but ads or other content would be superimposed on top.

Most Internet users automatically use the DNS servers of their ISP. DNS-changing Trojans silently modify computer settings to use foreign DNS servers. These DNS servers are set up by malicious third parties and translate certain domains to fallacious IP addresses. As a result, victims are redirected to possibly malicious websites without them noticing it. For example, if a user wants to view www.google.com, a rogue DNS server may resolve www.google.com to an IP address controlled by an unknown third party. If that third party creates pages that look exactly like those of Google, the user might think that he is browsing Google indeed, without noticing that he is actually visiting a website controlled by somebody else than Google. This may cause the user to leak sensitive information to third parties.

This appears to be what has happened. WRH is apparently on the list of hijacked domains used by the crooks. So if you are getting redirected to the malware site, verify that your computer is still pointed at your ISP's DNS servers and that you have not been pointed at the rogue DNS servers. Check your system for a DNS-changer trojan. - M. R.

Most of us are aware that the heroic actions of a brave woman at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado a few days ago saved the lives of perhaps scores, or even hundreds, of people. However, her bravery would not have counted for much had she not been armed.

There is one very good reason to own a gun right now. As the economy collapses, there will arise leaders who will, through some contorted logic and an imposed sense of community obligation, decide that the costs of the current melt-down should be passed onto the ordinary citizens, just as the S&L melt-down of the 1980s was ultimately paid for by the taxpayers who had been smart enough to stay out of the mess in the first place. Even now we are seeing banks hit by the sub-prime disaster seeking ways to pass those losses into their customers who did not even partake of the risky investments in the first place.

As the economy goes into full blown Chernobyl, expect the government to start to seize hard assets like gold and silver, "for the good of the nation." Despite the pretense of law, this will be looting of the population, plain and simple, and the people are morally entitled to defend themselves from such uniformed criminals. - M. R.

"Look, you're gonna have to pay for the new world order one way or the other, so let's quit quibbling over details and get out those checkbooks!" - M. R.

No kidding, you can buy a bust of George Bush for your holiday mantle! - M. R.

Dana Perino, White House press secretary, said Thursday the Senate Judiciary Committee's issuing contempt citations against former White House adviser Karl Rove and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten is pointless because "the constitutional prerogative of the president would make it a futile effort for Congress to refer contempt citations to U.S. attorneys."

"We are above the law." -- Official White Horse Souse - M. R.

Citigroup reveals $49 billion subprime blow amid ratings downgrade - M. R.

Inspector General for Iraq (former legal advisor to Gov. George Bush of Texas) is under investigation. - M. R.

�You can�t escape from the fact that the main dramatis personae in this saga are Jews,� said Antony Lerman, the executive director of the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research. �Not only are they Jewish, they are committed Jews.�

But Lerman said �the media�s coverage on this issue has been fair.�

Writing in the International Journal of Climatology of the Royal Meteorological Society, professor David H. Douglass (of the University of Rochester), professor John R. Christy (of the University of Alabama), Benjamin D. Pearson and professor S. Fred Singer (of the University of Virginia) report that observed patterns of temperature changes ("fingerprints") over the last 30 years disagree with what greenhouse models predict and can better be explained by natural factors, such as solar variability.

The conclusion is that climate change is "unstoppable" and cannot be affected or modified by controlling the emission of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, as is proposed in current legislation.

"Well, dang, we gotta find some other bogyman to scare those dolts into giving us their money." -- The Cult - M. R.

"Now remember, if you don't go out and buy lots of Christmas presents on credit, the terrorists will have won!" -- Official White Horse Souse - M. R.

'Oh come let us adore Him'..... BUT be prepared to wait on line for hours.... go through an intensive security check conducted by Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint, possibly even be turned away or detained if they don't like the way you look....

Putin has said, in a meeting with Khomenei that an attack on Iran should be viewed as an attack on Russia. No wonder then that Zionista shill Amanpour did her little sleaze piece on him�Putin�dark Czar�fixed election�.whispers of murder�.Putin this� Putin that. Good thing they don�t get up to that sort of thing in the USA. We be squeaky clean.

