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Ongoing stories:
Reuters Cameraman Mazen Dana Killed in Iraq Dana's death brings to 17 the number of journalists or their assistants who have died in Iraq since war began on March 20. [MORE]
BUSH SAYS, "BRING'EM ON!" WE SAY BRING THEM HOME NOW! A movement calling for the immediate withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq has been started
by the families of US soldiers and army veterans. [MORE - Bring Them Home Now! Website]
Police cannot entrap people into committing crimes
they would not otherwise have committed...
What is a legal sting?
By RACHEL CLARKE
U.S. Government Sting Operation Criticized as Entrapment
By BRIAN ROSS
DISINFORMATION WARNING: CIA Posing as Al-Qaeda at Jihad Unspun?
22AUG2003
Lugnuts, flypaper and bourbier - Tom Engelhardt
Ed. note: There is no limit to how many ways we can say ayatolljahso; they continue providing
us with the samples and examples cranked outa the Bush White House and the "bat cave" Branch of the
Pentagon.
The turning-point bombings, even thinking back to Beirut has got familiar writings on the wall.
Back in the 1960s, in little Mexican towns and in Mexico (dee-yef), there were hand written
signs (graffiti) of Communism, like we had never seen on any wall in the U.S., and anti-American
slogans and sentiment.
These uniquely anti-American (government) "wallposter" bombings that started with Beirut offshore and
then continued domestically with Timothy McVeigh in retaliation for Ruby Ridge and Waco (or so he
thought), and the first WTC bombings are as writing-on-the-wall as it gets - always with the same end
product: We're outa here!
Quoting
Tom Engelhardt: "We of the antiwar movement need to call for an exit strategy that involves
bringing our troops home -- all of them and fast."
Tom writes: "Robert Fisk of the British Independent, in his most recent piece (see today's tomdispatch), underlines
an exploitable weakness that lies at the heart of American unilateralism in Iraq: "But in reality,
yesterday's attack was against the United States. For it proves that no foreign organisation - no NGO,
no humanitarian organisation, no investor, no businessman - can expect to be safe under America's
occupation rule... The Americans can reconstruct the dead faces of Saddam's two sons, but they can't
reconstruct Iraq."
And quoting Pepe Escobar: "The rationale of the Iraqi resistance is clear, and follows the anti-American
graffiti found on countless walls around Baghdad. There's no nostalgia at all for Saddam, but he is
considered to be a lesser evil than the Americans, who are regarded as not treating Iraqis with even
an inch of respect. Americans are simply incapable of understanding how deep is the average Iraqi's
anger and resentment. With the Americans bunkered in a 'circle the wagons' mentality, there's simply
no possibility of winning any hearts and minds." (See today's tomdispatch).
Indeed, most of us who read each other's stuff and write our little columns and blogs are
the "anti-war movement" - how else could it be?
I only hope those who claim to be the "anti-war movement" including A.N.S.W.E.R and the like will
respond and mobilize again, the way they did before the Bush White House shocked and awed downtown
Baghdad (as seen on TV), and which began the invasion, and now which has ended in the wholly predictable
overthrow of the Batista government, and Fidel and Marxist-Leninist Communism reigning for 40,
count'em, 40 plus years!
The mideast only looked like an easier mark than Cuba. In reality, the waters of Iraq, and Afghanistan
are very deep, and the policy makers of the U.S. are in way over their heads. The turning-point
bombings, even thinking back to Beirut has got familiar writings on the wall, speaking of Vietnam,
quagmire, opium and oil. [MORE]
The Price of Freedom in Iraq and Power in Washington
By CEARA DONNELLEY and WILLIAM D. HARTUNG
A Privatized Occupation
From a taxpayers' perspective, the most important question is how many billions of dollars has
our government paid private corporations to ensure a final victory in Operation Iraqi
Freedom - whatever "victory" ultimately comes to mean?
Long before the Bush Administration could sufficiently sell its case to the United Nations,
Congress, and the American people, it was planning for war against Saddam and his Republican Guard.
For companies like Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin this meant a big boom in business in exchange
for the big booms their weapons and bombs showered on Iraq months later. Though the ties that bind
these companies to the Bush administration are not quite as controversial as those linking rebuilding
and private military companies such as Halliburton and Bechtel, it is still clear, by tracing
overlapping personnel, that far from being a relic of the Cold War, the military-industrial complex is
alive and well and thriving in George W. Bushıs Washington.
RUN-UP TO WAR: WHO PUT THE SHOCK IN "SHOCK AND AWE"
What follows lists the major corporations involved in Iraq from the incipient days of
U.S. military action to the forthcoming years of rebuilding: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Alliant Techsystems, Halliburton, Bechtel, DynCorp,
Stevedoring Services of America, Abt Associates Inc., Skylink Air and Logistic Support (USA) Inc.,
International Resources Group, Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Creative Associates International
Inc., ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhilipps, Marathon and Valero Energy, Royal Dutch Shell,
BP, Total, Repsol YPF, Sinochem, Vitol and Mitsubishi. [MORE]
What next? THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT BEGINS - MoveOn.org
Also see 31JUL2002 Draft Hillary 2004 Update
21AUG2003
When Will Israel Stop Endangering Jewish Lives?
Ed. note: What the hell kind of country is this turning into? There is no leadership. The Bush
White House is spending all their time raiding the
treasury in behalf their friends. They can afford billions for war wIth nothing left for peace; education for all, affordable housing, medical and dental care; better
roads and highways, and bridges, and roadbeds for the railing of freight and passenger traffic; and
improved consumer communications. Why does the U.S. lag behind Europe and Asia and most of the rest of
the world in wide band and cell phones?
