Kristi Stassinopoulou, “The Secrets of the Rocks” (YouTube)

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 19 2007 8:21 utc | 3

Leader of Al Qaeda group in Iraq was fictional, U.S. military says

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 19 2007 8:31 utc | 5

CNN:”Transformer blast rattles Manhattan
A transformer explosion Wednesday caused panic in midtown Manhattan. “We saw hundreds and hundreds of people running down Third Avenue. They were screaming, they were crying,”
Many people dont need anymore ALQaida, to get panic. The terrorism is in our minds.

Posted by: cur | Jul 19 2007 8:56 utc | 7

Many people dont need anymore ALQaida, to get panic. The terrorism is in our minds.
Posted by: cur | Jul 19, 2007 4:56:50 AM | 7

How true I wonder how Mr. Chertoff’s gut is holding up under the strain.
OSAMA BIN STEAMEN ATTACKS BIG APPLE!

Posted by: Erdla | Jul 19 2007 9:35 utc | 9

Gosh, I miss Billmon.

Posted by: Anonymous | Jul 19 2007 13:10 utc | 11

Saeb Erekat (sp) on Al Jazeera this afternoon: in the 4 minutes I could bear to watch, mentioned the “illegal coup d’etat” by Hamas about 7 times. He was designated as “chief negotiator” for the new “peace talks”. Looking very rich and spiffy and trying out his “talking points”. I could just sigh, but think I will tear my hair out instead. Orwell would die, if only…

Posted by: ww | Jul 19 2007 16:35 utc | 13

pour b real – comrade chavez

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Jul 19 2007 17:47 utc | 15

pinr: Somalia’s Compromised National Reconciliation Conference

Put in the bluntest terms — and they are justified — the N.R.C. is a nuanced yet simple power play by the T.F.G. executive to maintain its position by keeping international financial, military and diplomatic support; keeping the Ethiopian occupation in place barring the deployment of an adequate African Union (A.U.) or preferably U.N. peacekeeping force; and controlling the electoral process that is supposed to result in a permanent government and is mandated to take place in 2009.

shabelle: Somalia peace talks under mortar attacks

Mogadishu 19, July.07 ( Sh.M.Network)- Insurgents fired more than five mortar bombs at the venue of Somalia’s national reconciliation conference in the capital. Residents in Behani where the congress is taking place said number of mortars hit the areas surrounding the venue of the conference in north of the capital.
The blasts shook the neighborhood, forcing some the people to flee to other areas, witnesses said.
“Explosions rocked entire Behani neighborhood minutes after the conference was concluded,” said our reporter, Muktar Hirabe, who was covering the conference on Thursday.
It is not clear if there any casualties.

Posted by: b real | Jul 19 2007 18:02 utc | 17

Rubbish Bin Mercenary Supervisor Shot in Iraq, what a Monty Python Joke

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Jul 19 2007 21:47 utc | 19

Do you mean fourth amendment?
What about the first amendment?
I’ve got the tools, said Bush.
That EO is what I came here to post a link to with a request for discussion.
Deep shit. Deep shit. Deep shit.

Posted by: rjj | Jul 19 2007 23:19 utc | 21

well, shrub lives in public housing already. what are we going to be able to take?

Posted by: b real | Jul 20 2007 0:35 utc | 23

Oops it seems that B had already pointed to the article about Murdoch and Bliar’s chats. Sorry bout that. It seems that being a part time MoA contributor is difficult verging on impossible.

Posted by: Debs is dead | Jul 20 2007 2:34 utc | 25

In case you missed it…
FISA court judge John D. Bates Dismisses Plame Civil Suit Against White House
This (criminal) Bush administration has been loading the judiciary with political hacks for seven years!

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 20 2007 6:23 utc | 27

Broader Privilege Claimed In Firings
White House Says Hill Can’t Pursue Contempt Cases
By Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 20, 2007; Page A01
Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege.
snip
just a little added fuel …

Posted by: Siun | Jul 20 2007 6:37 utc | 29

Debs is Dead: “Anyway despite voluminous accusations there is never much in the way of proof of Murdoch’s abuse of his position. What there was has generally come from drunken washed up and bitter former newspaper editors.”
WTF?

Posted by: Rick | Jul 20 2007 11:44 utc | 31

Cloned Poster #19

So there I was, minding my own business
For those who have not heard “The Story” yet, here it is. Unfortunately, as more foreign fighters enter the city, more (very) well-trained snipers are out and about with devastating effect.
For the past two weeks we had been conducting an operation called “Together Forward.” The basic goal was to seal off and rapidly clean up some of the worst hotspots in Baghdad. The 172nd Stryker Brigade would cordon off (seal off) an entire district of Baghdad for two weeks or so and search house by house and building by building to clean out weapons and bad guys.

Funny that MSNBC would lead with that headline? Times are a changing …

Posted by: Rick | Jul 20 2007 12:28 utc | 33

Three British soldiers were killed during an attack with mortars on a British base in Basra, southern Iraq, on Thursday.

