Friday, March 05, 2010

Pentagon Shooter Saw Vast Gov't Conspiracies

Nation
Pentagon Shooter Saw Vast Gov't Conspiracies
Updated: 1 hour 2 minutes ago



Andrea Stone
Senior Washington Correspondent
AOL News


WASHINGTON (March 5) -- The gunman who opened fire at police outside the Pentagon before being shot to death believed the federal government was behind the "September 11 demolitions" there.

John Patrick Bedell lightly wounded two officers who returned fire, killing him. Bedell, 36, of Hollister, Calif., had traveled far -- both physically and psychically -- to end his life in a blaze of anti-government hostility at the Pentagon Metro station. Before showing up Thursday at the military headquarters in Arlington, Va., Bedell had spent weeks driving cross-country with two semiautomatic weapons and lots of ammunition.




But his journey began long before Thursday evening.

Washoe County jail / Reno Gazette Journal / AP John Patrick Bedell has been linked to several Internet postings railing against the government. He died Thursday night from head wounds after he shot two police officers at the Pentagon.






As Richard Keevill, chief of Pentagon police, told reporters, Bedell "had issues."

Bedell, a software engineer, left a long Internet trail behind him. It paints a portrait of an educated but angry young man seething with resentment for the government over its marijuana laws and alleged international conspiracies, each of which he brought together in an inscrutable business plan for something called "information currency.

"Bedell was on Facebook and LinkedIn, where he listed a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz; and a year studying biochemistry at San Jose State University. He said he was in the consumer electronics industry, but no employer is listed. His interests included "new ventures."

On a video posted on YouTube, Bedell explains in a flat, emotionless voice what "information currency" is, his explanation as complex as the stick figures he uses to explain the "financial market" he has created are simple.

He explains more on his Wikipedia page, which has been removed but is available here. On it, "JPatrickBedell" says he has studied electrical engineering "with the goal of creating microsystems for molecular analysis." There's a densely written proposal for a project that many a Ph.D. might have trouble understanding, but there is a tantalizing link to the military in that Bedell's idea "originates from an unsuccessful DARPA proposal to create a 'microMIRV' interoperable with standard firearms ammunition.

"Bedell's Wikipedia page also says he is "determined to see that justice is served in the death of Colonel James Sabow, as a step toward establishing the truth of events such as the September 11 demolitions and institutions such as the coup regime of 1963 that maintains itself in power through the global drug trade, financial corruption, and murder, among other crimes."

Sabow was a Marine whose 1991 death was ruled a suicide after his body was found in the backyard of his California home. But the case has spawned conspiracy theories that he was assassinated by the government amid charges by his family that he was rubbed out because he was about to blow the lid on covert military operations involving drug smuggling in Central America.

In a separate, rambling blog written in 2006 by a "Patrick" that uses the same themes and phrases as the Bedell on Wikipedia, the author echoes 9/11 "truthers" in saying, "like so many murderous governments throughout history, (the U.S. government) would see the sacrifice of thousands of its citizens, in an event such as the September 11 attacks, as a small cost in order to perpetuate its barbaric control.

"In a separate audio manifesto called "Directions to Freedom," available on The New York Times' The Lede Blog, Bedell avows "an intense personal desire for freedom" that is "inevitably centered on the role of government in society."

Bedell links his "information currency" scheme to "one of the most unjust laws, cannabis prohibition" and related on his blog his 2006 arrest on marijuana charges: "In the course of the arrest for violation of California Health and Safety Code 11358, I chose to not cooperate, given my objection to the injustice of prohibition. I was entirely limp and had to be carried to the police car, resulting in a charge of obstructing an officer in the course of his official duties.

"His account is supported in the official court records, which Bedell posted online. "

"One desired result of my effort is (will be) billions and billions of carefully cultivated, highly valuable cannabis plants growing throughout the United States with complete security of property," he wrote on Wikipedia. "I have posted the image to the right in order to illustrate the use of cannabis as a monetary system using digital financial instruments.

"As an active contributor to the collaborative online encyclopedia, Bedell often clashed with the site's administrators. In one instance, he posted an autopsy photo of Sabow that was later deleted.

Bedell is the latest suspect in a notorious crime to have left virtual clues to his motives online but in real life may have been a cipher. His father, John Bedell Sr., is a financial planner; his mother, Kaye, works at a local college. There was no answer at their home. Bedell's number in Hollister was disconnected.

A neighbor of Bedell's parents, who live in a one-story southwestern-style stucco home in a gated golf course development in Hollister, said he sometimes lived there.

"He seemed like a normal guy to me," Ronald Domingues, 74, told The Associated Press.

"I wouldn't suspect he would be involved in anything like this."

The same has been said about other angry men whose quiet lives ended in headlines, many of them drawn to the nation's capital as the epicenter of all they had come to hate. Although much is still unknown about what caused Bedell's thwarted rampage, including whether he suffered from mental illness, his views on government were shared by others:


  • Joseph Stack's hatred of the federal government, as personified by the Internal Revenue Service, apparently sent him on his suicidal mission to crash his plane into a federal building in Austin, Texas, last month.
  • Ted Kaczynski, the convicted Unabomber who waged a deadly mail campaign for 17 years until he was caught in 1995, was another highly educated misfit. His typed 35,000-word anti-government manifesto was a precursor in some ways to Bedell's digital blog rant.
  • Russell Weston's fatal shooting of two police officers inside the U.S. Capitol in 1998 may bear the closest resemblance to the Pentagon attack in that both were apparently carried out by men who harbored deep mistrust of the federal government.
  • James von Brunn, the elderly white supremacist who killed a guard at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum last year, subscribed to various conspiracy theories involving Jews, blacks and, of course, the federal government.


"Sadly enough, there is a pattern," said Northeastern University criminologist Jack Levin. "He represents a much larger force in our society today. If one individual is paranoid, we call it mental illness. If thousands of people share the same paranoia, we call it ideology. There are thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of Americans who are extremely angry with the federal government."


Source: http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/pentagon-shooter-john-patrick-bedell-had-issues-with-government/19384750
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P.S. How quickly they arrive at a diagnosis of psychotic Conspiracy Theory right wing extremist in this case? Yet, in the case of the Ft. Hood Muslim Islamofascist, they volleyied back and forth in denial on whether it was a terrorist attack or not; when all the indications were as clear as day! So, Bedell was a Conspiracy Theorist, yeah right!
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A.

Who’s Behind the Financial Crisis?