Jon Stewart's take on the Sears Tower "Plot." - M. R.

Government authorities from both Venezuela and Argentina accused the United States of carrying out a smear campaign against them yesterday after US officials arrested four individuals accused of being agents of the Venezuelan government. US officials alleged that the arrested individuals were involved in trying to cover up an "international scandal" between Venezuela and Argentina, but both countries have rejected the claims.

Like a petulant child raging around because it got one candy when it expected two, the market threw a tantrum yesterday when it only got a quarter of a percent rate cut yesterday when it was hoping for more - but what good would it have done if rates had been cut by half a percent, or even a full one percent? Is it really wonderful to undermine the dollar so much that it completely collapses? Is that what the stockmarket really wants, or is simply that like the spoiled brat that doesn�t get the instant gratification it seeks, the market can�t see past the end of its nose? Whatever, the news from the Fed yesterday caused a nasty convulsion that may mark the end of the �Santa Claus� rally - it was unspeakably cruel to withhold treats like this in the runup to Christmas.

We work hard to keep our site safe for browsing, and apparently somebody noticed. - M. R.

Another frame-up collapses. - M. R.

Citigroup Inc. will take over seven troubled investment funds and assume $58 billion of debt to avoid forced asset sales that would further erode confidence in capital markets. Moody's Investors Service lowered the bank's credit ratings.

"It's a shameful, cheap gimmick and it's destroying the spirit of Christmas by politicizing it," Arieh O'Sullivan, an ADL spokesman in Jerusalem, told Cybercast News Service. "It's amazing how low people will go to make a sale."

These nativity scenes are painfully close to the truth for the Palestinian people, which is why they hit a nerve with Israelis

Screaming how offended they are by members of the Jewish community both in Israel and abroad will only help the sales of these items (the "banned in Boston" effect). - M. R.

The US Air Force is certainly appears to have no qualms about playing fast and loose with taxpayer dollars.

And this wasn't a case of overbilling on a legitimate project: it was billing by the contractor on a project which never got started.

And when we hear about cuts to various domestic programs "because there's a war on", please remember just what the Air Force did with your tax dollars on this particular caper. - M. R.

Duong justified this biometric-data program as a humanitarian way of singling out "bad guys" for elimination while sparing innocent civilians.

"I don't want My Lai in Iraq," Duong said. "The biggest difficulty in the global war on terror � just like in Vietnam � is to know who the bad guys are. How do we make sure we don't kill innocents?"

Devising instruments of death for the US government pays handsomely.

And as to Ms. Duong's statement about not wanting My Lai in Iraq, it is obvious that she is clueless about the way we are already slaughtering innocent Iraqi civilians and our own troops (albeit slowly) though the use of depleted uranium weapons. - M. R.

Nadira Habib, a member of the Committee on Family and Childhood Affairs in the Iraqi parliament, indicated that the situation requires wise handling.

"Iraqi orphans are increasing everyday because of the constant wars that the country has been going through," Habib explained, citing an estimated three to four million Iraqi orphans according to figures released by the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation.

At first glance, Tawfiq Salsaa's wooden nativity scene seems like the perfect gift from Bethlehem, Christ's birthplace. But a closer look shows a wall separating baby Jesus and Virgin Marry from the three wise men.

"I was inspired by our own wall," the Palestinian carpenter, 65, told Reuters on Thursday, December 13.

"I wanted to give the world an idea of how we live in the Holy Land," added Salsaa as he sat in his small workshop surrounded by wooden carvings.

Last month, Principal Bennett Lieberman sent off a stern memo to teachers.

"If you are not passing more than 65 percent of your students in a class, then you are not designing your expectations to meet their abilities, and you are setting your students up for failure, which, in turn, limits your success as a professional."

The reason this guy got clobbered is that he said what he said in a way that got out publicly. I'm pretty sure this kind of memo is circulated to teachers frequently at troubled schools across this country.

But at the end of the day, it is tragic that all Lieberman expects for these kids is that their teachers will just "warehouse" them until they graduate, and they're no longer his responsibility. - M. R.