In the base! Wonder if it was a lucky shot or better methodology…

Posted by: Alamet | Jul 20 2007 15:12 utc | 35

Iraq Slogger:

“Secret Prison” Uncovered in Kadhimiya
Slogger Source: Illicit Facility Holds over 400 Sunnis, Militia Role Suspected

I can’t tell from the above article if the prison is still in operation or not…

MP: “S.O.S.” for Vulnerable Falluja Civilians
City “Looks Like Guantanamo” after Two Months of Siege

Posted by: Alamet | Jul 20 2007 17:05 utc | 37

Cheney to become president
(briefly)
…or bush colonoscopy.

Posted by: beq | Jul 20 2007 17:09 utc | 39

Is Associate Press launching a campaign against Obama?
This was an event with some 500 people in some place called Sunapee, NH.
If he said what is “reported” here he is certainly laudable correct, but the report does not include the question asked, nor the context of the answer: Obama: Don’t Stay in Iraq Over Genocide

SUNAPEE, N.H. –
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday the United States cannot use its military to solve humanitarian problems and that preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn’t a good enough reason to keep U.S. forces there.
“Well, look, if that’s the criteria by which we are making decisions on the deployment of U.S. forces, then by that argument you would have 300,000 troops in the Congo right now – where millions have been slaughtered as a consequence of ethnic strife – which we haven’t done,” Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“We would be deploying unilaterally and occupying the Sudan, which we haven’t done. Those of us who care about Darfur don’t think it would be a good idea,” he said. …

A local account is quite different.
Aside from this, I do not like Obama, his positions he voiced elsewhere are not agreeable to me and I wouldn’t vote for him. Just want to point out the AP “twang” in this that causes many right wing blogs (which I don’t link to) use and H. Clinton will use, to bash him.

Posted by: b | Jul 20 2007 19:35 utc | 41

a brief extract from gwb’s blather in nashville on thursday, after he was asked (by a save-dafurian) what the u.s. was going to do about darfur.

Thank you very much. For starters, the fact that Americans care about people in faraway lands is a great testimony to our compassion. I believe — good foreign — you’ve heard about one aspect of our foreign policy — two aspects, really, when you think about it. One is the combination of military and diplomatic assets trying to achieve objectives in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere. Another is the working coalitions. And by the way, there are a lot of other countries in Afghanistan and Iraq. They don’t get nearly the credit they deserve, but a lot of other people besides us understand that this is the beginning of a long ideological struggle, and now is the time to make the hard decisions so little guys in the future don’t have to deal with the consequences of that.
The other aspect of foreign policy is I believe to whom much is given, much is required. And people say, well, we got plenty of problems in America; why do you worry about something going on overseas? First of all, we’re wealthy. We’re spending enormous sums of money. If we set proper priorities, we can not only help our own citizens, but I believe it helps our soul and our conscience, and I believe we have a moral obligation to help others.
…
She asked about Darfur. First we — as this administration has proven, it’s possible to achieve some success in Sudan with the north-south agreement that we were able to achieve with Ambassador Danforth at the time. We are now working to make sure that holds by insisting that the revenue-sharing agreement of the oil on Sudan is effective.

to whom much is given, even more is taken

Posted by: b real | Jul 21 2007 3:47 utc | 43

Transcript fuels row over doctor held in Australia on terror charge

A transcript of the interrogation of a doctor charged in Australia in connection with the London and Glasgow terror attacks reveals inconsistencies in police statements about the case.
Publication of the 142-page transcript has fuelled growing concerns over the apparent lack of evidence against Mohammed Haneef, a 27-year-old Indian doctor who was arrested in Australia as he was about to board a flight to Bangalore on Monday July 2, two days after the failed car bomb attacks in London and Scotland.
…

The police simply lied, the guy is likely innocent.

Posted by: b | Jul 21 2007 7:24 utc | 45

Over on the Oil Drum (Jerome is a frequent poster) J. Brown (google Oil Drum, ELM, or on their site Export Land Model, or see a quick link graphoilogy and a simple graphic here) has pointed out that oil exporting countries are steadily consuming more; combined with depletion of their own resources, the dotted line, as a projection of the future based on current data, shows a run down to zero in 9 years.
In 9 years, or X years, exporters will no longer be exporters, and countries with no oil res. will get none, following that kind of projection/analysis.
Of course it will not play out that way. The US has since 50 years invested in a huge military to defend ‘the American way of life’ – meaning being top of the chain and controlling resources all over the world.
M. Klare, posted at Tom Paine com, makes these points, quote:
• The transformation of the U.S. military into a global oil protection service whose primary mission is to defend America’s overseas sources of oil and natural gas, while patrolling the world’s major pipelines and supply routes.
• The transformation of Russia into an energy superpower with control over Eurasia’s largest supplies of oil and natural gas and the resolve to convert these assets into ever increasing political influence over neighboring states.
• A ruthless scramble among the great powers for the remaining oil, natural gas, and uranium reserves of Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia, accompanied by recurring military interventions, the constant installation and replacement of client regimes, systemic corruption and repression, and the continued impoverishment of the great majority of those who have the misfortune to inhabit such energy-rich regions.
• Increased state intrusion into, and surveillance of, public and private life as reliance on nuclear power grows, bringing with it an increased threat of sabotage, accident, and the diversion of fissionable materials into the hands of illicit nuclear proliferators.
unquote.
link

Posted by: Noirette | Jul 21 2007 14:51 utc | 47

Thanks Noirette – good one.
—
Q. Why is the media eager to find out who’s is inside Bush’s ass.
A. They’ve forgotten where they are.

