Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
UK Telegraph: Abu Ghraib abuse photos 'show rape'
"Detail of the content emerged from Major General Antonio Taguba, the former army officer who conducted an inquiry into the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq."
Abu Ghraib abuse photos 'show rape' - Telegraph
Abu Ghraib abuse photos 'show rape' - Telegraph
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The Gov't Thinks Some French Journalist Can See the Torture Photos, But We Can't?
“I saw many more pictures than were ever published in the press,
including, I believe, many—if not most—of the photos that president
would now prefer that you don’t see,” he writes.
He can see them, but we can’t.
So Philip Gourevitch Can See the Torture Photos, But We Can’t? | The Progressive
Petraeus Backs Obama, Not Cheney, On Torture And Gitmo
"General David Petraeus said this past weekend that President Obama's decision to close down Gitmo and end harsh interrogation techniques would benefit the United States in the broader war on terror.
In an appearance on Radio Free Europe on Sunday, the man hailed by conservatives as the preeminent military figure of his generation left little room for doubt about where he stands on some of Obama's most contentious policies."I think, on balance, that those moves help [us]," said the chief of U.S. Central Command. "In fact, I have long been on record as having testified and also in helping write doctrine for interrogation techniques that are completely in line with the Geneva Convention."
Petraeus
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
"This confrontation is willed by God..." - Bush
Bush believed the time had now come for that battle, telling Chirac:
Bush's Shocking Biblical Prophecy Emerges: God Wants to "Erase" Mid-East Enemies "Before a New Age Begins" | Politics | AlterNet"This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people's enemies before a New Age begins".
China warns Federal Reserve over 'printing money'
China warns Federal Reserve over 'printing money' - Telegraph
China is dictating our policies. Do you feel "safer?"
China is dictating our policies. Do you feel "safer?"
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Contrasting Policies: China vs. U.S
3) China has been mobilizing its dollar-reserves by buying an enormous amounts of real assets:
A) China has bought at least 454 tonnes of gold
B) China has been importing 70 percent more copper than they consume
C) China has been filling up its strategic petroleum reserve
D) China has been building up its grain inventory.
E) China has been going around the world making deals for raw materials and acquisitions of small-enough companies that they fly under the radar
4) In contrast, the Federal Reserve has been accumulating debt of insolvent institutions:
A) Making uncollateralized loans to insolvent banks.
B) Swaping banking system’s toxic assets (subprime CDOs squared) for dollars.
C) Buying US treasuries
D) Buying mortgage backed securities
Market Skeptics: *****Have China watchers never heard of a decoy?*****
Which strategy is better the their country's long-term health?
A) China has bought at least 454 tonnes of gold
B) China has been importing 70 percent more copper than they consume
C) China has been filling up its strategic petroleum reserve
D) China has been building up its grain inventory.
E) China has been going around the world making deals for raw materials and acquisitions of small-enough companies that they fly under the radar
4) In contrast, the Federal Reserve has been accumulating debt of insolvent institutions:
A) Making uncollateralized loans to insolvent banks.
B) Swaping banking system’s toxic assets (subprime CDOs squared) for dollars.
C) Buying US treasuries
D) Buying mortgage backed securities
Market Skeptics: *****Have China watchers never heard of a decoy?*****
Which strategy is better the their country's long-term health?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The Fed FORCED AIG to Pay Out More than Market Price
"The secret is out; it has long been assumed that the AIG bailout was a
stealth bailout for AIG's counterparties: another way to shovel
taxpayer dollars to Wall Street and European banks without going to
Congress for permission. Aig CEO Edward Liddy admitted as much
yesterday in his testimony before the House Oversight Committee under
questioning from California Republican Darrell Issa. Liddy said he
acted under explicit instructions from the Fed to pay AIG counterpary
obligations at 100 cents on the dollar (par), even though the contracts
were trading at substantial discounts and could have been settled for
much less."
Liddy On AIG Payouts At Par: "The Fed Made Us Do It" (Video) - Home - The Daily Bail - The Bailout News Central Depository. News, Interviews,Videos, Comedy, Songs, Opinion & Analysis
Hmmm, who benefits?
stealth bailout for AIG's counterparties: another way to shovel
taxpayer dollars to Wall Street and European banks without going to
Congress for permission. Aig CEO Edward Liddy admitted as much
yesterday in his testimony before the House Oversight Committee under
questioning from California Republican Darrell Issa. Liddy said he
acted under explicit instructions from the Fed to pay AIG counterpary
obligations at 100 cents on the dollar (par), even though the contracts
were trading at substantial discounts and could have been settled for
much less."
Liddy On AIG Payouts At Par: "The Fed Made Us Do It" (Video) - Home - The Daily Bail - The Bailout News Central Depository. News, Interviews,Videos, Comedy, Songs, Opinion & Analysis
Hmmm, who benefits?
