Saturday, December 27, 2008

Israel Commits War Crimes… Again!













By: Stewart Brennan

I condemn Israel for their continued War Crimes on the Palestinian People! I urge EVERY person on our planet to stand up and put an end to Israel’s brutal attacks on the Palestinian people. Boycott Israel, call your leaders and tell them to put a stop to these evil bastards. Let them know you have had enough of these Israeli war crimes, and if your leaders do not listen, then let them know that they will be held responsible and accountable! It is time that the entire World puts a stop to Israel’s evil aggression.

I am completely outraged at yet another violent attack by Israel on the Palestinian People, and I am ashamed of my own Country of Canada for not taking action! Words are NOT enough when War Crimes are being committed. Maybe Canada should send aid and peacekeepers to Palestine for their protection against Israel instead of whatever it is they are doing in Afghanistan?

Maybe other countries should consider protecting the Palestinian people also, and maybe we should tear down the wall that the Israelis have erected, or maybe we should blockade Israel all together until they stop their apartheid, military aggression, and genocide of the Palestinian people!!!

How can the leaders of the World sit back and allow Israel to carry out aerial attacks on innocent human beings? …How would you feel if Israeli planes, guns and bombs, targeted your children? To think that I had to watch and hear the screams of parents running with the lifeless bodies of their children in their arms grieves me to no end. The so called mainstream reporters would have you believe that Israel is justified for carrying out these attacks while the lifeless bodies of woman, children and men, lie blown to bits by evil aggression!

The Western News media does nothing to help stop this horror. Do they report the real news, or a one-sided propaganda smear? What about moral responsibility to humanity? Why are the mainstream journalists not putting the tough moral questions to the so-called leaders of the Western World? Are they investigative Journalists or are they smear puppets in an Imperial News Corporation? If they are in conflict with their bosses, why don’t they organize so that they CAN bring the real news to the masses?

Our so called western media and Political leaders would have you believe that Israel is justified for killing woman and children, They will tell you that apartheid by Israel on the Palestinians is not happening, and that an elected government of Palestine is not legitimate. Is it me, or do they sound like they are a bunch of assholes backed by an Israeli Lobby group? AIPAC, Bnai Brith perhaps?

Israel has declared War on the Palestinian people and has subjected them to living as jailed or caged animals on strict rations, just like the Nazi’s did to the Jews of Europe in the 1930’s. Israeli Zionists enact the same brutality on the native inhabitants of Palestine as the Nazi’s did to the Jews of Europe. We are told in our schools, news mediums, and movies, to never forget what happened to the Jews of Europe. In fact, this has become so entrenched in Western Political Doctrine by Israeli lobby groups that they insist we remember or risk being branded as anti Semitic.

Well I will go one further, and say that a Zionist is the same as a Nazi, an evil-minded oppressionist that inflicts fear, hatred, and violence to justify their existence.

Maybe Great Britain and the USA should not have created Israel as a homeland for European Jews after World War 2. I am sure that my father, a veteran of WW2, would have been disgusted by the acts committed by this brutal Zionist regime. After all, he fought to end tyranny and oppression by the Nazi’s during WW2…and back then, the Western nations would have you believe that they were moral law abiding nations.

I am ashamed of all the Countries that continue to allow these brutal and evil attacks on human life. Who ever is in support of Israel and their justification for killing people in Palestine, Lebanon, or Syria, are incarnate monsters and the real problem of our World today. Attitudes such as that of Zionist Israel will destroy the World with War.

Is this what awaits my Children & Grand Children? More Wars? Maybe we need to replace those who pretend to rule the World in good faith. The way I see it, these so called leaders have done nothing but destroy life in their greedy attempt to demand a “New World Order”. A phrase Adolph Hitler used often when justifying the Third Reich. Western Leaders of today, use these words often, in fact it seems to be their sole agenda. Who are behind those words, and what do they really want?

The biggest Zionist Lobby Groups are AIPAC and Bnai Brith. They will insist that Israel is justified for attacking the Palestinians and push their agenda with ALL Western Leaders.

Real Christians, Jews, and Muslims “DO NOT SUPPORT the ZIONIST AGENDA of ETHNIC CLEANSING!”

There are 1000’s of ways to resolve conflict but Israel always uses brute force to kill hundreds of people every time they lash out…what is the difference between the Nazi’s of the 1930’s and the Zionist’s today? Nothing!

Israel has not evolved with moral principals and does not deserve any more patience by the people of the World. Israel should never have been imposed on the Palestinian people to begin with. Creating Israel was the single most destructive error made after World War 2.


Reform the U.N.

Its time to put an end to the post World War 2 U.N. Security Council. Peace is up to ALL nations and not the 5 Permanent members. Its time for ALL nations to have a say in international affairs. If the World is going to progress then it will be up to ALL nations to lead and not just 5 nations that dictate terms!

Moral decisions cannot be made with a United Nations controlled by the 5 permanent Security Council members. If the UN decides to grow up and reform the Security Council, we will then be in a position to take a moral path as a species where all mankind will be equal!

If the U.N. does not evolve and decides to maintain the status quo of a 5 Country dictatorship then the World will be doomed to the very worst that these blood thirsty nations can dream up…such as Israel, and the constant pardon they receive after committing atrocities.

I call on every Human Being to stand up! Stand up and let your voices be heard. Tell our leaders that Israel must be tried for War Crimes and that taking life is NOT acceptable. Free the Palestinian people!!!

Please see this very important video called Occupation 101.


Occupation 101






Sunday, December 7, 2008

Steven Harper Divides a Country






The fiasco in Ottawa that the Harper Minority Government initiated last week has insulted a majority of Canadians while having the effect of tearing our country apart from a name calling session in which Medicare supporters were called socialists in league with separatists to destroy Canada. What the Hell were you thinking Mr. Harper? This type of fear mongering and labeling has divided our Country at a time when unity is called for.

For those who might not be aware, Canada’s Prime Minister Steven Harper and his Conservative Party were faced with a determined Coalition of political representatives elected by the majority of Canadians. Harper panicked after a vicious name calling session with uncalled for labeling that would have made US Republican Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy smile in his Grave. The Conservatives grasped at the one thing that they thought could save their government, to “Prorogue” Parliament. The outcome has caused an immediate rift and division in this country, which may not heal for a long time. Was the name calling intended Mr. Steven Harper, or was it your genuine feelings of the Canadian people?

The Lead Up to Division:

Over the past 2 1/2 years, Steven Harper’s minority government has bullied the opposition into accepting Conservative legislation in the House of Commons. Some would say that weak opposition leaders failed to take advantage and were not able to agree on tactics to stop the Conservatives from railroading their agenda into law. That is a debate on its own, however, as a Canadian, I am not happy about the way Liberal leader Stephan Dion handled the Conservative legislation because, I was taught that when faced with confrontation you stand up for your principals while keeping an open mind. You then VOTE on them to show your character and moral stance if that is the situation as was Dion’s. You do NOT stand up, turn your back, stick your fingers in your ears and act as children. The consequences of those actions have now come to fruition.

If the Opposition Parties were afraid of the consequences that an election might have on their future, then an immediate change in leadership should have been the remedy. Looking back, Stephan Dion did not show a quality of character that people could admire and the Conservatives knew it when they called an election for last October 15th.

A word of advice to all politicians, when representing the people who voted for you, at the very least, you must show that you have moral values and backbone by opposing legislation that is pointed against the principals of your constituents and VOTE!

Advice to the Liberals:

The Liberals need to look at the immediate future and their options with the prospects of a dictatorial budget imposed on the Canadian people by a Conservative party that does not believe in Social Programs. On January 26th, not only will this be a confidence vote but a crucial point in Canadian History. If the Liberal Party does NOT replace Dion before this date and bring the Harper Government down on a non-confidence vote, the Conservatives will push their agenda forward against the majority of the people, and the wounds will deepen. The results will be disastrous and Canada will have a renewed Constitutional crisis during an economic tsunami that will most definitely cause hardship and political determination.

It is imperative that the Conservative government is brought down on the division issue, however, without a new Liberal leader, the month of May is a long time away and a non confidence vote in January would surely bring about the possibility of an election before May. In this situation, the Liberals are not ready to face the House with strength because with Dion at the helm, the Canadian people will not vote for a party, which has a leader that did not demonstrate backbone on fundamental principals that should have been demonstrated long ago. Liberals who turn their back, put their hands in their pockets, or simply do not vote on important issues do not get to stay on as Leader of the Opposition. Nor do they gain the respect of the Canadian people. The Stephan Dion Liberals embarrassed Canadians, and that is something the Conservatives know all too well.