Posted by: b | Jul 21 2007 18:36 utc | 49

@B your post on Haneef is but the tip of the ice berg. Living with his cousins is a bit of a play with the reality which was that they all at some time stayed at a hostel for newly arrived professionals from the sub-continent. There were times when Haneef was there that one or other of his cousins(the two brothers one a doctor the other an engineer) were also there. This was in sperate rooms, more like a hotel than an apartment.
But if you want get truly angry about this read the piece in today’s Sydney Morning Herald Plan to deport liability Haneef. The article argues that the Federal Government needs to deport Haneef now because he is plainly innocent and will be an embarrassment for the Howard Government in the upcoming election if he remains of Australian soil.
Nothing about due process or his rights as a human innocent of any crime not to be penalised for something he didn’t do.
Although R’Giap remembers I doubt that other MoA habitues can comprehend the awfulness of the mainstream media in a society regarded as a vital cog in the Empire. This is very different to that which is ‘tolerated’ in the media manufactured for citizens of the Empire where a pretense of dissent is tolerated. No such chances can be taken with Australia, repository of vast amounts uranium, aluminium, hydrocarbons, and literally hundreds of veins of obscure but much sought after minerals.
I think I have pointed out that the current attacks upon the independence of Aboriginal communities which until now have had the power to determine who may come onto their land, has been attributed to a desire to ‘protect’ Aboriginal children when in fact it is about protecting the resources on their land from others, particularly Chinese buyers.
The Australian media, in concert with the so-called opposition didn’t question this in the least. It took a Maori politician in NZ, who was later subjected to vicious attack from both sides of the Tasman to get any media attention on these injustices and the consequent risk to Aboriginal people.

Posted by: Debs is dead | Jul 22 2007 3:43 utc | 51

Here below are lucid excerpts from a U.S. believer in ‘Conspiracy Theory’ as applied to the Middle East and Israel. I could have written the last 2 paragraphs myself. Reese also mentions the “propaganda based on a misquotation” which I have constantly emphasized in my various comments:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese377.html
Idiots on the March
by Charley Reese
Idiots in Israel, along with those American idiots in the punditocracy who can’t see where they are going because their vision is blocked by Israeli backsides, are trying to pressure our idiots in the White House to commit an act of insanity.
That act of insanity is launching a military attack against Iran because the idiots and their followers believe, despite a total lack of evidence, that Iran is pursuing a nuclear bomb. If you think the Middle East is in turmoil now, just watch what happens if idiocy prevails.
Israel, Pakistan and India all have nuclear weapons, all refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and all are warmly held allies of the idiots in Washington.
Furthermore, having five or six nuclear weapons does not make you a threat against a country with 200 nukes (Israel), much less the U.S., which has more than 3,000 nukes.
So let these facts settle into your head. Iran says it seeks to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, as it is legally entitled to do under the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. There is no evidence to contradict that. Iran has said repeatedly that it has no desire to acquire a nuclear weapon. It has never – despite the propaganda based on a misquotation – ever threatened Israel or the United States, or, for that matter, anyone else.
So what’s afoot? I’ll tell you what I think. The neocons in the U.S. and their pet bully, Israel, intend to dominate the Middle East and its oil. That means any country not run by a servile suck-up (Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, etc.) must be weakened or destroyed.
We’ve pretty much destroyed Iraq and Lebanon, so that leaves Syria and Iran. I imagine the neocons plan on Israel taking out Syria while the U.S. carpet-bombs Iran. The neocons are not only idiots, they are evil. They show a complete disdain for peace, a callous disregard for human life and utter contempt for the rule of law. If that ain’t evil, the devil had better retire.
July 20, 2007

Posted by: Parviz | Jul 22 2007 11:11 utc | 53

Second hit in just three days.

A British soldier was killed in an attack on a British base in the former presidential palaces in central Basra, the Multi-National Force (MNF) in southern Iraq said on Sunday.

(Link for previous incident @ nr. 35 above.)

Posted by: Alamet | Jul 22 2007 15:43 utc | 55

The navy training story is no more worrying than the forthcoming location of 4 U.S. carriers in the Persian Gulf. I hope it’s ‘intimidation’ at the very worst. God help the Brits, the Americans and the Iranians if a spark lights the tinderbox.

Posted by: Parviz | Jul 22 2007 16:03 utc | 57

If that’s the case, then there’s worse to come, because there’s no way Russia will stay out of it, and you could well see a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq. Iran will also strike hard, and they’re 100 times more organized, effective and lethal militarily than the Iraqis who had been constrained by No-Fly Zones, a U.N. embargo and lack of funds prior to the U.S. invasion. The Taliban and Al Qaeda have been praying for this day. Hizbullah and Hamas will bombard Israel with rockets. The Chinese will also increase the pressure on Taiwan and Hong Kong, and will probably shed their excess Dollars to teach the U.S. a lesson.
If the Brits/Americans do something stupid all bets are off, and I mean globally, not just in the regional theatre. Armageddon awaits.