According to Alexa, Korean, Japanese and Chinese (language) websites and traffic is
taking over many of the Top 500 most popular sites.
With the exception of the Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan bombings, and one bit about the "new freedom"
in downtown Baghdad, where vendors are selling
Porn, drugs, weapons and looted goods - not to mention that
"America has taken a country that was not a terrorist threat and turned it into one", today was such
a slow news day,
Mac Daily News in reporting "
Windows Blaster worm to attack Microsoft on Saturday; Macintosh unaffected", also posted a "
What happens when Steve Jobs dies?" piece. What? Is the world going completely nuts?? Stop the bus!!
 Afghanistan is experiencing all time high bumper crops for their trade in opium.
Daniel Pipes, not content to pick on
Democrats and Muslims, has rat-shitted his religiosity up to taking
on Dennis Kucinich, probably the most
dangerous Democrat out there, with the least chance of becoming the
next U.S. President. Bush White House neocons and Christian-Zionists are taking no chances, and endorse
the Pipes smear titled: Kucinich
Loves CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations)".
CAIR is a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, and today said it has learned
that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recently engaged in a behind-the-scenes smear campaign designed
to block speakers from taking part in a Muslim event in Florida. That state's office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL), the sponsor of the event, said speakers disregarded an ADL letter
smearing other event participants and making false allegations against the Islamic civil rights
organization.
The ADL sent letters to speakers, including journalists and human rights activists, scheduled to take
part in the August 2nd CAIR-FL banquet in Ft. Lauderdale, implying that former Congressman (R-Ill.) Paul
Findley is an anti-Semite because "he labored to depict Israel and its American supporters as a menacing
force." The letter made similar accusations against another invitee, Rev. Bill Baker, based on
statements he allegedly made in the 1980s. In a letter to CAIR-FL, Baker, who heads Christians and
Muslims for Peace (CAMP), wrote: "The so-called 'quotes' attributed to me are pure, insulting, and
outrageous lies."
CAIR itself was targeted by the ADL letter, which repeated a long-discredited claim that the group
sponsored a 1998 conference in New York during which a speaker made anti-Semitic comments. In fact,
CAIR did not sponsor the event, and no CAIR officials spoke at or attended the gathering. CAIR's New
York office did not even exist at the time the conference took place.
"It is disturbing that the ADL, a group claiming to fight bigotry, would choose to exploit and amplify
existing anti-Muslim prejudice by peddling scurrilous smears based on distortions, fabrications and
guilt by association," said Altaf Ali, executive director of CAIR-FL. "If we thought an invited speaker
did indeed hold anti-Semitic views, that person would quickly be disinvited. We thank all those who
stood up to this attempt at religious exclusion to make our event such a success." Ali invited the ADL's
Florida office to enter into a dialogue on the issue of Muslim participation in American society.
He noted that this was not the first time the ADL sought to exclude American Muslims from the public
arena. In November of 2001, the group attempted to bar CAIR's Los Angeles office from taking part in a
hearing on hate crimes. That same year, the Florida Commission on Human Relations rejected an ADL
demand to exclude a Muslim representative from an annual civil rights conference and the State of
California Select Committee on Hate Crimes turned down a similar demand to prevent a Muslim leader from
offering testimony at a public hearing. In early 2002, the ADL demanded that Muslim groups be denied the
right to offer presentations on Islam to public officials at a public event in Southern California.
At that time, the ADL's smear campaign was revealed when the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Pro-Israel or
Jewish organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Defense League and [Daniel Pipes']
Middle East Forum think tank have provided news organizations with reams of critical documentation on
Muslim leaders in recent weeks." (Los Angeles Times, 11/3/2001)
The ADL campaign is not limited to American Muslims. In April of 2001, a federal judge upheld a jury's
findings that the ADL defamed a Colorado couple by publicly accusing them of being anti-Semitic. U.S.
District Court Judge Edward Nottingham said that evidence was sufficient to support the jury's
conclusion that the ADL "acted recklessly in its efforts to publicize what it perceived to be
anti-Semitic conduct." (Associated Press, 4/4/2001)
In 1999, the ADL agreed to pay $25,000 to a community relations fund and said it would not spy on other
organizations as part of a settlement with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and other
groups. The settlement resolved a class-action lawsuit filed in 1993 that accused the ADL of spying on
Arab-American, pro-Palestinian and anti-apartheid groups and individuals. (Associated Press, 9/28/1999)
Ed. note: Some years ago ADL took on our friend Carl Worden, accusing him and the Southern
Oregon Militia of anti-Semitism and worse - in an attempt to scare Carl and the serious militia around
the country into some kind of submission that bending over to would have been un-American. ADL took on
the wrong guy. Carl, a man who is 100% Bill of Rights Constitutional, is a Jew who became a Christian;
he's married to a Mexican woman. So much for bigotry and racism. To make a long story short (or get the
details directly from Carl), he backed them off. The same "tactic" is now being used on CAIR.
Did anyone notice the "Pipes (neocon) connection" again?
In today's e-mail there was a newsletter update from a Jewish peacenik
group (Tikkun asking, "When Will Israel
Stop Endangering Jewish Lives?"
and "
Who Is Destroying the Hudna (cease fire)?"
A few days ago Tikkun printed on their website an analysis by Gideon Levy which appeared in Ha'aretz,
the Israeli newspaper, showing that Ariel Sharon's provoactive assassination of a Hamas leader,
together with his construction of the Wall and other acts designed to undermine the Road Map, would
ensure a breakdown of the Hudna. [MORE]
Check their website at www.tikkun.org. They
really do publish some important articles from Israeli, Palestinian and American sources on Middle East
peace, globalization, and uh, American politics.
