carapace – Not your father's america

MOVEON AD EXPOSES THE TRUE BETRAYERS

By George Lakoff, AlterNet

The hubbub over MoveOn’s “General Betray Us?” ad in the New York Times revealed  that the Bush Administration and its active supporters have betrayed the trust of the troops and the American people.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/62820/

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Before MoveOn’s “General Betray Us,” there was Limbaugh’s “Senator Betrayus”

Rush Limbaugh has called the MoveOn.org “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?” advertisement “contemptible” and “indecent,” but months earlier, on his radio show, he told his audience that he had a new name for Senator Chuck Hagel: “Senator Betrayus.” Though Limbaugh has taken exception to accusations that he has attacked the patriotism of his political opponents, the “Senator Betrayus” remark is one of several instances in which Limbaugh has done so.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709220003?src=other

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Iraq war budget jumps for 2008 –Bush plans to increase his request to nearly $200 billion.

Sep 22 2007

After smothering efforts by war critics in Congress to drastically cut U.S. troop levels in Iraq, President [sic] Bush plans to ask lawmakers next week to approve another massive spending measure — totaling nearly $200 billion — to fund the war through next year, Pentagon officials said. If Bush’s spending request is approved [and, we know the DemocRATs will roll over for Bush], 2008 will be the most expensive year of the Iraq war. [Arming the Left: Is the time now? --by Charles Southwell 21 Oct 2003 As long as we pose no REAL threat to the powers-that-be, to what is shaping up into [is] a dictatorship, we will continue to be ignored. Right now, we are ignored because we present no organized power to fight this onslaught of anti-democratic, totalitarian government that we are up against.]

At:

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-warcosts22sep22,1,921317.story

From: CLG News

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Collecting of Details on Travelers Documented –U.S. Effort More Extensive Than Previously Known

Sep 22 2007

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. The personal travel records are meant to be stored for as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s effort to assess the ‘security threat’ posed by all travelers entering the country.

At:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/21/AR2007092102347.html

From: CLG News

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A Fed Panic and a Massive Bailout of American Banks Paid for by the Entire World

By Prof. Rodrigue Tremblay

Global Research, September 21, 2007

thenewamericanempire.com/blog 

 ”Manias, panics, and crashes are the consequence of an economic environment that cultivates cupidity, chicanery, and rapaciousness rather than a devout belief in the Golden Rule.” –
Peter L. Bernstein, Foreword to Manias, Panics, and Crashes (4th ed.) by C. P. Kindleberger

“In a crisis, discount and discount heavily.” – Walter Bagehot (1826-1877), British economist

“The job of the Federal Reserve is to take away the punch bowl just when the party starts getting interesting.” – William McChesney Martin (1906-1998), Fed Chairman (1951-1970)

“The dysfunctional state of American politics does not give me great confidence in the short run.”
- Alan Greenspan, Fed Chairman (1987-2006)

The  mismanagement of money and credit has led to financial explosions over the centuries. The causes, cures and consequences of such financial catastrophes are most often repetitive. Indeed, such financial collapses are usually the result of the unbridled greed and cupidity of financial operators and of the lack of necessary supervision by public institutions designed to protect the public and the common good.  For example, after the October/November 1907 financial crisis in the United States, the idea initially advanced by banker Paul Warburg to establish a partially private and partially public Federal Reserve system of banking was finally adopted, in 1913. The Fed thus became the lender of last resort for banks that find themselves in an illiquid position. It is only after the stock market crash of 1929, however, that the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established, in 1934.

But even with institutions and regulations in place, when they are  inoperative, corrupt or ill-adapted, financial crises can still occur. And the current financial crisis is there to remind us of this fact.

On September 18 (2007), the Fed showed some panic and announced a larger than expected half percentage point cut in both the Federal funds rate and in the discount rate , and this after having slashed its discount rate by a half point, on August 17, in order to facilitate borrowing by America’s largest banks and to facilitate the bailout of their affiliates and other operators, such as hedge-funds, caught in the sub-prime loans crisis. In so doing, the Bernanke Fed is following Bagehot’s advice for aggressive discounting in a situation of financial crisis. The only problem is that Bagehot’s rule calls for the central bank to lend copiously in times of critical credit stringency … but at a high rate of interest. By lending to troubled lenders at reduced preferential rates, the Fed is acting as their “government”, i.e. subsidizing their risky loans operations and taxing anybody else who holds American dollars. It is not only attempting to make them more “liquid”, but also more “solvable” and less likely to fail.

This raises three interesting questions. First, who pays for the bailout of U.S. financial institutions; second, what are the longer-run consequences of the massive bailout undertaken by the Fed; and third, why did the Fed let the financial situation deteriorate to such an extent that an entire sector of the economy is being clobbered and its collapse is threatening the whole economy.

…

Complete article at:

www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=6832

Rodrigue Tremblay is a Canadian economist who lives in Montreal; he can be reached at:
rodrigue.tremblay@yahoo.com

Visit his blog site at:
www.thenewamericanempire.com/blog .

Author’s Website:
www.thenewamericanempire.com/

Check Dr. Tremblay’s coming book “The Code for Global Ethics” at:
www.TheCodeForGlobalEthics.com/

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Hedge funds and private-equity firms today are like the dot-coms in 2000:

Ask for money and you’ll get it. They bid up the prices of everything. The amount of money flowing is almost out of control, and it’s making everything overvalued. A client of mine said it’s like there are 11,000 planes in the sky and only 100 good pilots — an accident is bound to happen.

—Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, quoted in Barron’s, May 26th 2007 edition

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WHY CAN’T THE U.S. HAVE THE DEBATE ABOUT NAOMI KLEIN’S BOOK THAT EUROPE HAS?

By Jan Frel, AlterNet

In Europe and Canada debate is raging about Naomi Klein’s new book on disaster capitalism, The Shock Doctrine. This interview with Klein considers why U.S. public debate is unable to ask fundamental questions about our economic system.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/63178/

DOES NAOMI KLEIN OVERSIMPLIFY THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN GLOBALIZATION AND WAR?

By Stephen Marshall, AlterNet

The left accepts as faith the idea that corporate globalization and war are connected. But there’s a danger in oversimplifying that connection.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/stories/63066/

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Taxpayers for Common Sense: Choking on Interest

The WasteBasket: A Bulletin on Wasteful Government Spending by Taxpayers for Common Sense
www.taxpayer.net

CHOKING ON INTEREST
Volume XII No. 26 – September 21, 2007

When lawmakers debate the role of government, they usually wax on about the biggest and most expensive pieces of the federal budget pie: Defense programs, Social Security and Medicare. But the most silent budget killer of them all if often left out of the conversation: interest payment on U.S. Government debt.

Anybody who has ever dealt with an interest payment on a credit card knows the perils of getting too far into debt. In fact, the financial management of the federal government would make any greedy credit card executive salivate.

In FY2006, the federal government spent a whopping $406 billion just paying interest on the then $8.5 trillion federal debt. Since then, we’ve added more than $400 billion in debt. According to Treasury Secretary Paulson, Congress needs to increase the debt limit from $8.923 trillion by the start of October or else the country is at risk of defaulting on our creditors. We don’t want foreign governments to show up our doorsteps with their repo men.

Congress is working on legislation to jack up the debt limit by $850 billion, breaking the $9 trillion threshold. Guess it’s good to be number one, but rather it be golf or basketball. Just our debt is larger than the combined Gross Domestic Products of Japan and Germany the countries with the second and third largest economies in the world. Our interest payments alone would be the 17th largest county GDP, bigger than the entire economies of Turkey, Sweden, or Saudi Arabia.