There is a good reason why Paul Wolfowitz has no use for the CIA or the US Intelligence Community. It has to do with the word they share in common. Intelligence , as in something that is gathered from a study of the facts.

Paul Wolfowitz is back at the White House, perhaps because time is running out on their plans to force the US into another war for oil, this time in Iran. Something that has some basis in reality. Facts just get in the way of people like Wolfowitz, who make up their minds what they want to do, and then make up excuses why they have to do it.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that he was deeply concerned by the intense fighting engulfing North Kivu province in the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), especially its impact on local civilians, many of whom have been forced to flee to escape the renewed violence.

This area of the world has largely untapped resourses, including petroleum, timber, potash, lead, zinc, uranium, copper, phosphates, natural gas, and hydropower.

Controlling this area means controlling these resources, and who makes the money from it. - M. R.

Israeli army spotters have a new job - counting wild animals on both sides of Israel's West Bank security fence, helping naturalists to assess the problems caused by the huge structure, an army publication reported.

Now let me get this straight: the IDF may create passages for wildlife endangered by the West Bank Security fence, but is denying travel permits to sick kids who are going to die without treatment in Israel?

The irony meter just pegged, big-time. - M. R.

One just has to wonder precisely what the Israeli government is terrified these reporters might find out in these trips. - M. R.

By confirming Michael Mukasey as attorney general on November 9, the U.S. Senate demonstrated to the world that it is willing to tolerate the reported use of torture by the CIA against terrorist suspects. The Senate also demonstrated its willingness to allow the president to use his presumed authority as commander-in-chief to trample on laws passed by Congress.

These negotiations were engineered to fail, courtesy of US (if one can call it that) foreign policy. - M. R.

Israel, Washington's main ally in the region, is believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East with an estimated 200 nuclear warheads. It has, however, never formally acknowledged having an atomic arsenal.

Israel will never give up its weapons programs.

Countries in the region understand this, and also had had one horrific object lesson as to what happens to countries which do not have nuclear deterrent capablities, like Iraq. - M. R.

One wonders precisely how this poll was engineered to acheive these results, and precisely who these folks are polling. - M. R.

One cannot torture, then blather on to the rest of the world about freedom, human rights, and democracy, etc.,

Apparently, this staggering hypocrisy is completely lost on Bush and his minions. - M. R.

....While the US congress quietly gets ready to hammer out the compromise legislation on S1959 and HR 1955, the so-called "thought crimes" bill, which is so loosely written that even dissent may be equated with treason.

Surely, the irony of this cannot have possibly escaped the minds of those making these demands, could it? - M. R.

December 13, 2007

If the White House refused to allow an interview of a government informant who was landlord to two of the hijackers -- one of the most valuable leads it could possibly pursue -- what other investigations did it spike? And if the White House killed an investigation to, allegedly, protect its Saudi friends, how much more motivated would the White House have been to kill investigations into areas which implicated elements of the U.S. government itself?

"Saudi"?

"Evidence linking these Israelis to 9/11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It's classified information." -- US official quoted in Carl Cameron's Fox News report on the Israeli spy ring and its connections to 9-11. - M. R.

Mice rejoice. - M. R.

The $ is steadily weakening, but more than a drop in the $' international value is happening here. The loss of confidence is in the $ is accelerating each time it slips one or more percent on a persistent basis, with small short recoveries being seen in the midst of this decline. How important is this loss of confidence? Critical for it precedes policies, which long-term will lessen the role of the $ to one of the world's top 5 currencies.

The seven men charged were all allegedly caught on FBI surveillance video pledging support to al-Qaida, but the man leading the pledge was an FBI informant. The defense claims the men were just hoping to get money from the informant and had no intention of going ahead with the alleged plot.

There are no real terrorists so the FBI has to go out and make them for the newspaper photos. - M. R.

I will believe it when I see it. - M. R.

France under Sarkozy (Keyser Soze) is getting a bit prickly it seems about pesky revelations that might hurt "diplomatic" relationships. Apparently, something of a national security problem has occurred in which a journalist published information from a classified document indicating French government foreknowledge of the September 11, 2001 attacks. - M. R.