On the other hand, if the Liberals choose a new leader before January 26th 2009, they will go into Parliament ready for what ever is thrown at them weather it is an election, or a coalition government. The Liberals may not get the full backing of Quebec voters, but it is even more likely that the Conservatives will lose all their backing in Quebec. A Majority government will then depend on the voters in Ontario; so don’t be surprised if the Conservatives focus their interests there.

Moving Forward?

The Harper Conservatives have decided that this is the time to pick on the Canadian people and create division in our nation, which in my mind is a treasonable offence on the Canadian People! Harper has demonstrated once again that dictators do indeed live in Canada and that his panicky response to “Prorogue” Parliament when faced with a determined opposition has divided the Country. The decision by Canada’s Governor General’s “Michaelle Jean”, to grant Stephen Harper his wish to “Prorogue Parliament” leaves a distasteful burning question as to the function of a position that is redundant and has ties to an overseeing monarchy from another Country.

The aftermath of this should be troubling to the Conservatives because they have just lost all their Federal votes in Quebec in the next election. The barometer in this fiasco will be the outcome of the Quebec Provincial election in mid December 2008. Some people may not remember that Quebec Provincial Premier Jean Charest was a Conservative under Brian Mulrooney in the 80’s and 90’s before he switched his focus to Provincial Politics and changed parties to become a Liberal. The timing of Harpers outburst against social program supporters and French Canadians stinks of dictatorial division wrapped up in an “I told you so” excuse to the Canadian people about Quebec separation.

Jean Charest will most assuredly loose the Provincial Election in Quebec on December 8th in large part to his own shortcomings, but now guaranteed due to Harpers outburst and finger pointing to the Quebec Separatists as nation killers. Harpers accusations have the French majority in Quebec furious with this perceived attack on their identity.

The wrath of Quebec’s francophone speaking majority will unfold with their choice of political parties in the coming Quebec Provincial election to make a point of their displeasure at Harper’s words. The ensuing focus of those political parties will be on the continued eradication of the English speaking community within Quebec.

The Anglophone community has been brutally attacked and nearly destroyed by apartheid type laws, which have set the standards in attitudes of the majority francophone citizens. Harpers comments will most assuredly put the final nails in a community’s coffin by an eager population that needs to focus blame.

The unrest does not just stop there. Out west in Alberta there is also talk about Separation and how the East doesn’t care about their interests. Are those people talking about politicians from the east or the people that live there when they focus their anger? It seems that Steven Harper is intent on creating division in this country and you have to wonder why.

The solution to this quagmire of political BS is for the Canadian people to call for Steven Harper's resignation, and for Mr. Dion, to CALL FOR A LIBERAL LEADERSHIP CONVENTION in early January!

To all political wannabee’s, if you want to see what the real majority of Canadians want or who the Harper Conservatives are? Please click on the link below and view the video taken at the Conservative convention in Winnipeg last November 15th. You have to wonder what they conspired about in their private convention that no one outside their party was allowed to attend.

Canadian Protest Nov. 15th 2008 Winnipeg Manitoba
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8rrAdMqqoE&eurl=http://www.youtube.com/user/minstral2

Block Harper Rally Nov 15th 2008 (Winnipeg)
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=block+harper+winnipeg+november+15&emb=0&aq=f#

Sincerely,
Stewart Brennan
(Former Irish Anglophone Resident from Quebec)

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Steven Harper Must GO!

Photo By: Stewart Brennan The recent events that have transpired in Canadian Politics has left me in an extremely angry mood, ripe with hostility and ready to take an extremely angry stand against the Conservative government and Steven Harper. The insulting attack’s he aimed at the opposition parties these past days reflects his true feelings towards the majority of the Canadian people. When Harper shouted obscenities in the House of Commons about socialists and separatists conspiring to kill Canada, he was really shouting insults at 65% of the Canadian people who did not vote for his Conservative Party. These fear mongering tactics have been seen more recently in the USA and in particular with George Bush’s Cabinet where fear mongering is the Conservative way. I swear I heard Stephen Harper allude to “Your either with us or against us!” Well I’ve had quite enough of this type of CRAP. It seems to me that Steven Harper and the Conservatives are intent on destroying Canada by trying to suspend government at the most crucial of economic times by asking the Governor General to Prorogue the House of Commons. I call on the Governor General to refuse Steven Harper’s request to Prorogue government and ask that Michaelle Jean allow our Canadian system of democracy to run its course. IF that means a vote of Non – Confidence, then so be it! Allow the coalition to govern afterwards so that Canadians will have someone steering the ship during this economic nightmare! Did anybody else notice all the fear mongering out of Harpers mouth? Harper has rekindled a constitutional crisis and set up divisions between Canadians. HOW DARE HE! A continuation of this course will only result in the destruction in the foundation of our Country. Canada voted but did not give you a majority Mr. Harper because they do not trust you, and rightly so. Its time for you to GO! Sincerely, Stewart Brennan Winnipeg, Manitoba

Saturday, November 1, 2008

The Madness We Call Reality














This is a repost of an article I wrote a year ago (Oct 20th 2007)


By: Stewart Brennan

Everyday we engage in a pressure cooker of daily routines that become more complex and energy consuming as time passes. These sophisticated routines we burden ourselves with, squeezes every last bit of energy out of us until we are practically disabled. What is it that has all of us in a mindless hurry? What is it that empowers us to be an active participant in this “thing” that drives our daily lives and society? Is it real or imagined? I say its time to take a good look at this madness we call reality.

What is this… “Thing”?

It has been chipping away at the foundation of civilization for a very long time. It has crept into and has woven a belief within our minds, and it guides us in everything we do. Those that have control of this “thing” dictate our very existence. “They” use it against us and control our actions with it. “They” will say anything and do everything to grab our attentions away from knowing the truth. They bombard us with planned suggestion to support this “thing” that they control.

The “thing” I am taking about is “money”, and “They” the “Private Bankers”, are the ones who control and Print it. We are totally subservient to them and their money system. It has disconnected us from our free collective ability and isolated us from each other.

Civilization should be based on the wonderful capabilities and accomplishments that humanity has achieved and not on money. Humanity should not be controlled by a few individuals but by the moral pillars of what is honest, and truthful in a just society.

Commercialism impedes our focus on reality:

You can call this monetary system a misguided direction or plan, or whatever you want…Capitalism, Imperialism, or Dictatorship, it doesn’t matter. The real problem, and driver of the current system is the money-maker, his printed-paper, and an idea called financial wealth.

If we choose to remain on this path of “financial wealth”, we will always be controlled by the few that have set their sights on acquiring and controlling anything and everything. If we continue to embrace this system of money and not in the ability of our collective selves, mankind will perish from the Earth.

Remember, “Wealth is in the Soul”, not the bank, or stock market.

What Do We Do?

Today, our survival is in the hands of corrupt bankers and corporations that hire politicians to make laws that benefit the corrupt few instead of the population.

If mankind is to survive, he must evolve out of the illusion that economics portrays and into the Global reality of unity. The reality is that we need to help each other to progress as a species. The purpose in life is not enslavement by debt, but to work collectively for the betterment of mankind or the society. We need to remove the illusion of monetary wealth. Real wealth is not in a bank account, precious metal, or abundance of material. “Wealth is in the Soul”! Imagine a World without money.

Private Bankers and their system of financial wealth have created a World that is dysfunctional. It enslaves society to keep it running. The leaders of the financial system decide on who gets food, water, medicine, and who lives and dies. It makes weapons of mass destruction, and makes tyrants and slaves. Money is the root of all our problems.

A “Society based on money” robs us of our ability to think freely. Our attentions are taken away by commercialism via communication devices like the cell phone, television, radio, and Internet. All of which portray an unrealistic bubble that most people have come to believe is reality. The system is blindly supported by many and not questioned because those that control the system have told you not to question it.

Together we can remove the oppression that money and corrupt officials have imposed on society. Let's create a “World United” where everyone goes to sleep on a full stomach, has enough water to sustain themselves, has the medicine to treat sickness, and schools to teach the values and responsibilities of being alive. Lack of Money should not impede our helping others. It is morally wrong to say that helping someone costs too much! Remove the controlling element of money from society and the future begins to look brighter.

Basic Survival:

Many of us have forgotten how to take care of ourselves and those around us when money is not involved, and I am sure the prospect scares you. The reality is that we have been disconnected from nature and do not have control of our destiny. We need to regain control of our lives… We are supposed to be integrated with nature...that is what is missing in our lives! That missing element in your life, the hole in your soul, that void we try and fill but never seem to satisfy…is our connection to nature.

One day, everything will stop…No more “Grid Electricity”, no more running water, transportation, which means no more food deliveries to stores. Think about how you would survive without electricity…no more communications. TV, radio, Internet, telephones, will all be silent. No more modern-day communications.