Who’s Behind the Financial Crisis?
AIM Column By Cliff Kincaid March 4, 2010


The Times noted that a dinner was held in New York last month where “representatives of some of these hedge funds discussed betting against the euro” in the wake of the Greek financial crisis.
The New York Times is quoting a spokesman for George Soros as saying that the well-known hedge fund operator is guilty of no wrong-doing in connection with the financial upheaval currently affecting Greece and Europe as a whole. But Zubi Diamond, author of the powerful new book, Wizards of Wall Street, says the agenda of Soros and other short sellers is clear. Their purpose, he says, is "to loot America and any foreign country which invested in America. Greece was one of them. Iceland was ravaged and annihilated."
The term "short selling" in this context refers to investors, speculators and currency manipulators who bet on the decline or collapse of a stock or currency through complex financial instruments handled mostly through secret off-shore accounts. For the hedge fund short sellers to make money, prices have to go down.
Short sellers, who are appearing at a March 11 event at the libertarian Cato Institute, insist that they "provide liquidity and transparency to our capital markets" and that their operations "expose corporate fraud and mismanagement."
But Diamond strongly disagrees. He says the Managed Funds Association, the lobbying arm of the hedge fund short sellers, is crafty and deceitful. "When they tell you that short selling contributes liquidity to the market, that is a lie," he says. "Short selling destroys capital and takes away liquidity from the market. When they tell you that they are taking steps to remove manipulation from the stock market, that is a lie. They are taking steps to introduce manipulation to the stock market, and prime the stock market for manipulation and looting. When they tell you that the uptick rule is outdated, because of decimalization, that is a lie. They lie to deceive, to bring forth a big payday from short selling, hence the looting of America and America's wealthiest corporations and their shareholders, sanctioned by their Washington D.C. lapdogs."
"The most influential members of Managed Funds Association, the hedge fund short sellers, have an anti-capitalism agenda, an anti-industrialized nation agenda, and a far left liberal, Marxist radical agenda," Diamond says." Hedge Fund short sellers are not capitalist. They are anti-capitalist and they are not investors; they are anti-investors." He says they "loot" companies and countries.
The Times noted that a dinner was held in New York last month where "representatives of some of these hedge funds discussed betting against the euro" in the wake of the Greek financial crisis. As a result, the paper said, at least four hedge funds had been asked by the Justice Department to turn over trading records and other documents. They were Greenlight Capital, SAC Capitol Advisors, Paulson & Company and Soros Fund Management.
Claiming that Soros is not involved in any wrong-doing, Michael Vachon, a spokesman for Soros Fund Management, told the Times that "It has become commonplace to direct attention toward George Soros whenever currency markets are in the news."
Diamond, an African immigrant who came to America and became a successful businessman, concludes otherwise, saying that Soros and other short sellers who belong to the Managed Funds Association, the "voice of the global alternative investment community," are corrupting influences that undermine nations, their economies and currencies, and the global financial system as a whole.
Diamond, with 14 years of experience in the financial markets, calls his book a course in "Economic crisis 101" because of the need to inform ordinary Americans of what is happening right before their eyes. The book is easy to read, although it deals with complex financial regulations and operations, and is only 118 pages. The theme is that the economic crisis was deliberately engineered for profit and political gain and has already resulted in the "looting" of $11 trillion from the U.S. economy.
AIM had warned about this potential problem in a January 16, 2008, column, "Soros Bets on U.S. Economic Collapse," in which we noted hedge fund ties to the Democratic Party and a report that hedge fund managers, including Soros, stood to make billions of dollars from a U.S. housing market collapse.
Regulation of the hedge fund industry and other recommendations are included in Diamond's book, which carries the subtitle of "The scam that elected Barack Obama." He accuses many of these same global players now under scrutiny for wreaking havoc in Europe of being behind the U.S. financial crisis that enabled Obama to win the presidency.
"George Soros put the support of the organization [the MFA] behind Obama," his book says. "Soros wanted somebody that hates the traditional America and its constitution, a left-wing radical like himself, so he chose Obama."
"Nothing will happen until the American people know what caused the economic crisis and the solution for fixing it," he tells AIM. "Nothing will happen until the American people know about the Managed Funds Association and their role in engineering the economic collapse." He calls the MFA "the cancer in our society that needs to be cut out, exterminated and abolished. America and capitalism will not survive unless the Managed Funds Association is eradicated, uprooted and destroyed."
The MFA, meanwhile, is undergoing what the Politico calls an "image makeover," as more scrutiny is being applied to the operations of its members. MFA President and CEO Richard Baker tells the publication that "...we have an enormous job ahead of us in providing understanding about the industry that is based in the actual market role we play, as opposed to the perceptions that have been allowed to build."
Diamond tells AIM that the crisis in Greece "is just one more theater of the repercussions of the scam to annihilate capitalism. They need to be regulated just like mutual funds. If you regulate the hedge fund short sellers, just like mutual funds, that will remove the incentive for their predatory behavior of targeting companies, countries and currencies."
Looking ahead, Diamond says, "When the European Union (EU) bails out Greece, that bailout will increase the EU deficit and weaken their currency, hence the decline in EU currency. That is the theory being floated by the manipulators. George Soros, the hedge fund short sellers and the speculators will trade with that assumption. They will run down the EU currency and that will be a manipulation by collusion."
Diamond notes that Soros is a member of the Managed Funds Association, and they are "making negative comments about the Euro. They are targeting and preying on capitalist countries and currencies."
He goes on, "They feel invincible. They have a license to destroy any company or country or hold the company or country hostage while preying on the investors. They are having dinner meetings, openly discussing collusion to attack a particular asset class, equity, or a country's currency. If this is not organized crime, I do not know what is."
He warns that any asset class that is traded in the NYSE, CME, or EUREX exchanges is susceptible to manipulation by the members of Managed Funds Association and their strategic partners. "They have primed the market for manipulation," he says.
In the case of Greece, Diamond says that the country "gathered all her nest eggs and brought it to the wolves' den at Goldman Sachs," a member of Managed Funds Association, "but Goldman Sachs then shorted the market while their clients were on the other side of the trade."
Diamond says there would not have been a Greece debt crisis if all the safeguard regulations had not been removed. He blames Christopher Cox, who served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for laying the groundwork for this financial upheaval. "The removal of the uptick rule, and the circuit breakers and the introduction of mark to market accounting is what caused the economic collapse and the stock market crash," he says. "Greece lost investment capital in the 2008 Wall Street collapse, which gave their country a balance sheet problem on top of the debt they already have. Their deficit ballooned. You know the rest. The EU is accusing Greece of not disclosing all their debt and investment risk exposure."
Commenting on reports that federal authorities and the SEC will investigate Goldman Sachs for their involvement in the Greece debt crisis, Diamond says that "my prediction is that nothing will happen" because Goldman Sachs is a member of the powerful MFA.
"The Managed Fund Association is the government," Diamond charges. "They bought the policy makers and regulators, and then took over our government."

Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report and can be reached at cliff.kincaid@aim.org
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Source:http://www.aim.org/aim-column/whos-behind-the-financial-crisis/
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Thursday, March 04, 2010

Rappin’ Obama as an O.T.P. ‘One Term President’

Music Video: Rappin’ Obama as an O.T.P. ‘One Term President’
without comments

[By the ]WOLVERINES! (a reference to the 1984 anti-communist movie Red Dawn) has released a comedy music video called “O.T.P.” which claims Obama is a one term president.
Look for Black & Right’s Bob Parks cameo (at around 3:25), coolness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MddREczVeL4http://


O.T.P. (ONE TERM PRESIDENT) Lyrics

DJ DOLCE MELODY
Whatever happened to the “HOPE” boy?
Teleprompt this: “You can’t stop this, OTP.”
You’re gonna feel it when I vote, boy
Cuz you gotta go, ya gotta go, yeah
MOLOTOV CHORUS
Fool me once, shame on me, shame on we
United States of America
Fool me twice? It’s not gonna happen, G
One term president, OTP

VERSE 1 (MOLOTOV)
Fool me once, it happens all the time!
Public education made me dumb, man
Barack Obama done beat me like a drum, man
Thought I was votin for hope, I was votin for a bum, man
I used to be a pie baker
Look into my eyes, all you’ll see is pies
I could make a french apple cobbler with a greyerre crust
r-a-double u, fat girls are lovin dude
That was then, nowadays find me on the corner with a Mac 10
I lost my job at the bakery, Obama faked me, so I turned criminal
I’m sellin dr*gs at the terminal
B. Hussein, baby where’s my job?
Just words just speeches, ya weakless

OTP, angry mob reppin 2-0-1-2
Karma’s gonna get you

DJ DOLCE MELODY
Whatever happened to the “HOPE” boy?
Teleprompt this: “You can’t stop this, OTP.”
You’re gonna feel it when I vote, boy
Cuz you gotta go, ya gotta go, yeah
MOLOTOV CHORUS
Fool me once, shame on me, shame on we
United States of America
Fool me twice? It’s not gonna happen, G
One term president, OTP

VERSE 2 (CONSTITUTION KATE)

Why am I still up in Iraq, man?
Whats the holdup? I’m still duckin rounds in the sand, man.
I’m sick of smellin like a mosque after Ramadan
While you smellin like some prawns and filet mignon
We on the battlefield, camouflage khakis and M4’s
Blood, sweat and tears for Iraqi’s
But then I look at you, sittin in the West Wing, won’t do anything
but polish up ya Nobel Peace Prize
You dropped charges for terrorists, (WHOA)
You think ya Fergie, ya glamorous (WHOA)
You roam the world to apologize, bowin to Saudis, investigatin G.I.’s
But pretty soon, you gonna pay the piper and I don’t mean a sniper,
My vote’s got a teflon coat
Jeremiah Wright, say it for the troops:
“ya chickeeeeennnnssss…comin home to roost”

DJ DOLCE MELODY
Whatever happened to the “HOPE” boy?
Teleprompt this: “You can’t stop this, OTP.”
You’re gonna feel it when I vote, boy
Cuz you gotta go, ya gotta go, yeah
MOLOTOV CHORUS
Fool me once, shame on me, shame on we
United States of America
Fool me twice? It’s not gonna happen, G
One term president, OTP

VERSE 3 (THE MZA)

One term President? Naw, I’m not feelin that
Hardcore birther here, let me make it clear fo ya
Barack Hussein, he isn’t even president, we ain’t seen a BC
He’s sealed up all the evidence
OTP on my Camry, but I put a slash through the O
He’s a zero term pansy
Before Obama got elected, I was disrespected, all of my best predictions were rejected
But now they all come to the MZA, I’m runnin five Tea Parties,
flanked by these freedom fighter hotties
I’m a right wing extremist, can I get a witness?
You ain’t down if you ain’t on a watch LIST
Socialist medicine, I told ya
Spendin trillions on nothin, I told ya
Payin for abortions round the world, I told ya
Reppin OTP, even Angelina’s feelin me

DJ DOLCE MELODY
Whatever happened to the “HOPE” boy?
Teleprompt this: “You can’t stop this, OTP.”
You’re gonna feel it when I vote, boy
Cuz you gotta go, ya gotta go, yeah
MOLOTOV CHORUS
Fool me once, shame on me, shame on we
United States of America
Fool me twice? It’s not gonna happen, G
One term president, OTP
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Written by velvethammer
March 4th, 2010 at 7:37 am
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Source: http://ironicsurrealism.blogivists.com/2010/03/04/music-video-rappin-obama-as-an-o-t-p-one-term-president/
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Victoria Jackson: "There's A Communist Living in the White House!!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWi182CMJY8http://



PasadenaTeaParty
March 01, 2010

Victoria Jackson (Saturday Night Live) laments the current wealth-redistributor-in-chief
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2 Pentagon Police Officers Shot Outside D.C. Metro Station

Thursday, March 04, 2010



March 4: The scene outside the Pentagon Metro station after two people were shot.


A gunman opened fire at the subway entrance to Pentagon complex Thursday evening, wounding two Pentagon police officers, officials said.

The gunman was also shot and in custody, said Pentagon Police Chief Richard Keevil.

Keevil said the man was calm as he approached the officers at the main entrance around 6:40 p.m.

They asked to see his pass to enter the building.

"He reached into his pocket and they assumed he was going to get out his pass and he just started shooting," Keevil said.

The officers immediately fired back.

A Pentagon source tells Fox News the gunman was shot in the head, but Keevil wouldn't confirm that.

The officers' injured were non-life threatening and described by Keevil as being "grazed." The gunman's injuries were critical he said.

Keevil declined to identify the officers or the suspect.

The trio were taken to George Washington University Hospital's emergency room.

"Fortunately there were no other injuries," said Keevil. "A lot of people are coming and going at that time of the night."

The Pentagon was on lockdown for a short while.

The Blue-Yellow line at the Pentagon station is closed.

FoxNews.com's Michelle Maskaly, Fox News' Justin Fishel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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The Greatest Conspiracy Theory


For the last few years I've noticed a growing popularity in the use of the term "Conspiracy Theory", for everything that certain interested parties would rather permit to remain a mystery. With this paramount classification the powers that be attempt to explain away all the strange phenomenon that thinking individuals can see the facts don't jibe with the flimsy fabrications provided by the media and propaganda outlets.

Some wonder what is the greatest conspiracy that there ever was?

It was not the single bullet, single gunman theory of the John F. Kennedy Assassination? Or, the Warren Commission's findings?

It wasn't the unwarranted collapse of WTC Building no. 7? Or the 911 Kean - Hamilton Commission's conclusions?

Those that are suspicious of the cheesy investigations and excuses are called "Conspiracy Theorists", or "Conspiracy Nut Cases". Besides all the bum data that passes for truth in the world, the real Conspiracies are in plain sight for all to see; and no one even notices them. Such is the case of the greatest Conspiracy Theory that there ever was: The Theory of Evolution; It first reared it's ugly head in the early Twentieth Century in United States Public Schools; since then it has spread like melaleuca:


Melaleucas were introduced to Florida in the United States in the early 20th century to assist in drying out swampy land and as garden plants. Once widely planted in Florida, it formed dense thickets and displaced native vegetation on 391,000 acres (1,580 km2) of wet pine flatwoods, sawgrass marshes, and cypress swamps in the southern part of the state. [It is prohibited by DEP and listed as a noxious weed by FDACS.[7].]... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melaleuca


It's gone viral

While modern society has fundamentally rejected the thought of the existence of God and Creation; Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution has been accepted as gospel truth. We see it in every school, museum, magazine, text book, the media, and even in the pulpit. Yet, it can never be proven by the scientific method; therefore it isn't true! This is why I believe that the Theory of Evolution is a fraud, a sham, and the greatest Conspiracy Theory ever perpetrated on mankind.

