The Truth Handler

Saturday, September 29, 2007

GALLUP: Trust in Federal Government, On Nearly All Issues, Hits New Low -- Even Less Than in Watergate Era

A new Gallup poll reveals that, as the organization puts it, Americans now "express less trust in the federal government than at any point in the past decade, and trust in many federal government institutions is now lower than it was during the Watergate era, generally recognized as the low point in American history for
trust in government."
GALLUP: Trust in Federal Government, On Nearly All Issues, Hits New Low -- Even Less Than in Watergate Era

Afghan President Zarzai Willing to Give High Level Posts to Taliban

"If a group of Taliban or a number of Taliban come to me and say, 'President, we want a department in this or in that ministry or we want a position as deputy minister ... and we don't want to fight anymore ... . If there will be a demand and a request like that to me, I will accept it because I want conflicts and fighting to end in Afghanistan," Karzai said.

CANOE -- CNEWS - Canada: Karzai offers to meet Taliban leader Mullah Omar as suicide bomber kills 30

All that money and American lives we spent in Afghanistan...is it really worth it?

Friday, September 28, 2007

Iraq's Nouri al-Maliki 'copies Saddam Hussein'

Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is orchestrating a campaign of persecution against political rivals "even worse" than Saddam Hussein's reign of terror, his predecessor has claimed.

Iraq's Nouri al-Maliki 'copies Saddam Hussein' - Telegraph

Bush Will Leave Behind a Legacy of $5.5 trillion in Debt

"Whatever happens over the next 16 months, President Bush will leave office having presided over one of the fastest accumulations of government debt in the history of the United States."

Bush's fiscal legacy: bigger debt | csmonitor.com

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Ron Paul : The Founding Fathers

Judge rules part of Patriot Act unconstitutional

Part of Patriot Act ruled unconstitutional - U.S. Security - MSNBC.com

Report on Iraqi Government corruption by the State Department's Office of Accountability and Transparency is accountably and transparently classified

State Dept: Corruption in Iraq is Classified

Let's Make an Oil Deal: A Bush family friend may be undermining Iraqi peace.

Is Bush Family Friend Undermining Iraqi Peace? - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com

Bush Threatened Nations That Did Not Back Iraq War: Report

"US President George W. Bush threatened nations with retaliation if they did not vote for a UN resolution backing the Iraq war, according to a transcript published Wednesday of a conversation he had with former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar.

Bush threatened nations that did not back Iraq war: report - Yahoo! News

"Coalition of the 'Willing,'" indeed...

All 6 Soldiers Involved in Minot AFB Nuke Move are Dead

Citizens for Legitimate Government

Is the Army Corps of Engineers Worth The Money?

In the pantheon of dumb Army Corps of Engineers boondoggles, a $112 million flood-control scheme in Missouri's southeast bootheel ranks among the dumbest. It would drain more wetlands than all American developers drained last year, and the Corps has admitted that the town it's supposed to protect will flood just as often (once every 10 years) if and when it's completed. The Corps also admitted that its original economic rationale depended on a math error. In private e-mails, even the agency's top lobbyist described it as "an economic dud with huge environmental consequences."

Reining in the Corps of Engineers - TIME

Ahmadinejad Did Not Say He Wanted to Wipe Israel Off the Map

Just How Far Did They Go, Those Words Against Israel? - New York Times

$600k in Taxpayer Dollars to Alter Building so it Doesn't Look Like Swastika on GoogleEarth

The Navy will spend as much as $600,000 to modify a 40-year-old barracks complex that resembles a swastika from the air, a gaffe that went largely unnoticed before satellite images became easily accessible on the Internet.

Navy to alter swastika-shaped barracks - Yahoo! News

Why Democrats Should Support Ron Paul

Lie of the Century

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

US Military Official: Blackwater "May Be Worse Than Abu Ghraib"

AlterNet: Blogs: PEEK: US Military Official: Blackwater "May Be Worse Than Abu Ghraib"

We Are Bribing Insurgents to Not Attack U.S. Troops

"President Bush failed to see the irony in using a financial metaphor to explain his new benchmark for withdrawing troops from Iraq. He says the more we succeed in places like Anbar province, the more troops we can bring home. He calls the policy "return on success." Only, "success" in Anbar is really just a return on U.S. financial inducements to tribal sheiks. Instead of dropping bombs in Iraq, we're now dropping bundles of cash in the laps of insurgents who without the crude bribes would no doubt return to ambushing our troops. If the surge has worked, it's due in large part to a surge in bribes, not troops. And that kind of success cannot last."