Does anyone remember how to build a fire, purify water, gather food, build their own shelters, know what plants and roots will cure your ailments? The world we know or knew will be gone, and that can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be.

Knowledge is your Salvation:

Our Grandparents or great grandparents and for some of us, our parents, knew how to survive hard times. They also warned us about the Private bankers and their money. My generation grew up without knowledge of hard times. We are the TV generation, born and raised.

Right now, we need to prepare for the collapse of the American Empire and the financial system that controls the World…and that means to learn everything about basic survival.

We need to get involved now by building trust in our communities. Reconnect with nature. We have to approach life as a unified community. The very lives of our children and grand children depends upon it.

Money and its guarantee of greed is the destroyer of our World. It is the sole reason for war. All crimes committed are sprung directly or indirectly from greed and the society that money created. In a future world devastated by economic upheaval…survival will come down to who was ready.

Disconnected from Nature:

We are now completely disconnected from nature and our symbiotic relationship with it. Individually, we no longer know how to provide the basic needs we require to survive. We are completely dependent on the function of the current economic system and the direction we have embraced is leading us to complete destruction. But now, “The Financial System” appears to be feeding on its self.

The foundation on which our modern world is built is crumbling, and with it the whole world will fall because government would have you believe that being a social society is evil when in fact it is quite the opposite.

Humanity needs strong characters to stand up against the endless waves of anger, brutality, and oppression that are systematically removing Human Rights and freedoms of the individual. It is up to everyone that reads this plea to stand up and make a difference in his or her perspective countries and or communities. Not one country, province, or state, and not one individual can escape the oppression that the World Bank and ruling class have imposed upon us. The time to act is NOW!

Be prepared; get back in touch with your surroundings and your community. Plan for the survival of your community in a long-term disaster scenario, and do it collectively together. We depend on each other to survive. We cannot do it alone. Be at peace.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

NO BAILOUT!!!







**URGENT**

The Senate is Bypassing the House of Representatives to vote on the
BAILOUT Wednesday evening, which is Stealthily Attached To Revenue Bill!!



CALL NOW: NO BAILOUT!
Please send this message out to EVERYONE, not only here but on your
email list!

The Senate is ignoring the House of Representatives and will be
voting today on passing the bill...

The bailout package adds innocuous new provisions - including raising
the FDIC insurance cap -- and includes a "Mental Health Parity"
provision, which would require health insurance companies to cover
mental illness at parity with physical illness.

Because the bill must originate in the House, the Senate is attaching
the rescue plan to a bill that deals with renewable energy tax
incentives. This would allow the Senate to vote before the House.

href="http://www.senate">

http://money.
cnn.com/2008/ 09/30/news/ economy/bailout_ tuesday/index. htm?cnn=yes


CONTACT YOUR SENATOR NOW!!!
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=IL

Capitol Hill Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

OR to find your Representative' s number, go to
http://www.house.gov/%3Ehttp://www.house and enter your zip code.
And why not send 'em an email while you are at it (BUT MAKE THE CALL FIRST)

"Dear Senator/Representative: You MUST reject the Paulson/Bernanke
plan for bailing out and propping up reckless banks at taxpayer
expense. This is madness to ask us, the taxpayers, to cover the
liabilities of Wall Street. We are tired of being fleeced. If you
vote to support this plan, I will do everything in my power to remove
you from office before you can give away any more of our money to
failed businessmen.

Thank you,
[Your name]"

DON'T LET THIS BILL PASS!!!