The U.S. Army will run out of money for operations and maintenance by mid-February, and the Marine Corps will run out of funds a month later, according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, confirming Defense Department projections.

Get ready for Bush to try to raise taxes... a LOT! - M. R.

Evangelical pastors are helping to create a terrible new campaign of violence against young Nigerians. Children and babies branded as evil are being abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money out of the fear of their parents and their communities.

An exploitative situation has now grown into something much more sinister as preachers are turning their attentions to children - naming them as witches. In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turn on the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buried alive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush.

Just when you think that certain con artists wearing the cloak of "religion" in a competitive marketplace can't possibly sink any lower, they always somehow manage to surprise you by doing just that. - M. R.

Palestinian officials warned of a humanitarian and environmental disaster in Gaza, due to a shortage of cement to build graves in which to bury the dead.

"The situation in Gaza is tragic," said Deputy Minister Abdullah Jarboa of the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, according to Quds Press.

"Hey, death and disease from rotting corpses spreading like wildfire because Gazans can't bury their dead: what a concept!" - official Tel Aviv Souse. - M. R.

Two bald children lie waiting for medical treatment in Nasser Children's hospital in Gaza City. But it is clear there will be no medication for them: both have cancer and need chemotherapy treatments in hospitals outside of Gaza. They lie, sharing one bed, their options either to live or to die. It is painfully certain they will not receive the medication they need.

This policy appears to be Israel's "final solution" for sick Gazans, including children. - M. R.

If any country hits the nuclear plant after it has been fueled, it will create an absolute devastation of the entire region. - M. R.

At a time when we are being relentlessly told that the war on terror is ultimately about ideas, ideologies, values or hearts and minds, it does the West's cause no good to be associated with torture in the world's dark basements.

Torture does not simply degrade the torturer and his victims while giving succour to its apologists; it sullies any regime connected with it, along with those White House lawyers and their sinister attempts to justify it with distinctions about "intense" or "harsh" interrogation.

This country cannot talk about freedom, justice, human rights, and democracy when it tortures: it's just that simple. - M. R.

House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi is blocking efforts to impeach Bush and Cheney, or to take any other real steps to save America. One of the grounds for impeachment is that the government made knowingly false claims about 9/11.

That's when they grabbed my luggage, whisked me to the basement, stripped off my clothes and probed every orifice of my body for explosives. When they didn't find any, they focused on my tattoo, a Japanese character which means different, precious, unique. I was completely naked, and the room was cold. My nipples were hard. I tried to cover myself with my hands. I remember feeling incredibly thirsty. One of them flicked my left shoulder with a latex glove. "What does it mean?" he asked. This was the first time I'd ever been racially profiled, not that the experience would have been any less humiliating had it been my five hundredth. "It means Fuck you," I wanted to say, not because they'd stripped me of my dignity but because they'd shoved my face into my own rootlessness. I have never felt more black in my life than I did when I was mistaken for an Arab.

There are certain airline security agencies that don't ritually indulge in this kind of passenger humiliation.

It is apparent that having this is information is crucial before chosing an airline for a trip to Israel. - M. R.

Here are some facts about the active denial weapon, and what the DoD has called a "mishap" when a serviceman was injured. From the known information, we can clearly see this weapon is far more harmful than we are being told. The energy required to power this weapon is enormous, and may indicate that the military is using (or plans to use) zero point energy to power it.

One has to wonder precisely against whom the government is planning to use this weapon, and weapons like it. - M. R.

"The charge of anti-Semitism is a category mistake. It confuses opposition to a state�s policy with prejudice against the ethnic groups that compose it. American liberals in the 1930s opposed German policy, but this did not make them anti-German. People who criticize US China policy on grounds of Chinese human rights abuses are not thereby �Sinophobes.� Those who want to impose sanctions on Sudan or Zimbabwe are not �anti-Black.�

My blog is about the contemporary Jewish question: Jews are principals in the U.S. establishment and yet Jewish leadership is devoted to supporting another country. These two strains cannot be reconciled. Something has to give. As Mike Desch has pointed out to me, Zionism is based on the idea that Jews are unsafe in western society. Therefore they need a Jewish state to go to as a haven. But as things have worked out, the Jewish state has required the unwavering support of American Jews, most of whom have never been there, even as they visit Tuscany and the Galapagos. Jews who are doing incredibly well in this golden land. And who carry an insurance policy, by rationalizing everything the Jewish state does, out of the holdover belief that Jews are unsafe here... A conundrum.