Posted by: Parviz | Jul 22 2007 16:17 utc | 59

The fact that the birth of the classical, medieval and capitalist civilizations occurred in peripheral regions suggests that when a social system becomes obsolete and is superseded, the leadership in the transition process is likely to be provided not by the affluent, traditional and sclerotic societies in the center, but by the primitive, poverty-stricken and adaptable societies in the peripheries. The implications of this pattern are obvious for the twentieth-century world: contrary to Marx’s expectation, the revolutionary upheavals are occurring in the peripheries, while center remains capitalist.
— l.s. stavrianos, global rift: the third world comes of age, 1981

int’l socialist review: Where is Venezuela going? Chávez and the meaning of twenty-first century socialism

Where is Venezuela going? This article seeks to provide a framework for answering that question. It will (1) analyze the rise of Chávez within the context of Venezuelan history and politics; (2) examine the government’s economic, social, and political policies; (3) evaluate the Venezuelan revolutionary process from the standpoint of classical Marxist theory; and (4) outline a strategic approach towards the Chávez phenomenon for those committed to anti-imperialist and revolutionary socialist politics.

Bolivia: New Economic Model in Progress

La Paz, Jul 22 (Prensa Latina) Bolivian president Evo Morales arrives this Sunday to the first 18 months in power with a new economic model in progress, based on the recovery of natural resources and industrialization as the next stage.
“We have a new economic model, a new economic system that means the beginning of a process of industrialization of the country, it is a democratic way of changing Bolivia after recovering its natural resources,” asserted the dignitary.
…
Industrialization is the next priority. “We need partners, the economic situation is changing,” he congratulated himself assuring that “macro economic stability is now having its repercussion in the micro economy.”
In addition, Morales explained there are other achievements like the agrarian revolution, the social programs and the establishment of the Constituent Assembly that will write a new Constitution to refound the country, as a sample of a real democracy.
…
“The most important thing is that we have fulfilled what political science means to us: serve the people,” added the Bolivian president.

Ecuador’s Correa: US no longer “Satan” for Latin America

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa believes that Latin America still faces the challenge of building “true democracy,” but he admitted that the United States is no longer the region’s “Satan.”
“What we have are formal democracies, fragile like plasticine,” Correa, 44, said in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. “It is true that we have been holding elections for 20 years, but having a democracy is something quite different.”
…
Correa sees himself and other leaders in the region as representatives of the “new, Latin American-style socialism.”
“We are part of that current denominated 21st-century socialism,” he said. “We agree with traditional socialism on the supremacy of labour over capital, for example.”
Correa lamented that over the last two decades, Latin America has suffered “a total subjugation of lives, people and human labour to the need to accumulate capital.”
He complained about changes that made labour markets more flexible for the sake of growth, while workers suffered lower wages and a loss of stability.
In opposition to such changes, Correa emphasized socialist traditions such as “the importance of collective action” to overcome what he called “the myth – closer to religion than to science – that individualism is the engine of society.”

Peru’s poor lose faith in market-friendly president

LIMA (Reuters) – Peruvian President Alan Garcia has won over skeptical business leaders and investors during his first year in office, but angry street protests show he has failed to meet the demands of the poor.
Teachers, peasant farmers and trade unionists have all taken to the streets of the South American country in recent weeks in sometimes violent protests to press demands ranging from more roads, better education and cheaper fertilizers.
“He’s not governing for poor people, he’s governing for the rich. We want him to implement the responsible change he’s promised, and if he can’t do it, he should go,” teacher Elma Suarez, 35, said during a protest in the capital, Lima.
A center-leftist, Garcia began his second term as president last July by vowing to grow the economy and fight poverty.
But his approval rating has slumped from 63 percent in August to 42 percent in June, a poll by Ipsos Apoyo showed.

Nicaragua Sandinistas Recall Revolution: Nicaragua Sandinistas, Back In Power, Celebrate 28th Anniversary Of Revolution

Nicaragua’s Sandinistas marked the 28th anniversary of their 1979 revolution on Thursday and this year’s celebrations were particularly sweet _ the leftist party is back in power and surrounded by allies.
President Daniel Ortega, elected for a second term in November, was joined by the presidents of Panama and Honduras, as well as Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, who has supplied Nicaragua with oil and other fuels.
“Unity will make us free,” Chavez said. “The empire has always maintained its plans to keep us divided, and thus weak and dominated,” he added, referring to the United States.
Ortega called the anniversary “a glorious date,” saying many still “fight for liberty, justice, sovereignty and against imperial domination.”
The celebration was to include the formal rollout of Ortega’s controversial “people’s councils,” described by the Sandinistas as an exercise in direct democracy.

Posted by: b real | Jul 23 2007 4:01 utc | 61

Two Americas, one Maxed Out.