The Senate will have to vote on the debt limit increase in the next few weeks. Many years ago the House adopted the so-called Gephardt rule, named for former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO) which enables the chamber to automatically increase the debt limit when they adopt the budget. The Senate isn’t so lucky. The Finance Committee quietly passed the increase in the debt limit last week, but Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has promised to force a debate and vote on the debt limit increase on the floor. Clearly this debate is important for members of Congress to remember that there are serious repercussions to the recent federal spending binge.

Everybody knows the Government can’t default on the debt, but this is an opportunity for a public debate about how to restore fiscal sanity, put the budget in balance and stop wasting money. Despite Vice President Cheney’s reported statement that Reagan proved deficits don’t matter, when you are paying $400 billion a year to finance them, they really do.

The ironic thing is that in 1981, during President Reagan’s first year in office, the federal debt first crossed the $1 trillion threshold. Since then it has rocketed up. When President Bush took office in 2001, the debt stood at just over $5.6 trillion. The nation’s credit card has been used and abused.

The growth in interest payments should concern everyone – left and right, Republican and Democrat. After balancing the budget, every bit of debt reduction will mean less money thrown away to interest  money that could be used for larger cuts in capital gains tax or more money for health and social programs depending on what Congress and the President prioritize. But first things first, the Senate needs to deal with the debt limit and then begin a robust debate on the federal budget. We cannot afford to forget about this problem and continue borrowing until the next debt limit check is due, when the debt will be approaching $10 trillion.

Going on at Taxpayer.net This Week

Check out TCS’s Complete Coverage of FY08 Spending Bills
http://capwiz.com/taxpayer/utr/1/ABBGHQFPFF/LTLNHQFPKA/1429215906

Alaska Governor Pulls Plug on Bridge to Nowhere
http://capwiz.com/taxpayer/utr/1/ABBGHQFPFF/EFAVHQFPKB/1429215906

TCS Supports Webb-McCaskill Wartime Contract Commission Amendment to FY08 Defense Authorization
http://capwiz.com/taxpayer/utr/1/ABBGHQFPFF/JHSYHQFPKC/1429215906

Inouye, Stevens Pack Senate Defense Bill with Earmarks
http://capwiz.com/taxpayer/utr/1/ABBGHQFPFF/BJYTHQFPKD/1429215906

TCS Tells Senate to Oppose Coal-to-Liquid Amendments to Defense Authorization Bill
http://capwiz.com/taxpayer/utr/1/ABBGHQFPFF/NEQLHQFPKE/1429215906

TCS in the News

A New Truman Commission: The Time is Now but Will the Senate Have the
Guts to Do It? (Huffington Post)
Senate Earmarks $5 Billion in Defense Bill (U.S. News & World Report)
Senate rules referee is put on the hot seat (The Hill)
Need Earmarks Delivered? Rep Murtha can deliver (Red State Blog)
Specter adds earmarks for abstinence education (Baltimore Sun)
Funding for bridges served with side of pork (Post-Bulletin, Minnesota)
Broadcom Billionaire’s Health Institute Taps Defense Dollars (Bloomberg)
In earmark scrutiny, fiscal hawks leave most House GOP leaders unscathed
(The Hill)
Stevens, Inouye top defense earmarks list at over $180M each; Byrd next
at $166M (The Hill)
Rep. Kingston has no apologies for pork (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
Taxpayers foot bill if disaster loans unpaid (Myrtle Beach Sun News)
Kingston Praises Earmarks (Cox News Service)

Notable Quote

“I am pleased that the Congress has begun to make progress in bringing greater transparency to the earmarking process. However, this bill falls far short of the reform that American taxpayers deserve.”
…
“I am concerned that there are potential loopholes in some of the earmark reforms included in this bill that would allow earmarks to escape sufficient scrutiny. This legislation also does not address other earmark reforms I have called on Congress to implement, such as ending the practice of putting earmarks in report language.”

–President George W. Bush, upon signing S.1, the transparency bill

INFO ABOUT TCS: info@taxpayer.net or
http://capwiz.com/taxpayer/utr/1/ABBGHQFPFF/EBCMHQFPKG/1429215906

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Republican Corruption Didn’t End in 2006!

 

Sep 2, 2007

Republican Scandals in 2007

When Republicans were swept out of power in 2006, they blamed the Mark oley scandal for their losses and declared an end to Republican scandals.

So how’s that working out?

April 23, 2007: Federal auditors find repeat violations of federal election law from the 2004 Senate campaign of Republican Senator Mel Martinez

Complete article at:

http://www.democrats.com/republican-scandals-2007

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three thousand words

Tom Toles: I remember asking petraeus who exactly had been pacified by the surge …

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20070921/ltt070921.gif

Jack Ohman: I sense panic

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tmjoh/2007/tmjoh070920.gif

David Horsey: I admire your enthusiasm for your work, really I do! …

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20070923/cartoon20070923.gif

USGS Learning Age: Geologic Age

http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/teachers/geoage.htm

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has created a number of instructional materials for teachers as part of its Learning Web site, and this particular lesson plan is one that can be used in a number of different settings. The activity and lesson are designed for use by grades 7-12, but these materials could also be used with ease in introductory geology courses at the college level. This set of resources includes a background essay on the use of radioactive decay to determine geologic age, and continues on to provide detailed information on a classroom activity that is both
engaging and informative. The materials are rounded out by a set of questions that can be used to guide future discussions.

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Christian Grad Students Screw Up Simple Math While Teaching Creationism

At:

http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/09/16/10262/

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Pentagon Sued Over Mandatory Christianity

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/091807R.shtml

Truthout’s Jason Leopold reports on a lawsuit that was filed by a military watchdog organization today against the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and a US Army major on behalf of a soldier stationed in Iraq. The suit alleges that the Pentagon tried to force the soldier to embrace evangelical Christianity and retaliated against him when he refused.

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Another GOPedophile bites the dust:

Federal Prosecutor Arrested In Child Sex Sting 17 Sep 2007 A U.S. Justice Department official has been arrested on suspicion of traveling to Detroit over the weekend to have sex with a minor. John David R. Atchison, 53, an assistant U.S. attorney from the northern district of Florida, was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Detroit Monday afternoon.
 

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/14132485/detail.html

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Republican Corruption Didn’t End in 2006!

 

Sep 2, 2007

Republican Scandals in 2007

When Republicans were swept out of power in 2006, they blamed the Mark oley scandal for their losses and declared an end to Republican scandals.

So how’s that working out?

April 23, 2007: The FBI questions Republican Congressman Tom Feeney about his dealings with Jack Abramoff

Complete article at:

http://www.democrats.com/republican-scandals-2007

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CHRISTIAN THEATER TROUPE SPENDS $90,000 ON AD DENOUNCING KATHY GRIFFIN

By Adam Howard

Griffin says, “Am I the only Catholic left with a sense of humor?”

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/63205/

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Americans United Calls on Washington, D.C., Charter School to Cease Religious Activities

School-Sponsored Religion At Washington Latin School Violates Constitution, Says Church-State Watchdog Group

A Washington, D.C., charter school that conducts graduations and other school gatherings in a church sanctuary and whose headmaster leads students in prayer is running afoul of the First Amendment, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Americans United has warned that school-sponsored religious activities at Washington Latin School violate the principle of church-state separation and urged officials to cease conducting school gatherings in church settings and leading students in prayer.

“Parents, not school officials, are responsible for their children’s religious upbringing,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “The blatant melding of religion and public education at Washington Latin School must cease.”

