Saturday, February 23, 2008

BEWARE OF SATAN'S AGENTS


(Photo)http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/03/04/arts/04bloo600.1.jpg
Beware of Satan's Agents

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. 1 Tim. 4:1.


After the passing of the time in 1844, we had fanaticism of every kind to meet. . . . The experience of the past will be repeated. In the future Satan's superstitions will assume new forms. Errors will be presented in a pleasing and flattering manner. False theories, clothed with garments of light, will be presented to God's people. Thus Satan will try to deceive, if possible, the very elect. Most seducing influences will be exerted; minds will be hypnotized. {Mar 59.1}

Corruptions of every type, similar to those existing among the antediluvians, will be brought in to take minds captive. The exaltation of nature as God, the unrestrained license of the human will, the counsel of the ungodly--these Satan uses as his agencies to bring about certain ends. He will employ the power of mind over mind to carry out his designs. The most sorrowful thought of all is that under his deceptive influence men will have a form of godliness, without having a real connection with God. Like Adam and Eve, who ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, many are even now feeding upon the deceptive morsels of error. {Mar 59.2}

Satanic agencies are clothing false theories in an attractive garb, even as Satan in the Garden of Eden concealed his identity from our first parents by speaking through the serpent. These agencies are instilling into human minds that which in reality is deadly error. The hypnotic influence of Satan will rest upon those who turn from the plain word of God to pleasing fables. {Mar 59.3}

It is those who have had the most light that Satan most assiduously seeks to ensnare. He knows that if he can deceive them, they will, under his control, clothe sin with garments of righteousness, and lead many astray. {Mar 59.4}

I say to all: Be on your guard; for as an angel of light Satan is walking in every assembly of Christian workers, and in every church, trying to win the members to his side. I am bidden to give to the people of God the warning: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked." Gal. 6:7. {Mar 59.5}

Maranatha, Ellen G. White, page 59.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

ONE WORLD RELIGION, PREGO.


One World Religion - Proposal to create a Religious UN in Rome

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://actualidad.terra.es/sociedad/articulo/veltroni_organizacion_religiones_unidas_roma_2252323.htm&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dban%2Bmoon%2Bunited%2Breligion%2BVeltroni%2B%26start%3D30%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3DGGLJ,GGLJ:2006-48,GGLJ:en%26sa%3DN





The leader of the Italian Democratic Party, Walter Veltroni, today proposed the creation of an 'Organization of Religions Nations' Rome-based, and said that the idea' liked 'by both the secretary of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, and Pope Benedict XVI.

Veltroni explained that his idea is the creation of a 'palace of religions' in Rome, like the United Nations in New York, where representatives of all faiths of the world can' meet and talk among themselves.

The political leader said that it has already proposed his initiative, which he called 'United Religions' (Religions Nations), both Pope Benedict XVI and the secretary of the UN, who' liked the idea.

Veltroni announced today that proposal during an appearance before reporters in Rome as a farewell, after it yesterday submit his resignation as mayor of the city to begin his campaign as a candidate for president of the Government in the upcoming April elections.

Rome is the headquarters for three of the United Nations agencies that deal with food: the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO) and the Global Agenda Food (WFP).


Source: http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/Feb20/2093.html


P.S. Rome is the headquarters for three UN food agencies? Rome will then be a fine place from whence to implement the don't buy and sell laws mentioned in Revelation 13:17, no?


Thank you Lord, for your Holy Scriptures.


Blogman.

FASTEST GROWING CHURCHES IN US: JW, LDS.

Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons Fastest-Growing 'Churches' in U.S.

By

Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Feb. 20 2008 01:10 PM ET

The two fastest-growing church bodies in the United States and Canada, according to a newly published report, are ones whose beliefs are known to conflict with traditional Christian teaching.

Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, regarded by many Christians as cults, reported the largest membership increases in a year, according to the National Council of Churches' 2008 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches.

Although Jehovah's Witnesses currently rank 25th in size with over 1.06 million members, they reported a 2.25 percent increase in membership since the publication of the 2007 Yearbook. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – also known as the Mormon church – grew 1.56 percent and is listed by the NCC as the fourth largest “church.”

Notably, however, both Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormon church are not accepted within many Christian circles as part of the larger Body of Christ over a number of controversial beliefs that the two religions hold. Identification of the former religion as Christian, among other controversies, is debated largely due to their rejection of the Trinity, which most Christians regard as a fundamental doctrine. Latter-day Saints, meanwhile, are often criticized for their belief in “divine” books of scripture, aside from the Bible, including the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.

Mormonism was formally listed under “cults and sects” by the Southern Baptist Convention – the largest Protestant denomination in the nation – but was more recently categorized among “newly developed religions” on the North American Mission Board apologetics page.

Other bodies in the newly published top 25 largest churches list that reported membership increases include The Catholic Church with a 0.87 percent increase; the Southern Baptist Convention with a 0.22 percent increase; the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church with a 0.21 percent rise; and the Assemblies of God with a 0.19 percent growth.

The greatest losses in membership were reported by The Episcopal Church, which dropped 4.15 percent in members, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which decreased by 2.36 percent. Both denominations are currently wracked by theological differences and the issue of homosexuality.

American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America also experienced large losses in membership, dropping 1.82 percent and 1.58 percent, respectively.

"Some will wish to argue that the slowing growth rate is evidence of an increasing secularization of American postmodern society," said the Rev. Dr. Eileen W. Lindner, editor of the Yearbook. "While such an explanation will satisfy some, caution in drawing such a conclusion is warranted."

Lindner also observed that churches are feeling the impact of the lifestyles of Millenials – people in their 20s and 30s – who attend church but resist becoming members.

The United Methodist Church saw a 0.99 percent decrease but the mainline group remains the third largest church body with nearly 8 million members.

Only three of the top 10 largest churches are mainline Protestant churches; three of the top 25 are Pentecostal churches; and six of the top 15 are historic African American churches.

Largest 25 Churches (ranked by membership)

1. The Catholic Church – 67,515,016
2. Southern Baptist Convention – 16,306,246
3. The United Methodist Church – 7,995,456
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – 5,779,316
5. The Church of God in Christ – 5,499,875
6. National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc. – 5,000,000
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – 4,774,203
8. National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. – 3,500,000
9. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – 3,025,740
10. Assemblies of God – 2,836,174
11. African Methodist Episcopal Church – 2,500,000
12. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America – 2,500,000
13. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. – 2,500,000
14. The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) – 2,417,997
15. Episcopal Church – 2,154,572
16. Churches of Christ – 1,639,495
17. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America – 1,500,000
18. Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. – 1,500,000
19. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church – 1,443,405
20. American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. – 1,371,278
21. United Church of Christ – 1,218,541
22. Baptist Bible Fellowship International – 1,200,000
23. Christian Churches and Churches of Christ – 1,071,616
24. The Orthodox Church in America – 1,064,000
25. Jehovah’s Witnesses – 1,069,530

Source: http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080220/31266_Jehovah/

CAUSE AND EFFECT: HOW THINGS CHANGE







Cause and Effect: How things change. 'How the cookie crumbles'.

