Thursday, July 31, 2008

YES 9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB

Below are words from the book by Mark H. Gaffney called THE 911 MYSTERY PLANE AND THE VANISHING OF AMERICA to be published in September 2008.



"The FBI gathers evidence. Once evidence is gathered, it is turned over to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice then decides whether it has enough evidence to present to a federal grand jury. In the case of the 1998 United States Embassies being bombed, bin Laden has been formally indicted and charged by a grand jury. He has not been formally indicted and charged in connection with 9/11 because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11."
By Rex Tomb/Chief of Investigative Publicity for the F.B.I.


"So, why the rush to war after the September 11 attack? If the Bush administration had conclusive evidence that al Qaeda was responsible, why not release it? Was the Bush White House tight-lipped because the actual evidence would have exposed the complicity of the US military and intelligence community?"


"Regrettably, there is considerable evidence that elements of the Bush administration were complicit in the 9/11 attack, and may even have helped stage it."




Bin Laden was actually under the protection of US security agencies prior to the 9/11 attack. According to Le Figaro, bin Laden checked in to the American Hospital in Dubai on July 4, 2001, just two months before 9/11, where he received medical treatment over a ten-day period for a serious kidney

ailment.

Soon after G.W. Bush entered office the White House ordered the FBI to "back off" from ongoing investigations of Osama bin Laden and other members of his family, some of whom were living in the US at the time.

Do we dare to connect these dots? Surely the story in Le Figaro suggests that elements of the US intelligence establishment knew about the coming 9/11 attack and allowed bin Laden to remain free to play his assigned role.




IT'S THE OIL STUPID!

ADIOS FROM WATERBOARD CENTRAL


And

GOODBYE

Won’t

Be

Soon

Enough!

THE UNITED STATES DOESN’T TORTURE, but George W. Bush (who said those words)

SURE DID.

He tortured us for eight years.

He torched the Constitution.

He unnecessarily torched Iraq.

The Bush administration will end its reign of torture, and finally exit Washington, D.C.

Until Jeb Bush goes there.

The Clintons?

Well, they’ll be in Washington for a little while longer, until Chelsea enters politics.

Who do you want to be the next president?

IT’S THE OIL STUPID!




***

Time is short, but even at this late date, it would be a simple matter to impeach the president on some issues. As several of Friday’s witnesses pointed out, President Bush has essentially dared Congress to act, admitting that he openly violated the FISA law—a felony, and openly admitting that he has refused to enact laws passed by the Congress, claiming a power—unitary executive authority—not even mentioned in the Constitution. He has openly admitted to having known about, and approved, “enhanced interrogation techniques” devised by his subordinates—techniques like waterboarding which clearly violate the Geneva Conventions and US law. No hearings would be required to establish these high crimes and misdemeanors. They could simply be voted on by an Impeachment Committee and sent to the full House for a vote.

Even if there were no time for a Senate trial, the simple act of impeaching the president for one or more abuses of power would serve notice on future presidents that future such abuses would not be tolerated. Failure to do so, and allowing this administration to leave office un-impeached, would send the opposite message: that Congress is no longer a co-equal branch of government, but is merely a consultative body, at best, and that a president is in effect a dictator.

That Pelosi buckled and permitted a hearing on impeachable crimes by the Bush/Cheney administration is a major victory for the impeachment movement, but it must not be the end of the line. Impeachment activists need to now redouble their efforts to make Congress do its Constitutional duty, and initiate a formal impeachment proceeding.

As former Republican representative Bob Barr, now the Libertarian candidate for president, told Friday’s hearing, “We had a nuclear clock during the Cold War. In the ‘90s we had a debt clock. Now we have a Constitution Clock.”

From A Victory and a Challenge

The Impeachment Hearing

By DAVE LINDORFF

July 30, 2008

www.counterpunch.com

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

OUR HOME IS YOUR HOME FOR THE TAKING (OF OIL)



US may deploy missile radar in Israel
Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:29:49

The US officials have revealed plans to deploy new generation of missile systems in Israel to raise the regime's military capability.