--
Take Action!

~~~
The above article(s) &/or letter(s) are accessible through links on
the http://whatreallyhappened.com/%3EWHAT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED website For
a variety of opinions on what's really happening around the world,
visit frequently...and

http://whatreallyhappened.com/x.php?letters>WRH WRH Reader Letters too.

The last official act of any
government is to loot the
nation!


The following is a statement by David Rockefeller (founder of the
Trilateral Commission), in an address to a meeting of The Trilateral
Commission, in June, 1991:

"We are grateful to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time
Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended
our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost
forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan
for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of
publicity during those years. But, the world is now much more
sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The
supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers
is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in
past centuries


Personal Comment By: Stewart B.

The Federal Reserve has told a large number of Countries to authorize their central Banks to buy up American dollars. The Fed said they would make the money available immediately. The European Union is in for 240 Billion, bank of Canada 30 billion, and on and on. Think about this for a second…if they flood the market in American money, the US dollar will become worthless.

Add, the 700 billion bailout, the 600 billion needed to keep the government working, 300 billion for the Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, and then who knows how many billions afterwards to put in an empty credit hole. That’s on top of the money the Fed is printing for other countries to buy up, not to mention the 10 Trillion already in the hole with COMPOUND INTEREST!

Since the dollar is based on how much of it is out there, I would have to say Total Economic Depression...which is what they wanted in the first place! The goal of these bastards is to sink the economy. The greedy will not suffer in fact they are having a feeding frenzy on ALL of us. They get to go home with more assets at the end of the day…purchased at mere pennies on the dollar.

The solution THEY have waiting for everyone when the smoke settles and everyone is beaten into submission by the scourge that an economic depression brings, is a cashless system, or to be more specific, Credit chips. …No Bailout!


_______________________________________________

Friday, September 26, 2008

Protesters Take their Rage to Wall Street



Enraged by the prospect of $700 billion of their taxes going to speculators, hundreds of protesters hit Wall Street on Thursday.

Enraged by the prospect of $700 billion of their taxes going to reimburse Wall Street speculators for their dubious investments, about 500 protesters paraded through Lower Manhattan's financial district Thursday afternoon, their chants of "You broke it, you bought it" reverberating through the narrow office building canyons and off the flag-draped wall of the New York Stock Exchange.

"I'm outraged," said Linda Greco, a 40-ish Brooklyn woman. "People are losing their homes. There's homeless people all over the city. The schools are falling apart. And they want to bail these pigs out? It's about time the people of this country woke up and took this country back."

Like many others, Greco learned about the protest from an e-mail tree that sprouted like kudzu on methamphetamine. "I must have gotten 10 to 20," she said.
The demonstration originated with an e-mail sent out Monday afternoon by Arun Gupta, an editor at the leftist Indypendent. "They said providing health care for 9 million children, perhaps costing $6 billion a year, was too expensive, but there's evidently no sum of money large enough that will sate the Wall Street pigs," it read. "We need to act now while we can influence the debate. With Bear Stearns, Fannie and Freddie, AIG, the money markets and now this omnibus bailout, well in excess of $1 trillion will be distributed from the poor, workers and middle class to the scum floating on top? Let the bondholders pay, let the banks pay, let those who brought the 'toxic' mortgage-backed securities pay!"

"It tapped into an enormous reservoir of anger," Gupta told the crowd that gathered at the bull statue on Bowling Green. The e-mail inspired similar protests in almost 200 cities and towns, from Greensboro, N.C., to Henderson, Nev. Though phone calls and e-mails to Congress have been running nearly 1,000 to 1 against the bailout, he added, "it's clear that the fix is in."

"It's out-fuckin-rageous. They expect the public to bail them out?" said Rich Haber, 61, a retired Brooklyn bus driver. "I worked for the Transit Authority for 27 years, and I can't afford a house. I knew these mortgages were bogus."

Others offered similar vitriol. "Appalling," said Kate Powers, 39, an Obama supporter from Brooklyn. "Ridiculous," said Laura Skove, an 18-year-old student in an Obama T-shirt. "The government can't spend money on health care, but it can on Wall Street." "Highway robbery," said Annie V., part of a group holding up signs reading "N.Y. to Wall St. and the Bush Adm.: Drop Dead" -- echoing the legendary "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD" headline the Daily News ran in 1975 when then-President Gerald Ford refused to bail out debt-ridden New York City.

That fiscal crisis ended when the banks imposed harsh budget austerity on New York, forcing it to raise the subway fare by 43 percent while virtually eliminating maintenance, lay off police and close firehouses during an epidemic of crime and arson, and slash funding for schools and hospitals.

"They've been allowed to totally screw up and then get bailed out. I want to strangle every single politician," said Kevin Condon, a 30-year-old farm-stand worker from Brooklyn carrying a "Jump Without Your Golden Parachute" sign. Though he doesn't want to see the economy collapse, he said the crisis is an opportunity to dream of a different system, of smaller, more locally based commerce.

"Why isn't everyone in the street?" wondered Megan Fulton, 26, a Brooklyn graduate student. She held a sign asking the government to bail her out for the $93,000 she owes in student loans.

Older protesters had a feeling of deja vu. Davida Joyner, 51, of Harlem worked helping tenants administer abandoned buildings during the 1970s, then suffered a brain tumor and was out of commission for 20 years. "I woke up like Rumpelstiltskin," she said. "I saw all of this housing situation become unbelievable again." Sol McCants, 54, recalled the stock-market and savings-and-loan scams of the 1980s.

"These people are thieves and belong in jail," he said. "McCain's trying to make it look like he's doing a great thing, but he's not. That scumbag doesn't want to face the questions because he was behind the savings and loans."

The best thing that might come out of this crisis, he added, is that white voters might learn to "see their pockets" instead of blaming black and brown people for their problems. But if Obama is elected, people will have to nag him "like my wife tells me every other night to put the toilet seat down."

"I don't think the Democrats are much better," said Eva-Lee Baird, 68, of the Granny Peace Brigade -- noting that many of the Depression-era controls on imprudent investments were taken away under Bill Clinton.

"We need something like the New Deal," said James Trimarco, 30, of Brooklyn. "Put people to work doing actual stuff -- transportation and the environment -- instead of trading fictitious capital around the world."

Though Lower Manhattan is one of the most heavily locked down areas in the country -- the Stock Exchange is surrounded by an iron fence, the closest subway exit is barricaded off, and surrounding streets have concrete stanchions and raised metal sheets to block traffic, with guards and dogs in booths watching them -- police presence at the demonstration was surprisingly light, especially by the draconian standards of the Giuliani-Bloomberg era.

Gupta attributed that to the "media feeding frenzy" surrounding the protest. "You think that while those fuckers are debating in D.C., they want pictures of protesters being beaten by cops being beamed around the world?" he asked.
Many Wall Street types greeted the protesters with contempt. "Just look at these people," sneered one broker as the march neared the Stock Exchange. Another group held a "Get a Job" sign in an office window, and one man dropped a few dollar bills out of his. They fluttered down short of the marchers, landing in a construction site.

Such contempt from the upper classes is nothing new to the lowly proles of Gotham. On Broadway near Wall Street is a stone slab commemorating billionaire real estate developer Harry B. Helmsley, "whose richness of spirit and love for New York helped build this great city." New Yorkers of a certain age and level of cynicism are more likely to remember Helmsley's late widow, Leona, a hotel magnate nicknamed the "Queen of Mean."

She achieved notoriety by leaving $12 million to her dogs -- more than she left to any of her grandchildren -- and telling her housekeeper that "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes."

----------

Steven Wishnia is a New York-based journalist and musician. The author of Exit 25 Utopia and The Cannabis Companion, he has won two New York City Independent Press Association awards for his coverage of housing issues. He is looking for a job.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Vermont Candidate Pledges to Prosecute Bush




Charlotte Dennett, who entered the race for Vermont Attorney General this week, readily admits that it will be an uphill battle. But the Vermont Progressive Party’s candidate does have one thing going for her – an issue with the potential to mobilize voters upset about the Iraq War. At her first press conference, sitting next to renowned prosecutor and author Vincent Bugliosi, she pledged to prosecute George W. Bush for murder if elected and appoint Bugliosi as a special prosecutor to take on the job.

Bugliosi had come to Vermont specifically to back Dennett’s bid against incumbent Attorney General William Sorrell, who has held the job since 1997. “There is no better state to bring this forward,” Dennett said, pointing to the fact that Vermont has lost more soldiers per capita than any other state during the war and that voters at 36 Town Meetings have called for Bush’s impeachment.

“No man is above the law,” Bugliosi argued, explaining that a state Attorney General can prosecute Bush for conspiracy to commit murder after he leaves office. The key is to establish “overt acts” that prove there was a conspiracy to mislead the country into war, he said. Bugliosi pointed specifically to Bush’s frequent public statements, which were broadcast nationally, and the recruitment of Vermonters to fight in Iraq. “Any Attorney General can do this,” he said.

Dennett, who has been practicing law since 1997, is also an investigative journalist. "When I read Mr. Bugliosi’s meticulously-argued case," she has explained, "it struck a chord with me as a Vermonter and an American citizen.”

Bugliosi has won 105 out of 106 felony jury trials and is best known for prosecuting Charles Manson. Yet his most recent book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, has proven highly controversial. Mainstream media outlets have declined to review it or interview him, Bugliosi noted. Asked what explains the reaction, he speculated that the Right Wing in the US has frightened many people into silence. Thus, “the establishment has decided Bush should not be held accountable,” he said.

In recent days, there have been renewed calls to go after the president. For example, Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott has announced that he wants to see Bush impeached, whether or not he’s still in office. He has joined a call from Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich to launch impeachment proceedings, and has cited Bugliosi’s book as part of the reason for his decision.

Although pleased that McDermott is calling for impeachment, Bugliosi thinks congressional action doesn't go far enough. "Impeachment alone would be a joke for anyone interested in justice," he says. His recommendation is that a state official – Dennett, for example, if she is elected – should prosecute Bush for murder in the deaths of American soldiers fighting in Iraq.

On the campaign trail, Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden recently said that an Obama/Biden Administration would pursue criminal charges against Bush over the treatment of captured terrorists held at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. “If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued,” Biden pledged at a Florida campaign stop.