So much for Brown's declaration about not meeting with "those people"! - M. R.

One has to marvel at the "logic" of Brown's refusal to talk with Ex-Taliban, when talking with ex-and current - Taliban members is fundamentally crucial to re-integrating Afghani society.

What is needed here is not a military "solution" (which NATO has done a brilliant job of mucking up to date, simply adding more misery and death in the lives of ordinary Afghanis), but a political one. - M. R.

As many commentators have observed, even some frustrated neoconservative writers, the release of the latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) has effectively precluded the US from making a first strike against Iran over Iran�s alleged nuclear weapons program.

However, while NIE has effectively precluded the US from making the first strike, it has also achieved two other important and related potential consequences. One is that it has also now removed any lingering doubts that Russia or China may have had about not supporting any further UN sanctions against Iran while, at the same time, and because of that lack of support in the UN from the Russians and the Chinese, has placed the onus on a first strike against Iran on Israel who now seem more determined than ever to take on the task.

Let the world see the instigator of the next major war. - M. R.

Military funded researchers are preparing to test a nonlethal weapon that combines light and sound. Nicholas C. Nicholas, chief scientist of Penn State's Applied Research Laboratory, told an audience yesterday at a nonlethal weapons conference that in the first half of next year, the lab plans to test DSLAD, the Distributed Sound and Light Array Debilitator. It'll use essentially off the shelf technology to see if combining aversive noises with light produce some special debiliating effects. Anecdotal effects include dizziness and loss of balance, and of course, nausea. In other words, DSLAD could be another potential "puke ray."

...Coming to a law enforcement agency near you! - M. R.

A jet used in the CIA' torture flights winds up "re-kitted" in Mexico, carrying tons of illegal drugs.

See The Crimes of Mena - M. R.

Musa Qala may be a very visible focus for a battle with the Taliban but taking hold of the town will make very little difference to either the Taliban or to the Afghan government, ostensibly being supported by these actions. As Jean MacKenzie, Afghanistan country director for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, notes, understanding Afghanistan in terms of decisive battles against the Taliban makes little sense. While it is easy for NATO forces to take towns, the problem is that they do not have the resources to occupy them militarily in order to prevent the Taliban�s return. MacKenzie states: �They could not hold it before so I do not see why they will be able to hold it this time.�

"Look, when they are old enough to carry a rifle, THEN I'll take care of them!" -- Official White Horse Souse - M. R.

THE US Defence Secretary has said that even though Washington was working with Pakistan to combat Al-Qaeda in its border areas, American forces should be ready to act �unilaterally� to take out terror targets, reports Indian media.

Considering how swimmingly our military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq have gone, one wonders how SecDef Gates can possibly make this statement.

The logical explanation for acting "unilaterally" in the tribal border areas is that it gives the US military another possible front for an attack on Iran. - M. R.

Tel Aviv - Israel's army chief of staff hinted Wednesday that the Israeli military may have to act itself to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, if the international community was unsuccessful in doing so.

This statement is absolute utter malarkey, and Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi knows it - at least through the end of Bush's term, which means practically, in 12 months from now.

Bush has promised Israel that will come to its aid military even if Israel is the instigator of any pre-emptive military attack. - M. R.

The office of the president is a secular office in a secular government. There is not a word in the Constitution that authorizes the president or anyone else in the federal government to make a religious decision.

Why then are both voters and candidates wasting their time talking about religion? The personal religious beliefs of the candidates should be considered irrelevant. Furthermore, people should not forget that there are a lot more professors of religion than practitioners. What a person claims to believe and how that person leads his or her life are often quite different.