Last month the Jesuit Order convened in their 35th General Conference to elect a Superior General (Black Pope) to replace Peter Hans Kolvenbach, who resigned due to failing health. He was replaced by the Provincial of Japan, Alfonso Nicolas SJ. Earlier this month Andrew Bertie, Grandmaster or the Soverign Military Order of Malta, passed away. Immediately a provisional Grandmaster was isntalled to fill the office. Eventually, a permanent successor for Fra Bertie will be found.


This week it was announced that Comandante en Jefe (Despot for Life) Fidel Castro was stepping down from his leadership role, and passing on his office to his (life-time henchman) younger brother Raul Castro, after a totalitarian/tyrannical regime that has spanned 50 years.


Adding to Castro's untochable mystique, which has allowed an egotist to rule the island nation of Cuba, unabated, unchallenged by Uncle Sam or the rest of the "free world", is the following press release:


HAVANA, Cuba, FEB. 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Cuban episcopal conference released the schedule for the visit of the Pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who arrives to the island nation Wednesday...


The program did not foresee a meeting between the secretary of state and President Fidel Castro, who announced today that he would not accept a new term as leader of the island nation. Castro's successor will most likely be confirmed during Cardinal Bertone's stay in Cuba, when the parliament meets Sunday. (1)


Well, if this isn't a clear indication of a change of course for the powers that be, (namely, the Vatican and the New Worl Order), or a concerted effort for a mad dash for total control of the world; Then I'm hallucianting! Systematic changes in the power structure of Jesuits, SMOM, and the Concentration Camp called Cuba (as in Guantanamo); Can not just occur by happenstance; There is a method to this madness. And it's clear to those that aren't wearing rose colored glasses, that The Red Dragon is in full control of Planet Earth. Let no one doubt it. Stay tuned more hints will be revealed by the two Beasts heralding the endtimes; They are that brazen. Afterall, no one has eyes to see, except the elect!

Who is like the unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? Revelation 13:4.

Remember, Jesus, the faithful witness, is allowing these things to happen so that He can finally put an end to all of the rebellious children, and the dragon, aka the original rebel.





(1) http://www.zenit.org/article-21820?l=english

Arsenio

CARDINALS HOPING FOR 5TH MARIAN DOGMA


ZE08021110 - 2008-02-11
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-21749?l=english


Cardinals Hoping for a 5th Marian Dogma



To Declare Mary as Mother of Humanity




ROME, FEB. 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Five cardinals have sent a letter inviting prelates worldwide to join them in petitioning Benedict XVI to declare a fifth Marian dogma they said would "proclaim the full Christian truth about Mary."

The text, released last week, includes the petition that asks the Pope to proclaim Mary as "the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the co-redemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one mediator, and advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race."


The signatories of the letter are five of the six cardinal co-sponsors of the 2005 International Symposium on Marian Coredemption, held in Fatima: Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, archbishop of Ranchi, India; Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez, retired archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico; Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, major archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly, India; Cardinal Riccardo Vidal, archbishop of Cebu, Philippines; and Cardinal Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada, retired archbishop of Mexico City.


Cardinal Edouard Gagnon, who died last August, was the sixth cardinal co-sponsor of the 2005 conference. He was the president of the Pontifical Council of the Family from 1974 until he resigned in 1990.


The secretariat of the five cardinal co-patrons released the English translation of the letter, which includes a translation and the original Latin text of the "votum," or petition, that was formulated in 2005 and presented formally to the Pope by Cardinal Telesphore in 2006.


The petition states: "We believe the time opportune for a solemn definition of clarification regarding the constant teaching of the Church concerning the Mother of the Redeemer and her unique cooperation in the work of Redemption, as well as her subsequent roles in the distribution of grace and intercession for the human family."


Ecumenism


Pointing to ecumenical concerns, the petition continues: "It is of great importance [...] that people of other religious traditions receive the clarification on the highest level of authentic doctrinal certainty that we can provide, that the Catholic Church essentially distinguishes between the sole role of Jesus Christ, divine and human Redeemer of the world, and the unique though secondary and dependent human participation of the Mother of Christ in the great work of Redemption."


The text adds that the move would be "the ultimate expression of doctrinal clarity at the service of our Christian and non-Christian brothers and sisters who are not in communion with Rome."


In a press statement released along with the letter, the cardinal co-sponsors reiterated the same ecumenical concern and said the proclamation of a fifth Marian dogma would be a "service of clarification to other religious traditions and to proclaim the full Christian truth about Mary."


The statement added, "This initiative also intends to start an in-depth worldwide dialogue on Mary's role in salvation for our time. [...] Should this effort prove successful, a proclamation would constitute a historical event for the Church as only the fifth Marian dogma defined in its 2,000-year history."


Cardinal Aponte Martínez, one of the cardinal co-patrons said: "I believe the time is now for the papal definition of the relationship of the Mother of Jesus to the each one of us, her earthly children, in her roles as co-redemptrix, mediatrix of all graces and advocate.


"To solemnly proclaim Mary as the spiritual mother of all peoples is to fully and officially recognize her titles, and consequently to activate, to bring to new life the spiritual, intercessory functions they offer the Church for the new evangelization, and for humanity in our serious present world situation."




© Innovative Media, Inc.


Source: http://www.zenit.org/article-21749?l=english

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

Civil Disobedience

Black medallists raise fists for Civil Rights Movement

by John Gettings

Tommie Smith (center) and John Carlos raise fists for Black Power in 1968. (Source: AP)

Related Links


It was the most popular medal ceremony of all time. The photographs of two black American sprinters standing on the medal podium with heads bowed and fists raised at the Mexico City Games in 1968 not only represent one of the most memorable moments in Olympic history but a milestone in America's civil rights movement.

The two men were Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Teammates at San Jose State University, Smith and Carlos were stirred by the suggestion of a young sociologist friend Harry Edwards, who asked them and all the other black American athletes to join together and boycott the games. The protest, Edwards hoped, would bring attention to the fact that America's civil rights movement had not gone far enough to eliminate the injustices black Americans were facing. Edwards' group, the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), gained support from several world-class athletes and civil rights leaders but the all-out boycott never materialized.

Still impassioned by Edwards' words, Smith and Carlos secretly planned a non-violent protest in the manner of Martin Luther King, Jr. In the 200-meter race, Smith won the gold medal and Carlos the bronze. As the American flag rose and the Star-Spangled Banner played, the two closed their eyes, bowed their heads, and began their protest.