The breakdown of the ceasefire and the renewed punishment of the entire Palestinian people for the
actions of a few underscores the importance of getting their Resolution for Middle East Peace (which we
have no editorial or any other problem with) widely signed and endorsed. If it reads ok to you, please
consider signing it yourself and then send it to your close ones. You may go to the site and Tikkin has
gadgetry in place for help in sending the (ACTION ITEM)
"resolution" along to your friends. [MORE]
The U.S was warned that a "soft target" would be hit with a truck bomb; the U.N. was a suggested
target...
Iraq governors
had warning about attack
By PAMELA HESS
UPI Pentagon Correspondent
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The Iraqi governing council had an intelligence report that a major
attack was being planned in Baghdad prior to Tuesday's bombing, said Ahmed Chalabi, a member of the
Iraqi Governing Council and head of the Iraqi National
Congress. [MORE]
Has anyone noticed that Rumsfeld is in Latin America? Can U.S. involvement in some military operation
be far behind? For some recent and very current news on Central and South America, see the Al
Giordano articles published on www.narconews.com.
In an AP article published on the CBS-News website,
A New Era In Argentina: "Visitors' balconies
rang out with shouts of "Ole! Ole!" as Argentine legislators voted to scrap laws that have prevented
the prosecution of officials who committed human rights crimes during the country's 1976-83 military
regime..."
ON/OFF SUBJECT:
Iraq War Critics Purged
By JUSTIN RAIMONDO
Neocons are getting rid of their critics in government and the military. [MORE]
What next? THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT BEGINS - MoveOn.org
Also see 31JUL2002 Draft Hillary 2004 Update
20AUG2003
Families want troops home - Ruth Rosen
Ed. note: On personal. So I asks me dear wife what news from the family after she got off
the phone an hour later. They just want the kids to come home. (Two in Iraq).
"Jimmie Atchison sits in his wheelchair, disabled by war injuries, worrying about his 39-year-old
daughter Georgina, who's been in Iraq since November. A member of Army intelligence, she flies in
Cobra helicopters, equipped with missiles and cameras that send photographs back to command
headquarters.
"She was supposed to come home from Iraq on Aug. 5. On Aug. 4, she learned that her return had
been indefinitely postponed -- again." [MORE]
What next? THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT BEGINS - MoveOn.org
Also see 31JUL2002 Draft Hillary 2004 Update
19AUG2003
Power to the People! - Dennis Kucinich
Ed. note: The cost of modernizing our electric infrastructure for the United States is
estimated to be $100 Billion dollars. The cost of rebuilding the Iraq we destroyed is about a billion
a week over the next ten years. While we've been reassured that the blackout wasn't an Act of God, or
terrorism (or Revolution), no one has yet been able to explain what did cause the power crash. This
just in: Al-Qaeda says Usama's boys did it! So who do you want to believe?
Dennis Kucinich, whose claim to fame is his saving Cleveland's power from being grabbed up by the
energy mongers back in the 1970s; his story in his words:
With an estimated 50 million Americans and Canadians left without power and in some cases water,
common sense requires us to reflect on the absurdity of deregulation of public utilities. The right
of utility franchise is vested in the people. We give utilities permission to operate, and enable
them to set up a profit making business in exchange for the promise of affordable and reliable service.
In 1992, investor owned utilities pushed the Democratic House to pass HR776 which granted electric
utilities broad powers. The bill was supposed to restructure the electric utility industry to spur
competition.
Utilities used deregulation to affect a series of mergers limiting competition. In order to accelerate
profits, cost cutting ensued, involving the layoff of thousands of utility company employees, including
some who where responsible for maintenance of generation, transmission, and distribution systems. A
number of investor-owned utilities stopped investing in the maintenance and repair of their own
equipment, and, instead, cut costs to enhance the value of their stock rather than spending money to
enhance the value of their service.
A prime case in point is FirstEnergy Corp, late of Ohio. FirstEnergy formed through a merger of utility
companies which owned nuclear power plants which often were neither used nor useful, and as a result
incurred huge debt. FirstEnergy's predecessor, The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI) in the
1950s and 60s was a high performing blue chip stock until they invested in nuclear power.
FirstEnergy has tried without success to keep online a very troublesome nuclear power facility at
Port Clinton, Ohio, the Davis-Besse plant. Davis-Besse is currently shut down and has been for some
time. FirstEnergy and federal regulators failed to properly monitor the operations of the plant,
resulting in conditions where the plant's reactor vessel was threatened with a breach when boric acid
ate into the head of the reactor.
Millions of people in the Midwest and the water supply of our entire Great Lakes region were at risk
because of First Energy's negligence, improper maintenance, and actual cover-up of the degradation of
the reactor. Furthermore, federal regulators determined that notwithstanding the peril which was
presented to one of the largest populated areas of the United States, FirstEnergy's financial condition
necessitated the continued operation of the flawed reactor. The regulators put profit ahead of public
interest.
If there was ever an example of an unholy alliance between government and industry, this is it. If there
was ever an example of the failure of necessary regulation by the government of an investor-owned
utility, it is found in the government's failure to regulate FirstEnergy. Now, according to published
reports, the blackout which affected an estimated 50 million people may have begun in the FirstEnergy
system.