Secondly, given our extraordinarily enormous and expensive military-industrial and intelligence establishment, the ultimate safety of our citizens and cities appears to come down to... what? Torture? Sorry, no. If the shopping list for preventing a terrorist attack is a wooden plank, a hanky and a jug of water, I want my goddamn money back.

That the US Government is using torture on POWs (just as Hitler did) is beyond argument. One can either stand up and denounce that torture and demand the firing of all who took part in it (and the end of the war), or one is by default complicit, an accessory after the fact, seen by all to condone such barbarism.

Anyone who steps across that line is trapped. Unable to look at what they themselves have become they will refuse to look at what the government has become, indeed will create or accept any justification, no matter how thin and transparent, rather than question that government. And indeed this web site gets email from people who have already crossed that point, and are trying to explain why torture is really necessary "this time".

I showed you all the hook a few years back, and now we see who went ahead and bit it anyway. - M. R.

In a FoxNews.com column, Greg Gutfeld � host of Fox�s 2 a.m. �dark humor� news show you�ve never heard of � writes this �comedic� defense of waterboarding: Now, waterboarding might be torture, but as long as people I hate also hate waterboarding, then I love it more than life itself. � So I cherish waterboarding. I want to make it our national sport, our national bird. I want to make the waterboard the state flower of Vermont, instead of the Birkenstock.

We have obviously done a miraculously good job of pissing the Equadorian government off - something at which this administration really excels! - M. R.

Let's be frank here. The recent discovery of documents related to the torture videotapes that were destoyed is old news, not new. The fact is that since 2001, our government has tortured, lied about the torture, and destroyed court ordered evidence and documents of the torture. In other words, they've done everything they can to cover their own asses.

The U.N. Security Council will not take up new sanctions against Iran until early next year because of serious differences between the U.S. and key European nations who want tough measures and Russia and China who don't, U.N. diplomats said Wednesday.

The delay in the council's consideration of a third sanctions resolution followed a 90-minute telephone discussion Tuesday of political directors from the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany that highlighted the divide among the key players.

No matter when the UN picks up this discussion, Russia and China are not going to go along, period, end of discussion.

Unfortunately, we are again just marking time until the UN is declared "irrelevant" to this issue. - M. R.

The pool is open, Senator. Care for a swimming lesson?

Waterboarding was a technique popular with the Nazis and the (Un)Holy Inquisition. Doesn't sound like it is all that benign, does it? - M. R.

Hitler's henchmen got all kinds of awards too. - M. R.

Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, speaking at a Tel Aviv security conference, said almost daily raids on Gaza had reduced the ground threat and the firing of rockets but noted a need to carry out 'the big operation' in the future.

Translation; in the next military action, the IDF will kill any Palestinian man, woman, or child still breathing in Gaza when Askenazi gets the go-ahead for then ext large scale attack.

And the world will watch, and do.....absolutely nothing except possibly complain a bit. - M. R.

According to figures compiled by the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), almost 30m people claimed �no religion� in 2001, a doubling from 1991. This dwarfs America�s 2.8m who describe themselves as Jews according to the same survey (although other estimates suggest that the Jewish population is much larger, at about 6m). Catholicism, the country�s largest Christian denomination, boasts 51m followers. In other words, irreligion claims a surprisingly large number of adherents. Mr Romney�s attack on disbelievers prompted Christopher Hitchens, a well-known polemicist and the author of �God Is Not Great: Why Religion Poisons Everything�, to describe him as �Entirely lacking in dignity or nobility (or average integrity)�. Others cited Thomas Jefferson�s ruder comments about religion. Even some conservative columnists chided Mr Romney for not saying, as George Bush has, that people of no faith at all are Americans too.

You don't find atheists claiming "God told me to attack Saddam" and then sending your kids off to get killed and crippled. - M. R.

I had to go by the mall the other day to buy some replacement computer parts and the place was far from crowded. There was no waiting to see Santa. - M. R.

The Palestinians and much of the international community believe the decision violates Israel's recent undertaking not to increase the Jewish settler community on occupied Palestinian land.

"Like a lot of places in Israel the history of this place is not simple but as one of the longest residents here I have come to be convinced of our moral right to be here," said Reuven Levy, 39, a local estate agent.