In a letter to Washington Latin officials and the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board, Americans United cites parents’ complaints over the school’s convocations, graduations and daily morning meetings that are held in the sanctuary of Christ Church on Embassy Row. It also notes the headmaster’s leading of students in prayer.

From: Americans United for Separation of Church and State www.au.org

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Pat Robertson Attorney Promoting Inaccurate View Of ‘See You At The Pole’ School Prayer Events

Americans United Urges Public School Officials To Avoid Lawsuits By Ensuring That Events Are Student-Run

An attorney who works for TV preacher Pat Robertson is peddling inaccurate advice about “See You at the Pole” prayer events that public school officials would be wise to ignore, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Jay Sekulow, chief attorney for Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice, is circulating a letter nationwide that purports to advise public school administrators on “See You at the Pole” events

“See You at the Pole” is an annual observance that this year takes place on Sept. 26. Students in many communities meet before the school day for voluntary prayer at the school’s flagpole. The events are run by students and participation is purely voluntary.

In his letter, Sekulow claims that teachers, administrators and parents can take part in “See You at the Pole” prayers. But Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn said school officials should be wary of Sekulow’s advice.

In fact, says Lynn, allowing teachers, administrators and outside adults to engage in religious activities with public school students would raise a host of constitutional concerns.

From: Americans United for Separation of Church and State www.au.org

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Former Minister Charged … and more

WCBD-TV – Mt. Pleasant,SC,USA

He’s charged with committing a lewd act on a minor. Weld presided over the congregation at St. Johns Episcopal Church from 1987 to 1995. …

http://www.wcbd.com/midatlantic/cbd/news.apx.-content-articles-CBD-2007-09-14-0027.html

Santa Rosa diocese to pay $5 mil. in priest sex abuse settlement

KGET 17 – Bakersfield,CA,USA

(AP) – The Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa has agreed to pay more than five million dollars to settle a sex abuse lawsuit involving fugitive priest Xavier …

http://www.kget.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=88afea0a-e04a-4871-8b0b-bfab9c55a649

Lawyer calls priest in sex abuse suit ‘sociopathic’

NEW HAVEN – A New Haven lawyer said the priest implicated in a clergy sex-abuse lawsuit filed in August against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford was “one of the most sociopathic abusers” he has dealt with as an attorney.

http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18824271&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=7576&rfi=6

Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh settles sex abuse cases for $1.25M

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – Pittsburgh,PA,USA

One priest, Richard J. Dorsch, was convicted. “Many of these victims would love to have their day in court,” said attorney Richard Serbin, co-counsel in the …

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_527975.html

Priest Accused of Sexual Abuse

WOAI – San Antonio,TX,USA

The woman says a priest bought her jewelry and gifts. But she says the courtship ended with abuse. A woman says she was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic …

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=87a2fb53-7a10-49ad-861f-349d79fefe0f

Minister Charged With Lewd Molestation, Rape

An ordained Oklahoma minister is facing a number of felonies forallegedly sexually abusing a child.

http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0907/456876.html

Chicago archiodiocese settles sex abuse lawsuit

ABC7Chicago.com – IL, USA

September 21, 2007 – The archdiocese of Chicago settles the first of several lawsuits involving a priest who molested boys. The settlement for $1.65 million …

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=5668620

Southern Baptists open hearings into clergy sexual abuse

The Tennessean – Nashville,TN,USA

It’s a picture of her, taken shortly before she says she was molested by a trusted minister. “The kids who become victims of these sex crimes, it’s the kids …

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070922/NEWS06/709220346/1023/NEWS

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three thousand words

dhonig: Fred Thompon- a Family Values Candidate

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a229/dhonig2/Thompson500.jpg

Tom the Dancing Bug: the adventures of god-man

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/td/2007/td070922.gif

Don Addis: we don’t have to make sense!

http://ffrf.org/fttoday/2007/aug/images/addis_religionnosense.jpg

George Lakoff – Oil and Betrayal in Iraq

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092007B.shtml

George Lakoff, writing for Truthout, states: “Think about what it means for our troops and for the people of Iraq. Our troops were told, and believed because they trusted their president, they were in Iraq to protect America, to protect their families, their homes, their friends and neighbors, our democracy. But they were betrayed. Those troops fought and died and were maimed and had their marriages break up for oil company profits.”

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Beck said he “enjoy[s] watching” Taser videos; O’Reilly rolled out “Don’t Taze me, bro!” bumper stickers

In segments on University of Florida student Andrew Meyer, who was shocked with a Taser by campus police, Glenn Beck asserted: “To me, Taser videos are a little like potato chips. I just can’t watch just one,” and Bill O’Reilly announced that “[a]nyone buying anything on BillOReilly.com will receive a ‘Don’t Taze me, bro!’ bumper sticker.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709200004?src=other

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180,000 Private Contractors Flood Iraq

Sep 19 2007

The United States has assembled an imposing industrial army in Iraq larger than its uniformed fighting force and responsible for a such a broad swath of responsibilities the military might not be able to operate without its private-sector partners. 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 [destroy Iraq's infrastructure so that they can get paid to 'rebuild' it].

At:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iDcTMPwEWvQzIhTYTWFwHzFDyZ1A

From: CLG News

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Gates: ‘I Don’t Know’ If Iraq War Worth It

Sep 19 2007

It’s been an article of faith for the Bush administration that the invasion of Iraq was the right thing to do. However, the man now in charge of running that war said he is not sure. Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ stunningly candid answer came in an interview with New York Times columnist David Brooks. Asked if the invasion of Iraq was worth doing, Gates first rephrased the question: “If I’d known then what I know now, would I have done the same? I think the answer is, ‘I don’t know.’”

At:

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=3626377

From: CLG News

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Iraq Bases and the Korea Model: An “Enduring” Relationship

ZOLTAN GROSSMAN, grossmaz@evergreen.edu,

http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz

Grossman is a geographer and faculty member at The Evergreen State College (Olympia, Wash.) and wrote the new article “The Korea Model Rationale for Staying in Iraq: An Endless Occupation?”

http://www.counterpunch.org/grossman09192007.html

He said today: “The ‘Korea Model’ is President Bush’s rationale for extending the U.S. occupation of Iraq from four years to four decades — or more. But comparing Iraq and Korea is like comparing apples and oranges. Unlike in Iraq, U.S. troops are not fighting against an insurgency in the streets and villages of South Korea. Iraq has been divided along ethnic and religious lines, whereas South Korea is one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries on Earth.

“Washington claims to promote ‘democracy’ in Iraq, but it backed a string of military dictatorships to secure control over South Korea. Most Iraqis have wanted U.S. troops to leave (and do not view
neighboring countries as a threat), whereas many South Koreans at least initially backed a U.S. presence as ‘protection’ from North Korean attack. But the South Korean public is increasingly questioning the U.S. military presence as prolonging the North-South divide, and are opposing the expansion of U.S. military bases that disrespect women and rural people.

“Rather than following a ‘Korea Model’ in Iraq, the U.S. seems to following a ‘Palestine Model,’ using checkpoints, walls and imprisonment to control an independence-minded population. Permanent (or ‘enduring’ in the Pentagon’s wordplay) U.S. military bases in Iraq will merely increase Iraqi resentment over the years, draw more U.S. troops into continuing internal conflicts, and ensure more instability and a harsher ‘blowback’ in the decades ahead.”

Grossman contributed to the Transnational Institute’s recently-released mapping of hundreds of foreign bases using Google Earth:

http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?act_id=17252&menu=11e .