Earlier this year, Barack Obama took a similar position, stating that he would look at whether Bush violated laws. But fearing that such a position could undermine their chances of victory, Biden subsequently softened his position, telling the Philadelphia Daily News that he didn’t want the start of an Obama/Biden term to look like a “witch hunt.”

At this point, Dennett’s chances of victory aren’t strong. Although Vermont Progressives have elected representatives to the state legislature, no candidate has yet come close to winning a statewide race. Anthony Pollina, the Progressive standard bearer who ran for governor in 2000 and received 24.8 percent of the vote in a 2002 race for Lt. Governor, decided this summer to run for governor as an Independent in hopes of broadening his base.

Sorrell, a Democrat, has enjoyed bi-partisan support, and received enough write-in votes in Vermont’s recent primary to appear on the November ballot as both the Democratic and Republican candidate. Nevertheless, a strong turnout for Dennett would send the message that the idea of prosecuting Bush is something to seriously consider.

In 2007, Vermont's State Senate passed a resolution calling on the US Congress to impeach Bush over his handling of the war. But House Speaker Gaye Symington, a Democrat who is currently running for governor against Republican incumbent James Douglas, argued at the time that the move wasn’t appropriate prior to a Congressional investigation. During the House proceedings, about 400 Vermonters from 102 communities showed up at the State House but the resolution was defeated. Vermont's congressional delegation has shown little interest in the idea.

The question raised by Dennett’s promise to pursue prosecution of Bush is whether anger about the war – and how the public and Congress were misled – are enough to create a competitive race against a successful incumbent. Vermonters don’t register by party, and identification as Democrats and Republicans is weaker than in most states. But it remains to be seen if the race can become an unofficial referendum. In essence, a strong turnout for Dennett would mean that Vermont voters want to take the lead in turning a former president into a criminal defendant.
If nothing else, the campaign could produce a great bumper sticker: Prosecute Bush. Elect Dennett.
***
Posted on Maverick Media: http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/

http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1412/1/

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Andrew Bacevich, America and the World





Friday 15 August 2008
By: Michael Winship, Truthout \ Perspective


In a letter written in 1648, Swedish statesman Axel Oxenstierna, chancellor to both King Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina, counseled, "Know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed."

The fighting between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia is an unnerving reminder of that, and of how quickly the balance of global power can be tilted from unexpected directions with barely a warning.

Some hawks and neo-cons called for NATO intervention or even suggested we send in Stinger missiles or the 82nd Airborne as a peacekeeping force. President Bush warned, "Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century."

Perhaps, but the reality of the early 21st century is that, in the short run, at least, the president's words ring hollow. In spite of past promises of support to Georgia, Russia is key to our efforts in the Middle East and our European allies are dependent on Russia for energy. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have both our military strength and our international credibility stretched perilously thin at a time when oil-rich Russia is reemerging as a superpower. We've boxed ourselves in.

It was in that light that I came upon the Oxenstierna quote the other night, while re-reading the late historian Barbara Tuchman's "The March of Folly," a knowing compendium, from ancient Troy to Vietnam, of the ways in which, given half a chance, those in power will steer their ships of state straight into the rocks. In the first chapter, she also quotes American President John Adams: "While all other sciences have advanced" - you can almost hear him sighing - "government is at a stand; little better practiced now than three or four thousand years ago."

Andrew J. Bacevich probably would agree with all of the above. The retired Army colonel, a West Point graduate, teaches history and international relations at Boston University. His latest book, "The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism," explores our nation's current predicament, not just on the world stage, but here at home as well. He spoke with my colleague, Bill Moyers, on this week's edition of the PBS series, Bill Moyers Journal.

Bacevich speaks truth to power, no matter who's in power, which may be why those of both the left and right are eager to hear his views. Perhaps it's also because when he challenges American myths and illusions, he does so from a genuine patriotism forged in the fire of his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam and the death a year ago of his son, an Army lieutenant in Iraq. "The Limits of Power" is dedicated to the young man, but the senior Bacevich, a man of quiet, solid gravitas, holds his grief privately between himself and his family.

"Our foreign policy is something that is concocted in Washington, DC, but it reflects the perceptions of our political elite about what we the people want," he told Moyers. "And what we want, by and large is ... this continuing flow of very cheap consumer goods. We want to be able to pump gas into our cars regardless of how big they may happen to be. And we want to be able to do these things without having to think about whether or not the books are balanced at the end of the month, or the end of the fiscal year."

To that end, he says, "One of the ways we avoid confronting our refusal to balance the books is to rely increasingly on the projection of American military power around the world to try to maintain this dysfunctional system or set of arrangements that have evolved over the last 30 or 40 years."

"... I think historians a hundred years from now will puzzle over how it could be that the United States of America, the most powerful nation in the world, as far back as the early 1970's came to recognize that dependence on foreign oil was a problem, posed a threat, compromised our freedom of action. How every president from Richard Nixon down ... declared, 'We're going to fix the problem.' [But] none of them did."

He continued, "The clearest statement of what I value is found in the Preamble to the Constitution. There is nothing in the Preamble to the Constitution which defines the purpose of the United States of America as remaking the world in our image, which I view as a fool's errand. I believe that the framers of the Constitution were primarily concerned with focusing on the way we live here, the way we order our affairs. To try to ensure that as individuals, we can have an opportunity to pursue our, perhaps, differing definitions of freedom, but also so that, as a community, we could live together in some kind of harmony. And that future generations would also be able to share in those same opportunities.... With the current crisis in American foreign policy, unless we do change our ways, the likelihood that our children, our grandchildren, the next generation will enjoy the opportunities that we've had is very slight because we're squandering our power. We are squandering our wealth."

Bacevich believes, "The Congress, especially with regard to matters related to national security policy, has thrust power and authority to the executive branch. We have created an imperial presidency. The Congress no longer is able to articulate a vision of what is the common good. The Congress exists primarily to ensure the reelection of members of Congress."

That imperial presidency, he says, "has made our democracy a false one. We're going through the motions of a democratic political system. But the fabric of democracy, I think, really has worn very thin."

Iraq, Bacevich concludes, "was a fundamental mistake. It never should have been undertaken. And we're never going to do this kind of thing again." This might, he thinks, "be the moment when we look ourselves in the mirror [and] ... see what we have become. And perhaps undertake an effort to make those changes in the American way of life that will enable us to preserve for future generations that which we value most about the American way of life."

Andrew Bacevich's words should echo down the corridors of Congress and the halls of the White House, no matter who becomes our next president.
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The full broadcast of Bill Moyers Journal will be devoted to Bill's conversation with Bacevich (check local listings) http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/about/airdates.html

, and further discussion will continue online at the Moyers Blog. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html

Michael Winship is senior writer of the weekly public affairs program, Bill Moyers Journal, which airs Friday nights on PBS. Check local airtimes or comment at The Moyers Blog at www.pbs.org/moyers.
»

Michael Winship is senior writer of the weekly public affairs program Bill Moyers Journal, which airs Friday nights on PBS. Check local airtimes or comment at The Moyers Blog at www.pbs.org/moyers.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Georgian Troops Move to Retake Rebel Province





Article by: the Associated Press

Tbilisi, Georgia - Russian troops moved into South Ossetia hours after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned Georgia that its attack on the breakaway region would draw retaliation, Russian television reported Friday.

The Russian move comes after Georgian troops launched a major military offensive earlier Friday to regain control over South Ossetia and the president accused Russia, which has close ties to the separatists, of bombing Georgian territory.

The fighting in South Ossetia has raised fears of an all-out war that could draw in Russia, which has peacekeepers in the region. Putin said an unspecified number of the peacekeepers have been wounded.

Russia's Channel 1 television showed a convoy of Russian tanks which it said entered South Ossetia. The tanks were reportedly expected to reach the provincial capital, Tskhinvali, in a few hours.

There was no immediate comment from Georgian officials.
Putin had earlier said the Georgian attack will draw retaliation and the Defense Ministry pledged to protect South Ossetians, most of whom have Russian citizenship.
An Associated Press reporter saw tanks and other heavy weapons concentrating on the Russian side of the border with South Ossetia and villagers were fleeing into Russia.

"I saw them (the Georgians) shelling my village," said Maria, who gave only her first name. She looked shocked and was reluctant to speak. She said she and other villagers spent the night in a field and then fled toward the Russian border as the fighting escalated.

NATO has called for an immediate end to fighting. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he is seriously concerned about the fighting and that the alliance is closely following the situation.

Separatist officials in South Ossetia said 15 civilians had been killed in fighting overnight. Georgian officials said seven civilians were wounded in bombing raids by Russia.

South Ossetia officials said Georgia attacked with aircraft, armor and heavy artillery. Georgian troops fired missiles at the regional capital, Tskhinvali, an official said, and many buildings were on fire. The Russian news agency Interfax said a hospital was hit by Georgian shelling.

Full Mobilization

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Russian aircraft bombed several Georgian villages and other civilian facilities.
"A full-scale aggression has been launched against Georgia," Saakashvili said in a televised statement.
He also announced a full military mobilization with reservists being called into action.

Seven civilians were wounded when three Russian Su-24 jet bombers flew into Georgia and bombed the town of Gori and the villages of Kareli and Variani, Deputy Interior Minister Eka Sguladze said at a briefing.

She said four Russian jets later bombed Gori, the hometown of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, but that raid didn't cause any casualties.

Saakashvili urged Russia to immediately stop bombing Georgian territory. "Georgia will not yield its territory or renounce its freedom," he said.
A senior Russian diplomat in charge of the South Ossetian conflict, Yuri Popov, dismissed the Georgian claims of Russian bombings as "disinformation," the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.

Moscow Denounces 'Dirty Adventure'

Russia's Defense Ministry denounced the Georgian attack as a "dirty adventure." "Blood shed in South Ossetia will weigh on their conscience," the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site.