Smith later told the media that he raised his right, black-glove-covered fist in the air to represent black power in America while Carlos' left, black-covered fist represented unity in black America. Together they formed an arch of unity and power. The black scarf around Smith's neck stood for black pride and their black socks (and no shoes) represented black poverty in racist America.

While the protest seems relatively tame by today's standards, the actions of Smith and Carlos were met with such outrage that they were suspended from their national team and banned from the Olympic Village, the athletes' home during the games.

A lot of people thought that political statements had no place in the supposedly apolitical Olympic Games. Those that opposed the protest cried out that the actions were militant and disgraced Americans. Supporters, on the other hand, were moved by the duo's actions and praised them for their bravery. The protest had lingering effects for both men, the most serious of which were death threats against them and their families.

Smith and Carlos, who both now coach high school track teams, were honored in 1998 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their protest.

An interesting side note to the protest was that the 200m silver medallist in 1968, Peter Norman of Australia (who is white), participated in the protest that evening by wearing a OPHR badge.

Source: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/summer-olympics-mexico-city.html

STAGFLATION IS HERE

Friday, January 25, 2008
Stagflation is Here
by Rodrigue Tremblay

War—after all, what is it that the people get? Why—widows, taxes, wooden legs and debt.
Samuel B. Pettengill

"Armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.
James Madison, 4th U.S. President (April 20, 1795)

Last summer, I observed that there was a "solvency crisis" underneath the ongoing subprime mortgage liquidity squeeze. Central banks can alleviate a "liquidity crisis", but they cannot solve a solvency crisis. Last year also, before the events, I warned that the U.S. was heading toward stagflation. This was due to three fundamental factors. First, the structural fiscal imbalances of the federal budget in a period of prosperity, as a result of the Bush-Cheney administration's continuous deficit spending linked to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and to its large tax cuts; second, the over-indebtedness of the overall U.S. economy coupled with an overall saving rate close to zero (in 1981, it was 12 percent), and, as a consequence, the rapidly increasing foreign debt of the U.S.; and, third, the required decline in the U.S. dollar to reverse and correct the deteriorating American balance of payments. The second factor was a harbinger of less consumer spending in the coming months while the third factor would stoke the fire of overall inflation. And with already high budget deficits, there would be less leeway for an aggressive fiscal policy to sustain economic activity. The table was thus set for a bout of stagflation, i.e. slow growth and rising inflation.

Now, stagflation is here. —Economic growth is slowing down, M3 money supply numbers, as a measure of overall liquidity in the economy, are in the double digits range, the yield curve has inverted and become negative (short term rates higher than longer term rates) and the U.S. dollar has become one the weakest currencies in the world. All this as American twin deficits (balance of trade and federal government budget deficits) are at record levels. —As I pointed out last year, " A lower currency translates into more imported inflation and makes it difficult to maintain low interest rates," even if, in due time, it will improve the trade balance. This means that, for all practical purposes, monetary policy is also severely constrained in what it can now accomplish. For all of 2007, inflation hit 4.1 percent, which is two-thirds more than in 2006 when inflation registered at 2.5 percent. Moreover, the surge in wholesale prices announces even higher inflation in the months ahead.

With inflation being on the rise and real interest rates already in negative territory, aggressive monetary stimulus would likely be counterproductive, because too low interest rates would encourage capital outflows, pushing the dollar further down, and translating into more imported inflation. On top of that, one has to remember that monetary policy shifts take at least nine to twelve months before impacting the real economy. One has also to keep in mind that the U.S. operates, more and more, in an international environment, and is less and less capable of influencing the domestic economy by manipulating one variable only, such as the interest rate.

Of course, the Fed could have played a better preventive regulatory role if it had intervened in 2003-04 to reign in the unsound banking lending practices that have led to the subprime debacle. But the milk is out of the bottle now, and nothing can erase the damage done to the housing construction sector and other parts of the economy because of this lack of oversight.

After seven years of continuous indulging, of borrowing and debt building, the U.S. federal government is also in a fiscal bind and will find it difficult to effectively counteract the slowdown in the economy. Indeed, over the last seven years, the Bush-Cheney administration has run fiscal deficits on the average of $461.29 billion each year, for a grand total of $3,229 billion of cumulative of on-budget deficits.

This makes it harder to embark upon a new round of deficit spending to stimulate the economy. For one, fiscal policy shifts have even a longer time horizon before impacting the real economy. Secondly, the coming slowdown and recession will worsen an already high federal government deficit, as government receipts decline with the rise in unemployment and the drop in income growth. On the spending side, the Iraq war, in particular, is a black hole that siphons off more than $100 billion each year, with no end in sight. Oil prices are also very high, partly because of high world demand, partly because of geopolitical instability and partly because of the lowered dollar.

After seven years of foreign policy madness and of empire building on a mountain of debt, and of public indulging and private gouging, the financial crisis and credit crunch, the plummeting dollar, the high price for oil will all contribute to the 2008 economic slowdown, which is likely to turn into a recession, during the first half of the year, if it is not already into one since last December. The downturn in the world stock markets during this month is another clear indication that something is wrong, not only with the U.S. economy, but also with the world economy.

All that would seem to be very bad news for George W. Bush's Republicans, just as it was bad news for the Democratic Carter administration in the late '70s. Indeed, over the last century, the U.S. economy has been in a recession four times in the early part of a presidential election year, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. In each of those years — 1920, 1932, 1960 and 1980 — the party of the incumbent president lost the election.


Rodrigue Tremblay is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Montreal and can be reached at rodrigue.tremblay@yahoo.com
He is the author of the book 'The New American Empire'
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/

Posted, Friday, January 25, 2008, at 5:30 am
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6.0 EARTHQUAKE CAUSES DAMAGE IN NEVADA

6.0 Earthquake Causes Damage In Nevada
Quake Felt In Three States

POSTED: 8:38 am CST February 21, 2008
UPDATED: 11:40 am CST February 21, 2008


A strong earthquake has struck in northeastern Nevada, and while the area is sparsely populated, there are reports of damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 and was reported at 6:16 a.m. The USGS has downgraded the strength of the earthquake to a 6.0.
Several smaller aftershocks have been reported by the USGS.

Authorities in Elko County said the damage is widespread, with people reporting cracked walls and foundations. At least one building is reported to have collapsed, though there's no word on what type of building. They also say a truck stop was evacuated because of a propane leak.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The temblor was centered in a sparsely populated area 11 miles southeast of Wells near the Nevada-Utah line.

The quake was felt across eastern Nevada, Utah and as far away as Southern California. Residents of Twin Falls, Idaho, report shaking strong enough to knock things off of shelves.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

A CLASS ACT BLACK INVENTORS

A CLASS ACT - BLACK INVENTORS

There are countless inventions by African Americans and they cover everything from food processing to electrical technology. Their inventions served as foundations for numerous ideas that Black Inventors have made to the comfort and advancement of mankind.