The US officials agreed to upgrade Israel's missile capability with new ballistic missile systems that include early warning launch data, a forward based X-Band radar system, and advanced versions of Phalanx automated cannons, AFP quoted a senior US defense official as saying on Tuesday.

The source added that the US also agreed to give Israel a permanent access to its Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites for reconnaissance purposes.

"The agreements aim at helping Israel to create a missile capability to protect it from all sorts of threats in the region," Gates told reporters after holding talks with the visiting Israeli war minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday.

Barak arrived in Washington on Monday as part of an attempt to improve the regime's military capability and to oblige the US officials not to drop the option of a military strike on Iran for its nuclear program.

***

From www.truthdig.com

Acts of War

July 29, 2008

This, of course, is the crux of the issue: Iran’s ongoing enrichment program. Not because it is illegal; Iran is permitted to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes under Article IV of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Not again because Iran’s centrifuge program is operating in an undeclared, unmonitored fashion; the IAEA had stated it has a full understanding of the scope and work of the Iranian centrifuge enrichment program and that all associated nuclear material is accounted for and safeguarded. The problem has never been, and will never be, Iran’s enrichment program. The problem is American policy objectives of regime change in Iran, pushed by a combination of American desires for global hegemony and an activist Israeli agenda which seeks regional security, in perpetuity, through military and economic supremacy. The specter of nuclear enrichment is simply a vehicle for facilitating the larger policy objectives. Olli Heinonen, and those who support and sustain his work, must be aware of the larger geopolitical context of his actions, which makes them all the more puzzling and contemptible.

A major culprit in this entire sordid affair is the mainstream media. Displaying an almost uncanny inability to connect the dots, the editors who run America’s largest newspapers, and the producers who put together America’s biggest television news programs, have collectively facilitated the most simplistic, inane and factually unfounded story lines coming out of the Bush White House. The most recent fairy tale was one of “diplomacy,” on the part of one William Burns, the No. 3 diplomat in the State Department.

One day, in the not-so-distant future, Americans will awake to the reality that American military forces are engaged in a shooting war with Iran. Many will scratch their heads and wonder, “How did that happen?” The answer is simple: We all let it happen. We are at war with Iran right now. We just don’t have the moral courage to admit it.

Scott Ritter is a former U.N. weapons inspector and Marine intelligence officer who has written extensively about Iran.



IT'S THE OIL STUPID!

FOR SALE


I could barely pay my rent.
I didn’t have a full-time job.
And I bought beautiful things that I didn’t need.
I bought a brass, Tiffany desk lamp.
I thought it was beautiful.
I bought an authentic Morris chair.
It wasn’t that beautiful, but I liked its wide arms, where I could sit my cup of coffee on one side, and my books on the other side.
I bought my white, convertible 1964 Pontiac Catalina when I did have a full-time construction job, but it ended, and that’s when I bought my Tiffany lamp and Morris chair.
I was broke.
I needed cash.
I sold all three things.
I sold them as easily as I bought them, because I sold them at very low prices.
My Tiffany lamp: $25
My Morris chair: $45
My Catalina (and this hurt the most!): $75
Here
Today
Gone
Tomorrow.


IT'S ABOUT RENEWABLE RESOURCES

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Q & A

Did Barack Obama’s overseas trip change your opinion of him?

Obama’s charisma just got a little brighter.

Europe, the world, and America want a U.S. president who can do more than just spit, stutter, and shuffle his feet.

They want someone whose actions---not just his words---can change the course of America and the world for the better.

In light of pollution in Beijing among other issues, was it a mistake to award the Olympic Games to China?

It was a jumbo-sized mistake.

The world clearly sees China's repressive and polluted countenance.

Cancel this Olympics and move it to Guam, which, by the way, is really a beautiful isle, surrounded by pristine waters.

(I have never figured out why this Jewel of the Pacific has always been the butt of so many jokes.)

Made-in-China means Made-in-Smog…but

Shop at Wal-Mart until you’re dead!

Is judgment more important for a president than experience?

I think about how much experience Abraham Lincoln had.

It wasn't a lot, right?

But Lincoln had excellent powers of judgment.

I'll tip my hat to judgment.

Experience can safely follow in the footsteps of good judgment.

IT’S THE OIL STUPID!