Maxed Out takes viewers on a journey deep inside the American style of debt, where things seem fine as long as the minimum monthly payment … arrives on time.
With coverage that spans from small American towns all the way to the White House, the film shows how the modern financial industry really works, explains the true definition of “preferred customer” and tells us why the poor are getting poorer while the rich keep getting richer.
Hilarious, shocking and incisive, Maxed Out paints a picture of a national nightmare which is all too real for most of us.”

The title should have been, “Thief’s, Vampires, Wolves and Vultures.’
Well worth the time if you have it…
I found the most insightful bit at the very end, while the credits were rolling, when the pawnbroker said the following:
“I was somewhere about a year ago. It was definitely a blue-collar environment – machinists of some sort. And they go,’we don’t want to pay extra money and have more taxes for people who can’t afford their health insurance and just don’t make enough money.’
And I’m going, ‘that’s you guys; that’s you!’ And they don’t get it, they just don’t get it.”
This really encapsulates the dilemma at the heart of American politics today: after years of being demonized by Republicans, people are absolutely loathe to fund social safety nets, because they think of them as programs that are used by “somebody else.” But then, when those same people do need those safety nets, they are not available, so they often have to rely upon private debt.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 23 2007 5:35 utc | 63

didn’t anyone wonder about what drove the Masters of the Universe, as they would have it, to Russia to meet w/Putin recently? All the moreso since it seems to have been censored from our propaganda apparatus. How’s this for a delegation-
Kissinger was accompanied on his junket by a delegation of high-powered political and corporate big-wigs including former Secretary of State George Schultz, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, former Special Representative for Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr., former Senator Sam Nunn and Chevron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David O’Reilly.
Kissinger’s Secret Meeting With Putin
Well… I dug up this AMAZING NUGGET today.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush spent most of their time at the “lobster summit” at Kennebunkport, Maine, discussing how to prevent the growing tensions between their two countries from getting out of hand.
 
The media and international affairs experts have been portraying missile defense in Europe and the final status of Kosovo as the two most contentious issues between Russia and the United States, with mutual recriminations over “democracy standards” providing the background for the much anticipated onset of a new Cold War. But while this may well be true for today, the stage has been quietly set for a much more serious confrontation in the non-too-distant future between Russia and the United States – along with Canada, Norway and Denmark. Russia has recently laid claim to a vast 1,191,000 sq km (460,800 sq miles) chunk of the ice-covered Arctic seabed. The claim is not really about territory, but rather about the huge hydrocarbon reserves that are hidden on the seabed under the Arctic ice cap. These newly discovered energy reserves will play a crucial role in the global energy balance as the existing reserves of oil and gas are depleted over the next 20 years.
Of course, there’s a small matter of international law, but that’s never stopped the West, so…

Posted by: jj | Jul 23 2007 9:03 utc | 65

@ JJ, Rick, et al…
Bush speaks of a prosperous and even wealth ownership society where people who can pay walk away from their debts, because they’re dead beats?
Meanwhile, Child Poverty In Chicago — photographs by Stephen Shames, (c) 1985. Included is Lafeyette(sic) of “There Are No Children Here.”
A few choice quotes from the above links…

Dr. Katherine Christoffel of The Children’s Memorial Hospital told me her hospital has documented sixteen cases of marasmus and kwasiorkor, which are starvation-related diseases, in the past four years. Generally these Third World diseases are not looked for. “If we kept good records, we would probably be shocked,” she said.

From the recently released Philadelphia Dept. of Human Services planning and budget paper for 2008-09:

Between 2003 and 2005, the percentage of the poverty population who were children, increased from 32.7% to 37.7%. Perhaps more significant, the percentage of all children in Philadelphia who live at or below the poverty level rose from 27.9% to 35%.

When someone is “below the poverty level” they are very, very poor. The federal poverty guidelines are absurd.
I love America’s sense of social responsibility and fair play. It’s such an inspiring example to the rest of the world.
I –and many others–finally figured out that the ‘trickle down’ from the ray gun 80’s, was the elite pissing on the poor caste.
What the fuck difference does it make to us, if some suits lose their portfolios?

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 23 2007 9:14 utc | 67

Here’s an interesting discussion of coming collapse from someone who went through the Russian Nightmare. Closing the ‘Collapse Gap’: the USSR was better prepared for peak oil than the US

Posted by: jj | Jul 23 2007 9:40 utc | 69

kwasiorkor in Chicago ?
I recall mentions of kwasiorkor in Biafra. And that was 40 years ago — and in the thick of a brutal all-out civil war
someone please say it aint so

Posted by: jony_b_cool | Jul 23 2007 10:50 utc | 71

R’giaps -link – Bush’s Latest, Ludicrous, Doomed Plan for Israel and Palestine

In this western–or, rather, middle eastern–there are also Good Guys and Bad Guys. The good ones are the “moderates”, who are the allies of the US in the Middle East–Israel, Mahmoud Abbas and the pro-American Arab regimes. The bad ones are Hamas, Hizbullah, Iran, Syria and al-Qaeda.
It is a simple script. So simple, indeed, that an 8-year-old can understand it. The conclusions are also simple: the good guys have to be supported, the bad guys have to bite the dust. At the end, the hero–George himself–will ride off into the sunset on his noble steed, while the music reaches a crescendo.
The classic western, of course, does not show us the heroic pioneers stealing the land from the Indians. Or the United States cavalry attacking the camps of the Indians, burning down the tents and killing their inhabitants, men, women and children. Or how the US government, after signing formal treaties with the Indian nations, breaks them one after another. Or how it drives the remnants into desolate regions, long before the term “ethnic cleansing” was first used.
…

– recommended –

Posted by: b | Jul 23 2007 17:33 utc | 73

Army Officer Says Gitmo Panels Flawed
Snip…

Abraham’s affidavit “proves what we all suspected, which is that the CSRTs [Combat Status Review Tribunals] were a complete sham,” said a lawyer for al-Odah, David Cynamon.