Evolution = Evilution



Arsenio.
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Obama on Health: Stunning Arrogance or the Edmund Burke Theory of Leadership?


Jill Lawrence
Columnist

Obama on Health: Stunning Arrogance or the Edmund Burke Theory of Leadership?
Posted: 03/4/10

Why would President Obama and his party press onward to pass a landmark health bill in the face of polls that suggest it's risky to do so? Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell calls it "stunning" and says they are projecting arrogance. "Every election in America this fall will be a referendum on this issue," McConnell says.

That's one way to look at it this seemingly endless tussle over health care, health insurance and health costs. Another is to imagine the political consequences for Democrats and Obama if they were to fail after calling health care a major problem and spending a year trying to solve it.

Yet a third prism would be through the words of Edmund Burke, the member of Parliament who in 1774 offered a classic definition of his role. He said he would give great weight to his constituents' wishes, high respect to their opinions and "unremitted attention" to their business, but would not abandon his conscience or independence: "Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion."

Obama took the Burkian approach on Wednesday in the East Room, joined at the lectern and in the audience by applauding medical personnel in white jackets. "How will this play?" the president said. "What will happen with the polls? I will leave it to others to sift through the politics, because that's not what this is about. That's not why we're here." We are here, he said, "to lead." He dismissed any potential political consequences with a simple "I know it's right." He finished with an ad-lib: "Let's get it done."

There are two tentative deadlines for action within Obama's time frame of a few weeks -- March 18, when he is scheduled to leave for Indonesia and Australia, and another slightly more realistic one on March 29, when a two-week congressional recess begins. "Whether we can meet that or not remains to be seen," said a Democratic aide on Capitol Hill, referring to the latter date.

The House and Senate first need to finalize changes to the Senate bill and have the Congressional Budget Office assess the cost of the revised package. When that work is done, the plan is for the House to pass the Senate bill and the bill containing the fixes. Then the Senate will pass the fixes, if necessary using the majority-vote reconciliation process to avoid a filibuster.

Democrats, who don't want to face unruly town meetings during their recess and would rather talk about jobs than health care, are highly motivated at this point to keep things moving. "Language is being negotiated on the Hill as we speak," a health policy expert with close ties to the White House told me Wednesday. "Everyone realizes the pressure of the clock and is trying to do that expeditiously. Everybody on the Hill wants to move on."

Obama's speech came between last week's seven-hour health summit and the health reform sales trips he plans next week to Philadelphia and St. Louis. They are all belated signals to the public and to Congress that he is deeply committed to seeing this through.

It's far from the first time a president has flouted public opinion, McConnell's shock notwithstanding. Had polls guided policy, we would not have had civil rights laws in the 1960s and we would have been out of Iraq long ago. There were, of course, political costs in both cases. George W. Bush endured rock-bottom approval ratings and his party lost control of Congress and the White House. After Lyndon Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, he reportedly said that "we have lost the South for a generation." He underestimated the damage to Democrats; we're now into the third generation of Republican dominance in the South.

Yet these things sometimes work out in the end. At a breakfast this week at Third Way, a moderate Democratic think tank, polling analyst Bill Schneider and other capital pundits came up with three issues that met with a wary, disapproving public, and ended up with wide popular acceptance: Bill Clinton's 1994 crime bill (which banned assault weapons and put 100,000 new cops on the street), Bush's 2003 Medicare prescription drug program (which I've written about here), and Johnson's legislative crusade for civil rights, woven into the fabric of a nation that just elected a black president.

The national polling on health reform is mixed. The country is split at best over the package pending in Congress, and they don't like the process. But majorities say they support a number of its major components. Polls in Massachusetts following Republican Scott Brown's election to the Senate in January were also mixed. Among the results: A majority of people whose top issue was health reform chose the Democrat, who supported it.

There are aspects of the Democrats' health plan that Obama didn't mention and that cause concern for many -- the requirement that most people buy health insurance, for instance, and the phase-out of expensive private Medicare Advantage plans within the traditional Medicare program. There is also the natural resistance to change among those who have decent coverage they can afford, at least for now.

But the hard fact is there will always be many, many more people with jobs, health insurance and reasonably good health than people enduring medical hardships, tragedies and bankruptcies. Someone has to think about the health have-nots, as well as the big picture on costs, prevention, insurance regulation and the impact of our Swiss cheese insurance system on job mobility and entrepreneurship. It's not going to be individual voters worried about themselves, or inexpert poll respondents caught on the fly. It's got to be our national politicians, led by the president.
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Source: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/03/04/obama-on-health-stunning-arrogance-or-the-edmund-burke-theory-o/?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl1link1http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2010%2F03%2F04%2Fobama-on-health-stunning-arrogance-or-the-edmund-burke-theory-o%2F
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Study: Large Earthquake Could Strike New York City

Environment
Study: Large Earthquake Could Strike New York City
By Robert Roy Britt, LiveScience Managing Editor
posted: 21 August 2008 06:20 pm ET


All known quakes, greater New York-Philadelphia area, 1677-2004, graded by magnitude (M). Peekskill, NY, near Indian Point nuclear power plant, is denoted as Pe. Credit: Sykes et al.


The New York City area is at "substantially greater" risk of earthquakes than previously thought, scientists said Thursday.

Damage could range from minor to major, with a rare but potentially powerful event killing people and costing billions of dollars in damage.

A pattern of subtle but active faults is known to exist in the region, and now new faults have been found. The scientists say that among other things, the Indian Point nuclear power plants, 24 miles north of the city, sit astride the previously unidentified intersection of two active seismic zones.

The findings are detailed in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

Shaky history

While earthquakes are typically thought of as a West Coast phenomenon in the nation, strong quakes do occur in the Eastern United States, just much less frequently. Importantly, the geology of the East — lots of hard rock leftover from glacial times — makes any rumbling travel a lot farther and with greater intensity from the epicenter.

A 5.0 temblor in 1737, for example, knocked down chimneys in New York City and was felt from Boston to Philadelphia. A magnitude-5.5 quake in 1884 did similar damage in a wider region around New York. Another quake in this range struck in 1783.

The new study involved an analysis of past quakes, plus 34 years of new data on temblors, most of them perceptible only by modern seismic instruments. The scientists looked at 383 earthquakes from 1677 to 2007 in a 15,000-square-mile area around New York City, using newspaper records in some cases to estimate temblor magnitudes.