"We will protect our peacekeepers and Russian citizens," it said without elaboration.

Georgia, which borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union. The country has angered Russia by seeking NATO membership - a bid Moscow regards as part of a Western effort to weaken its influence in the region.

Saakashvili long has pledged to restore Tbilisi's rule over South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia. Both regions have run their own affairs without international recognition since splitting from Georgia in the early 1990s and built up ties with Moscow.

Most residents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have Russian passports. An open war could prompt Russian to send in more forces under the claim of protecting its citizens.

Putin Warns of 'Retaliatory Actions'

Putin, speaking in televised remarks Friday during his trip to the opening of the Beijing Olympics, said Georgia's military action causes "grave concern and it will certainly lead to retaliatory actions."

Saakashvili said government troops have seized the outskirts of Tskhinvali and are fighting for control of the center. Georgian forces also have seized several villages around the capital.

Gen. Mamuka Kurashvili, a Georgian military officer in charge of operations in the region, said on Rustavi 2 television that Georgian forces were moving to "establish constitutional order in the region."

The leader of Russia's province of North Ossetia rushed to Tskhinvali. "We are jointly organizing defenses here," Teimuraz Mamsurov said in the city, according to the Interfax news agency.

Mamsurov said hundreds of volunteers from North Ossetia were streaming across the border into South Ossetia, Interfax said. It also quoted the separatist leader of Abkhazia as saying that some 1,000 volunteers from his region were heading to South Ossetia.

Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili said Georgian officials were doing everything they could to avoid casualties and the destruction of property.

But Boris Chochiyev, a minister in the South Ossetian government, said that Georgian troops shelled the center of Tskhinvali with truck-launched missiles. He asked the Russian government to defend South Ossetians.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris Malakhov called on Tbilisi to commit itself to peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Yakobashvili said Friday that Georgia was ready to negotiate, but claimed the South Ossetian officials were dragging their feet in starting talks.

At the request of Russia, the U.N. Security Council held an emergency session in New York but failed to reach consensus early Friday on a Russian-drafted statement.
The council concluded it was at a stalemate after the United States Britain and some other members backed the Georgians in rejecting a phrase in the three-sentence draft statement that would have required both sides "to renounce the use of force," council diplomats said.

"We think that this is a very serious error of judgment and political blunder," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said of the council members' disagreement. "I hope that the Georgian side will reconsider its reckless actions in the area of the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict."

The Georgian attack came just hours after Saakashvili announced a unilateral cease-fire in a television broadcast late Thursday in which he also urged South Ossetian separatist leaders to enter talks on resolving the conflict.
Georgian officials later blamed South Ossetian separatists for thwarting the cease-fire by shelling Georgian villages in the area.

Worst Fighting Since 1992

The fighting was the worst outburst of hostilities in the region since it won a de-facto independence in a war that ended in 1992.
Russia has soldiers in South Ossetia as peacekeeping forces, but Georgia alleges they back the separatists. Russia also was criticized by the West as provoking tensions by sending warplanes over South Ossetia last month.

Most of South Ossetia, which is roughly 1.5 times the size of Luxembourg, has been under the control of an internationally unrecognized separatist government since 1992. Georgian forces hold several swaths of it.

Relations between Georgia and Russia worsened notably this year as Georgia pushed to join NATO and Russia dispatched additional peacekeeper forces to Abkhazia.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Ron Paul's Revolution March July 12th



March for your independance! March for your Freedom! Make a stand!!! Fight the tyrany that is sitting in Washington. Show the World you do not support the monsters in power!! This is it!!! This is your chance to take your country back!

For those of you that can't make it to DC, don't worry! Live coverage of the march will be provided by www.revolutionbroadcasting.com . Bummed you can't see your favorite speaker in person? Tune in to hear their speech live!

Please contact your meetups and anyone else that can't be in DC and let them know we will cover the event for them. www.revolutionbroadcasting.com

Don't forget, if you have not pledged to march, there is no time like TODAY to do so: www.revolutionmarch.com.



Live! Revolution March
http://www.revolutionbroadcasting.com/

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

US Draws Russian Fire, Signing Missile Defense Deal




Prague - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed Tuesday what she called a "landmark" missile defense deal with the Czech Republic, drawing immediate condemnation and threats from Russia. The accord permits the siting of a tracking radar station on Czech soil as part of an extended US missile shield that Washington says is necessary to ward off potential attacks by so-called "rogue" states such as Iran. Moscow immediately threatened to respond with "military resources" to what it sees as a threat on its doorstep from the proposed system.

"If a US strategic anti-missile shield is deployed near our borders, we will be forced to react not in a diplomatic fashion but with military resources," a statement from the foreign ministry said.

But the United States said Wednesday that Russia and Europe should be "equal partners" in its planned missile defense.

"We seek strategic cooperation on preventing missiles from rogue nations, like Iran, from threatening our friends and allies," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe. "We will continue to have a dialogue with the Russians."

"We want to design a system between the United States, Russia and Europe, with everyone participating as equal partners," Johndroe said on the margins of a rich nation summit at Toyako in northern Japan.

"It's truly a landmark agreement," Rice said after signing the accord with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. "It is an agreement that is befitting for friends and allies who face a common threat in the 21st century."

During her talks in Prague, Rice charged that Iran's work to build longer-range missiles was proceeding "apace" while at the same time it was defying international calls to halt sensitive nuclear technology.

"Ballistic missile proliferation is not an imaginary threat," the top US diplomat warned.

Rice also reiterated Washington's position that the radar station was not aimed at Russia and instead served as a "building block" for not just Czech and US security but for the "international community as a whole."

The United States wants the radar twinned with interceptor missiles in neighbouring Poland, although negotiations with Warsaw have becomed bogged down with Polish demands for additional security guarantees.

Rice said she thought it made no sense to visit Poland during her current tour of Europe because gaps remained in the negotiations.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had already clashed with US President George W. Bush over missile defence at their first face-to- face meeting, during the G8 summit in Japan on Monday.

Analysts say the Russians fear not only a potential long-term threat to their own nuclear deterrent and the security of their airspace but also associate the shield with NATO's enlargement to include Ukraine and Georgia.

NATO endorsed the US missile defense plan at its April summit in Bucharest.
The US has in the past suggested that Russian inspectors could visit the anti-missile sites, as long as Prague and Warsaw agreed.

"We want the system to be transparent to the Russians," Rice insisted Tuesday.
Protestors from Greenpeace, who fear the missile shield will trigger a new arms race, unrolled a massive image of a target on one of the hills overlooking Prague ahead of Rice's arrival.

Opinion polls regularly show around two-thirds of Czech opposed to hosting the US radar.

Around 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Prague's central Wenceslas Square, with banners proclaiming "No to the Radar" and "Resign."

But Schwarzenberg expected the deal to be ratified by parliament.

"There are sufficient lawmakers who are sufficiently aware of their responsibility and will go forward in strength during the voting," he told reporters.
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said the deal reflected a "joint desire to protect the free world."

Prague was the first leg of a three-country tour that will take Rice to Bulgaria and Georgia where she will renew US support for Tbilisi's bid for NATO membership - another bone of contention with Moscow.

Truthout link
http://www.truthout.org/article/us-draws-russian-fire-signing-missile-defence-deal

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Neo-Con Michael Reagan Issues Murder Contract





It all started early on June 10th 2008, when anti-war activist, Mark Dice appeared on Fox News to explain why he and others are sending letters to US troops in Iraq. Later that day, radio talk show host Michael Reagan called for his listeners to track down and murder Mark Dice. After Dice downloaded the show's free podcast and posted the 3 minute and 21 second clip on YouTube, Reagan filed a copyright infringement claim to remove the clip in an attempt to prevent it from circulating.

On Friday June 13th Dice received a call from Reagan's producer demanding the clip be removed, claiming they hold the copyright, and Dice explained that it falls under fair use laws, and the clip is evidence of a crime.

The clip was available at the following URL, until Wednesday June 18th at 3:43pm Pacific Time.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=OFFjbQ-MCBw

Reagan also removed the entire hour of his show from his podcast directory so others can't download that part of his show and hear his statements. Hour number two of the June 10th show is now missing from the directory, located at http://www.radioamerica.org/POD_mrp.htm.

Reagan's statements were made after he heard that Dice and others were sending letters and DVDs to troops stationed in Iraq which support the idea that U.S. officials allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen on purpose and aided in their execution for political leverage. According to a 2006 Scripts Howard News Service poll, 36% of Americans believe this.

Transcript of Reagan's statements:

"Excuse me folks, I'm going to say this. We ought to find the people who are doing this, take them out and shoot them. Really. You take them out, they are traitors to this country, and shoot them. You have a problem with that? Deal with it. You shoot them. You call them traitors, that's what they are, and you shoot them dead. I'll pay for the bullets."

Reagan continued, "How about you take Mark Dice out and put him in the middle of a firing range. Tie him to a post, don't blindfold him, let it rip and have some fun with Mark Dice."

The statements were made June 10th and came to Dice's attention a few days later. Dice immediately filed a report with the FBI, the FCC, and is considering legal action against Reagan.

He is demanding that Reagan be fired immediately. "Calling for the murder of someone because you disagree with their political stance is absolutely unacceptable, un-American, and illegal," says Dice.

Radio America, which syndicates Reagan's show, told Dice that no disciplinary action will be taken.

Reagan called Dice and apologized but Dice says, "The Pandora's box that Reagan has opened can never be closed. The ramifications of his threats and suggestions are enormous and frightening. In an age where a few clicks of a keyboard can result in anyone's home address being found, his comments open the door for stalking, vandalism, and worse."

"What kind of a country have we become when a radio host with millions of listeners can call for the murder of someone, and not lose their job?" Dice asks. "He didn't say that he hoped I am killed, or that he thought I should be killed, he specifically said I should be found and shot, and that he would pay for the bullets. This is a violation of California's penal code 422."