I've been familiar with First Energy and the challenge of utility monopolies for over 30 years. Early
in my career, in the 1970s, I watched FirstEnergy's predecessor, CEI, as it was hard at work trying to
undermine the ability of the City of Cleveland to operate its own municipal electric system. CEI
conducted a tireless crusade to attempt to put the city's publicly owned system, Muny Light, out of
business. Muny Light competed against CEI in a third of the city and provided municipal power customers
with savings on their electric bill of 20-30 percent. It also provided cheaper electricity for 76 city
facilities and thousands of Cleveland street lights, saving taxpayers millions of dollars each year.
An antitrust review revealed that CEI had committed numerous violations of federal antitrust law in its
attempt to put Muny Light out of business. CEI worked behind the scenes to block Muny Light from
purchasing power from other power companies. CEI became the only power company Muny Light could buy
from. At that point, CEI sharply increased and sometimes tripled the cost of purchase power to Muny
Light. And, as a result, Muny Light began to lose money. CEI used Muny Light's weakened operational and
financial condition (which they created) as evidence of the public system's lack of viability and as
proof that the only way the people of Cleveland could have reliable power was for the city to sell its
electric system to CEI.
Throughout this period, the Cleveland media, which received substantial advertising revenues from CEI,
crusaded against the city's ownership of a municipal electric system. In 1976, after years of work to
undermine Muny Light, CEI finally succeeded in getting the mayor and the council of Cleveland to agree
to sell Muny Light, giving CEI a monopoly on electric power in the Cleveland area and enabling CEI to
greatly expand its rate base to get more revenue to pay for its rapidly mounting expenses associated
with building nuclear power plants.
At that time, I was clerk of the Cleveland Municipal Court, a citywide elected office. I organized a
civic campaign to save Muny Light. People gathered signatures in freezing rain to block the sale. I ran
for mayor of Cleveland on a promise that if elected, my first act would be to cancel the sale of Muny
Light. I won the election. I cancelled the sale.
The Muny Light issue came to a head on December 15, 1978, when Ohio's largest bank, Cleveland Trust,
the 33rd largest bank in America at that time, told me that they would not renew the city's credit on
15 million dollars worth of loans taken out by the previous administration unless I would agree to sell
Cleveland's municipally owned utility to CEI.
On that day, by that time, the sale of Muny Light was being promoted by both Cleveland newspapers,
virtually all of the radio and TV stations in town, the entire business community, all the banks,
both political parties, and several unions, as well as a majority of the Cleveland City Council. All
I had to do was to sign my name to legislation and the system would have sold and the city
credit "protected." The chairman of Cleveland Trust even offered 50 million dollars of new credit
if I would agree to sell Muny Light.
Where I come from it matters how much people pay for electricity. I grew up in the inner city of
Cleveland, the oldest of 7 children. My parents never owned a home, they lived in 21 different places
by the time I was 17, including a couple of cars. I remember when there were 5 children and my parents
living in a 3 room upstairs apartment on Cleveland's east side. My parents would sometimes sit in the
kitchen at one of those old white enamel top tables, which, when the surface was chipped, was black
underneath. When they counted their pennies, I could hear them clicking on the enamel top table.
Click, Click, Click.
When I was in the board room with the Chairman of Cleveland Trust Bank, I was thinking about my
parents counting their pennies and I could hear those pennies hitting the enamel top table. So, I said
no to the sale of Muny Light to CEI. At Midnight, Cleveland Trust put the City of Cleveland into
default.
Later, it was revealed, that Cleveland Trust and CEI had four interlocking directors. Cleveland Trust
was CEI's bank. Together with another bank, Cleveland Trust owned a substantial share of CEI stock and
had numerous other mutual interests. Public power was saved in Cleveland. I lost the election in
1979 with default as the major issue. Cleveland Trust changed it name to AmeriTrust. The new mayor
changed the name of Muny Light to Cleveland Public Power.
In 1993, the City of Cleveland announced that it was expanding Muny/Cleveland Public Power. It was the
largest expansion of any municipal electric system in America. I had been long gone from major elected
office. In fact, after the default, most political analysts considered my career over. I had been asked
many times by other politicians why I just didn't make the deal and sell the light system, especially
when my career was on the line. I believe that there are, in fact, some things more important than the
next election.
After I left City Hall, I couldn't get a job in Cleveland, I almost lost my home, and my marriage fell
apart. I was living in California when a Cleveland reporter called to tell me that people were saying
the expansion could not have happened without my making a decision to save the system. People in
Cleveland began to say that I was right not to sell Muny Light and they asked me to come back. I ran for
State Senate in 1994 on a slogan "because he was right" with little rays of yellow light shining behind
my name on my campaign signs. I was one of the few Democrats to unseat a Republican incumbent that year
in a state election.
Two years later, I was one of the few Democrats to unseat a Republican incumbent to gain election to
Congress. My campaign signs had a light bulb behind my name with the words "Light up Congress."
Today, I'm running for President of the United States and I want to light up America, and a good place
to start will be to shed light on a deregulation process that has abandoned the public interest.
-- Written by Dennis J. Kucinich on the campaign trail in Iowa, and adapted
from his guest entry on the blog of Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig: http://lessig.org/blog/
AS CLEVELAND MAYOR, KUCINICH'S FIGHT TO SAVE PUBLIC POWER
A Profile in Political Courage... and Vindication
Having been elected to Cleveland's City Council at age 23, Dennis Kucinich was well-known to Cleveland
voters when they chose him as their mayor in 1977 at the age of 31. He was elected mayor on a promise
that he would not sell off or privatize the beloved and trusted city-owned power system, though
Cleveland was deeply in debt.