1872Elijah McCoy, was the inventor of a device that allowed machines to be lubricated while they were still in operation.
1881Lewis Howard Latimer, a pioneer in the development of the electric light bulb, was the only Black member of Thomas A. Edison's research team of noted scientists.
1887Granville T. Woods developed his most important invention - a device he called Multiplex Railway Telegraph, it allowed for messages to be sent from moving trains and railway stations.
1896George Washington Carver’s scientific discoveries included more than three hundred different products derived from the peanut, some one hundred from sweet potatoes, about seventy-five from pecans, and many more from Georgia clay.
1923Garrett Augustus Morgan, is best known for his invention of the automatic traffic signal. He also is the inventor of the gas mask, used by firemen in the early 1900s and by soldiers in World War I.
1940Dr. Charles Richard Drew was the first person to develop the blood bank. His introduction of a system for the storing of blood plasma revolutionized the medical profession.


TO LEARN MORE

ON THE BOOKSHELF:
African American Inventors
by Otha Richard Sullivan, James Haskins / Library Binding - 176 pages (1998) / John Wiley & Sons

For more than three centuries, African American inventors have been coming up with ingenious ideas. In fact, it is impossible to really know American history without also learning about the contributions of black discoverers.

Black Inventors
by Nathan Aaseng / Hardcover: 144 pages / Facts on File, Inc.(August 1997)
Ten short, well-written biographies tell the stories of black inventors whose contributions have often
been overlooked or unrecognized.

Black Pioneers of Science and Invention
by Louis Haber / Paperback - 264 pages Reprint edition (January 1992) / Harcourt Brace
Dr. Haber has lifted from obscurity 14 remarkably gifted black Americans who played crucial roles in this country's scientific and industrial progress. Includes photos and illustrations.

Five Notable Inventors (Great Black Heroes)
by Wade Hudson, Ron Garnett (Illustrator) / Paperback:/ Cartwheel Books; ; (April 1995)
Follows five inventors: Elijah "the real" McCoy, machinery oiling equipment; Madame C.J. Walker, hair products for black women; Granville Woods, electrical signal system for trains; Garrett Morgan, gas masks and traffic signals; and Jan Matzeliger, shoe machinery.

The African-American Century : How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Country
by Henry Louis, Jr. Gates, Cornel West / Paperback: 432 pages / Free Press (February 5, 2002)
When it began, only 35 years after the end of slavery, few could envision what the 20th century would hold for black Americans. F
ills the aching gaps in public awareness about African Americans and remind us that self-confidence, dignity, and excellence are the essential virtues in the great historical drama of American democracy.
The New York Public Library African American Desk Reference
by New York Public Library / Hardcover: 624 pages / Wiley; 1 edition (September 16, 1999)
This reference book is packed with tables, charts, timelines, and summaries devoted, in this case, to the African American experience. Chapters cover a variety of topics, including the saga of African American history, politics and civil rights, science and technology, the military and the media.


ON THE WEB:

African-American Inventors – Railroad/Transportation Industry
An extensive list of black inventors contrubutions to the railroad industry. Prepared for African-American Railroader Month 2004 by Norfolk Southern Corporation.
(URL: www.nscorp.com/)

Black Inventor Online Museum
A look at the great and often unrecognized pioneers in the field of invention and innovation. Achievements by Black inventors can be seen as far back as ancient Africa but much of society has no idea that many of the products or devices that make their everyday lives more enjoyable are the result of the hard work and ingenuity of Blacks.Enjoy a walk through history and look at these unknown contributors to science and invention!

Scholastic Magazine Top Ten African-American Inventors
Throughout history, African Americans have invented some important and fun devices. Read about ten examples of men and women and see what they invented.Think about what kind of obstacles they may have faced, personally and professionally.
The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences
Profiled here are African American men and women who have contributed to the advancement of science and engineering. The accomplishments of the past and present can serve as pathfinders to present and future engineers and scientists.
Honoring Black Inventors of the Past
Black minds have been inventors, engineers and master-builders since antiquity. We must maintain the time-honored tradition in preparation for the 21st century and beyond. Stories of seven black inventors presented by Byron L. Crudup, P.E.



Source: http://www.ideafinder.com/features/classact/black.htm

QUOTES OF FAMOUS MEN



"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

-- George W. Bush (August 5, 2004)
***
"The most wonderful thing of all is that the distinguished Lutheran and
Calvinist theologians who belong to our order really believe that they
see in it (Illuminati) the true and genuine sense of Christian Religion.

Oh mortal man, is there anything you cannot be made to believe?"
-- Adam Weishaupt
(1748-1830?) [Spartacus] Professor of Natural and Canon Law at Germany's Ingolstadt University,
founded The Order of the Illuminati on May 1, 1776.
He designed the very plan of world domination that is still in use today to enslave the world's masses.
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Adam.Weishaupt.Quote.2DA2


"Great nations are simply the operating fronts of behind-the-scenes,
vastly ambitious individuals who had become so effectively powerful
because of their ability to remain invisible while operating
behind the national scenery."
-- Buckminster Fuller
[Richard Buckminster Fuller] (1895-1983) American visionary, designer, architect, poet, author, and inventor
Source: 'Critical Path'
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Buckminster.Fuller.Quote.4FAC


"From the days of Spartacus, Weishophf, Karl Marx, Trotski, Belacoon,
Rosa Luxenburg, and Ema Goldman, this world conspiracy has been steadily
growing. This conspiracy played a definite recognizable role in the
tragedy of the French revolution. It has been the mainspring of every
subversive movement during the 19th Century. And now at last this band
of extraordinary personalities from the underworld of the great cities
of Europe and America have gripped the Russian people by the hair of
their head and have become the undisputed masters of that
enormous empire."
-- Sir Winston Churchill
(1874-1965) Prime Minister of England
Source: Illustrated Sunday Herald, February 8, 1920
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Winston.Churchill.Quote.2EDF


"I care not what puppet is placed on
the throne of England to rule the Empire, ...
The man that controls Britain's money
supply controls the British Empire.
And I control the money supply.''
-- Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild
(1777-1836) London financier, one of the founders of the international Rothschild banking dynasty
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Nathan.Mayer.Rothschild.Quote.4F94


"The Rothschilds, and that class of money-lenders of whom they are the representatives and agents -- men who never think of lending a shilling to their next-door neighbors, for purposes of honest industry, unless upon the most ample security, and at the highest rate of interest -- stand ready, at all times, to lend money in unlimited amounts to those robbers and murderers, who call themselves governments, to be expended in shooting down those who do not submit quietly to being robbed and enslaved."
-- Lysander Spooner
(1808-1887) Political theorist, activist, abolitionist
Source: "No Treason #6" (1870)
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Lysander.Spooner.Quote.4F91

FBI SPIED ON ENTIRE eMAIL NETWORK



FBI screwed up, spied on entire email network


One warrant for one address not quite good enough



Published Monday 18th February 2008 17:17 GMT


The FBI on Friday revealed that human error led to surveillance of an entire email network back in 2006, rather than the single email address approved by the secretive court which approves domestic wiretaps and other forms of e-surveillance.