Please report this criminal conduct to the police, and also the FCC: (fccinfo@fcc.gov) http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgb/fcc475B.cfm

Please also contact Reagan's boss on 703-302-1000.

Here's a good link on how to properly make a complaint with the FCC:
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/june...

Thanks to gangsterdrester for providing the link :)

Mark Dice's entire YouTube account, containing over 60 of his videos, have been deleted :( His channel was http://www.YouTube.com/TheResistance, and had thousands of subscribers, and his videos had been viewed over a million times.

Dice is the author of a book titled, The Resistance Manifesto, which details how people involved in secret societies hold tremendous power in American politics. He has been featured in major media outlets around the world for various issues ranging from political activism to boycotts and pop culture criticism.

Contact: Mark DiceMark@TheResistanceManifesto.com

www.MarkDice.com


Jim Roberts, President of Radio America 703-302-1000 ext 215.

jroberts@radioamerica.org

jroberts@americanveteranscenter.org


A nationwide campaign to have Mike Reagan fired from his show and possibly arrested on criminal charges began soon after his comments become public. The FCC, his radio affiliates, and his representative at Premier Speakers Bureau have been inundated with complaints. Perhaps Mikey is trying to hang on to his job and what little is left of his reputation.

For the full updated story, including videos, please go to:

http://reagandeaththreat.com


Personal Note: By Stewart Brennan

If Mike Reagan is not off the air and in jail by the beginning of this week, The Radio station and its executive management and sponsors should be accused for supporting hate crime. This Radio station should loose its licence! Please make the complaint to the FCC and let them know that they too can be accused of aiding in hate crimes by not taking swift action.

Bio on Michael Reagan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Reagan

Thursday, June 19, 2008

US General Accuses Bush Administration of War Crimes




Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (now retired) served as the deputy commanding general for support for the Third Army for ten months in Kuwait during the early days of the Iraq occupation. In a statement released today, he bluntly accuses the Bush administration of war crimes and lays down a challenge for prosecution.

In 2004, Taguba released a classified report detailing abuses committed at Abu Ghraib Prison. The "Taguba Report" (executive summary) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4894001/ urged Pentagon officials to follow up on its findings by enforcing adherence to the Geneva Conventions in interrogations.

Taguba retired in January 2007, later alleging that Pentagon officials had ordered him to retire for being "overzealous" in his criticisms of the military.
In light of ongoing Congressional investigations into so-called harsh interrogation techniques, and on the heels of Congressman Dennis Kucinich recently issuing articles of impeachment accusing President Bush of, among other offenses, authorizing torture, we present Taguba's latest statement for your consideration.
The full Physicians for Human Rights report outlining the medical evidence of torture perpetrated by the United States can be read at their website.

physicians for Human Rights
http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Preface to Broken Laws, Broken Lives

By: Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, USA (Retired)

Maj. Gen. Taguba led the US Army's official investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and testified before Congress on his findings in May 2004.

This report tells the largely untold human story of what happened to detainees in our custody when the Commander-in-Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture. This story is not only written in words: It is scrawled for the rest of these individuals' lives on their bodies and minds. Our national honor is stained by the indignity and inhumane treatment these men received from their captors.

The profiles of these eleven former detainees, none of whom were ever charged with a crime or told why they were detained, are tragic and brutal rebuttals to those who claim that torture is ever justified. Through the experiences of these men in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, we can see the full scope of the damage this illegal and unsound policy has inflicted - both on America's institutions and our nation's founding values, which the military, intelligence services, and our justice system are duty-bound to defend.

In order for these individuals to suffer the wanton cruelty to which they were subjected, a government policy was promulgated to the field whereby the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice were disregarded. The UN Convention Against Torture was indiscriminately ignored. And the healing professions, including physicians and psychologists, became complicit in the willful infliction of harm against those the Hippocratic Oath demands they protect.

After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

The former detainees in this report - each of whom is fighting a lonely and difficult battle to rebuild his life - require reparations for what they endured, comprehensive psycho-social and medical assistance, and even an official apology from our government.

But most of all, these men deserve justice as required under the tenets of international law and the United States Constitution.
And so do the American people.

---------

Also See: Human Rights Group Says It Has Proof of Detainee Abusehttp://www.truthout.org/article/human-rights-group-says-it-has-proof-detainee-abuse


Original Story Web site (Truthout)
http://www.truthout.org/article/us-general-accuses-bush-administration-war-crimes

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Kucinich Introduces Impeachment Articles Against Bush





Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
by: Christopher Kuttruff, t r u t h o u t


Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush late on Monday during a speech on the House floor.

Kucinich, a former contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, pointed to "high crimes and misdemeanors" committed by the Bush administration, including misrepresenting intelligence in the lead-up to the war, violating domestic and international laws against torture, illegally spying on American citizens, obstructing justice and governmental oversight, and dozens of other violations.

The impeachment resolution came four days after a June 5 Senate Select Intelligence Committee report that vigorously challenged statements made by the Bush administration regarding military intelligence in the runup to the invasion of Iraq. Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee John D. Rockefeller said in a press release, "Before taking the country to war, this Administration owed it to the American people to give them a 100 percent accurate picture of the threat we faced. Unfortunately, our Committee has concluded that the Administration made significant claims that were not supported by the intelligence."

"It is my belief that the Bush Administration was fixated on Iraq, and used the 9/11 attacks by al Qa'ida as justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein," Rockefeller noted.

While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and other members of the Democratic leadership maintain that such a resolution is "off the table," Kucinich, along with a group of his colleagues, has consistently pressed for a more urgent and direct response to the often unilateral and controversial actions of the Bush administration.

Despite the unlikeliness of impeachment gaining much traction in Congress, advocates of such a resolution continue to demand greater accountability of the executive branch.

As Kucinich began to issue his remarks, shuffling and talking could be heard in the background of the House chamber. Responding to the disarray, Kucinich objected to the Speaker, "The House is not in order." After several strikes of Pelosi's gavel, Kucinich started reading his articles into the record.

"In violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of president ..." Kucinich stated, "George W. Bush ... both personally and through his subordinates ... illegally spent public dollars on a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false cause for war against Iraq."

Kucinich started his speech by referencing a variety of news and intelligence reports regarding White House communications, specifically the White House Iraq Group, which was composed of senior officials (then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Karl Rove, then-Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes, former chief of staff Andrew Card, then-chief of staff to the Vice President I. Lewis Libby, then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan and others) who "produced white papers detailing so-called intelligence of Iraq's nuclear threat that later proved to be false." These papers included later-debunked claims that Iraq sought uranium and specialized centrifuges for enrichment.

These claims, which were central to the administration's rationale for preemptive action against Iraq, were used, according to Kucinich, to "market an invasion of Iraq to the American people."

Kucinich also noted that the White House Iraq Group papers "were written at same time and by the same people as speeches and talking points prepared for President Bush and for some of his top officials."

Congressman Kucinich went on to challenge the administration's policies toward Iran, as well as its conduct regarding military interrogations.

The resolution comes days after a sharply written letter by 56 Congress members requesting that Attorney General Michael Mukasey investigate potential crimes committed by the Bush administration during the course of its interrogation program. The letter, signed by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Barney Frank, Jan Schakowsky, Dennis Kucinich and other House Democrats, urged that the seriousness of the evidence on the program warrants a thorough investigation by a special counsel.

Revelations about the Bush administration's interrogations policies, along with its systematic practice of controlling information provided to the media and the American people, led Kucinich to conclude that the president has "misled the Congress and the citizens of the United States" and should be held accountable for violating his oaths of office to "faithfully execute the office of the president" and "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution."

Monday, June 9, 2008

Dan Rather Slams Corporate News at National Conference for Media Reform





Saturday June 7th, 2008
By: Dan Rather, Free Press

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather delivered a blistering critique of corporate news on Saturday night at the National Conference for Media Reform hosted by Free Press.
The following are Dan Rather's prepared remarks:

I am grateful to be here and I am, most of all, gratified by the energy I have seen tonight and at this conference. It will take this kind of energy - and more - to sustain what is good in our news media... to improve what is deficient... and to push back against the forces and the trends that imperil journalism and that - by immediate extension - imperil democracy itself.

The Framers of our Constitution enshrined freedom of the press in the very first Amendment, up at the top of the Bill of Rights, not because they were great fans of journalists - like many politicians, then and now, they were not - but rather because they knew, as Thomas Jefferson put it, that, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was and never will be."

And it is because of this Constitutionally-protected role that I still prefer to use the word "press" over the word "media." If nothing else, it serves as a subtle reminder that - along with newspapers - radio, television, and, now, the Internet, carry the same Constitutional rights, mandates, and responsibilities that the founders guaranteed for those who plied their trade solely in print.

So when you hear me talk about the press, please know that I am talking about all the ways that news can be transmitted. And when you hear me criticize and critique the press, please know that I do not exempt myself from these criticisms.

In our efforts to take back the American press for the American people, we are blessed this weekend with the gift of good timing. For anyone who may have been inclined to ask if there really is a problem with the news media, or wonder if the task of media reform is, indeed, an urgent one... recent days have brought an inescapable answer, from a most unlikely source.

A source who decided to tell everyone, quote, "what happened."