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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Senate votes to do PR for MoveOn

Chamber rouses itself to condemn MoveOn ad, but not Swift Boat attacks or Cleland criticism.

more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0907/5945.html

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PETRAEUS: A FAILURE BY HIS OWN STANDARDS

By Larry Beinhart, AlterNet

Fog Facts: How can we expect the man who failed at doing just part of the job — training Iraqi soldiers — to succeed now that he has the whole job?

At:

http://www.alternet.org/audits/63179/

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Commentary: Bush fulfills H.L. Mencken’s prophecy

By Joseph L. Galloway McClatchy Newspapers

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

It took just eight decades but H.L. Mencken’s astute prediction on the future course of American presidential politics and the electorate’s taste in candidates came true:

On July 26th, 1920, the acerbic and cranky scribe wrote in The Baltimore Sun: “…all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily (and) adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

My late good buddy Leon Daniel, a wire service legend for 40 years at United Press International dredged up that Mencken quote several years ago and found that it was a perfect fit for George W. Bush, The Decider. MSNBC’s Keith Olberman highlighted the same quote this week. A tip of the hat to both of them, and to Mencken.

The White House is now so adorned by Mencken’s downright moron, and has been for more than six excruciatingly painful years. It wouldn’t be so bad if the occupant had at least enough common sense to surround himself with smart, competent and honest advisers and listen to them. But he hasn’t.
…

Complete article at:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/19824.html

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Republican Corruption Didn’t End in 2006!

 

Sep 2, 2007

Republican Scandals in 2007

When Republicans were swept out of power in 2006, they blamed the Mark oley scandal for their losses and declared an end to Republican scandals.

So how’s that working out?

April 19, 2007: The FBI raids a business tied to the family of Republican Congressman Rick Renzi, as part of an investigation into his business dealings

Complete article at:

http://www.democrats.com/republican-scandals-2007

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Borowitz Report – Limerick Contest Winners

Petraeus Limerick Contest Winners

Several Contenders for Moveon.org’s Proposed Mean Poem

Yesterday the Borowitz Report reported that Moveon.org was planning a “really mean” limerick about General David Petraeus. According to the story, Moveon had composed the first four lines of the poem, but was stumped about the fifth and last line:

Hey there, General Petraeus
You should be called General Betray-us
Your views on Iraq
Are one big crock
(last line here)

Within minutes, The Borowitz Report was deluged with hundreds of submissions from readers offering a last line to Moveon.org’s mean limerick. While almost all of the submissions rhymed with “Petraeus” and some of them even made sense, here are the lines that the Borowitz Report has decided to forward to Moveon.org:

“Get us out before they fillet us.”

“Urging private contractors to slay us.”

“And when will the world pay us?”

From Shakespeare:

“This doth really dismay us.”

From Bob Barker:

“Don’t forget to neuter and spay us.”

And from Yoda:

“Please remove from this fray us.”

Andy and Judy Gold – September 26

“Next Week’s News with Andy Borowitz” returns to Caroline’s on Broadway for one night only on Wednesday, September 26 at 7 PM, with special guest, the hilarious Judy Gold! Caroline’s is located at 1626 Broadway. Tickets: 212-757-4100 or at www.ticketmaster.com .

Andy with Arianna Huffington and Mo Rocca – November 7
Andy headlines a special event for the New York Comedy Festival, “Countdown to ’08: Only 363 Days Left.” Andy’s guests will include Arianna Huffington and Mo Rocca (The Daily Show). Wednesday, November 7 at 8 PM at the 92nd Street Y, located at 92nd Street and Lexington Ave. Tickets available at www.92y.org

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

 

 

                          ==========

three thousand words

Monte Wolverton: The Light at the End of the Tunnel

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoons/WolveM/2007/WolveM20070917_low.jpg

Signe Wilkinson: sorry but we don’t accept any of those plans

http://img.slate.com/media/34/070920_ed.gif

David Horsey: campaign 2008 – the spouses’ debate

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20070921/cartoon20070921.gif

New York oil price hits record high of 81.80 dollars

Sep 18 2007

The price of New York crude surged to a new record high of 81.80 dollars a barrel on Tuesday ahead of a US interest rate call [?] and as traders fretted over tight energy supplies in the United States [corpora-terrorists' greed].

At:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070918/ts_alt_afp/commoditiesenergyoil_070918173213

From: CLG News

                          ==========

Greenspan – Oil

DOUG HENWOOD, dhenwood@panix.com, http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com

Henwood is editor of Left Business Observer and author of the book “Wall Street.” He said today: “Since Alan Greenspan, like the good Ayn Rand protege that he is, believes we’re all motivated by material self-interest, you have to assume that his recent bout of frankness is part of his marketing strategy to sell books and boost his six-figure speaking fee. Why else would he suddenly decide that there really was a housing bubble, after having denied it when he actually could have done something about it? Why else would he suddenly turn on the Bush administration after years of serving as a loyal GOP hack and giving them political cover for their disastrous tax cuts? And why else would he suddenly declare the Iraq war to have been about oil, violating all the proprieties of mainstream discourse?”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

                          ==========

Now He Tells Us  

By Stephan Richter

Thursday, September 20, 2007  

With the release of his new book, Alan Greenspan is once again at the focal point of U.S. politics — having effectively stunned Washington with his harsh words for the Bush Administration’s fiscal policies and its handling of Iraq. The Richter Scale explores why Mr. Greenspan is just now getting around to speaking his mind

…

Complete article at:

http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=6460

                          ==========

Reporting on Giuliani ad attacking Clinton, media don’t note he blamed troops for missing weapons

In reports on a new Rudy Giuliani campaign ad criticizing Sen. Hillary Clinton’s position on the Iraq war, several media outlets highlighted a quote from the ad in which the narrator says: “[J]ust when our troops need all our support to finish the job, Hillary Clinton is turning her back on them.” But none of these reports mentioned Giuliani’s claim in October 2004, that U.S. troops, and not President Bush, were responsible for the missing explosives at the Al Qaqaa weapons depot.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709190005?src=other

                          ==========

War means a windfall for CEOs

By Michael Brush

Sep 19 2007

While policymakers in Washington wrangle over how much progress we’ve made in Iraq, one thing is clear: The war on terror is making some people rich. President [sic] Bush’s military buildup has caused defense-contractor revenue to double, triple and even more during the past five years, and their executives have reaped huge bonuses and stock windfalls as the companies’ share prices have jumped.

At:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/WarMeansAWindfallForCEOs.aspx

From: CLG News

                          ==========

Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor

20/09/2007

Saudi Arabia has refused to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time, signalling that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East.

China threatens ‘nuclear option’ of dollar sales

Ben Bernanke has placed the dollar in a dangerous situation, say analysts

…

Complete article at:

http://tinyurl.com/2nprvz

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

                          ==========

Energy farming worsens global warming  – “Crops are only good for eating.” 

E.G. Vallianatos, guest columnist:

The rush of the world’s largest corporations to squeeze car fuel out of food is an effort to force industrialization on the tropics and end small family farming in the industrialized North.

…

Complete article at:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/332331_agfuel20.html

E.G. Vallianatos is the author of “This Land is Their Land: How Corporate Farms Threaten the World” (Common Courage Press).

                          ==========

Editorial: The High Costs of Ethanol and more …

New York Times    http://tinyurl.com/yp7eey

September 19, 2007

Backed by the White House, corn-state governors and solid blocks on both sides of Congress’s partisan divide, the politics of biofuels could hardly look sunnier. The economics of the American drive to increase ethanol in the energy supply are more discouraging.

American corn-based ethanol is expensive. And while it can help cut oil imports and provide modest reductions in greenhouse gases compared to conventional gasoline, corn ethanol also carries considerable risks. Even now as Europe and China join the United States in ramping up production, world food prices are rising, threatening misery for the poorest countries….