Although the alleged mistake came to light in an Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Freedom of Information Act (FIA) lawsuit, the internet service provider involved remains unpublished, due to the classified nature of the work involved.

Back doors were built into the nation's telecommunications infrastructure back in the mid-nineties which allow for almost immediate real-time surveillance of phone conversations - cellular or otherwise - emails, and other forms of electronic communications that pass through the networks of the telecommunications industry.


The ISP involved allegedly misinterpreted a warrant for one email address to be a warrant for - ahem - the entire network. This kind of mass negligence is really only the flip-side of a surveillance system that allows for almost immediate mass surveillance by the government and its cronies in the telecommunications industry.


This latest controversy comes as President Bush continues to demand that Congress provide retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies involved with illegal warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, and is sure to fan the flames of that ongoing debate. The simplistic fear-mongering that has characterized the political animus of the present administration is even less persuasive when measured against this level of incompetence - after all, what good does Orwellian spying do if those involved are too incompetent to get it right anyway?


One intelligence official shrugged it off. "It's inevitable that these things will happen. It's not weekly, but it's common." This is the most egregious case yet revealed of what is known as "overproduction" - spook-speak for when a third party, for some reason, gives more information than requested.


At least they got a warrant for this kerfuffle. The controversial warrantless wiretapping program, which has led to gridlock in Congress for the revised Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) - the administration has promised to veto it if retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies is not included, while simultaneously claiming that the act needs to be passed immediately in the interests of national security - has had its own suspect "glitches". No one really knows how many purely domestic communications were hoovered up by the National Security Agency under the warrantless wiretapping program, and we probably never will.


Cynics suspect retroactive immunity to be a preemptive strike, should other, more secret, surveillance programs see the light of day. The FISA court issued a rare rebuke to the FBI last year for submitting false affidavits in support of its warrant applications, and other violations of note include dragging out surveillance long past what has been approved or seeking information beyond what had been authorized. Inasmuch as the FISA court issues warrants retroactively - and, anyway, almost never denies an FBI surveillance request - one wonders how, or why, they continue to screw things up. ®


Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/18/fbi_email_surveillance/

CREDIT CHECK CREATE UPROAR FOR CMS

Posted on Wed, Feb. 20, 2008

Credit checks create
uproar for CMS

Don't agree? Face termination

ANN DOSS HELMS

ahelms@charlotteobserver.com

Peter Gorman

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools created an uproar among its 18,000-plus employees Tuesday by abruptly requiring them to sign forms authorizing credit checks and research into their "character, general reputation, personal characteristics and mode of living."

Those who don't sign by Friday face termination, according to memos signed by Chief Human Resources Officer Maurice Ambler.

Ambler said Tuesday that CMS plans to check only criminal records, despite the more extensive authorization required by the forms.

"That material was all written by attorneys, not by me," he said, adding that criminal checks fall under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Superintendent Dr. Peter Gorman, during an interview this morning on WBT-Radio's "Morning News" program, defended the criminal checks but said the school system probably did not give employees enough advance notice.

"I take responsibility for that," Gorman said in the WBT interview.

He also said that he and other school officials will look closer at the three-day deadline, adding that it might not be enough time for employees.

CMS leaders have talked for months about updating criminal checks on employees, prompted partly by the discovery that a teacher caught shooting heroin in an elementary school classroom last June had faced previous drug charges that CMS didn't know about. The criminal checks will cost $46,000 to launch and about $3,000 a month for ongoing reports, Ambler said.

Six CMS employees who spoke to the Observer Tuesday said they support checking employees' criminal records. But they -- along with three school board members -- said they were ambushed by the request for personal information that seems irrelevant to student safety.

"I don't know where CMS is pulling this from and I don't understand why. It's like they're intimidating people," said Mary McCray, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators. She said she's advising teachers not to sign the forms while she seeks advice from the National Association of Educators, a teachers union.

McCray said one teacher called to ask, "Is the fact that I'm living with a man and we're not married grounds for dismissal?"

Others who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal voiced similar concerns.

"You look at people's different lifestyles -- who's going to make that determination?" said a building services employee.

"There's a lot of people they don't pay a living wage to, so yeah, they're behind (financially)," a teacher said. "I know teachers whose homes are in foreclosure."

Tuesday evening, district leaders who have pledged clear communications with employees and the public were scrambling to quell the furor. Communications staff were working on a Q&A to explain the legalese in plain English, Ambler said.

Two memos about the background checks, signed by Ambler and human resources official Janet Hamilton, are dated Feb. 11. One teacher said she got hers Friday. Five other employees in various locations said supervisors presented them Tuesday. None said they got an explanation of the demand that they authorize credit checks and other personal research. Some said they were told to sign immediately, though supervisors backed down when employees balked.

"If we sign that piece of paper, we have no legal rights whatsoever," a teacher said. "If we don't, we're going to lose our job."

School board Chair Joe White and members Vilma Leake and George Dunlap said Tuesday they'd heard nothing about such requests. White said he'd be surprised if top administrators made such a move without clueing in the board.

Dunlap said he wants an explanation, even if CMS doesn't plan to do the more extensive checks.

"You don't ask people for stuff that you don't intend to use," he said. "I don't like using scare tactics. ... At some point, the right to privacy still exists."

Observer staff writer Steve Lyttle contributed.

Source: http://www.charlotte.com/109/story/501238.html

AMERICA'S RISK MOTHER OF ALL MELTDOWNS

America's economy risks the mother of all meltdowns

By Martin Wolf

Tue Feb 19, 1:25 PM ET

"I would tell audiences that we were facing not a bubble but a froth - lots of small, local bubbles that never grew to a scale that could threaten the health of the overall economy." Alan Greenspan, The Age of Turbulence.

That used to be Mr Greenspan's view of the US housing bubble. He was wrong, alas. So how bad might this downturn get? To answer this question we should ask a true bear. My favourite one is Nouriel Roubini of New York University's Stern School of Business, founder of RGE monitor.

Recently, Professor Roubini's scenarios have been dire enough to make the flesh creep. But his thinking deserves to be taken seriously. He first predicted a US recession in July 2006*. At that time, his view was extremely controversial. It is so no longer. Now he states that there is "a rising probability of a 'catastrophic' financial and economic outcome"**. The characteristics of this scenario are, he argues: "A vicious circle where a deep recession makes the financial losses more severe and where, in turn, large and growing financial losses and a financial meltdown make the recession even more severe."