"The evidence charts unseen but potentially powerful structures whose layout and dynamics are only now coming clearer," the scientists said. And even though eastern quakes are infrequent, the risk is high, because of the overwhelming concentration of people and infrastructure, said lead researcher Lynn R. Sykes of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

"The research raises the perception both of how common these events are, and, specifically, where they may occur," he said. "It's an extremely populated area with very large assets."

Based on history, the researchers say quakes at least 5.0 in magnitude should be expected, on average, about every 100 years.

"Today, with so many more buildings and people, a magnitude 5 centered below the city would be extremely attention-getting," said John Armbruster, also from the observatory. "We'd see billions in damage, with some brick buildings falling. People would probably be killed."

Even more serious quakes are possible. The scientists said that the fault lengths and stresses suggest magnitude-6 quakes, or even 7 — which would be 10 and 100 times bigger than magnitude 5 — are "quite possible." They calculate that magnitude-6 quakes take place in the area about every 670 years, and magnitude-7 temblors every 3,400 years.

Evidence mounts

Previous studies have hinted at the potential.

The New York City Area Consortium for Earthquake Loss Mitigation put the cost of theoretically possible large earthquakes in the metro New York area at $39 billion to $197 billion. A separate 2001 analysis for northern New Jersey's Bergen County estimated that a magnitude-7 event could destroy 14,000 buildings and damage 180,000 in that area alone.

The new study revealed a significant previously unknown active seismic zone running at least 25 miles from Stamford, Conn., to the Hudson Valley town of Peekskill, N.Y., where it passes less than a mile north of the Indian Point nuclear power plant. Several small quakes are clustered along its length. It is "probably capable of producing at least a magnitude-6 quake," the researchers said in a statement.

Many eastern quakes are not visible at the surface, so a large quake could hit from a fault no one even knows about.

"The probability is not zero, and the damage could be great," said study co-author Leonardo Seeber. "It could be like something out of a Greek myth."
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The Media, Extremists and Conspiracies, Part Two

AIM Column By Cliff Kincaid March 2, 2010

A contributor to The Nation, TomPaine.com, Mother Jones, and Rolling Stone, Dreyfuss spoke at the New America Foundation on the topic of the “phony clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West.

The Politico piece, "Conservatives Target Their Own Fringe," attempts to identify various extremists within the conservative movement, including the "militia" movement. Writer Kenneth P. Vogel suggests that they include the Oath Keepers who helped co-sponsor the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). But Vogel's effort to link this group to the militia movement, which some people associate with the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, is a charge not backed up by any evidence in the article.

However, the Oath Keepers do have some explaining to do, such as why they associate with Russia Today television favorite Alex Jones, the prominent 9/11 "truther." Jones may posture as a conservative, but he is anything but one.

Oath Keepers is supposed to include currently serving military, veterans, police officers, and firefighters. "Our oath is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and we will not obey unconstitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral orders, such as orders to disarm the American people or to place them under martial law and deprive them of their ancient right to jury trial," the Oath Keepers say. "We Oath Keepers have drawn a line in the sand. We will not 'just follow orders. Our motto is 'Not on our watch!'"

The movement is reminiscent of the grass-roots outrage which emerged after Army Specialist Michael New refused orders to deploy to a United Nations-controlled military operation and was court-martialed under the Clinton Administration and discharged for bad conduct. His father Daniel New and I wrote a book about the case, titled, Michael New: Mercenary or American Soldier. Ominously, advisers to Barack Obama have recommended that he order more U.S. troops to serve the United Nations, in violation of the U.S. Constitution, the law, and soldiers' military oaths.

The trouble is that Oath Keeper Founder Stewart Rhodes and members of his group have closely collaborated with Alex Jones, who is strongly critical of the U.S. military presence in the world and even defended the Russian invasion of the former Soviet republic and now independent country of Georgia. The new Jones film, "Fall of the Republic," has an "extra" feature promoting the Oath Keepers.

Interestingly, Jones has become a regular on Russia Today (RT), the English-language state-owned TV propaganda channel for the Russian government. Last September Russia Today aired a three-part television series about 9/11 being an "inside job."

RT, which has a studio in Washington, D.C., broadcasts in New York, Los Angeles, and the Washington, D.C. area on various cable systems.

Russia Today's Anti-Americanism

More recently, RT has been taking out ads featuring superimposed images of President Barack Obama and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and asking "Who poses the greater nuclear threat?" The implication is that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is as much of a threat--or more--than nuclear weapons in the hands of Muslim fanatics in Iran.

Another RT ad compares U.S. military troops to Islamic terrorists.

Like its Soviet-era predecessors, Russia Today television tends to emphasize stories and interviews that make the United States look bad internationally. As Heritage Foundation scholars Ariel Cohen and Helle C. Dale note in a new study, "The Kremlin is using anti-Americanism as a strategic tool for pursuing domestic and foreign policy goals. Through media controlled or owned by the state, the Russian government is deliberately spreading poisonous anti-U.S. propaganda at home and abroad, blaming many of Russia's problems on the West, particularly the United States."

In the report, "Revolution is the Solution," RT interviewed Carl Dix of the Revolutionary Communist Party about the need for a communist revolution in the U.S. The Russian interviewer sits there stone-faced.

On August 13, 2008, after Russia invaded its former Republic of Georgia, now an independent state, with thousands of troops, RT aired an interview with Gloria La Riva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, blaming U.S. imperialism for the conflict. Four days later, La Riva was quoted on RT again, urging the U.S. to stay out of the region.

Defending Russia

Alex Jones, described as "the U.S. investigative journalist," was himself on RT on August 26, 2008, insisting that the U.S. "private international military industrial complex" had "launched a sneak attack" on the "Russian enclaves" in Georgia in order to support the "U.S.-backed Georgians [and] the Israeli- and NATO-backed Georgians." Jones said the U.S. was guilty of "unprecedented crimes" and urged Russia to continue to occupy the regions it had invaded.

"I apologize as an American that we have let our government be taken over like this," said Jones, who went on to blame "the neo-cons in NATO, in the U.S. and Israel" who "want to have a new Cold War."

Some of Jones' other appearances on the Russia Today propaganda network, according to the channel's website, include:

April 7, 2009. "U.S. is a puppet of private bankers." This story, about the Jones film, "The Obama Deception," claims "America has become a puppet in the hands of private bankers working towards a new world order."
April 29, 2009. "Obama is a would-be dictator." The description reads, "In his first hundred days in office US President Barack Obama has been riding a wave of worldwide support, but not everyone in the US is convinced by his performance, such as prominent radio host Alex Jones."
May 20, 2009. "Alex Jones: the Evil Intent of the Bilderberg Club."
July 14, 2009. "Soviet and American Leaders were in cahoots." The description reads, "As radio host Alex Jones alleged in a recent documentary, it's all supposed to have happened at Bohemian Grove in California, a venue for the world's controlling elite to rub shoulders."
November 23, 2009. "The U.S. Needs a Peaceful Revolution." The description reads, "In an exclusive interview with RT's Anastasia Churkina, an American talk radio host and film director Alex Jones reveals an alternative side of recent US policies." This is about the film "Fall of the Republic."
February 6, 2010. "Radio host Alex Jones sees the new steps to protect the US from cyber attacks as attempts to curb the freedom of speech."
The Alex Jones website www.infowars.net is also consulted by Russia Today television for story ideas, such as when it was cited as the source of the May 2, 2009, claim that U.S. drug companies were responsible for the swine flu outbreak.