Meanwhile, the environmental benefits are modest. A study published last year by scientists at the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, estimated that after accounting for the energy used to grow the corn and turn it into ethanol, corn ethanol lowers emissions of greenhouse gases by only 13 percent….

This editorial also appeared in the

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/19/news/edethanol.php International Herald Tribune

USDA economist says ethanol driving grain prices higher worldwide

Brownfield – Jefferson City,MO,USA

by Julie Harker

USDA Chief Economist Keith Collins says growing demand for ethanol is not only driving grain prices higher in the US, but around the world. …

http://www.brownfieldnetwork.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=D787F4C3-CA12-E961-718660E71DC9DA32

Study says ethanol boom could go bust

Action 3 News – Omaha,NE,USA

(AP) – A new study says ethanol plants will need more help from Washington to keep from going belly up in a few years. Without a federally mandated increase …

http://www.action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=7031513&nav=menu550_2

Ethanol boom could go bust without help from Congress –

September … The ethanol boom is likely to level off without a major increase in the federally mandated renewable fuels standard. That’s the finding of an agricultural economist in Lincoln.

http://netnebraska.org/radio/media/news_features_090707_02.mp3

Understanding Ethanol Plant Economics: Will Boom Turn Bust?

By climateer(climateer)

Profitability for many ethanol plants will be determined by the federal renewable fuel standard, according to a new study from the University of Nebraska Agriculture Economics Department. The study, “Understanding Ethanol Plant …

http://climateerinvest.blogspot.com/2007/09/understanding-ethanol-plant-economics.html

Boat Storage and Ethanol

Boat Storage and Ethanol are the topic of the day with the boat storage season fast approaching. As we know, there are continuing problems with the Ethanol in the E-10 blended fuel, fuel tanks and engine problems.
 …

http://powerboat.about.com/od/fuel_gas_oil/a/Storage_ethanol.htm

Energy head criticises conventional ethanol

ABC Online – Australia

The head of one of world’s biggest energy companies has told an APEC meeting the world is heading in the wrong direction by focusing on ethanol production …

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/2007/s2028849.htmthehun.net

Ethanol fuel demands special care

McCook Daily Gazette – McCook,NE,USA

But ethanol is also volatile and if not treated properly, it can put first responders and local emergency personal in jeopardy. Nearly 50 firemen, hazmat, …

http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1253092.html

Study Shows US Ethanol Producers Will Fail Without Gov’t Support

By Laurel

Hemscott.com reports that a new study shows US ethanol producers will need more Government aid to keep a steady business once the current boom is over. Unless the Government mandates higher ethanol consumption,small production …

http://tinyurl.com/39dpqz

Growing corn for ethanol may hurt bay

Maryland Gazette – Glen Burnie,MD,USA

By PAMELA WOOD Staff Writer

As policymakers turn to corn-based ethanol as a solution to the nation’s energy problems, experts are warning that more corn may …

http://www.hometownglenburnie.com/vault/cgi-bin/gazette/view/2007G/09/12-46.HTM

Biofuel push damaging, disruptive, OECD says

Globe and Mail – Canada

The rush to promote biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel is pushing up food prices and actually damaging the environment, a report from the Organization …

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070912.RETHANOL12/TPStory/Business

ethanol and Roman imperialism

By gabrielrossman

From any kind of straight cost-benefit perspective, corn ethanol is a really profoundly bad idea. Cars get bad mileage with it, it’s really expensive, it’s driven up the cost of corn so much that Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez find it …

http://orgtheory.wordpress.com

Biofuel Demands Push Up Food Prices in Japan

September 15, 2007.

The Economic Times reports that the increase in biofuel production and use in Japan has sparked higher prices in orange juice, noodles, bread, etc. because biofuels put pressure on agricultural sources. The price fluctuations are affecting big and small companies. Some restaurant managers are saying the high food prices are causing them to barely turn a profit.
…

http://www.biodieselinvesting.com/biodiesel-archives/2007/09/15/biofuel-demands-push-up-food-prices-in-japan/

Ethanol Follies

American Thinker – Berkeley,AZ,USA

Fallout from the ethanol scam continues to hit the economy. Not only has the rise in the price of corn due to diverting part of the the crop for fuel made …

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/09/ethanol_follies_2.html

Meat, dairy and other food producers assail ethanol

Arizona Daily Star – Tucson,AZ,USA

WASHINGTON — Already this year, ethanol has been blamed for more expensive Easter eggs, dying shrimp along the Louisiana coastline and costlier milk in …

http://www.azstarnet.com/news/201503

Ethanol sparks food fight between corn growers and buyers 

The burgeoning ethanol industry is creating a wave of prosperity for rural towns throughout the Midwest, but the energy bonanza is also pitting farming groups on separate sides of the fence.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/331869_ethanoldivide17.html

Ethanol Is Not the Answer

Motley Fool – USA

That certainly looks to be the case when the subject turns to ethanol. Oil has undeniable problems as a fuel source. It’s increasingly difficult to find; …

http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2007/09/18/ethanol-is-not-the-answer.aspx

 

                          ==========

Republican Corruption Didn’t End in 2006!

 

Sep 2, 2007

Republican Scandals in 2007

When Republicans were swept out of power in 2006, they blamed the Mark oley scandal for their losses and declared an end to Republican scandals.

So how’s that working out?

April 18, 2007: The FBI raids the home of Republican Congressman John Doolittle, investigating his ties to Jack Abramoff

Complete article at:

http://www.democrats.com/republican-scandals-2007

                          ==========

Borowitz Report – General Betrayus Shocker

Moveon.org Planning Mean Limerick About Petraeus
Seeks Something That Rhymes With ‘Betray Us’

One week after excoriating General David Petraeus in a full-page ad in The New York Times, the liberal group Moveon.org today confirmed plans to create what is being characterized as a “really mean limerick” about President Bush’s man in Iraq.

Rumors of the planned limerick rocked official Washington, which is still reeling from the Times ad, in which Moveon.org cleverly rhymed “Petraeus” with “Betray Us.”

“These people have already shown that they are really good at rhyming things,” said Colson Slattery of the Republican National Committee. “There’s no question that they are capable of creating a devastating limerick.”

But Tracy Klujian, a Moveon.org spokesman, said that plans for a really mean limerick about General Petraeus had hit a snag, largely due to the difficulty of finding something to rhyme with “Petraeus” and “Betray Us.”

“So far, this is what we’ve got,” Mr. Klujian said. “Hey there, General Petraeus/You should be called General Betray-us/Your views on Iraq/Are one big crock – and then we’re kind of stumped about that last line.”

Ms. Klujian confirmed that one proposed line – “Why don’t you get off that dais” – had been rejected because “he’s not really sitting on a dais.”

Another line, in which the general was compared to Dr. Zaius, the evil orangutan in the “Planet of the Apes” films – had been rejected as “too obscure,” Mr. Klujian said.

“We don’t know what the last line will be yet, but we know the message we want to deliver,” he said. “We want to say to the General, why don’t you stop lying and obey us?”

ELSEWHERE: Judy Gold has been added to next Wednesday’s edition of “Next Week’s News”!

The hilarious Judy Gold joins Andy Borowitz next Wednesday night in “Next Week’s News” at Caroline’s on Broadway. Andy’s other special guests include Jon Fisch and Dean Obeidallah. Wednesday, September 26 at 7 PM. Caroline’s is located at 1626 Broadway. Tickets: 212-757-4100 or at www.ticketmaster.com.�
Andy and Judy Gold – September 26
“Next Week’s News with Andy Borowitz” returns to Caroline’s on Broadway for one night only on Wednesday, September 26 at 7 PM. Caroline’s is located at 1626 Broadway. Tickets: 212-757-4100 or at www.ticketmaster.com .