Snip…

The military held Combatant Status Review Tribunals for 558 detainees at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in 2004 and 2005, with handcuffed detainees appearing before panels made up of three officers. Detainees had a military “personal representative” instead of a defense attorney, and all but 38 were determined to be “enemy combatants.”
Abraham was asked to serve on one of the panels, and he said its members felt strong pressure to find against the detainee, saying there was “intensive scrutiny” when they declared a prisoner not to be an enemy combatant. When his panel decided the detainee wasn’t an “enemy combatant,” they were ordered to reconvene to hear more evidence, he said.
Ultimately, his panel held its ground, and he was never asked to participate in another tribunal, he said.
Matthew J. MacLean, another al-Odah lawyer, said Abraham is the first member of the CSRT panels who has been identified, let alone been willing to criticize the tribunals in the public record. His affidavit was submitted to a Washington, D.C., appellate court on al-Odah’s behalf as well as to the Supreme Court.
“It wouldn’t be quite right to say this is the most important piece of evidence that has come out of the CSRT process, because this is the only piece of evidence ever to come out of the CSRT process,” MacLean said. “It’s our only view into the CSRT.”
In April, the Supreme Court declined to review whether Guantanamo Bay detainees may go to federal court to challenge their indefinite confinement. Lawyers for the detainees have asked the justices to reconsider. The Bush administration opposes the request.

Thank you, Lt. Col. Stephen E. Abraham. I’m glad there are still men with souls who are in the position to do the right thing. They will, of course, crush you for this, but I will drink a toast to your memory.

Posted by: Monolycus | Jul 23 2007 18:30 utc | 75

Abu G: And I am telling you, I’m not going…

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says he’s staying at the Justice Department to try to repair its image problem created by Democrat hacks, telling Congress in a statement released Monday he’s troubled to hear rumors that there is an scandalously libelous perception that politics may have played a part in hiring career federal prosecutors.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 23 2007 19:08 utc | 77

I wish I could enlighten you Uncle. I don’t go to dkos so much. And this may be why. I thank Bernhard for letting us go at it from time to time. On one hand you have the (and I even heard this Saturday when I went to see Cindy Sheehan very near where this incident took place) lefthand accusations of circular firing squads and how the regressive right can get it done but they are just parrots, screeching a few lines they’ve learned, there is nothing there.
I want to be smart too. So I come here.
🙂

Posted by: beq | Jul 23 2007 21:22 utc | 79

@b (#76)
Whatever sins he might have to atone for, I believe that this goes a very long way towards redeeming his humanity. One is never too old to discover that they still have a bit of humanity.
Anyway…
Harriet Miers and Bush Chief of Staff to face contempt charges
Snip…

Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten, the current Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, will likely be charged with contempt by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday this week.
“This investigation, including the reluctant but necessary decision to move forward with contempt, has been a very deliberative process, taking care at each step to respect the Executive Branch’s legitimate prerogatives,” said Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, in a statement. “I’ve allowed the White House and Ms. Miers every opportunity to cooperate with this investigation, either voluntarily or under subpoena. It is still my hope that they will reconsider this hard-line position, and cooperate with our investigation so that we can get to the bottom of this matter.”
Through an attorney, Miers had had earlier stated that she does not fear contempt charges. She refused to comply with a subpoena and appear before the House Committee on July 12 as part of the investigation into the firing of 9 US Attorneys. Bolten also has failed to turn over documents sought by House Democrats. The Bush chief of staff was ordered to comply with the subpoena by 10 AM this morning.

Ms Miers’ defiance here is reminiscent of Rove’s inexplicable smugness preceding the 2006 election smackdown. She obviously believes her dark cronies are able to get anything they want for their faithful followers. This is particularly odd since Ms Miers was the party involved on one of the rare occasions when this President wasn’t given a blank cheque… or she’d be on the other side of the bench right now issuing contemptible charges of her own.
There’s a small chance that she isn’t as stupidly fawning as she looks and she really does know something the rest of us don’t. After all, we know there are few depths to which this administration won’t sink. Heh heh.