"Barack H. Obama, who ran as an anti-war candidate, has continued the war in Iraq, massively expanded the war in Afghanistan, and unleashed a new conflict in Pakistan," Jones says in his new "Fall of the Republic" film. "Obama is promoting the biggest defense budget in history, dwarfing George Bush's war machine."

"Obama expanded Bush's doctrine of indefinite detention of foreigners without trial," Jones says, then proving his point by showing a clip of liberal lesbian commentator Rachel Maddow lamenting on her MSNBC-TV program that Obama had endorsed a policy of "prolonged detention" for accused terrorists.

So Alex Jones and Rachel Maddow are both critics of Obama from the left. Perhaps they can appear on each other's shows.

The Lyndon LaRouche Connection

Jones, who attracts some conservatives to his cause by blending some conservative information into his films, relies heavily on Webster Tarpley, a former member of the Lyndon LaRouche organization which specializes in blaming Zionists, Britain and the Queen of England for the world's problems. Rather than being any kind of conservative, LaRouche is a former Marxist and Democratic Party presidential candidate who served prison time on financial fraud charges. His group got its start as a faction of the Students for a Democratic Society. It was then known as the National Caucus of Labor Committees.

Back in the 1980s, the LaRouche movement was considered a mouthpiece for a pro-Soviet line in foreign affairs. Its members specialized in confusing conservatives about communist and Soviet intentions.

Tarpley, who appears prominently in "Fall of the Republic," as well as Jones' previous film, "The Obama Deception," wrote a book about Obama insisting that his childhood mentor, Communist Party member Frank Marshall Davis, was not a true Marxist and that Karl Marx himself was a British agent.

Tarpley's ideas get around on the right and left. At the 2007 national left-wing "media reform" conference, sponsored by the George Soros-funded Free Press, Tarpley's books were being sold along with volumes by popular "progressives" such as Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn. Tarpley was a special guest for two hours on the now-bankrupt Air America liberal radio network. His website touts his appearances on the Russia Today television network, including a recent case in which he asserted that "The recent failed attack on a US passenger jet traveling from Amsterdam to Detroit was a set-up provocation controlled by US intelligence..."

Tarpley's books are available through the interestingly-named Progressive Press.

But don't look for any stories about how "progressive" collaboration with Alex Jones and Webster Tarpley constitutes a problem for the liberal establishment.

The Nation Magazine's LaRouche Connection

In this context, it is interesting to note that The Nation magazine, a premier "progressive" publication, features the writings of Robert Dreyfuss, another former LaRouche collaborator.

A contributor to The Nation, TomPaine.com, Mother Jones, and Rolling Stone, Dreyfuss spoke at the New America Foundation on the topic of the "phony clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West. When he worked for LaRouche, Dreyfuss specialized in exposing "Zionist" plots. His current focus is writing against the U.S. "occupation" of Iraq and arguing that the U.S. can accept a nuclear-armed Iran.

The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel employs Dreyfuss, who writes a blog for the publication, and praises the return of communist "truther" Van Jones to the Center for American Progress. "Yes, it was a misstep to sign a 911truth.org petition," she writes. "But Jones repudiated his signature and said the petition's wording didn't then and doesn't now represent his views."

She says nothing about his involvement in the revolutionary communist STORM (Standing Together To Organize a Revolutionary Movement) organization, which also caused scrutiny of his views, and why his resignation statement was written by White House officials with no input from Jones himself. Information linking Van Jones to Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett and Obama himself appeared just before it was announced that Jones was resigning.

That's also when our media dropped the story.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report and can be reached at cliff.kincaid@aim.org
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Source: http://www.aim.org/aim-column/the-media-extremists-and-conspiracies-part-two
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Paterson demands: Facts, not fiction



Paterson demands:Facts, not fiction

Each day, since the New York Times began a series of articles on Gov. David Paterson’s aide David Johnson, accused of domestic violence, the situation gets a little graver for the embattled governor.


More of this story

Bible study in a bar? Church planters draw followers, criticism


By Bob Smietana • THE TENNESSEAN • February 13, 2010



The Rev. Jeremy Rose pours a glass of water during a religious discussion at J & J's Market & Cafe in Nashville. Rose's church has ties to Acts 29, a group known for its unconventional methods. JOHN PARTIPILO / THE TENNESSEAN



One of the first rules for ministers starting a new church: Don't hang out in your office. Go out and meet people.


That's an easy one for the Rev. Jeremy Rose to follow.


His startup congregation in Nashville, known as The Axis Church, doesn't have a building or any office space. On Monday night, Rose and five guys from his church sat around a table at J & J's Market & Cafe in Nashville, drinking beer and talking about Jesus.
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A Wideness in Gods Mercy? (Billy Graham)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gBTZljN0_Yhttp://

JohnMacArthurGTY

February 28, 2010

Post your comments here: http://www.gty.org/Blog/B100228

These comments by evangelicalism's most famous evangelist are clearly out of sync with the biblical gospel. And yet, there are many today who cant seem to figure out what's true. Others don't seem to have the will to figure it out—they've become indolent and indifferent about truth and error. It's as if people prefer the Dark Ages to the Reformation....

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Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them


Ephesians 5


1Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

2And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

3But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

4Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

5For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

6Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

7Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

8For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

10Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

12For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

13But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

14Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

20Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

21Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

32This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

33Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Taiwan Jolted by 6.4 Quake


ASIA NEWS
MARCH 3, 2010, 8:05 P.M. ET
Taiwan Jolted by 6.4 Quake




TAIPEI -- An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter Scale hit the Kaohsiung area in southern Taiwan early Thursday, the island's Central Weather Bureau said.


The earthquake lasted for 53 seconds, it said.


The bureau said the earthquake's intensity was measured two on the Richter Scale in Taiwan's capital city Taipei and in Hsinchu, where many of the island's technology companies are located.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.


Write to Perris Lee Choon Siong at perris.lee@dowjones.com

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Obama appoints brother of undecided House Democrat to appellate court


By John McCormack - Weekly Standard 03/03/10 at 7:43 PM

President Barack Obama speaks about health care, Wednesday, March 3, 2010, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)


Tonight, Barack Obama will host 10 House Democrats who voted against the health care bill in November at the White House; he’s obviously trying to persuade them to switch their votes to yes. One of the ten is Jim Matheson of Utah. The White House just sent out a press release announcing that today President Obama nominated Matheson’s brother Scott M. Matheson, Jr. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

“Scott Matheson is a distinguished candidate for the Tenth Circuit court,” President Obama said. “Both his legal and academic credentials are impressive and his commitment to judicial integrity is unwavering. I am honored to nominate this lifelong Utahn to the federal bench.”