Cleveland Magazine offered this summary: "Kucinich refused to yield to bankers who gave him a choice:
Sell the Municipal Light System to the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. or the city will go into
default. The mayor said no."
When Kucinich refused to sell Muny Light, the banks took the unprecedented step of refusing to roll
over the cityıs debt, as is customary. Instead, they pushed the city into default. It turned out the
banks were thoroughly interlocked with the private utility, CEI, which would have acquired monopoly
status by taking over Muny Light. Five of the six banks held almost 1.8 million shares of CEI stock;
of the 11 directors of CEI, eight were also directors of four of the six banks involved.
By holding to his campaign promise and putting principle above politics, he lost his re-election bid
and his political career was derailed. But today Kucinich stands vindicated for having confronted the
Enron of his day, and for saving the municipal power company. "There is little debate," wrote Cleveland
Magazine in May 1996, "over the value of Muny Light today. Now Cleveland Public Power, it is a proven
asset to the city that between 1985 and 1995 saved its customers $195,148,520 over what they would have
paid CEI." He also preserved hundreds of union jobs.
When Kucinich re-launched his political career in the mid-1990s, it was on the strength of having
saved public power. His campaign symbol was a light bulb. "Because he was right!" was his campaign
slogan when he won his seat in the state senate in 1994. The slogan that sent him to Washington two
years later was "Light Up Congress."
In 1998, the Cleveland City Council issued a commendation to Dennis Kucinich for "having the courage
and foresight to refuse to sell the city's municipal electric system."
Ed. note: We receive periodic Energy and 911 updates from Michael Ruppert. In today's
message, introducing Imminent Peril (Part I), Michael says,
"A massive blackout cripples the Northeast US. More than 3000 die of heat in France. President Bush
tells the world "This is a wake up call." But he doesn't tell the truth about why this is so. For more
than 40 years, according to data analyzed by the Global Commons
Institute (GCI) (www.gci.org.uk) there
has been a near 100% correlation between world GDP growth and the emission of greenhouse gases from the
consumption of hydrocarbon energy. This demonstrates the occurring collision of an economic paradigm
based upon debt, fractional reserve banking and infinite growth with unavoidable limits on the energy
that fuels that growth. Peak Oil and Gas is killing us now. The environment has just formed an axis
with it.
As GCI has so succinctly stated, the human race if it wishes to survive must change from an
economic model of Expansion and Divergence to one of Contraction and Convergence. What we are
seeing is that it is not just the poor people who are going to perish, it is the rich ones too.
FTW readers have written to us frequently that we have not offered a solution to the problem of Peak
Oil and Gas. Oh, but we have. Two things are required for the survival of the human race. Without these
changes, there is no place to begin. They are an overturning of the current economic-political paradigm
and a conversion to an equity-based financial model with absolute transparency and accountability.
Toward these ends, we have pointed repeatedly to the work of investment banker Catherine Austin Fitts at
her web site (www.solari.com). We recently also drew attention to her work on the theft of trillions of
dollars of public funds which are desperately needed to begin infrastructure changes and to address
financial crises which are destroying the ability of public institutions to address these life-and-death
challenges. Holding government accountable is the first step. To understand what the theft of trillions
of dollars means to you and your family, please visit:
www.whereisthemoney.org/.
The lies and deception of the Bush Administration leading to the war in Iraq; the continuing
unraveling of the administration's account of the events of 9/11; and the energy crises and climate
changes that are killing people now are all irrevocably and undeniable connected. That has been FTW's
single-minded message since 9/11. Here, FTW's Contributing Editor for Energy, Dale Allen Pfeiffer,
brings home the reality and the urgency of the crisis.
"Scientists are warning that we have only one or two generations to avoid global catastrophe.
Why aren't we heeding their warnings, and what can be done?" [MORE - Subscription required]
Also see the Tom Engelhardt
tomdispatch.com edition devoted to "Let them drink ice water!"
Pipes Quotes Internet Hate Site Writer
Ed. note: No different than a KKK site threatening to lynch blacks, or neo-nazi skinheads
burning down
synagogues, the so-called "Faith Freedom International" Web site seeks no less than the eradication of
Islam. "Islam is a lie and this (faithfreedom.org) site is the proof!"
On the Faith Freedom International Website, I discovered an
article
Humanizing Islam: Shifting faith and mutated beliefs by Jamal Hasan.
Also see "OFFSITE READING"
In (news) googling "jamal hasan", the top five Google listings referred to Daniel Pipes. We have been
following the U.S. Peace Institute story. So then I googled "daniel pipes jamal hasan" and got back two
dozen leads.
As it turns out, one of the world's most prolific preachers and teachers of Isalamophobic hatred,
besides the well known Dan Pipes, is the mostly unknown* Jamal Hasan, whose claim to fame is
that he hates Islam and is an ex-Muslim.
One of the first pieces I found was a typically anti-Kennedy article
Sen. Kennedy denounces Mideast scholaron
worldnetdaily, which linked to a said-to-be Muslim Web site that was
Supporting the Dan Pipes Nomination for a place on the U.S. Institute of Peace. There was Jamal Hasan, again.
Muslims' Letter of Endorsement
STATEMENT OF MUSLIM SUPPORT FOR PIPES APPOINTMENT TO USIP BOARD
The undersigned (including
Jamal Hasan) endorse President Bush's nomination of Daniel Pipes, to the board of the U.S. Institute
of Peace.