A Surge in Bribes - by Paul Sperry

What a brilliant military tactic! This is surely the road to long-term peace. This is clearly just a political move to keep the civil war under control through the elections. Is this really what we want to keep our soldiers in the line of fire for?

Point, Click ... Eavesdrop: How the FBI Wiretap Net Operates

"The FBI has quietly built a sophisticated, point-and-click surveillance system that performs instant wiretaps on almost any communications device, according to nearly a thousand pages of restricted documents newly released under the Freedom of Information Act."

Inside DCSNet, the FBI's Nationwide Eavesdropping Network

"...instant wiretaps on almost any communications device"...?! Does anyone seriously believe that this kind of power in the government's hands was intended by the founding fathers?

One-fourth of Gulf War veterans ill

"Sixteen years after the Persian Gulf War ended, more than 1 in 4 of those who fought remain seriously ill with medical problems ranging from severe fatigue and joint pain to Lou Gehrig's disease, multiple sclerosis and brain cancer, the chairman of a congressional advisory committee testified Tuesday."

One-fourth of Gulf War veterans ill - News - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington

Support our troops, demand this be treated and investigated.

Israel seeks exemption from atomic rules

"Israel is looking...for an exemption to non-proliferation rules so it can legally import atomic material, according to documents made available Tuesday to The Associated Press."

Israel seeks exemption from atomic rules - Yahoo! News

Why should they get an exemption? It appears clearer and clearer that the U.S. doesn't care about containing "nuclear proliferation," they just want to control to whom it is proliferated.

U.S. Exacerbates Iraqi Civil War With Indiscriminate Commandos Training

"The U.S. is indiscriminately arming Iraqis, destabilizing the country even more."

AlterNet: War on Iraq: U.S. Exacerbates Iraqi Civil War With Indiscriminate Commandos Training

The seers who predicted the cheap easy Iraq War, are the same ones "predicting" a bloodbath after we leave. But, perhaps we making the current bloodbath, bloodbathier by staying.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Jorj Boosh has fo-NE-tik TELLI-promt

When Mr Bush addressed the UN General Assembly today, the White House inadvertently showed exactly how - with a phonetic pronunciation guide on the teleprompter to get him past troublesome names of countries and world leaders.

Jorj Boosh has fo-NE-tik TELLI-promt | The Courier-Mail

I've never been so proud to be a U.S. American...

U.S. Severe poverty rate at highest in three decades

"The percentage of poor Americans who are living in severe poverty has reached a 32-year high as the gulf between the nation's "haves" and "have-nots" continues to widen."

U.S. Severe poverty rate at highest in three decades - Houston Chronicle

Ask yourself this, when the Fed lowers interest rates, what is it doing and why? Who benefits from Fed-caused inflation? Do savers or investors benefit?

Monday, September 24, 2007

Republican Straw Poll Results from Around the Country

Ron Paul 2008 › Straw Poll Results

Does it look like Ron Paul is a "2nd tier" candidate to you?

Database on Traveling Americans Includes Books and Hotel Bed Size

The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials.

Collecting of Details on Travelers Documented - washingtonpost.com

Big Brother is watching you.

Bush Lectures Democrats on Fiscal Responsibility

Mr. Bush is headed into a spending battle with Congressional Democrats with the two branches of government as divided on the issue as they have been since the federal shutdown of 1995. The president has threatened to veto 10 of the 11 appropriations bills that have passed the House, as well as legislation expanding a popular children’s health care program. On Monday, he will step up the fight with a speech accusing Democrats of fiscal irresponsibility.

In Shift, Bush Emerges as a Budget Warrior - New York Times

How does this guy walk around with balls that big?

More U.S. Baiting: Cheney Considered Plan to Bait Iran

Newsweek Magazine reported Sunday that Vice President Richard Cheney may have considered a plan for Israeli missile strikes against an Iranian nuclear site in an effort to draw a military response from Iran, which could in turn spark a U.S. offensive against targets in the Islamic Republic.

Report: Cheney may have mulled pushing Israel to hit Iran - Haaretz - Israel News

(gasp!) "America would NEVER do something like fake an attack so as to justify their own attack on another country! You're a conspiracy nut! The idea shouldn't even be considered or debated!"