Monday, July 28, 2008

IN THE WORDS OF JOHN McCAIN


In the 21st century nations don’t invade other nations.
John McCain


I like yesterday.

John McCain


We WERE greeted as liberators.

John McCain


WMD are a job for historians.

John McCain


Apparently Sen. Obama, who does not understand what’s happening in Iraq or fails to acknowledge the success in Iraq, would rather lose a war than lose a campaign.

John McCain


I’m not questioning his patriotism. I’m questioning his total understanding.

John McCain

I think Wall Street is the villain, but I also think Congress is at fault.

John McCain

The people need trust and confidence in this government.

John McCain


On Russia:

We need to improve their behavior.

John McCain


On Barack Obama:
He's the Dr. No of America's energy future.
John McCain



IT'S THE OIL STUPID!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

OUT OF THE SMOKY LIES AND INTO THE FIRES OF CHANGE WHILE HANDEL'S MESSIAH IS PLAYING



Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
Barack Obama

I don't oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war.
Barack Obama

The big question is going to be, if Iran is resistant to these pressures, including economic sanctions, which I hope will be imposed if they do not cooperate, at what point are we going to, if any, are we going to take military action?
Barack Obama


If McCain is president and if his Secretary of State is Joe Lieberman and his Secretary of Defense is Giuliani, we will be moving towards the World War IV that they have been both favoring and predicting.
Zbigniew Brzezinski








While it is absolutely true that no Republicans should be back in the White House after the Decider leaves for his homely little ranch (or escapes to his 90,000 acre Paraguayan asylum), President Barack Obama will give surprises and disappointments.

A road traveled is not the destination.

Obama might very well widen the wars of Bush junior.

If Dick and the Decider don’t bomb Iran, Obama still might.

Obama sounds quite gung ho to expand the war in Afghanistan, where every invader in history has lost.

The Green Party and the Libertarian party---and some leftists and liberals---want American soldiers to stop killing and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And what is the U.S. really fighting (or fighting for) in those countries?

Democracy?

Freedom?

Israel?

Insurgents?

Al-Qaeda?

Itself?

Glowing promises made by candidates in the hellish honeymoon of presidential campaigning become quite different things after the White House is won.

I hope for the best, but all of the chickens haven’t been hatched yet.



IT'S THE OIL STUPID!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Q & A

How will Barack Obama’s overseas trip affect his chances of winning the election?

It increases his chances of winning the election.

John McCain has become what Phil Gramm accused the American people of being:

A whiner.

The irritability in McCain’s voice increases with each gain that Obama makes, whether it comes from enthusiastic crowds, poll numbers, or making 3-pointers.

At this moment Obama is swishing his way to a victory in November.

And after what Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki said, the tires on McCain’s bus have become deflated.



How important is John McCain’s V.P. pick?

Since McCain (I know, I’m beating a moribund horse) isn’t getting any younger, he will need to select a more youthful person to be his VP, and since McCain has poor grades in Economics (and Geography!), the choice of Mitt Romney might help.

But in the chain of being the next president, John McCain is the weakest link.

His VP selection might not help that much.



How can the Republican Party excite young voters?

Janet Jackson can have another wardrobe malfunction.



What do you make of President Bush’s assessment that “Wall Street got drunk” when it comes to the ailing economy?

It makes me remember just how dumb this moron is.

I am surprised (but happy) that the world has not been blown up by George W. Bush.

So far he has only blown up the cradle of civilization.

A drunken sailor would make more sense than Bush.

How much confidence do you have in John McCain’s ability to deal with Iraq?

I have plenty of confidence that John McCain will continue the “deals” that the Bush cabal has established in Iraq.

McCain is a pawn on the chessboard of the corporate military-industrial complex.

His moves will keep America entangled in Iraq forever.

He will not deal with Iraq so much as deal the same cards that Bush has held for almost eight years:

Lies, lies, lies.

Why do some Hillary Clinton supporters want to derail Barack Obama’s nomination?

They’re sore losers, dumb blondes, and Republicans who have disguised themselves as Democrats.

IT’S THE OIL STUPID!