Scott M. Matheson, Jr.: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
So, Scott Matheson appears to have the credentials to be a judge, but was his nomination used to buy off his brother’s vote?
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Earthquake hits Taiwan, no initial reports of damage


TAIPEI
Wed Mar 3, 2010 7:44pm EST

TAIPEI (Reuters) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 shook Taiwan on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, officials said.

World

Taiwan uses the Richter scale to measure earthquake intensity. The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 6.5.

The epicenter of the quake, which struck at 8:18 am (0018 GMT), was around the southern city of Kaohsiung at a depth of 5 km, the Central Weather Bureau said.

Earthquakes occur frequently in Taiwan, which lies on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin.

One of Taiwan's worst-recorded quakes occurred in September 1999. Measuring 7.6, it killed more than 2,400 people and destroyed or damaged 50,000 buildings.

(Reporting by Jonathan Standing; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)


Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62304M20100304
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NEW WORLD ORDER.THE DEVIL IN THE VATICAN!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLp9xigjajMhttp://


xlivescom
April 10, 2008

NEW WORLD ORDER.
THE DEVIL IN THE VATICAN.
NWO
GLOBAL FASCISM
DEVIL WORSHIP

VATICAN RESPONDS TO THIS VIDEO
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wor...

........................................ ........................................ ..........................

Due to the efforts of fellow youtube users this series is being translated into other languages, any one that feels that they can help in this endeavour please contact me. Anyone who can help with the German translations should contact youtube user "7PeerLeSs" who will be working on the German translation.
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Nigel Farage fined after Herman Van Rompuy slur

Ukip's European leader Nigel Farage has been fined £2,700 after refusing to say sorry for a colourful outburst against the new European president.

By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels
Published: 5:11PM GMT 02 Mar 2010

Nigel Farage has been fined after calling Herman Van Rompuy 'wet rag'


Mr Farage used Herman Van Rompuy's maiden speech to the European Parliament last week to describe him as having the "charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low grade bank clerk".

He was summoned in by EU officials to explain his comments but said his only apology would be to bank clerks.

Yves Leterme, Belgium's Prime Minister, has demanded a public apology for the "slander" and Mr Farage's added "insult" that Mr Van Rompuy was a "quiet assassin" hostile to the sovereignty of nation states because he came from the "non-country" of Belgium.

Mr Farage was called to the office of Jerzy Buzek, the President of the European Parliament, and told to publicly apologise to Mr Van Rompuy and Belgium "or else".

"I said he had the charisma of a damp rag and I challenge you to find anyone who would say any different to that," he said, "The only people I am going to apologise to are bank clerks the world over. If I have offended them I am very sorry indeed."

Following the meeting, Mr Farage was informed by Mr Buzek that he would be fined EUR3,000, to be deducted from his MEP allowances, for the comments.

Mr Buzek, a former member of the Polish Solidarity movement which fought against Communism in the 1980s, said Mr Farage had “insulted the dignity” of the new EU president.

“I cannot accept this sort of behaviour,” he said. “I have therefore - as an expression of the seriousness of the matter - rescinded his right to ten days’ daily allowance as a member.”

The latest incident follows an official reprimand last November for "violating the dignity of the individual" after he described the newly appointed Mr Van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton, the EU foreign minister, as "political pygmies".

"The atmosphere in the room was pretty clear, unless I apologise, what will happen to me would be severe," said Mr Farage. "I am not going to apologise if I have sparked off a debate on vital issues such as who governs the EU and are they democratically accountable. That's a good thing to have done."
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Students Evacuated From Detroit School After Explosive Device Detonated

Wednesday, March 03, 2010


DETROIT — A student threw a homemade explosive device in the hallway of a school on Wednesday, causing it to leak fumes and forcing the school's evacuation but not injuring anyone, authorities said.

The student from the Phoenix Multi-Cultural Academy was taken into police custody for questioning, Detroit Police spokesman John Roach said.

The school district released a statement saying the device consisted of a plastic bottle that contained household cleaning supplies. It said the device released smoke after it was thrown.

Roach said the device released "powerful fumes" and likely some liquid, and that the bomb squad recovered its remains.

The pre-kindergarten-through-8th grade school with 540 students was evacuated and students were transferred to the nearby Roberto Clemente Learning Academy.

Detroit Public Schools' spokeswoman Jennifer Mrozowski said the district would not be identifying the student taken into custody.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Robert Bobb, the district's emergency financial manager, met before the start of the current school year with security experts, community leaders, parents and students to discuss safety and security in and around schools. Several shootings last year and 2008 raised safety concerns.

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Source:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587840,00.html
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Death Toll in Ugandan Landslide Rising

Officials in Uganda say nearly 80 people have been killed and about 300 others are missing and feared dead

Alisha Ryu Nairobi 03 March 2010


Photo: AP
In this photo made from TV people are seen in hospital in the Bududa region of Uganda, following heavy rains which triggered landslides, 02 Mar 2010



Officials in Uganda say nearly 80 people have been killed and about 300 others are missing and feared dead following a massive landslide late Monday in a remote part of eastern Uganda.

Ugandan army engineers have been sent to the region of Bududa, about 250 kilometers northeast of the capital, Kampala, to aid rescuers working frantically to find survivors.

Seventy-seven bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of at least 85 homes spread out over three villages. Uganda's Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru says many more are feared dead under tons of mud and debris.

"It is believed that probably about 300 people could be dead. The army is leading a team now. The trouble is you cannot use modern equipment because the terrain is so bad. You can only reach that place by foot and you need to be physically fit to do that," said Ecweru.

About 100 of the missing are children, who had earlier taken shelter in a health center now buried in mud. Ecweru says lack of mechanical diggers means rescuers can only use handheld tools, making search and rescue especially difficult and time-consuming.

Rain is also continuing to fall in the area, causing widespread flooding and blocking access to the remote region. Ugandan Red Cross workers say they have asked the army to help clear water and debris from roads so that they can begin delivering tents, blankets, jerry cans, and other essential items.

Weeks of heavy rain triggered the mudslide, which began on the slopes of nearby Mount Elgon. The affected area is technically inside a national park. But in recent years, people have encroached into the park, cutting down trees to make way for crops. Extensive deforestation is thought to have contributed to the disaster.

A global weather condition known as El Nino has caused torrential downpours in eastern Uganda and neighboring Kenya in the past two months. January and February are usually considered a dry period between rainy seasons.

With at least one more month of heavy rains predicted, Ugandan authorities have ordered an evacuation of all villages near Mount Elgon.
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Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Quit Smoking!


Global treaty may make your ISP spy on you


February 23, 2010 11:46 AM
Global treaty may make your ISP spy on you
Paul Marks, technology correspondent


Documents from talks on a secret global copyright deal have leaked online, various sources are reporting. The documents discussed are said to confirm that internet service providers could be compelled to constantly sift through their customers' data looking for copyright transgressions. The European Union's data protection chief has said that such requirements could curtail individuals' civil liberties.