U.S. Aims To Lure Insurgents With 'Bait'

A Pentagon group has encouraged some U.S. military snipers in Iraq to target suspected insurgents by scattering pieces of "bait," such as detonation cords, plastic explosives and ammunition, and then killing Iraqis who pick up the items, according to military court documents.

U.S. Aims To Lure Insurgents With 'Bait' - washingtonpost.com

So, this program would likely kill conscientious adults who are picking up bomb parts to keep children from playing with them. Brilliant.

Kissinger Agrees with Greenspan: Oil (not nukes) Drive U.S. to Attack Iran, Iraq

His follow-up remarks have been even more direct. "I thought the issue of weapons of mass destruction as the excuse was utterly beside the point," he told the Guardian.

Robert Weissman: Greenspan, Kissinger: Oil Drives U.S. in Iraq, Iran - Politics on The Huffington Post

Sunday, September 23, 2007

War Costing $720 Million Each Day

The money spent on one day of the Iraq
war could buy homes for almost 6,500 families or health care for
423,529 children, or could outfit 1.27 million homes with renewable
electricity, according to the American Friends Service Committee, which
displayed those statistics on large banners in cities nationwide
Thursday and Friday.

War Costing $720 Million Each Day, Group Says - washingtonpost.com

Wow. We could turn 1.27 million homes into renewable energy homes EACH DAY! Talk about a smart alternative to invading and occupying another country, killing millions of people, turning the world of public opinion against us, restarting the cold war, and extinguishing the U.S.'s beacon of freedom and democracy to the world...all to control some oil. Are you SURE those alternative energy sources are more expensive than fossil fuels? What price do you place on our country's integrity and reputation?

Bush Pardons Himself

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Cowboy George Afraid of Horses

Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, derided his political friend as a "windshield cowboy" – a cowboy who prefers to drive – and "the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life".He recalled a meeting in Mexico shortly after both men had been elected when Mr Fox offered Mr Bush a ride on a "big palomino" horse.Mr Fox, who left office in December, recalled Mr Bush "backing away" from the animal.''A horse lover can always tell when others don't share our passion," he said, according to the Washington Post.

George Bush the Texan is 'scared of horses' - Telegraph

Friday, September 21, 2007

Let the Foreign Mass Purchase of U.S. Assets Begin!

"The US president George Bush says there will be a national security review into the deal, in which Borse Dubai gets 20 per cent of Nasdaq, making it the biggest single shareholder in the American exchange."

EuroNews EuroNews : Bush orders security review into Dubai/Nasdaq deal

Bush and the Neocons are the ones concerned about our security, right? Well, what are the security implications of Russians, Chinese, Middle Easterners, etc... owning an increasing number of our country's key assets? Through intentional and unintentional policies, the U.S. Dollar is being devalued. Which is a bigger threat, this or guys in caves?

That Canadian Quarter is Worth a Quarter!

"The dollar fell sharply across the board Thursday, hitting a new all-time low against the euro and falling to parity with its Canadian counterpart, pressured by lower U.S. interest rates and a report Saudi Arabia might end its dollar peg."

Dollar drops to record low vs. euro, parity with Candian dollar - MarketWatch

Thank you George W. and the Republican congress for this wonderful foreign policy and your great fiscal policies!

At 180,000, Private Military Contractors Outnumber U.S. Military

"More than 180,000 Americans, Iraqis, and nationals from other countries work under a slew of federal contracts to provide security, gather intelligence, build roads, forge a financial system, and transport needed supplies in a country the size of California."

180,000 private contractors flood Iraq - Yahoo! News

This is why the Blackwater news is so important.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Blackwater's License Revoked by Iraq Government

Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead. The U.S. State Department said it plans to investigate what it calls a "terrible incident."

Blackwater security firm banned from Iraq - CNN.com

Blackwater is a huge private security force. If this ban sticks, it will be like cutting the surge in half. They don't operate under the same rules of engagement at the U.S. troops, and reports of grave atrocities have spread about the company's employees.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Greenspan Says Politics Drove Bush's Economic Agenda

Former Federal Reserve Chairman
Alan Greenspan criticized President George W. Bush for following
an economic agenda driven by politics instead of sound policy,
with little concern for future consequences.

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

Alan Greenspan Claims Iraq War Was Really for Oil

However, it is his view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion
that is likely to provoke the most controversy. “I am saddened that it
is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the
Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says.Greenspan, 81, is understood to believe that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the security of oil supplies in the Middle East.

Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil - Times Online