Thursday, July 24, 2008

URINARY POWERS AND IMMACULATE DECEPTION


Bush Lawyer:

Mr. President, you don’t need to worry about anyone in your administration doing time in prison. You can just pardon them now. All crimes can be pardoned by you in advance.

George W. Bush:

That’s right. I’m the Executing Decider with Urinary powers.

Bush Lawyer:

Yes sir.

George W. Bush:

I can retire with my legacy intact.

Bush Lawyer:

Yes sir.

George W. Bush:

Democrats and Republicans are eating out of my hands.

I got away with murder.

God told me to do it.

Bush Lawyers:

Yes sir.

George W. Bush:

O.K. I’m giving Dick some very good com-

Munication.

Bush Lawyer: Yes sir.

With six months to go before President Bush leaves office, the White House is receiving a flurry of pardon applications. The New York Times reported that "several members of the conservative legal community" are pushing for the White House to grant pre-emptive pardons for officials involved in counterterrorism programs. Wait—can a president really pardon someone who hasn't even been charged with a crime?

Yep. In 1866, the Supreme Court ruled in Ex parte Garland that the pardon power "extends to every offence known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken, or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment." (In that case, a former Confederate senator successfully petitioned the court to uphold a pardon that prevented him from being disbarred.) Generally speaking, once an act has been committed, the president can issue a pardon at any time—regardless of whether charges have even been filed.

From Pre-emptive Presidential Pardons

Can you be pardoned for a crime before you're ever charged?


Wednesday, July 23, 2008

DEMOCRACY AND JEOPARDY






Under our system any president is a stooge of the great financial forces that own or govern the country.

Gore Vidal

War is all that they know and all that they care about, because through the demonizing of this or that enemy they can keep the money flowing to them--while depriving the people at large of all those things that other First World people possess--from schools to health care.

Gore Vidal


Democracy:

It used to be the best government that money could
BUY.

The 2008 presidential election is projected to cost about $2,000,000,000,000.

That’s right.

TWO TRILLION DOLLARS!

Will Barack Obama win because he has more money?

Or will computerized voting machines decide?

Or the Supreme Court?

Or some other unknown force?

I wonder how much money Americans will spend to gamble on who will be the next president?

Maybe candidates should go on TV and play Jeopardy.

No more debates.

No more speeches.

Just give correct answers to the questions, dammit!

Give them difficult questions on foreign policy, history, literature, philosophy, geography etc.

It will be O.K. to include a few trivia questions.

Let the voting public see which candidate knows the most.

Who is the smartest candidate?

He should be the next president.

Use all of the candidates’ campaign money to fund immediate development of solar-powered machines and energy that will be generated by the wind and water.

Then the Arabs can drink their oil!

IT’S THE OIL STUPID!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Q & A

Is Al Gore’s call for carbon-free electricity in 10 years doable or “ridiculous”?

I don’t care if it’s ridiculous, but it’s doable.

It’s a better plan than drilling for more and more oil that will just pollute the planet more and more.

To those who scoff at Gore’s idea, they are much like those individuals who laughed at the ridiculous idea that men would ever fly or leave this planet.

Let’s just DO IT and quit talking about doing it.

Get this show on the road!



Why do polls indicate four European countries prefer Barack Obama to John McCain by a margin of 5 to1?

They are tired of George W. Bush's Reign of Error.

McCain, even if he doesn't think so, is viewed as a carbon copy of Dubya.

What is wanted in the next president is someone who can do the following well:

Dance, play basketball, and talk.

Oh, and a president who will try to achieve peace instead of making war.



What does it mean when the Iraqi prime minister endorses Barack Obama’s schedule for getting U.S. troops out of Iraq?

In addition to unneeded confirmation that President Bush is a Lying Baboon-Buffoon who has it wrong once again, but who still resides in a Stupefied State of Self-Delusion, it means that the Iraqi prime minister wants his country back and the occupiers out.


Did Phil Gramm wait too long to resign as co-chairman of John McCain’s campaign?

No, it was the correct moment to resign, because Gramm’s foot was only partially in his mouth before he made these dumb statements, and now McCain’s feet are lodged at the back of his head because of what Colonel Bud Day and Phil Gramm have said.