Muslims for Pipes - Editorial
NEW YORK SUN
Bush Nominates Daniel Pipes to Board of US Institute of Peace
"Moderate Muslims Welcome the Appointment"
By FATIMA SAYYED
[Fixing] Islam's Image Problem
By DANIEL PIPES
Improving Islam's Reputation
By DANIEL PIPES
Daniel Pipes Focuses on the Islamic Organization, CAIR
Posted by KEITH BARTON
Selected Posts from MM members
Daniel in the Lions' Den
By CHARLOTT WEST
RATIONAL THOUGHT - ARTICLES
My brief encounter with one grandiose activist in a Senate Hearing
By JAMAL HASAN
PIPES QUOTES WRITER FOR SITE SEEKING TO 'ERADICATE ISLAM'
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today said it has
learned that Jamal Hasan cited as a "
moderate Muslim" by presidential nominee Daniel Pipes writes for
faithfreedom.org, an Internet hate site seeking to "eradicate Islam." CAIR once again called on
President Bush to withdraw Pipes' nomination to fill a position on the board of the United States
Institute of Peace (USIP).
The hate site's home page states: "This site is created by ex-Muslims to help Muslims leave Islam.
Islam is a lie and this site is the proof... The truth is that Islam is not a religion of peace. It is a
religion of hate, of terror and of war... The only way to confront Islamic terrorism is to eradicate
Islam."
In
Liberalizing Islamic Thought: Fracturing Ima'n or Breeding Freethinking?, one of his articles on the
faithfreedom.org site, the writer says: "As probing of Islam becomes an ordinary
and mundane exercises in this day of openness (thanks to the Internet), more of Islam's inanities
will be revealed."
Pipes quotes the writer, who uses a Department of Justice reply address for at least one of his
articles, in a July, 2003, syndicated commentary attacking CAIR and blaming Muslims for a recent poll
showing an increase in the public perception that Islam is a violent faith. The person Pipes quoted is
also a signatory to the "Statement of Muslim Support for Pipes Appointment to USIP Board" published on
a pro-Pipes web site.
"With each new utterance, Daniel Pipes becomes a greater embarrassment to the president and to
America's image around the world," said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.
CAIR is one of many Muslim, Arab, Christian, Jewish, and interfaith groups challenging Pipes'
qualifications to be appointed to the USIP board. President Bush is said to be considering a recess
appointment of Pipes after his nomination failed to pass through a Senate committee because of
opposition from leading Democratic senators.
Also see Dr. James J. Zogby: A co-ordinated and bigoted assault
*While Jamal Hasan might not be an American (media) household name, he is a well known mischief maker among
friends of Bangladesh and expats. Hasan makes a reference to this in the "
My brief encounter" article (above) re: Ted Kennedy. For some background and further insight to as to
when and how Hasan became a turncoat and traitor to decency, and when and how he got hooked up with the
Bush White House "neocons" and Christian-Zionists, see the following points of reference.
Dhan Bhantay Sheever Geet
Dr. M. Farooq
The Zionist circle keeps repeating about this concocted Fatwa. See:
1. Jewish World
Review
2. Jewish Bulletin News
3. Eretz Israel.org
4. Adat Shalom
5. Mr. Hasan continues to peddle this lie to earn sympathy for a person, who was commissioned by the
Zionists to write a book for them and turned to the Zionist circle to promote this lie.
6. "We defeated the Napak-army and goazoms/mottya-rajakars in 1971"
7. Another of Jamal Hasan's favourite is racist writer Daniel Pipes"
8. Dan Pipes Revealed.
9. See the Jamal Hasan "
Dear Dr. Daniel Pipes:" letter re:
Richard Perle, and Perle's kiss-ass response to Hasan, and
their
Theocracy in Iraq dilemma.
VICTORY FOR US OR U.S?
By fatemolla
Finally, in 1994, Pipes wrote a revealing article
Middle East Mischief in which is a do or die fight until the death
of one side or the other projection that may indeed come back to sting the loser.
What next? THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT BEGINS - MoveOn.org
Also see 31JUL2002 Draft Hillary 2004 Update
18AUG2003
What really happened at the Bush White House - The Deception
Ed. note: The Washington Post
has just published everything you ever wanted to know about the Bush
White House way of deceiving themselves and the American people; about just exactly how and when they
misled America - pushing the nation into a unilateral war with Iraq that has cost billions of dollars
that could have better been spent in the states of these United States. In addition to the wasted
dollars, the Bush White House is responsible for the unnecessary deaths of countless Iraqis, and more than
200 American military personnel killed since George W announced the end of major conflict.
Contributing to the Washington Post
Depiction of Threat Outgrew Supporting Evidence article by Barton Gellman and Walter Pincus were WP staff writers
Glenn Kessler, Dana Priest and Richard Morin and staff researchers Lucy Shackelford, Madonna Lebling
and Robert Thomason. Contributing to the Bush White House lies were George W Bush, Big Dick Cheney, Colin
Powell and Condoleezza Rice.
The WP article gives us Facts and Doubts, Nuclear Blackmail, Educating the Public, A Mushroom Cloud,
Literary License, and Unravelings...
Bush said: "A report came out of the... [International Atomic Energy Agency], that [the Iraqis] were six
months away from developing a weapon. I don't know what more evidence we need." Camp David, 9/7/02
WP reports: "There was no new IAEA report... Bush cast as present evidence the contents of a report
from 1996, updated in 1998 and 1999. In those accounts, the IAEA described the history of an Iraqi
nuclear weapons program that arms inspectors had systematically destroyed."