I know I can't be the first person this weekend to reference the recent book by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, but, having interviewed him this past week, I think there are some very important points to be made from the things he says in his book, and the questions his statements raise.

I'm sure all of you took special notice of what he had to say about the role of the press corps, in the run-up to the war in Iraq. In the government's selling of the war, he said they were - or, I should say, we were "complicit enablers" and "overly deferential."

These are interesting statements, especially considering their source. As one tries to wrap one's mind around them, the phrase "cognitive dissonance" comes to mind.

The first reaction, a visceral one, is: Whatever his motives for saying these things, he's right - and we didn't need Scott McClellan to tell us so.
But the second reaction is: Wait a minute... I do remember at least some reporters, and some news organizations, asking tough questions - asking them of the president, of those in his administration, of White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer and - oh yes - of Scott McClellan himself, once he took over for Mr. Fleischer a few months after the invasion.
So how do we reconcile these competing reactions? Well, we need to pull back for what we in television call the wide shot.

If we look at the wide shot, we can see, in one corner of our screen, the White House briefing room filled with the White House press corps... and, filling the rest of the screen, the finite but disproportionately powerful universe that has become known as "mainstream media" - the newspapers and news programs, real and alleged, that employ these White House correspondents - the news organizations that are, in turn, owned by a shockingly few, much larger corporations, for which news is but a miniscule part of their overall business interests.

In the wake of 9/11 and in the run-up to Iraq, these news organizations made a decision - consciously or unconsciously, but unquestionably in a climate of fear - to accept the overall narrative frame given them by the White House, a narrative that went like this: Saddam Hussein, brutal dictator, harbored weapons of mass destruction and, because of his supposed links to al Qaeda, this could not be tolerated in a post-9/11 world.

In the news and on the news, one could, to be sure, find persons and views that did not agree with all or parts of this official narrative. Hans Blix, the former U.N. chief weapons inspector, comes to mind as an example. But the burden of proof, implicitly or explicitly, was put on these dissenting views and persons... the burden of proof was not put on an administration that was demonstrably moving towards a large-scale military action that would represent a break with American precedent and stated policy of how, when, and under what circumstances this nation goes to war.

So with this in mind, we look back to the corner of our screen where the White House Press Corps is asking their questions. I have been a White House correspondent myself, and I have worked with some of the best in the business. You have an incentive, when you are in that briefing room, to ask the good, tough questions: If nothing else, that is how you get in the paper, or on the air. There is more to it than that, and things have changed since I was a White House correspondent - something I want to talk about in a minute. But the correspondents - the really good ones - these correspondents ask their tough questions.

And these questions are met with what is now called, euphemistically and much too kindly, what is now called "message discipline."

Well, we used to have a better and more accurate term for "message discipline." We called it "stonewalling." Now, cut back to your evening news, or your daily newspaper... where that White House Correspondent dutifully repeats the question he asked of the president or his press secretary, and dutifully relates the answer he was given - the same non-answer we've already heard dozens of times, which amounts to a pitch for the administration's point of view, whether or NOT the answer had anything to do with the actual question that was asked.
And then: "Thank you Jack. In other news today... ."
And we're off on a whole new story.

In our news media, in our press, those who wield power were, in the lead-up to Iraq, given the opportunity to present their views as a coherent whole, to connect the dots, as they saw the dots and the connections... no matter how much these views may have flown in the face of precedent, established practice - or, indeed, the facts (as we are reminded, yet again, by the just-released Senate report on the administration's use of pre-war intelligence). The powerful are given this opportunity still, in ways big and small, despite what you may hear about the "post-Katrina" press.

But when a tough question is asked and not answered, when reputable people come before the public and say, "wait a minute, something's not right here," the press has treated them like voices crying in the wilderness. These views, though they might be given air time, become lone dots - dots that journalists don't dare connect, even if the connections are obvious, even if people on the Internet and in the independent press are making these very same connections. The mainstream press doesn't connect these dots because someone might then accuse them of editorializing, or of being the, quote, "liberal media."

But connecting these dots - making disparate facts make sense - is a big part of the real work of journalism.
So how does this happen? Why does this happen?
Let me say, by way of answering, that quality news of integrity starts with an owner who has guts.

In a news organization with an owner who has guts, there is an incentive to ask the tough questions, and there is an incentive to pull together the facts - to connect the dots - in a way that makes coherent sense to the news audience.

I mentioned a moment ago that things have changed since I was a White House correspondent. Yes, presidential administrations have become more adept at holding "access" over the heads of reporters - ask too tough a question, or too many of them, so the implicit threat goes, and you're not going to get any more interviews with high-ranking members of the administration, let alone the president. But I was covering Presidents Johnson and Nixon - men not exactly known as pushovers. No, what has changed, even more than the nature of the presidency, is the character of news ownership. I only found out years after the fact, for example, about the pressure that the Nixon White House put on my then-bosses, during Watergate - pressure to cut down my pieces, to call me off the story, and so on... because, back then, my bosses took the heat, so I didn't have to. They did this so the story could get told, and so the public could be informed.

But it is rare, now, to find a major news organization owned by an individual, someone who can say, in effect, "The buck stops here." The more likely motto now is: "The news stops... with making bucks."

America's biggest, most important news organizations have, over the past 25 years, fallen prey to merger after merger, acquisition after acquisition... to the point where they are, now, tiny parts of immeasurably larger corporate entities - entities whose primary business often has nothing to do with news. Entities that may, at any given time, have literally hundreds of regulatory issues before multiple arms of the government concerning a vast array of business interests.

These are entities that, as publicly-held and traded corporations, have as their overall, reigning mandate: Provide a return on shareholder value. Increase profits. And not over time, not over the long haul, but quarterly.

One might ask just where the news fits into this model. And if you really need an answer, you can turn on your television, where you will see the following:
Political analysis reduced to in-studio shouting matches between partisans armed with little more than the day's talking points.
Precious time and resources wasted on so-called human-interest stories, celebrity fluff, sensationalist trials, and gossip.
A proliferation of "news you can use" that amounts to thinly-disguised press releases for the latest consumer products.

And, though this doesn't get said enough, local news, which is where most Americans get their news, that seems not to change no matter what town or what city you're in... so slavish is its adherence to the "happy talk" formula and the dictum that, "If it bleeds, it leads."

I could continue for hours, cataloging journalistic sins of which I know you are all too aware. But, as the time grows late, let me say that almost all of these failings come down to this: In the current model of corporate news ownership, the incentive to produce good and valuable news is simply not there. Good news, quality news of integrity, requires resources and it requires talent. These things are expensive, these things eat away at the bottom line.

Years ago, in the eighties and the nineties, when the implications of these cost-trimming measures were becoming impossible to ignore, and the quality of the news was clearly threatened, I spoke out against this cutting of news operations to the bone and beyond. Even then, though, I couldn't have imagined that the cost-cutting imperatives would go as far as they have today - deep into the marrow of what was once considered a public trust.

But since the financial resources always seem to be available for entertainment, promotion, and - last but not least - for lobbying... perhaps there is an even more important reason why the incentive to produce quality news is absent, and that is: quality news of integrity, by its very nature, is sure to rock the boat now and then. Good, responsible news worthy of its Constitutional protections will, in that famous phrase, afflict the powerful and comfort the afflicted.

And that, when one feels the need to deliver shareholder value above all, means that good news... may not always mean good business - or so goes the fear, a fear that filters down into just about every big newsroom in this country.

Now, I have spent my entire life in for-profit news, and I happen to think that it does not have to be this way. I have worked for news owners who, while they may have regarded their news divisions as an occasional irritant, chose to turn that irritant into a pearl of public trust. But today, sadly, it seems that the conglomerates that have control over some of the biggest pieces of this public trust would just as soon spit that irritant out.

So what does this mean for us tonight, and what is to be done?
It means that we need to be on the alert for where, when, and how our news media bows to undue government influence. And you need to let news organizations know, in no uncertain terms, that you won't stand for it... that you, as news consumers, are capable of exerting pressure of your own.

It means that we need to continue to let our government know that, when it comes to media consolidation, enough is enough. Too few voices are dominating, homogenizing, and marginalizing the news. We need to demand that the American people get something in exchange for the use of airwaves that belong, after all, to the people.

It means that we need to ensure that the Internet, where free speech reigns and where journalism does not have to pass through a corporate filter... remains free.

We need to say, loud and clear, that we don't want big corporations enjoying preferred access to - or government acting as the gatekeeper for - this unique platform for independent journalism.

And it means that we need to hold the government to its mandate to protect the freedom of the press, including independent and non-commercial news media.

The stakes could not possibly be higher. Scott McClellan's book serves as a reminder, and the current election season, not to mention the gathering clouds of conflict with Iran, will both serve as tests of whether lessons have truly been learned from past experience. Ensuring that a free press remains free will require vigilance, and it will require work. Please, take tonight's energy and inspiration home with you. Take it back to your desks and your workplaces, to your colleagues and your fellow citizens. magnify it, multiply it, and spread it. Make it viral. Make it something that cannot be ignored - not by the powers in Washington, not by the owners and executives of media companies. Write these people. Call them. Send them the message that you know your rights, you know that you are entitled to news media as diverse and varied as the American people... and that you deserve a press that provides the raw material of democracy, the good information that Americans need to be full participants in our government of, by, and for the people.

There is energy here, that can be equal to that task, but this energy must be maintained... if the press - if democracy - is to be preserved.
Thank you very much, and good night.

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