Andy with Arianna Huffington and Mo Rocca – November 7
Andy headlines a special event for the New York Comedy Festival, “Countdown to ’08: Only 363 Days Left.” Andy’s guests will include Arianna Huffington and Mo Rocca (The Daily Show). Wednesday, November 7 at 8 PM at the 92nd Street Y, located at 92nd Street and Lexington Ave. Tickets available at www.92y.org

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

                          ==========

three thousand words

Sandy Huffaker: if you’re a conservative then I’m a democrat

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoons/HuffaS/2007/HuffaS20070918_low.jpg

Matt Bors: the patraeus report was not written by general patraeus …

http://www.mattbors.com/strips/286.gif

David Horsey: if you can’t tell the difference …

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20070919/cartoon20070919.gif

New Chicago Fed Letter Information posted 

The October 2007 Chicago Fed Letter (Number 243) “Whose part is it? – Measuring domestic content of vehicles” by Thomas H. Klier, James M. Rubenstein

Today, the distinction between “American” and “foreign” vehicles is not so clear: Some models produced by the American-owned Detroit Three carmakers have a smaller share of domestic parts than models

Simply click on the following link to review it.

http://tracker.ease.lsoft.com/trk/click?ref=znwrbbrs9_2-2c7bx11026x&

                          ==========

Opening Statement by Chairman Lantos at hearing: Assessment of the Administration’s September Report on the Status of U.S. Political and Military Efforts in Iraq

September 19, 2007

Verbatim, as delivered

Opening Statement by Chairman Lantos at hearing: Assessment of the Administration’s September Report on the Status of U.S. Political and Military Efforts in Iraq

Our purpose here today is to assess the report we received on Friday from the Bush Administration on the current status of U.S. political and military efforts in Iraq. To help us in that task, we have two very able and knowledgeable witnesses: U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who is one of America’s most intelligent and experienced diplomats.

The Administration’s report — just like the President’s latest speech and the testimony of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker last week — has one basic underlying goal. And that, of course, is to persuade Congress and the American people to stay the course in the religious civil war in Iraq.

The President says that his policy in Iraq needs more time, but that is nothing new. Already, this fiasco has lasted longer than World War Two. 

This endless war has killed, injured or displaced millions of Iraqi civilians – men, women and children.  It has taken the lives of more than 3700 of our courageous men and women in uniform and wounded at least 27,000 more.  “Every month,” said Major General John Batiste in recent testimony before our committee, “American formations continue to lose a battalion’s worth of dead and wounded… with little to show for it.”

In economic terms, the cost of this war is catastrophic. To date, we’ve poured an estimated $455 billion into the war in Iraq, and that is just for starters. According to one of our most distinguished economists, Professor Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University — who happens to be a Nobel Prize winner and a former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors — the total actual real cost to our economy could well exceed  $2 trillion.

Senator Graham, when General Petraeus testified recently before the Senate Armed Services Committee, you asked him an excellent question. This is how you put it:

“So you’re saying to Congress that you know that at least 60 soldiers, airmen and Marines are likely to be killed every month from now until July; that we are going to spend $9 billion a month of American taxpayer dollars, and when it’s all said and done, we’ll still have about 100,000 people there. (Do) you believe that it’s worth it in terms of our national security interests to pay that price?”

Now that, Senator Graham, is the question, and I commend you for asking it.
As we know, General Petraeus believes that the answer to that question is “yes,” and so does the President. But a large and growing majority of Americans, myself very much included, do not agree.
We answer that question loud and clear, and our answer is “no.”

The people of this country do not want to stay the course in Iraq. Instead, we want to change the course — and to move in a new direction.

Back in January, the President announced that in order to buy time for the factions in Iraq to come together and reach a political settlement, he was sending over tens of thousands of additional US combat troops.

Those troops have done what they were asked to do.  They did buy time for Prime Minister Maliki and his associates.

And what did the regime in Baghdad do with that time? Hardly anything. There was no real progress.

Instead of acting as the architect of a new Iraq, Mr. Maliki behaved like what he has always been: the front man for a Shiite faction.
Does anyone really think that in six or eight months from now, this is suddenly going to change?

Not long ago, Senator Graham, you gave to us a very good definition of what would constitute an American victory in Iraq, and I quote you:  “Winning is a stable, functioning representative government that can contain Iran, will reject Iranian domination.”

With that definition, I certainly will not argue. I would be very pleased indeed to witness the emergence of that kind of an Iraq. 

But how long it will take, and at what cost to our country and to the people of Iraq, to get from here to there?

General Petraeus is quoted as saying that he anticipates that by June of 2009, Iraq will reach what he calls “sustainable security.”

Other military experts think that it will take quite a bit longer — up to five years, says General John Abizaid, the former commander in Iraq.

And how about a, quote, “stable, functioning representative government?”

When asked when something like this might appear, Ambassador Crocker said last week that he would not even try to give a time line.  And I note, Senator Graham, that in David Broder’s column in this past Sunday’s Washington Post, you are quoted as observing, “if we don’t see progress on two of the three big issues — oil revenues, de-Baathification, provincial elections — in the next 90 days…. Iraq could be a failed state.”

From day one, the Bush Administration has made mistake after mistake after costly, deadly mistake in Iraq. And all that we are being offered now is more of the same.

The time has come for a dramatic change of course in Iraq.  United States policy in Iraq needs to move in a new direction, and we need to do so now.

From: Foreign Affairs Committee www.HCFA.house.gov

                          ==========

On Beck, Cato’s Tanner falsely claimed Clinton’s health plan would force small businesses to pay into health fund

On Glenn Beck, the Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner falsely asserted that under Sen. Hillary Clinton’s health care proposal, small business owners would have to provide health insurance to their employees, “or else pay an additional tax into a fund … that the government will use to pay for that health insurance.” In fact, Clinton’s plan would provide tax credits to ensure that many small businesses offer health coverage to their employees.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709180010?src=other

                          ==========

Bush’s Fake Sheik Whacked: The Surge and the Al Qaeda Bunny

By Greg Palast

Sep 17 2007

Why was “sheik” Abu Risha so important? …Abu Risha was the PR hook used to sell the “success” of the surge. The sheik wasn’t a sheik. He was a fake. While proclaiming to Rick that he was “the leader of all the Iraqi tribes,” Abu lead no one. But for a reported sum in the millions in cash for so-called, “reconstruction contracts,” Abu Risha was willing to say he was Napoleon and Julius Caesar and do the hand-shakie thing with Bush on camera.

At:

http://www.gregpalast.com/bushs-fake-sheik-whacked-the-surge-and-the-al-qaeda-bunny/

From: CLG News

                          ==========

Greenspan -  Oil

ROBERT AUERBACH, auerbach@mail.utexas.edu,

http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/faculty/auerbach.html

Auerbach is author of the forthcoming book “Deception and Abuse at the Fed: Henry B. Gonzalez Battles the Alan Greenspan Bank.” He said today: “For 17 years, the Fed kept transcripts of its meetings while telling Congress they didn’t. Under the direction of Rep. Henry Gonzalez, I found those transcripts around the corner from Greenspan’s office after a managed plan for Congressional testimony failed to mislead the Congress about their existence.”

From 1976 to 1981 and from 1992 to 1998, Auerbach was an economist with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Financial Services. Auerbach, who has written several books on finance, is now professor of public affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

                          ==========

VOTER PURGING: A LEGAL WAY FOR REPUBLICANS TO SWING ELECTIONS?