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Former fundamentalist 'debunks' Bible
In Ehrman's latest book, "Jesus, Interrupted," he concludes:
Doctrines such as the divinity of Jesus and heaven and hell are not based on anything Jesus or his earlier followers said.
At least 19 of the 27 books in the New Testament are forgeries.
Believing the Bible is infallible is not a condition for being a Christian.
"Christianity has never been about the Bible being the inerrant word of
God," Ehrman says. "Christianity is about the belief in Christ."
Former fundamentalist 'debunks' Bible - CNN.com
The NYT sums up Obama's civil liberties record in one paragraph
"President Obama’s decisions this week to retain important elements of
the Bush-era system for trying terrorism suspects and to block the
release of pictures showing abuse of American-held prisoners abroad are
the most graphic examples yet of how he has backtracked, in
substantial if often nuanced ways, from the approach to national
security that he preached as a candidate, and even from his first days
in the Oval Office."
The NYT sums up Obama's civil liberties record in one paragraph - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
the Bush-era system for trying terrorism suspects and to block the
release of pictures showing abuse of American-held prisoners abroad are
the most graphic examples yet of how he has backtracked, in
substantial if often nuanced ways, from the approach to national
security that he preached as a candidate, and even from his first days
in the Oval Office."
The NYT sums up Obama's civil liberties record in one paragraph - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Ron Paul’s Economic Theories Winning GOP Converts
“There’s a growing recognition that the GOP is intellectually bankrupt and morally bankrupt,” explained Bovard. “Most of these Republican ‘rebranding’ efforts amount to a group of overpaid consultants getting detached from reality, but I’m glad that Paul is putting together these meetings. I hope the battle of ideas is changing.”
The Washington Independent » Ron Paul’s Economic Theories Winning GOP Converts
The Washington Independent » Ron Paul’s Economic Theories Winning GOP Converts
Monday, May 4, 2009
Was Torture Really Part of a Religious Crusade?
"Conservative Christians were the biggest backers of the Iraq war.
Churchgoers were more likely to back torture of suspected terrorists than atheists (and see this).
One of the top Pentagon officials involved in the Iraq war - General William Boykin - literally:
Sees the "war on terror" as a religious war between Judeo-Christian civilization and Satan, with Islam of course cast in the latter role."
Washington's Blog
The Disturbing Link Between Gitmo and the Tactics I Used in Vietnam by Frank Snepp
"When Bush administration lawyers wrote their memos authorizing extreme interrogation tactics at Guantanamo, they had to conjure up horrible images: Prisoners gagging and sputtering as their interrogators reproduced the sensation of drowning. Human heads slammed repeatedly into walls. Insect-phobic prisoners cowering in fear in 8-by-10-foot cages.
How can the lawyers live with those images? And what damage did the interrogators who used the techniques sustain to their souls?
These are not academic questions for me. As a CIA interrogator in Vietnam during the last five years of the war, I know I put my soul at extreme peril. I am still haunted by what I did, and I suspect that what I witnessed and perpetrated in those years set the stage for the Bush Justice Department's approach to torture"
Frank Snepp: Tortured by the Past
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Fractional Reserve Banking as Economic Parasitism
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power [of money] should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs.” —Thomas Jefferson
As M.A. Rothschild asserted, “Let me issue and control a nation’s money and I care not who makes its laws.”
Banking as Economic Parasitism « Quantum Pranx
As M.A. Rothschild asserted, “Let me issue and control a nation’s money and I care not who makes its laws.”
Banking as Economic Parasitism « Quantum Pranx
Obama Says He Is Against Torture, But May Use "Confessions" From Guantanamo in Prosecutions
"The Obama administration is moving toward reviving the military commission system for prosecuting Guantánamo detainees, which was a target of critics during the Bush administration, including Mr. Obama himself."
Oh Bummer: Obama may use torture "confessions" in prosecutions
Oh Bummer: Obama may use torture "confessions" in prosecutions
Scalia Doesn't Feel We Need More Privacy Protection...Until They Start Researching Him
"Last year, when law professor Joel Reidenberg wanted to show his Fordham University class how readily private information is available on the Internet, he assigned a group project. It was collecting personal information from the Web about himself.
Fordham Law Class Collects Personal Info About Scalia; Supreme Ct. Justice Is Steamed | ABA Journal - Law News Now
This year, after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made public comments that seemingly may have questioned the need for more protection of private information, Reidenberg assigned the same project. Except this time Scalia was the subject, the prof explains to the ABA Journal in a telephone interview.
His class turned in a 15-page dossier that included not only Scalia's home address, home phone number and home value, but his food and movie preferences, his wife's personal e-mail address and photos of his grandchildren, reports Above the Law.
And, as Scalia himself made clear in a statement to Above the Law, he isn't happy about the invasion of his privacy..."
Fordham Law Class Collects Personal Info About Scalia; Supreme Ct. Justice Is Steamed | ABA Journal - Law News Now
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