Prof Roubini is even fonder of lists than I am. Here are his 12 - yes, 12 - steps to financial disaster.

Step one is the worst housing recession in US history. House prices will, he says, fall by 20 to 30 per cent from their peak, which would wipe out between $4,000bn and $6,000bn in household wealth. Ten million households will end up with negative equity and so with a huge incentive to put the house keys in the post and depart for greener fields. Many more home-builders will be bankrupted.

Step two would be further losses, beyond the $250bn-$300bn now estimated, for subprime mortgages. About 60 per cent of all mortgage origination between 2005 and 2007 had "reckless or toxic features", argues Prof Roubini. Goldman Sachs estimates mortgage losses at $400bn. But if home prices fell by more than 20 per cent, losses would be bigger. That would further impair the banks' ability to offer credit.

Step three would be big losses on unsecured consumer debt: credit cards, auto loans, student loans and so forth. The "credit crunch" would then spread from mortgages to a wide range of consumer credit.

Step four would be the downgrading of the monoline insurers, which do not deserve the AAA rating on which their business depends. A further $150bn writedown of asset-backed securities would then ensue.

Step five would be the meltdown of the commercial property market, while step six would be bankruptcy of a large regional or national bank.

Step seven would be big losses on reckless leveraged buy-outs. Hundreds of billions of dollars of such loans are now stuck on the balance sheets of financial institutions.

Step eight would be a wave of corporate defaults. On average, US companies are in decent shape, but a "fat tail" of companies has low profitability and heavy debt. Such defaults would spread losses in "credit default swaps", which insure such debt. The losses could be $250bn. Some insurers might go bankrupt.

Step nine would be a meltdown in the "shadow financial system". Dealing with the distress of hedge funds, special investment vehicles and so forth will be made more difficult by the fact that they have no direct access to lending from central banks.

Step 10 would be a further collapse in stock prices. Failures of hedge funds, margin calls and shorting could lead to cascading falls in prices.

Step 11 would be a drying-up of liquidity in a range of financial markets, including interbank and money markets. Behind this would be a jump in concerns about solvency.

Step 12 would be "a vicious circle of losses, capital reduction, credit contraction, forced liquidation and fire sales of assets at below fundamental prices".

These, then, are 12 steps to meltdown. In all, argues Prof Roubini: "Total losses in the financial system will add up to more than $1,000bn and the economic recession will become deeper more protracted and severe." This, he suggests, is the "nightmare scenario" keeping Ben Bernanke and colleagues at the US Federal Reserve awake. It explains why, having failed to appreciate the dangers for so long, the Fed has lowered rates by 200 basis points this year. This is insurance against a financial meltdown.

Is this kind of scenario at least plausible? It is. Furthermore, we can be confident that it would, if it came to pass, end all stories about "decoupling". If it lasts six quarters, as Prof Roubini warns, offsetting policy action in the rest of the world would be too little, too late.

Can the Fed head this danger off? In a subsequent piece, Prof Roubini gives eight reasons why it cannot***. (He really loves lists!) These are, in brief: US monetary easing is constrained by risks to the dollar and inflation; aggressive easing deals only with illiquidity, not insolvency; the monoline insurers will lose their credit ratings, with dire consequences; overall losses will be too large for sovereign wealth funds to deal with; public intervention is too small to stabilise housing losses; the Fed cannot address the problems of the shadow financial system; regulators cannot find a good middle way between transparency over losses and regulatory forbearance, both of which are needed; and, finally, the transactions-oriented financial system is itself in deep crisis.

The risks are indeed high and the ability of the authorities to deal with them more limited than most people hope. This is not to suggest that there are no ways out. Unfortunately, they are poisonous ones. In the last resort, governments resolve financial crises. This is an iron law. Rescues can occur via overt government assumption of bad debt, inflation, or both. Japan chose the first, much to the distaste of its ministry of finance. But Japan is a creditor country whose savers have complete confidence in the solvency of their government. The US, however, is a debtor. It must keep the trust of foreigners. Should it fail to do so, the inflationary solution becomes probable. This is quite enough to explain why gold costs $920 an ounce.

The connection between the bursting of the housing bubble and the fragility of the financial system has created huge dangers, for the US and the rest of the world. The US public sector is now coming to the rescue, led by the Fed. In the end, they will succeed. But the journey is likely to be wretchedly uncomfortable.

*A Coming Recession in the US Economy? July 17 2006, www.rgemonitor.com; **The Rising Risk of a Systemic Financial Meltdown, February 5 2008; ***Can the Fed and Policy Makers Avoid a Systemic Financial Meltdown? Most Likely Not, February 8 2008

martin.wolf@ft.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ft/20080219/bs_ft/fto021920081334359078;_ylt=AozoX8V3CwKFRV6c_RfR1f0E1vAI

WAR CASUALTIES YTD




Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In U.S. War On Iraq "1,173,743"



Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In U.S. War And Occupation Of Iraq 3,966

Cost of U.S. War and Occupation of Iraq


$496,058,746,587
To see more details, click here.



Source: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/index.html

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

PBS EXPOSES PAST OF 3 WHITE ENCLAVES





PBS's 'Banished' Exposes the Tainted Past of Three White Enclaves
In Areas That Expelled Blacks a Century Ago, Willful Blindness -- and Hope

By Ellen Maguire
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, February 19, 2008; Page C02

"I don't hate white people," says Marco Williams, director of the documentary "Banished," which examines three Southern towns where African American citizens were violently expelled more than a century ago. "But it's not exactly easy to sit across from a Ku Klux Klan member and discuss cross burning."

Williams, who calls his filmmaking a "personal mission," visits the nearly all-white towns, calmly asking uncomfortable questions ("Where did you think the black people had gone?"). He shows old newspaper photographs of lynchings and watches quietly as the current citizens, and some descendants of the banished, confront their difficult history to varying degrees.

His goal in making the film (airing tonight on MPT)? To find a steppingstone to reconciliation.

Harrison, Ark., which bills itself as one of the "Best Small Towns in America," was the site of an expulsion in 1905. Today, Thomas Robb, 61, the national director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, makes his home nearby.

In the film, Williams listens as Robb defends cross burning as "cross lighting, an old Scottish tradition." Bob Scott, a retiree, says he moved to Harrison for the "lack of blacks." And Layne Wheeler, of the Harrison Chamber of Commerce, deems the Confederate flag flying outside her office window a harmless nod to history.

"My role playing helped reveal the idiocy or hypocrisy of a situation," Williams says.

Why, though, would the citizens of Harrison speak so candidly to Williams? "I make a habit of never lying, ever," Scott, 80, says by phone from Arkansas.