Bush said: "Iraq has made several attempts to buy high-strength aluminum tubes used to enrich uranium
for a nuclear weapon." United Nations, 9/12/02
WP reports: "Gas centrifuge experts consulted by the U.S. government said repeatedly for more than a
year that the aluminum tubes were not suitable or intended for uranium enrichment. By December 2002,
the experts said new evidence had further undermined the government's assertion. The Bush administration
portrayed the scientists as a minority and emphasized that the experts did not describe the centrifuge
theory as impossible."
Bush said: "Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that
could come in the form of a mushroom cloud." Cincinnati OH, 10/7/02
WP reports: "What Hussein did not have was the principal requirement for a nuclear weapon, a sufficient
quantity of highly enriched uranium or plutonium. And the U.S. government, authoritative intelligence
officials said, had only circumstantial evidence that Iraq was trying to obtain those materials."
Bush said: "The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. Saddam
Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group of his 'nuclear
mujahedeen,' his nuclear holy warriors." Cincinnati OH, 10/7/02
WP reports: "Bush and others often alleged that President Hussein held numerous meetings with Iraqi
nuclear scientists, but did not disclose that the known work of the scientists was largely benign.
Iraq's three top gas centrifuge experts, for example, ran a copper factory, an operation to extract
graphite from oil and a mechanical engineering design center."
Drunk on Power
By BILL RICHARDSON
Bill Richardson made the Sunday morning gas-bag shows and said as wholesale electric markets
evolve, utility companies and other electric generators have greater incentive to stretch the grid to
its limits to gain a competitive advantage.
It's time to "nationalize" energy in this country - to cut off the greedy wholesale and retail profiteers.
It's time to return the power to the people! Where is Angela Davis when we need her?
Bill Richardson wrote in his Drunk on Power article published in the New York Times, "Congress is
considering legislation supported by utility monopolies in the Southeast that would further delay
efforts by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to develop and enforce such rules. Congress must
defeat this measure and, instead, promote the commission's efforts to modernize the grid." [MORE]
ON/OFF SUBJECT: Shame on the L.A. Times for endorsing Dan Pipes!
It is obvious that they don't read any press except their own and Dan Pipes' press releases or they
would know what is really at issue here. Comparing the Pipes nomination to the nomination of a judge
misses the point. The nomination of Pipes demonstrates insensitivity. I'm not talking politically
correct or any such thing. Pipes is a bigot and a racist and a pro-Zionist islamaphope who hasn't a clue
about what experiential peace is. So forget the racism and bigotry. If a guy doesn't know what peace is
in the first 10,000 places, why even consider him for a place on the U.S. Institute of Peace? That's
the point!
Also, in endorsing Pipes, the L.A. Times is saying, "We're Republicans! We don't like Ted
Kennedy!" So what's new? If I lived in L.A., and subscribed to the L.A. Times, I'd cancel my subscription
for about a month and just read the old crumpled copy over at the barber shop.
What next? THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT BEGINS - MoveOn.org
Also see 31JUL2002 Draft Hillary 2004 Update
17AUG2003
Saddam's Sorcerer Speaks! - CBS
Ed. note: At last, we finally have some fresh news to report from Iraq, thanks to CBS. We used this same trick when
the Chandra Levy story started to die. We hired a psychic. She did pretty well for us. In fact
she "predicted" 911 as an "airline" disaster. Not bad. Anyhow, no one wants to hear any more blackout
stories from NYC or Iraq, or oil and water pipeline blow-ups, so here's some majical diversion:
"Sayed Sadoun Hamid el-Moussaoui al-Refai meditates in his downtown Baghdad magic room. He is one of
thousands of fortune-tellers and spellmasters that flourished under Saddam Hussein..."
"Saddam is still protected by a pair of magic-infused golden statues. The deposed president speaks
daily with the king and queen of genies." [MORE]
A little jihad with your morning qawa - Three articles:
In the Everything you'll ever want or need to know about Jihad articles that follow, we
cannot overlook that from a western (American) point of view, the Constitution and not al-Shar'iah
(Islamic law) is presently our Law of the Land. Jihad, in anything you glean from the following
articles, as an act of making war is always appropriate against the hypocrite when the intended end
result is
peace as the act of making peace and as they become (the experiential) one. Who calls for spontaneous
Jihad (in the World of Islam) is the same in the west who calls for spontaneous Revolution; the people
who can no longer tollerate the abuses of the munafiqin hypocrites. Jihad and Revolution is a matter
of conscience and commitment to peace.
Peace, as a movement utterly failed in preventing the Bush White House war in Iraq. The corporate
media, the
propaganda arm of the Bush White House, paved permission in the minds of the American people for the
the Bush White House to make war on Iraq to in order secure the oil fields for the American oil companies, and for
the sake of Israeli security, but in the name of erasing Saddam, WMD and the Iraqi/al-Qaida
connection to 911 from the Iraqi landscape.
Saddam was never a threat to the U.S., there were no WMDs, and there was never an Iraqi/al-Qaida to 911
connection.
If we are survive the Bush White House theft of our democracy and their raid on the U.S. treasury,
the American people must face two issues: The vote counting apparatus and socially irresponsible "free"
press. We must make sure every eligible voter gets to vote and that each of their respective votes is
counted, and we must call for the corporate media to report news instead of puking out Bush White House
and Pentagon "bat cave"
press releases, as is explained in the 16AUG2003
The Truth About Charlie Krauthanger and Dan Pipes,
and the 14AUG2003
Repeating Mistakes of the Cold War entries.
Imam Khomeini sparked the imagination of the Iranian people with "Neither east nor west; Islam!"
and "Promote good, and condemn evil!" Our own Revolution was sparked with "Give me liberty or death!"