Posted by: Monolycus | Jul 24 2007 0:10 utc | 81

uncle #63. i am glad i watched that movie last noght after you posted it, it is no longer available at your link…

Posted by: annie | Jul 24 2007 1:17 utc | 83

Brother Ali – Uncle Sam $cam Goddamn

[Intro]
Ah, the name of this song is Uncle Sam goddamn
It’s a show tune but the show ain’t been written for it yet
We’re gonna see if Tony Jerome and the band can maybe work this shit out for
me
And straighten me out right quick
I like it so far man
…Yeah, come on, lets go
[Chorus] (#1}
Welcome to the United Snakes
Land of the thief home of the slave
Grand imperial guard where the dollar is sacred and proud
Lets do this shit for real, come on now
[Verse 1]
Smoke and mirrors, stripes and stars
Stolen for the cross in the name of God
Bloodshed, genocide, rape and fraud
Written to the pages of the law good lord
The Cold Continent latch key child
Ran away one day and started acting foul
King of where the wild things are daddy’s proud
cos the Roman Empire done passed it down
Imported and tortured a work force
and never healed the wounds or shook the curse off
Now the grown up Goliath nation
Holdin open auditions for the part of David, can you feel it?
Nothing can save ya, you question the reign
You get rushed in and chained up
Fist raised but I must be insane
cos I can’t figure a single goddamn way to change it
[Chorus] {x2}
Welcome to the United Snakes
Land of the thief home of the slave
The grand imperial guard where the dollar is sacred and power is God
[Verse 2]
All must bow to the fat were lazy
The fuck you obey me and why do they hate me (who me?)
Only two generations away
from the world’s most despicable slavery trade
Pioneered so many ways to degrade a human being
that it can’t be changed to this day
Legacy so ingrained in the way that we think we no longer need chains
to be slaves
Lord it’s a shameful display
The overseers even got raped along the way
Cause the children cant escape from the pain
and they’re born with poisoness hatred in their veins
Try n’ separate a man from his soul
you only strengthen him and lose your own
But shoot that fucker if he walk near the throne
Remind him that this is my home (now I’m gone)
[Chorus] {x2}
Hold up give me one right here
Hold on
[Verse 3]
You don’t give money to the bums
on a corner with a sign bleeding from their gums
Talking about you don’t support a crackhead
What you think happens to the money from your taxes
Shit the governments an addict
With a billion dollar a week kill brown people habit
And even if you aint on the front line
when massah yell crunch time you right back at it
Plain look at how you hustling backwards
At the end of the year add up what they subtracted
Three outta twelve months your salary pays for that madness
Man, that’s savage
What’s left get a big ass plasma
To see where they made Dan Rather point the damn camera
Only approved questions get answered
Now stand your ass up for that national anthem
[Chorus] {x2}
[instrumental break]
[vocals: Mankwe Ndosi]
(You’re so low)
Custom made (You’re so low) *
To consume the noose (You’re so low) *
Keep saying we’re free (You’re so low) *
But we’re all just loose (You’re so low) *

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 24 2007 2:43 utc | 85

financial times: China oil braves hostile terrain in Somalia

CNOOC’s willingness to strike an oil deal with the fragile government of Somalia, which has been a failed state for more than a decade, has provided stark evidence of China’s willingness to brave terrain that western oil majors deem too treacherous.
The state-owned Chinese oil giant has signed a production-sharing deal with the transitional federal government in the east African country, which ranks as a high-risk frontier even in an industry well accustomed to dangerous environments.
In doing so, CNOOC and its smaller partner, China International Oil and Gas, are gambling on three points. First, that the interim government has the authority to make such deals and will stay in power. Second, that violence stemming from perennial inter-clan conflicts and more recently Islamist extremism [sic] will not derail its work. Third – and most fundamentally – that the country has some oil worth extracting.
Several western oil majors held exploration concessions in Somalia in the 1980s, but fled in 1991 when the overthrow of dictator Siad Barre ushered in 16 years of chaos.
Ali Mohamed Gedi, Somalia’s interim prime minister, told the Financial Times last week that ConocoPhillips, Chevron, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Eni would be invited to return and change their concessions into production-sharing agreements under a new oil law due to be published in the next two months.
But that looks like a distant prospect. BP, Shell and Eni say they still consider the concession deals to be subject to force majeure – code for unexpected and disruptive events that prevent contractual obligations from being met. Chevron and ConocoPhillips have declined to comment.

that’s strange. ft had two articles last week on the CNOOC deal & gedi’s reaction to it, yet they failed to mention the part about offering PSA’s to the western biggies.
somalia: Islamist chief urges Somalis to resist ‘new colonialists’

MOGADISHU, Somalia July 23 (Garowe Online) – The most influential leader in the ousted Islamic Courts movement has called upon the Somali people to resist what he termed “new colonialism” in the country.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys told Somali-language Universal TV on Monday that it is impossible to participate in a national reconciliation conference organized by the Ethiopian army.
” The Somali people must resist [this] new colonialism and must show their strength to expel the invaders,” Sheikh Aweys said.
The Islamist chief went on to say that it is unfortunate that some Somalis have accepted a reconciliation conference organized “by those who invaded the country.”
Sheikh Aweys urged Somalis to resist against plans to divide the country and its people.
Last year, Aweys was the most powerful man in southern Somalia as Islamist militias took [many somali’s, including the biz class, would probably prefer the term “liberate”] Mogadishu from notorious warlords by force and went on to capture [sic] other towns in the central and southern regions of the country.

the sham reconciliation conference is focusing on the TFG’s 4.5 clan formula, rather than political reconciliation, in order to establish dominance & maintain control over rents, once the oil exploration commences.