It's the latest twist in the tale of ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which has been swiftly and secretly negotiated by the 27 nations of the European Union, the US, Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Jordan, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.

The leak, detailed by PC World magazine, covers ACTA's "enforcement procedures in the digital environment". The draft being circulated says that ISPs operating in nations that have signed up to ACTA would be forced to operate "automatic technical processes" to detect copyright-infringing activities.

Translated, that means they must examine data transferred by their customers for signs of copyrighted material, using the kind of deep packet inspection technology more typical of security services.

ISPs told New Scientist in December that such technology will not only slow downloads, but puts in place technology that could be used for snooping and censorship.

The leaked draft being circulated also says that those who ignore two warnings about infringing may have their internet connections severed by the state under a "three strikes" rule.

In France, the government has already introduced a measure along these lines. It was declared unconstitutional, but the government then amended it and introduced it again.
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The United States of Corporate America: From Democracy to Plutocracy


Friday, January 22, 2010

The United States of Corporate America: From Democracy to Plutocracy

"The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."
Plato, ancient Greek philosopher


...“The 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.”
Alex Carey, Australian social scientist


“The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions: kings and princes, priestly castes, military juntas, party dictatorships, or modern corporations.”
Noam Chomsky, M.I.T. emeritus Professor of Linguistics


On Tuesday, January 19 (2010), the Obama administration got a kick in the pants from the Massachusetts voters when they filled former Senator Ted Kennedy's seat by electing a conservative Republican candidate. The essence of their message was: stop dithering and start governing; stop trying to satisfy the bankers and please the anonymous editors of Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal, and start caring for the ordinary people.

Two days later, President Barack Obama seemed to have understood the people's message when he announced a “Volcker rule” that will forbid large banks from owning hedge funds that make money by placing large bets against their own clients, using information that these same clients gave them. It was about time. Such a policy should have been announced months ago, if not years ago.

On the same day, however, a nonelected body, the U.S. Supreme Court, threw a different challenge to the Obama administration. Indeed, on Thursday January 21 (2010), a Republican-appointed majority on the U.S. Supreme Court took it upon itself to profoundly change the U.S. Constitution and American democracy. Indeed, in what can be labeled a most reactionary decision, the Roberts U.S. Supreme Court, ruled that legal entities, such as corporations and labor unions, have the same purely personal rights to free speech as living individuals. Indeed, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech.

The only problem with such a wide interpretation of the U.S. Bills of Rights (N.B.: The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights) is that this runs contrary to its letter and its spirit, since it clearly states later on that "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people, and reserves all powers not granted to the federal government to the citizenry or States.” The words “people” and “citizenry” clearly refer here to living human beings, not to legal or artificial entities such as business corporations, labor unions, financial organizations or political lobbies.

Such entities, for example, cannot vote in an election. Indeed, laws governing voting rights in the United States clearly establish that only “Adult citizens of the United States who are residents of one of the 50 states have the right to participate fully in the political system of the United States”. No mention is made of corporations or other legal entities.

However, with its January 21 (2010) decision, the majority on the Roberts U.S. Supreme Court is saying in effect that even if artificial entities cannot vote in an election, they can spend as much money as they like to influence the outcome of an election. Money is speech for them, and the more a legal entity has of it, the more it has a right to become powerful politically and control the political agenda.

In fact, what Chief Justice Roberts and his conservative Supreme Court majority have done is to overcome a century-old democratic tradition in the United States in granting a constitutional right to business corporations and to banks, (because they are really the ones with a lot of money), to use their enormous resources to not only participate in debates about public issues, but also, and above all, to de facto dictate the election of candidates of their choice to public office.

That's plutocracy, not democracy!

Plutocracy is defined as a political system characterized by “the rule by the wealthy, or power provided by wealth.” Democracy, on the other hand, is defined as a political system where political power belongs to the people. This means “a political government either carried out directly by the people (direct democracy) or by means of elected representatives of the people (representative democracy). The terms "the power to the people" are derived from the words "people" and "power" in Greek.

This fundamental idea of democracy was well summarized by President Abraham Lincoln, in his 1863 Gettysburg Address, when he said that it is “a government of the people, by the people and for the people.” This is a definition that is based on the basic democratic principle of equality among human beings.

But now, the Roberts Court's decision must have made President Lincoln turn in his grave, because that decision, in effect, transfers political power from the living “people” to artificial corporate entities, with tons of money to spend. If Congress does not act quickly to reverse this decision, legal entities will be able to spend freely in the media to support or oppose political candidates for president and Congress, and this, as far as the last moment of a political campaign. This is quite something!

By a stroke of the pen, the Roberts Court has thus abolished the laws governing American electoral financing and removed limits to how much special money interests can spend to have the elected officials they want. The government they want will largely be “a government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations.” Truly amazing!

To reflect the new political philosophy of the five-member majority of the Roberts Court, the Preambule of the U.S. Constitution that says “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union...” should, maybe, more appropriately be changed for “We, the business corporations of America...”

It is that much more ironic that the word “corporation” appears nowhere in the U.S. Constitution or in the Bill of Rights. It is scarcely conceivable that the drafters of the Constitution had anything resembling corporate entities in mind when they drafted the Bill of Rights. But the Roberts Court majority does not seem to agree with Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Mason...etc. Because of their decision, the five conservative members of the U. S. Supreme Court of today have become the new Fathers of the U. S. Constitution.

For nearly a century, it has been assumed that the U.S. Bill of Rights protected persons, not corporations. Even if sometimes the courts have extended the rights of the 14th Amendment banning the deprivation of property without due process or equal protection of the law to the property of corporations, it was never thought that the purely personal rights of the first Amendment of the Bill of Rights applied to corporate entities as well as to human beings. This is understandable. Business corporations are created through legislation that gives them potentially perpetual life and limited liability to enhance their efficiency as economic entities. While such characteristics can be beneficial in the economic sphere, they represent special dangers in the political sphere. That is the rationale for not extending constitutional rights to purely legal entities.

But now, the five-member majority of the Roberts Court have said that such legalized artificial entities have the same constitutionally protected rights to engage in political activities as living individuals.

In conclusion, let us reiterate that in a democracy—and as it is clearly established also in the U.S. Bill of Rights and in all democratic constitutions—the citizens are the only legitimate source of law. It follows inexorably that corporations, not being citizens, cannot be legitimate political actors. Chief Justice Roberts and his conservative Supreme Court majority have thus badly erred in their anti-democratic judgment.

Their judgment is clearly revolutionary or, more precisely, counter-revolutionary.


Rodrigue Tremblay
[http://www.thenewamericanempire.com/author.htm] 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 coming book "The Code for Global Ethics" at: http://www.TheCodeForGlobalEthics.com/

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Posted, Friday, January 22, 2010, at 5:30 am
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