Monday, July 21, 2008

NEW WORDS FROM BUSH'S DICK


Dick Cheney:
 Mr. President, I’ve come up with some new words for our occupation of Iraq.
George W. Bush:
 Good. What are they?
Dick Cheney:
The timeline horizon.
George W. Bush:
The time-lying what?
Dick Cheney: TIMELINE HORIZON.
George W. Bush: Sounds like a movie.
Dick Cheney:
Yes, sir. That’s the whole idea. It will make the American people believe that Iraq is just a bad movie with a good title.
George W. Bush:
Right. I’m going to see that movie again.
Dick Cheney: I have some other words that I think will help out, too.
George W. Bush:
Fire away! No, don’t do that. Just tell me what they are.
Dick Cheney:
Aspirational goals.
George W. Bush:
 What kind of goals?
Dick Cheney:
 ASPIRATIONAL.
George W. Bush:
 Goals that breathe and sweat?
Dick Cheney: I like to think of them as goals that breathe.
George W. Bush:
Right. I don’t like to sweat.
Dick Cheney:
 Alright, I’ll let you go. I’ve got to clean my shotgun before I go do some hunting.
George W. Bush:
 Be careful. Keep your eyes peeled for those lawyers in the bushes.

***
[The lines below are from a poem by Robert Creeley titled Help!]
Help's easy enough
If it comes in time.
Nothing's that hard
If you want to rhyme.
 
It's when they shoot you
It can hurt,
When the bombs blast off
And you're gone with a squirt.
 
Sitting in a bunker,
Feeling blue?
Don't be a loser
It wasn't you---
 
Wasn't you wanted
To go kill people,
Wasn't you caused
All this trouble.
 
I can't say, Run!
And I can't say, Hide!
But I still feel
What I feel inside.

It's wrong to kill people
Just to make them pay
Wrong to blast cities
To make them go
away.
You think that anyone
Ought to get pushed,
Shoved around
for some old Bush?

 
IT’S THE OIL STUPID!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

A NIGHT AT THE BEACH BAR WITH GREYHOUNDS AND EDGAR ALLAN POE




Spiderman never told me what he did to the guy who knocked me out.
Spiderman wasn’t his real name, but it matched his tall, lean and muscular body, and that’s what everyone called him.
Spiderman said, “Don’t worry, I took care of him.”
“But what did you do?”
“You don’t want to know.”
And I didn’t.
I had been at this particular beach bar before, but I had always gone home before the sun went down.
I parked my gold, muffler-less ’64 Impala, walked to the open-air bar, sat down at a table, and started drinking.
I don’t remember what I was drinking.
It was probably beer with tomato juice or Tabasco sauce.
I know, yuck.
It was a phase I was going through.
(For all of you grammarians, I know that I’ve broken one of your cardinal rules, and have ended a few sentences with a preposition.
I hope it doesn’t bring you too down.)
It was Saturday night, and early, so there weren’t too many people yet, but gradually the beach bar filled up.
After sitting alone for about an hour, a couple walked up and asked if they could sit down at my table, and I said
No problem”.
No, the problem would occur momentarily.
They told me that they raised and sold greyhounds.
Right after that I excused myself and went to the restroom.
The beer was talking, and I knew that I wanted to get home.
On my way back to the table I saw this guy with black hair and a curved nose sitting by himself at the semi-circular bar.
I thought to myself, “He looks like Edgar Allan Poe.”
I must have taken too many looks, because it was he who came over and hit me.
It was a “sucker punch” on the right side of my head.
The punch knocked me unconscious.
When I woke up, a policeman was standing above me.
“Are you O.K.?” he asked.
“I think so. What happened?”
“Someone hit you and you passed out. Do you have a car?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to give you a ride? You can leave your car here and pick it up tomorrow.”
“No. I can drive. Thanks.”
I drove home.
I had a bruise on my face.
I wondered how long I was out.
I forgot to ask anyone.
It was a few days later when I was sitting at the bar in The Rose & Crown that Spiderman walked in and told me that he had taken care of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe.
I thanked him.
IT'S (STILL) ABOUT OIL AND RENEWABLE RESOURCES!