Posted by: b real | Jul 24 2007 3:49 utc | 87

not much in this article we don’t already know, but i did appreciate the following (crucial) point being made
black commentator: GWB, Africa and a New African American General

Most commentary on this situation avoids what I would consider the most important point: what right does the U.S. government have to interfere in the affairs of sovereign African nations? To intervene in their disputes? To promote the militarization of the continent? These questions seem to have eluded Rice, Frazer, Courville and company. But then again, they don’t make policy; they’re just doing their job.

black agenda report: A Tale of Two Genocides, Congo and Darfur: The Blatantly Inconsistent U.S. Position

Possibly a quarter million people have lost their lives in Darfur, western Sudan, in ethnic conflict. The U.S. government screams its head off in denunciation of genocide, in this case. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as many as five million have died since 1994 in overlapping convulsions of ethnic and state-sponsored massacre. Not a word of reproach from Washington. A human death toll that approaches the Nazi’s annihilation of Jews in World War Two – an ongoing holocaust – unfolds without a whiff of complaint from the superpower.
Why is mass death the cause of indignation and confrontation in Sudan, but exponentially more massive carnage in Congo unworthy of mention? The answer is simple: in Sudan, the U.S. has a geopolitical nemesis to confront: Arabs, and their Chinese business partners. In the Congo, it is U.S allies and European and American corporate interests that benefit from the slaughter. Therefore, despite five million skeletons lying in the ground, there is no call to arms from the American government. It is they who set the genocidal Congolese machine in motion.

Posted by: b real | Jul 24 2007 14:45 utc | 89

Another one on the significance of the Turkish election result, and then a great comment from Paul Woodward of The War in Context:

The power struggle that is playing out in Turkey is one which is evident not only across the Middle East but around the world. It has much less to do with Islam versus secularism than it has with the struggle that lies at the heart of democracy: the political fight to wrest power from elites for whom government has long been a reliable servant of their own interests at the expense of others.
Those elites will always respond to such political challenges by presenting the threats they face as threats to the people, the nation, or even civilization, and they will use all the powers of the state, of the media, and of economic power, to reinforce this message of collective danger. Sooner or later though, there will be some form of rebellion by those who see that their interests are not being represented.
Americans unfortunately, brainwashed from infancy, regard the accumulation of excessive power and wealth as an expression of America’s greatness and thus have a tendency to fear criticizing their own elites as though to do so would be unAmerican. Ironically, in the nation which is the birthplace of modern democracy, the progress of democracy is mired by this crippling reverence for power.

Posted by: Bea | Jul 24 2007 15:04 utc | 91

From Bea #88 ’Take a chip or starve.’
A companion article:
Microchips mulled for HIV carriers in Indonesia’s Papua
Heck, I don’t even like having a social security number!

Posted by: Rick | Jul 24 2007 15:14 utc | 93

@b real #94
That document sure sends out a strong stench… Methinks that spells the death of the Republic. Why do I have the sinking feeling that all the pieces are being put in place for… something that is hard to even name.

Posted by: Bea | Jul 24 2007 16:11 utc | 95

Recommended – Kissinger’s Secret Meeting With Putin

When a political heavyweight, like Henry Kissinger, jets-off on a secret mission to Moscow; it usually shows up in the news.
Not this time.
This time the media completely ignored—or should we say censored—Kissinger’s trip to Russia and his meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In fact, apart from a few short blurps in the Moscow Times and one measly article in the UK Guardian, no major news organization even covered the story. There hasn’t been as much as a peep out of anyone in the American media.
Nothing. That means the meetings were probably arranged by Dick Cheney. The secretive Veep doesn’t like anyone knowing what he’s up to.
Kissinger was accompanied on his junket by a delegation of high-powered political and corporate big-wigs including former Secretary of State George Schultz, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, former Special Representative for Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr., former Senator Sam Nunn and Chevron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David O’Reilly.
Wow. Now, there’s an impressive line up.
The group was (presumably) sent to carry out official government business as discreetly as possible. The media obviously complied with White House requests and kept their mouths shut.
…
No one really knows what took place at the meetings, but judging by Kissinger’s parting remarks; things did not go smoothly. He said to one reporter, “We appreciate the time that President Putin gave us and the frank manner in which he explained his point of view.”
In diplomatic phraseology, “frank” usually means that there were many areas of strong disagreement. Presumably, the main “bone of contention” is Putin’s insistence on a “multi-polar” world in which the sovereign rights of other nations is safeguarded under international law. Putin is ferociously nationalistic and he will not compromise Russia’s independence to be integrated into Kissinger and Co.’s wacky the new world order.

Posted by: b | Jul 24 2007 17:14 utc | 97

Ref: #31

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2139456,00.html
Murdoch takeover causes angst at Dow Jones
“Not many people in the newsroom are happy. Rupert Murdoch blurs the line between what is truth and what is entertainment.” -WSJ Graphic Designer

Aw hell, another lazy ass drunk worried about losing his job!

Posted by: Rick | Aug 2 2007 4:43 utc | 99