Jihad: how a word became a weapon
By ED HAYES
"Jihad" has become one of the most inflamed and misunderstood words in the political lexicon. How did
this happen, and what is the true meaning both of the word and its abuse? A student of Islam tracks the
long journey from Islamic theology to global politics, registers what has been lost and found along the
way and asks what can be done to restore truth to language and reason to thought. [MORE]
Jihad: the true belief
By STEPHEN SCHWARTZ
The rhetoric and practice of "jihad" used by militant, Saudi-sponsored groups today is a corruption of
its deeper meaning. Stephen Schwartz in vigorous response to Ed Hayesıs history of the word, and
writing as a Muslim assails the intolerant, hypocritical and ultra-violent forces who violate a
truly Islamic tradition that demands both just methods and just ends of struggle. [MORE]
From Tikkun: Noam Chomsky on America's Past 11 Months
When thinking about the way the media distorts Americans' perception of our political world,
it sometimes makes sense to step back and try to assess the larger picture. Noam Chomsky's analysis
(Preventive
War 'The Supreme Crime') ignores the hunger of the world's people for a world based on justice,
peace and generosity.
This kind of macro-analysis makes invisible the peace movements and the attempts to organize
alternatives to the established systems of poweralmost the flip side of the way those movements
get "disappeared" when viewed by establishment media. Yet the self-marginalizing done by those who
aligned themselves with International A.N.S.W.E.R. and the kind of mass demonstrations this past
year that bespoke a movement that knew what it was against but never put forward a positive vision
as an alternative may make Chomsky's approach more reasonable in the actual circumstances of 2003.
We at Tikkun seek to explore the ways that ordinary people could interact with and shape the outcome
of some of the scheming that Chomsky loves to highlight in his analyses. We also believe that the
seeming invincibility that these systems project and which are highlighted in Chomsky's analysis
can actually be more effectively pierced by social movements that name the highest ethical and
spiritual and psychological needs of human beings that this kind of macro-analysis renders invisible.
Yet even as we question the adequacy of Chomsky's analysis, we at the same time want to acknowledge
the brilliance of his capacity to capture large pictures, his compelling way of putting information
together, and to salute as well a human being who has played an important and valuable role as a
critic of the arrogance and moral blindness of those who have been running American policies for many
decades. And we think that this particular account, if partial, is nevertheless very compelling and
worthy of serious national discussion. Ask the next person who asks for your vote for any public
office to first read and comment on this (and then, ask them also if they will sign the Resolution
for Middle East Peace at www.tikkun.org). You
might get a better sense of what that person really stands for with those two requests.
Preventive
War 'The Supreme Crime'
Iraq: invasion that will live in infamy
By NOAM CHOMSKY
Links of interest: Jihad Unspun and Tikkun.
DISINFORMATION WARNING: CIA Posing as Al-Qaeda at Jihad Unspun?
Pledge of Alligence under First Amendment Fire
A hearing will be held in U.S. District Court in Denver concerning a lawsuit, filed Tuesday by nine
students and four teachers asking a federal judge to quash the state's mandatory Pledge of
Allegiance ("to the flag") law, which took effect Aug. 6.
The measure requires every public-school student to recite the Pledge every school day. The law exempts
students who are not U.S. citizens and students and teachers who object to reciting the Pledge based on
religious grounds. But under the measure, students have to get their parents' permission not to
participate.
The lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union asks a federal judge to strike down the law
before most Colorado schools start the new year.
The ACLU claims that the First Amendment gives students the right to refuse to recite the Pledge
without getting their parents' permission.
Backgrounder:
Colorado HB 1368: Requires public school teachers and students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance each day.
Jews Worldwide Skating on thin Zionist Ice
Anti-Semitic violence against the persons and property of Jews are on the increase world
wide. The old hatred against Jews for "killing" God (as interpreted by some Christians who believe the
3-in-1 God includes Jesus and the Holy Spirit is God), hence God was kill-able (by the Jews) at the
very same time Jesus was cruxified. No thanks to the Jews that had it not been for the
perceived "killing" of Jesus, he (Jesus) wouldn't have died, been buried and was resurrected on the
third day - and without which there would never have been a Easter Parade, an Easter Bunny or even a
Roman Catholic Church or Protestants. And never mind that the Nostra Aetate proclaimed by Pope Paul VI
absolved all Jews of wrong doing in the case of Christ's demise...
Then there is that matter of the Holocaust Jews becoming the Zionist Israeli oppressor.
Then there is the matter of Matt Drudge characterizing an actor with an
agenda as "perils of life on earth" philosophical producing a kind of movie that without the Balfour Declaration and 1948 and the 1967 War and
Sabra and Shatila and the subsequent mowing down of Jenin and practical imprisonment of Yasar Arafat
behind or in front of the wall or fence surrounding the ghost of industriell masseproduksjon i
gasskammerne i Auschwitz, Dachau, Treblinka, Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Maidanek, Oranienburg...
The Jews don't need Palestine and Mel Gibson - not at the same time...
Jews alarmed by Gibson film of Christ's last hours
By ANDREW BUNCOMBE
Gibson film 'fuels hate of Jews'
THE GUARDIAN UK
Mel Gibson unleashes an unholy uproar over movie about Christ's life
By TERRY LAWSON
Mel Gibson: The passion of the film star who directed the Holy Ghost
By ANDREW GUMBLE
Jesus film ignites passions months before it opens
By ROBERT W. BUTLER
What next? THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT BEGINS - MoveOn.org
Also see 31JUL2002 Draft Hillary 2004 Update
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