By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet

Now the Department of Justice, like the Republican Party, wants fewer registered voters in 2008.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/rights/62133/

                          ==========

Thanks to Bush: Black Lung Rates Doubled in Past Five Years

By Mike Hall

14 Sep 2007

During the past five years, the rate of deadly black lung disease in coal miners has doubled, a new study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) finds. The Mine Workers (UMWA) union says the news is “shocking and disturbing.”

At:

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/09/14/black-lung-rates-doubled-in-past-five-years/

From: CLG News

                          ==========

WHO ARE THE 22 MOST CORRUPT MEMBERS OF CONGRESS?

By Pam Spaulding

CREW releases its list, with dishonorable mentions for Larry Craig and David Vitter.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/63000/

                          ==========

Republican Corruption Didn’t End in 2006!

 

Sep 2, 2007

Republican Scandals in 2007

When Republicans were swept out of power in 2006, they blamed the Mark oley scandal for their losses and declared an end to Republican scandals.

So how’s that working out?

March 28, 2007: Robert Vellanoweth, a Republican activist and appointee of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, after a crash that killed three adults and one child

Complete article at:

http://www.democrats.com/republican-scandals-2007

                          ==========

Borowitz Report – Mysterious Fugitive Shocker

Clinton Campaign Reaches Out to Other Fugitives

Attempt to Compensate for Loss of Hsu

One week after losing a major fundraiser when fugitive financier Norman Hsu was arrested in Colorado, the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) today attempted to compensate for the loss of Hsu by reaching out to other fugitives.

“Say what you will about Norman, the dude raised $850,000 for us,” said one Clinton aide. “It’s not going to be easy filling Hsu’s shoes.”

As part of her new push to sign up fugitive financiers for her campaign, Sen. Clinton abruptly cancelled campaign stops in Iowa today to attend a special town hall meeting in the Cayman Islands.

Speaking to an audience made up entirely of fugitive financiers, Sen. Clinton said, “I am running so that you don’t have to.”

Vying for his own share of the fugitive financiers’ support, former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) sounded a similar theme during a campaign stop at a fortified compound in the Bahamas.

“I have often said that my father was a mill worker,” Sen. Edwards told his audience, “but my mother was a fugitive financier.”

Davis Logsdon, head of the political science department at the University of Minnesota, said that fugitive financiers could be a key voting bloc in the 2008 election: “I think they are going to be what soccer moms were in 2000.”

But Mr. Logsdon warned that wooing this key demographic would not be without its challenges: “Direct mail campaigns don’t work well with them, because most of them don’t have an address.”

Elsewhere, President Bush refuted Alan Greenspan’s charge that he seemed “bored” by economics, telling reporters, “I’m much more bored by education, health care and the environment.”

Andy on Broadway – September 26
“Next Week’s News with Andy Borowitz” returns to Caroline’s on Broadway for one night only on Wednesday, September 26 at 7 PM. Caroline’s is located at 1626 Broadway. Tickets: 212-757-4100 or at www.ticketmaster.com .

Andy with Arianna Huffington and Mo Rocca – November 7
Andy headlines a special event for the New York Comedy Festival, “Countdown to ’08: Only 363 Days Left.” Andy’s guests will include Arianna Huffington and Mo Rocca (The Daily Show). Wednesday, November 7 at 8 PM at the 92nd Street Y, located at 92nd Street and Lexington Ave. Tickets available at www.92y.org

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

                          ==========

three thousand words

This Modern Word: An “Enduring Relationship”

http://www.workingassetsblog.com/TMW09-19-07colorlowres.jpg

Tom Toles: now he tells us

http://img.slate.com/media/73/070918_ed.gif

Jen Sorensen: Green Bombs

http://www.workingassetsblog.com/greenbombs.gif

Bush’s Fake Sheik Whacked

Bush’s Fake Sheik Whacked: The Surge and the Al Qaeda Bunny

A special investigative report from inside Iraq by Greg Palast

Monday, September 17, 2007- Did you see George all choked up? In his surreal TV talk on Thursday, he got all emotional over the killing by Al Qaeda of Sheik Abu Risha, the leader of the new Sunni alliance with the US against the insurgents in Anbar Province, Iraq.

Bush shook Abu Risha’s hand two weeks ago for the cameras. Bush can shake his hand again, but not the rest of him: Abu Risha was blown away just hours before Bush was to go on the air to praise his new friend.

Here’s what you need to know that NPR won’t tell you.

1. Sheik Abu Risha wasn’t a sheik.
2. He wasn’t killed by Al Qaeda.
3. The new alliance with former insurgents in Anbar is as fake as the sheik – and a murderous deceit.

How do I know this? You can see the film – of “Sheik” Abu Risha, of the guys who likely whacked him and of their other victims.

Just in case you think I’ve lost my mind and put my butt in insane danger to get this footage, don’t worry. I was safe and dry in Budapest. It was my brilliant new cameraman, Rick Rowley, who went to Iraq to get the story on his own.

Rick’s “the future of TV news,” says BBC. He’s also completely out of control. Despite our pleas, Rick and his partner Dave Enders went to Anbar and filmed where no cameraman had dared tread.

Why was “sheik” Abu Risha so important? As the New York Times put it this morning, “Abu Risha had become a charismatic symbol of the security gains in Sunni areas that have become a cornerstone of American plans to keep large numbers of troops in Iraq though much of next year.”

In other words, Abu Risha was the PR hook used to sell the “success” of the surge.

The sheik wasn’t a sheik. He was a fake. While proclaiming to Rick that he was “the leader of all the Iraqi tribes,” Abu lead no one. But for a reported sum in the millions in cash for so-called, “reconstruction contracts,” Abu Risha was willing to say he was Napoleon and Julius Caesar and do the hand-shakie thing with Bush on camera.

Notably, Rowley and his camera caught up with Abu Risha on his way to a “business trip” to Dubai, money laundering capital of the Middle East.

There are some real sheiks in Anbar, like Ali Hathem of the dominant Dulaimi tribe, who told Rick Abu Risha was a con man. Where was his tribe, this tribal leader? “The Americans like to create characters like Disney cartoon heros.” Then Ali Hathem added, “Abu Risha is no longer welcome” in Anbar.

“Not welcome” from a sheik in Anbar is roughly the same as a kiss on both cheeks from the capo di capi. Within days, when Abu Risha returned from Dubai to Dulaimi turf in Ramadi, Bush’s hand-sheik was whacked.

On Thursday, Bush said Abu Risha was killed, “fighting Al Qaeda” – and the White House issued a statement that the sheik was “killed by al Qaeda.”

Bullshit.

There ain’t no Easter Bunny and “Al Qaeda” ain’t in Iraq, Mr. Bush. It was very cute, on the week of the September 11 memorials, to tie the death of your Anbar toy-boy to bin Laden’s Saudi hijackers. But it’s a lie. Yes, there is a group of berserkers who call themselves “Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.” But they have as much to do with the real Qaeda of bin Laden as a Rolling Stones “tribute” band has to do with Mick Jagger.

Who got Abu Risha? Nothing – NOTHING – moves in Ramadi without the approval of the REAL tribal sheiks. They were none-too-happy, as Hathem noted, about the millions the US handed to Risha. The sheiks either ordered the hit – or simply gave the bomber free passage to do the deed.

So who are these guys, the sheiks who lead the Sunni tribes of Anbar – the potentates of the Tamimi, Fallaji, Obeidi, Zobal and Jumaili tribes? Think of them as the Sopranos of Arabia. They are also members of the so-called “Awakening Council” – getting their slice of the millions handed out – which they had no interest in sharing with Risha.