Wheeler, 47, believes it is vital to acknowledge her town's past. She says Williams depicted Harrison fairly, although she downplays the influence of Robb. And she is quick to mention that the flag has been changed to "a different version of the Confederate flag, not the symbol of the hate groups" -- and that a six-year-old community task force on race relations is developing a driving tour of the former African American neighborhood.

For his part, Robb, who compares a Klan hood to a businessman's tie ("It's just tradition," he says), believes the film is "an attempt by an elitist crowd" to force integration on Harrison and "to create white guilt."

"I am not responsible for the acts of my forefathers, good or bad," he says, adding that someone told him "we'll probably get a lot of new membership."

In another segment, one that Williams believes typifies "the complexity of the problems between blacks and whites," he follows two brothers, James and Charles Brown, descendants of a family banished from Pierce City, Mo., in 1901, as they navigate a bureaucratic maze while attempting to exhume their great-grandfather's body from an unmarked grave -- and only afterward request that the town pay their expenses. (Williams also visits Forsyth County in Georgia.)

"Whites are caught up in process," Williams says, "and blacks don't trust whites. Both sides are injured and confused."

"Banished" was inspired by the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Elliot Jaspin, who describes "an archipelago of white or virtually all-white counties along the Mason-Dixon Line and into the Midwest." The film raises the issue of reparations for the descendants of the banished, whose forefathers often lost their homes and possessions.

"Unlike reparations for slavery, land is something we can all relate to," Williams says. "It's the crux of so many battles and wars."

In conversation at his office at New York University, where he teaches documentary film production, Williams suggests that a federal fund, created by a national reparations tax, could help descendants of the banished buy back stolen land at market prices from landowners willing to sell. He praises other kinds of remedy, "an apology, a monument, a scholarship," emphasizing reconciliation and the chance to create reinvigorated, diverse communities.

A similar impulse for reconciliation sparked Williams's career. Williams was a 24-year-old senior at Harvard University when he first heard his father's name. Over the following decade, while Williams studied for two master's degrees at UCLA, he documented his family's four fatherless generations and his own attempts to meet his father. The result: "In Search of Our Fathers," an examination of African American family life that was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival.

Williams lives on the Lower East Side, blocks from where he grew up as the only child of a single mother. "The adage that you can't go home again is hardly true," he says.

He has made 10 films about race relations, including "Two Towns of Jasper" (with co-director Whitney Dow, a filmmaking partner), set in Jasper, Tex., the site of a racially motivated murder of an African American in 1998. The documentary -- which was made with two directors, one white and one black, and two crews, one white and one black -- won a Peabody Award in 2004.

The personal cost of his work? "Anger and resentment and hurt that often comes in the guise of great disappointment in white people for being so unconscious," he says, his voice dropping to nearly inaudible. "Why can't white people be proactive about learning about race in America?" he says, elaborating: "True to racial form, when I show the film, blacks say, 'Oh, yes, and what about this town or that town' and whites are shocked."


Yet he is adamant about the necessity to remain compassionate. "To be angry and make demands solely will not invite your enemy to meet you partway."

"To be a black man in America means that I live in a world that is skewed, that is fraught with destructiveness and violence," he says. "As filmmakers, if we turn the mirror 15 or 30 degrees, we can see what's possible."

Banished (90 minutes) airs tonight at 10 on Channel 22.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/18/AR2008021802005.html

BUSH ASSURES AFRICA ON US INTENTIONS

Bush Assures Africa on US Intentions

President Bush meets tribal leaders during a visit to the USAID West Africa Trade Hub, which promotes the production of textiles, handicrafts, and food products for export, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008, at the International Trade Fair Center in Accra, Ghana. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)



By JENNIFER LOVEN – 2 hours ago

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — In a country teeming with resources the world covets, President Bush sought Wednesday to soothe African fears about American interests on the continent. He said the U.S. isn't aiming to make Africa into a base for greater military power or a proxy battleground with China.

The desire for Africa's vast raw materials — oil, gold, diamonds, minerals, crops and more — has a long and often violent and exploitative history.

That's especially true in this tropical, sweltering, resource-rich nation on the shores of West Africa, the first place in sub-Saharan Africa that Europeans arrived to trade, first in gold, then slaves, and now the site of a new offshore oil discovery.

So it came as little surprise that Bush's talk about how U.S. generosity has made strides against disease and poverty encountered some skepticism here about the underlying American agenda. Some of those questions arose during Bush's appearance with Ghana's leader at Osu Castle, once a hub of slave-trading and now the seat of government.

With no prompting at a news conference, Bush sought to deal with suspicions about the creation of a new U.S. military command dedicated to Africa.

Nations such as Libya, Nigeria and South Africa have expressed fears that the plan signals an unwanted expansion of American power on the continent or is a cover for protecting Africa's oil on behalf of the U.S. Bush said Ghana's President, John Kufuor, bluntly told him in private that "you're not going to build any bases in Ghana."

"I know there's rumors in Ghana, `All Bush is coming to do is try to convince you to put a big military base here,'" Bush said. "That's baloney. Or as we say in Texas, that's bull. ... I want to dispel the notion that all of a sudden America is bringing all kinds of military to Africa."

Instead, Bush said the new command — unique to the Pentagon's structure — was aimed at more effectively reorganizing U.S. military efforts related to Africa under one hierarchy, and to strengthen African nations' peacekeeping, anti-terror, anti-trafficking and other efforts.

For now, the administration has decided to continue operating AFRICOM out of existing U.S. bases on the continent and directing it from Stuttgart, Germany. Bush said "we haven't made our minds up" about whether to "develop some kind of office somewhere in Africa" as a headquarters. But war-wrecked Liberia is the only African nation that has offered to host it.

Kufuor said Bush's explanation "should put fade to the speculation."

On China, Bush insisted "we can pursue agendas without creating a sense of competition." Still, he made his argument clear: that the United States is the better and kinder partner, because it aims to improve African lives while nations like China focus on commercial opportunity to the exclusion of almost everything else.

In an indirect swipe at Beijing, Bush suggested that African leaders set standards such as the employment of African workers or keeping value-added processes on the continent for countries seeking to do business here — and promised the United States would meet them.

"I just will tell you that our policy is aimed at helping people," the president said.

But there is no question that American economic interests also matter here. On energy alone, a fifth of U.S. oil comes from Nigeria. Ghana's oil discovery last year matters, even if it won't rival that.

Jennifer Cooke, an authority on Africa for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Bush's altered approach to foreign aid — in which assistance is restricted to nations that embrace free markets, fight corruption and invest in education and health — is in part a counter argument to China's formidable presence. Beijing is making investments and forging relationships that have drawn some controversy here, but also enough applause to create concern in Washington.

Ghana was the first African nation to receive a compact from Bush's Millennium Challenge Corporation, one worth $547 million over five years to expand markets for crops.

"China has a major focus on infrastructure and Africans appreciate that very much about the Chinese engagement," Cooke said. "And so this is a way, I think, of trying to do things differently in ways that matter to Africans."

For his part, Kufuor had no criticism for China, saying its products are "quite competitive" and its system bound to turn more democratic.

"I can assure you our nations are not succumbing to dictates and impositions, not from China nor elsewhere," he said. "So as far as we are concerned, so far, it's all right with China."

Bush also came to Ghana — "the front-row, straight-A student of Africa," as White House spokesman Tony Fratto put it — because it is the kind of story he likes to promote. It's a stable, relatively well administered democracy that has largely avoided ethnic clashes and played a busy peacekeeping role on the continent under Kufuor's leadership. Ghana also has cut its still-persistent poverty and is known for press freedoms.

But it is still dependent on foreign aid, including millions each year from the United States. "Mr. President, Africa salutes you for these gestures of goodwill that are impacting the lives of many ordinary persons on the continent for the better," Kufuor said at a lavish dinner for Bush and about 500 other people.

From Ghana, Bush planned to fly to Liberia on Thursday and then back to Washington. He also has visited Benin, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jKsz4ko98jM7GN35kK5yGTzHWHQAD8UUCLFO0

e: Edited, added for syntax. Blogman

LOOK UP--IT'S FEBRUARY 20, 2008



What do the Space Shuttle 'Atlantis'; A falling Spy Satellite; A Lunar Eclipse; And a Full Moon have in Common? They all coincide today, February 20, 2008. The Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down this morning, shorly after 9 AM @ Cape Canaveral; The defunct Spy Satellite that is falling towards Earth is due to be shot down by the U.S. Navy tonight, when it makes its orbit over Hawaii; The Moon and The Earth (nteraction between the two and The Sun) will produce a Lunar Eclipse this evening at about 10 PM; Lastly, tonight we have a Full Moon.

How about all these events converging into 24 hours? It's impressive, isn't it?

Arsenio.

KGB CHIEF CALLS HOME HOMELAND SECURITY


Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeni Primakov (left) and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright after signing a protocol to START II in New York on 26 September.
(Reuters 44Kb)

KGB Chieftain Finds Home at Homeland Security
by Mike Whitney
www.dissidentvoice.org
January 21, 2005



“Security and liberty go hand-in-hand. Members of Congress, like too many Americans, don’t understand that society with no constraints on its government cannot be secure. History proves that societies crumble when governments become more powerful than the people and private institutions.” [1]

--Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)


Why would Homeland Security hire former Stasi chief Markus Wolfe and former head of the KGB General Yevgeni Primakov?

Is this part of the Bush anti-terror strategy? After all, Wolfe is the man who is credited with building up the feared East German secret police that was responsible for the disappearance and deaths of thousands of citizens. And, Primakov’s record is not any better. As skipper of the KGB he was driving force behind the machinery of state terror; a legacy that still has a chilling affect on many Russians.

Now, apparently, they’ve found a new place to hang their hats at Homeland Security. Or have they? Perhaps, the numerous stories on the internet are just fabrications intended to mislead independent research. That’s certainly one possibility. But, consider this; for those who have followed the activities of the current administration (the torture, the deception, the death squads, the destruction of Falluja) stories like this are difficult to discount. As a matter of fact, the hiring of Primakov and Wolfe seems fairly consistent with the long-term goals of the Bush team.

We already know that there’s a power struggle within the government from the number of top agents who have been jettisoned at the CIA. Why not develop a new Security apparatus under the auspices of a proven loyalist like Michael Chertoff? (the new appointee at Homeland Security) That would require the expertise of a couple of old pros who can help-out with the basics and get the machinery of state repression clanking along?

The move is not unprecedented either. As Noam Chomsky points out, in SS officer Klaus Barbie, “The Butcher of Lyon” was employed by the US Army after WW2 to “spy on the French.” [2] Col. Eugene Kolb of Army counterintelligence later admitted that Barbie’s “skills were badly needed…His activities had been directed against the underground French Communist party and the resistance’ who were targeted for repression by the American liberators”. (“What Uncle Sam Really Wants”) Other Nazi leaders were also used in counterintelligence operations in Italy. They were regarded as “specialists in anti-resistance activities.”

Primakov has allegedly been hired to oversee the issuing of federal IDs. Now that the new Intelligence Reform Act has passed, (uniform) federal standards will be required for licenses within two years. All the citizens personal, credit and biometric history will be stored on one small document. No one will drive a car or get on a plane without one. Don’t leave home without it, or else.

The new federal ID will be required in all financial transactions. Details will be electronically transferred to Office of Internal Security (which falls under the authority of Homeland Security), which will keep “threat files” on each citizen. Ultimately, the ID will be used as an “internal passport” (Primakov’s words) so the government can keep tabs on the movements of every citizen; to keep us safe, of course.

Sound Orwellian? This is what our “freedom loving” Congressmen and Senators overwhelmingly supported in the Intelligence Reform Act. Most of its provisions were written nearly a full year earlier as part of Patriot Act 2. It slipped by the media without a whimper of dissent. There’s also plenty of “enhanced powers” for the President; like the ability to incarcerate suspects indefinitely without charges. But, then, George would never abuse that authority, would he?

Apparently, there’s a Patriot Act 3 in the hopper, too. Investigative journalist Al Martin believes that this new addition will be intended to “establish the internal mechanism to coordinate, as an official function of state, a system of informants.”

“System of informants”? The land of the free and the home of the snitches.

This must be where a man with Markus Wolfe’s unique talents fits in. As Stasi king-pin he reportedly groomed an impressive network of moles, finks and stool-pigeons. His professional know-how will probably be soothing balm to the quick-learners at Homeland Security. It’s bon voyage to the enemies of the State.

Of course, all of this could just be more paranoid, conspiratorial claptrap?

After sitting through 45 minutes of President Windy’s delusional ramblings of “global liberation”, that seems rather unlikely. Our national nightmare is grounded in some very real changes in the law, and we already know how far these people will go.

The political remedies to the Bush onslaught are diminishing by the day and the observations of Texas congressman Ron Paul are looking increasingly more prophetic. Paul said, “Those who believe a police-state can’t happen here are poor students of history. Every government, democratic or not, is capable of tyranny. We must understand this if we hope to remain a free people.”

Mike Whitney lives in Washington state, and can be reached at: fergiewhitney@msn.com.

REFERENCES

Thanks to Al Martins, “Get Ready for the USSA” (United Soviet States of America), Behind the scenes in the Beltway (http://www.almartinraw.com/)

[1] Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) “It Can’t Happen Here”

[2] Noam Chomsky, What Uncle Sam Really Wants (Odonian Press, 1992), page 18.