But creepy and deadly or not, these capi of the desert were effective in eliminating “Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.” Indeed, as US military so proudly pointed out to Rick, the moment the sheiks declared their opposition to Al Qaeda – i.e. got the payments from the US taxpayers – Al Qaeda instantly diappeared.

This miraculous military change, where the enemy just evaporates, has one explanation: the sheiks ARE al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Just like the Sopranos extract “protection” payments from New Jersey businesses, the mobsters of Anbar joined our side when we laid down the loot.

What’s wrong with that? After all, I’d rather send a check than send our kids from Columbus to fight them.

But there’s something deeply, horribly wrong with dealing with these killers. They still kill. With new US protection, weapons and cash, they have turned on the Shia of Anbar. Fifteen thousand Shia families from a single district were forced at gunpoint to leave Anbar. Those moving too slowly were shot. Kids and moms too.

Do the Americans know about the ethnic cleansing of Anbar by our erstwhile “allies”? Rick’s film shows US commanders placing their headquarters in the homes abandoned by terrorized Shia.

Rick’s craziest move was to go and find these Shia refugees from Anbar. They were dumped, over a hundred thousand of them, in a cinder block slum with no running water in Baghdad. They are under the “protection” of the Mahdi Army, another group of cutthroats. But at least these are Shia cutthroats.

So the great “success” of the surge is our arming and providing cover for ethnic cleansing in Anbar. Nice, Mr. Bush. And with the US press “embedded,” we won’t get the real story. Even Democrats are buying into the Anbar “awakening” fairy tale.

An Iraqi government official frets that giving guns and cover to the Anbar gang is like adopting a baby crocodile. “A crocodile is not a pet,” he told Rick. It will soon grow to devour you. But what could the puppet do but complain about his strings?

This Iraqi got it right: the surge is a crock.

Greg Palast is the author of “Armed Madhouse: from Baghdad to New Orleans – Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild.” See Palast’s reports for BBC Television’s Newsnight, now filmed by Rick Rowley and partners, at www.GregPalast.com

On his departure from Iraq, Al Jazeera’s English language network agreed to broadcast the Rowley/Enders film. I urge you to see it: click here. Palast will update the report today on Air America’s Randi Rhodes show.

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Kurtz responds to criticism of claim that Fox is “entitled” to misinform

In a September 17 washingtonpost.com “Media Backtalk” online discussion, Washington Post media critic and CNN Reliable Sources host Howard Kurtz responded to a question about his prior statement that Fox News is “entitled” to be a “cheerleader for the Bush administration” and to “misinform[] our society” by asserting that “if a network wants to be a cheerleader for the administration — and I’m not saying Fox [News] is — it has that right under the First Amendment.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709170006?src=other

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Oil industry ‘sleepwalking into crisis’ –Former Shell chairman says that diminishing resources could push price of crude to $150 a barrel

16 Sep 2007

Lord Oxburgh, the former chairman of Shell, has issued a stark warning that the price of oil could hit $150 per barrel, with [corpora-terrorists' greed] oil production peaking within the next 20 years.

At:

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2966842.ece

From: CLG News

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Greenspan: Oil

JAMES PAUL, james.paul@globalpolicy.org,

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/irqindx.htm

Executive director of the Global Policy Forum, Paul has written several pieces about oil including “Oil in Iraq: The Heart of the Crisis” in 2002.

He said today: “Finally, the cat is out of the bag! After years of denial by political leaders and cautious intellectuals, we finally know — from former Fed chief Alan Greenspan no less — that the Iraq war was about oil. After an avalanche of commentary, Greenspan has backpedaled and obfuscated in his comments. He insists he was talking about ‘oil security’ and the global economy. But he is just proving his own comments that mentioning oil is ‘politically inconvenient.’

“Meanwhile, in Iraq, the U.S. oil interest has become clearer than ever in recent weeks. The giant companies like Exxon Mobil and BP are seeking control over Iraq’s gigantic oil reserves, worth more than 10 trillion dollars in profits. This is what the controversial [proposed] oil law is about and why Washington hints that it will stay in Iraq for a very long time, no matter what the bloody consequences.”

From: Institute for Public Accuracy

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National Security Archive Update, September 17, 2007 – THE PENTAGON’S COUNTERSPIES: THE COUNTERINTELLIGENCE FIELD ACTIVITY (CIFA)

Documents Describe Organization and Operations of Controversial Agency and Database

For more information contact:
Jeffrey Richelson – 202/994-7000

http://www.nsarchive.org

Washington D.C., September 17, 2007 – Today the National Security Archive publishes a collection of documents concerning the organization and operations of the Pentagon’s Counterintelligence Field Activity and the TALON/CORNERSTONE database it has maintained. As the Defense Department announced on August 21, today that database will be terminated while work on new procedures for reporting of threats to the Defense Department and its facilities continues. In the interim, threat reports will be transmitted to the FBI.

The declassified documents published today include the key Department of Defense directive on the collection of information about Americans, as well as documents on the organization and missions of CIFA, an evaluation of charges of mismanagement by CIFA executives, and examples of data collected about protest activities as part of the Threat And Local Observation Notice (TALON) system.

Central to the collection are documents that show the internal and public response by the Defense Department to questions raised about the propriety of the data base – specifically, its collection and retention of data on political protests. Also, included is a DoD Inspector General report on the operation of the TALON system, identifying a number of problems in operation of the system.

Visit the Web site of the National Security Archive for more information about today’s posting.

http://www.nsarchive.org

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Political times may be changing

September 17, 2007

Marianne Means:

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., often described as a thorn in President Bush’s side when it comes to the Iraq war, was angry after Gen. David Petraeus delivered his cautious testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last Tuesday.

…

Complete article at:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/332003_means18.html

Marianne Means is a Washington, D.C., columnist with Hearst Newspapers. Newspapers. She can be reached at 202-263-6400 or means@hearstdc.com

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Texas Straight Talk from Congressman Ron Paul

The Sunlight Rule

“Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously said “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”  Indeed some of the most malignant growth of our government has been nurtured under a cover of darkness. Literally, in the dark hours of the morning at the end of the year, it has become tradition for the Appropriations committee to rush the famous omnibus bill to the floor for a vote, mere hours after it is introduced.  The vote took place at 4 am the last time an omnibus spending bill was before us.”

Read the full article here:  http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst091607.htm

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Kuwaiti National Security and the U.S.-Kuwaiti Strategic Relationship after Saddam.

Authored by Dr. W. Andrew Terrill.

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=788

The author examines the national security concerns that Kuwait must address in the turbulent post-Saddam era. Challenges involving Iraq, Iran, and terrorism are severe and will require both Kuwaitis and Americans to rethink and revise previous security approaches to meet important shared goals.

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Republican Corruption Didn’t End in 2006!

 

Sep 2, 2007

Republican Scandals in 2007

When Republicans were swept out of power in 2006, they blamed the Mark oley scandal for their losses and declared an end to Republican scandals.

So how’s that working out?

March 27, 2007: Ronald Reagan’s budget director, David Stockman, “indicted on charges of defrauding investors and banks of $1.6 billion while chairman of Collins & Aikman Corp., an auto parts maker that collapsed days after he quit”

Complete article at:

http://www.democrats.com/republican-scandals-2007

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three thousand words

Jack Ohman: we can get right back to where we got stuck…

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tmjoh/2007/tmjoh070912.gif

Ted Rall: when harry met nancy

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tr/2007/tr070915.gif

Steve Benson: a complete flop

http://azcentral.com/sshow/News/Benson/4976_86472.jpg