September 1, 2008
September 8, 2008
September 15 & 22, 2008
Whole Body Health
September 29, 2008
THE NEO-CONNED BUSH REGIME and the Israeli-occupied American media are heading the innocent world toward nuclear war. Back in the Reagan years, the National Endowment for Democracy was created as a Cold War tool.
Today, the NED is a neo-con-controlled agent for U.S. world hegemony. Its main function is to pour U.S. money and election-rigging into former parts of the USSR in order to bring Russia with U.S. puppet states.
The neo-conservative Bush regime used the NED to intervene in Ukrainian and Georgian internal affairs in keeping with the neo-conservative plan to establish U.S.-friendly and Russia-hostile political regimes in these two former constituent parts of Russia and the Soviet Union.
The NED was also used to dismember the former Yugoslavia with its interventions in Slovakia, Serbia and Montenegro.
According to Wikipedia, Allen Weinstein, who helped draft the legislation establishing NED, told The Washington Post in 1991 that much of what the NED does "today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA."
The Bush regime, having established a puppet, Mikheil Saakashvili, as president of Georgia, tried to bring Georgia into NATO.
(For readers too young to know, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a military alliance between the United States and Western European countries to resist any Soviet move into Western Europe. There has been no reason for NATO since the Soviet Union's internal political collapse almost two decades ago. The neo-cons turned NATO into another tool, like the NED, for U.S. world hegemony. Subsequent U.S. administrations violated the understandings that President Reagan had reached with Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, and have incorporated former parts of the Soviet empire into NATO. The neo-con goal of ringing Russia with a hostile military alliance has been proclaimed many times.)
Western European members of NATO balked at the admission of Georgia, as they understood it as a provocative affront to Russia, on whom Western Europe is dependent for natural gas. Western Europeans are also disturbed at the Bush regime's intentions to install ballistic missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic, as the consequence will be Russian nuclear cruise missiles targeted on European capitals.
Europeans don't see the advantage of helping the U.S. block Russian nuclear retaliation against America at the expense of their own existence. Ballistic missile defenses are not useful against cruise missiles.
Every country is tired of war except for the United States. War, including nuclear war, is the neo-conservative strategy for world hegemony.
The entire world, except for Americans, knows that the outbreak of armed conflict between Russian and Georgian forces in South Ossetia was entirely due to the United States and its Georgia puppet, Saakashvili.
Americans, alone in the world, are unaware that the hostilities were initiated by Saakashvili, because Bush, Cheney and the Israeli-occupied American media have again lied to them. Everyone else in the world knows that the unstable and corrupt Saakashvili, who proclaims democracy and runs a police state, would not have taken on Russia by attacking South Ossetia unless given the go-ahead by Washington.
The purpose of the Georgian attack on the Russian population of South Ossetia is twofold:
? To convince Europeans that their action in delaying Georgia's NATO membership is the cause of "the Russian aggression" and that to save Georgia from conquest Georgia must be given NATO membership.
? To ethnically cleanse South Ossetia of its Russian population. Two thousand Russian civilians were targeted and killed by the U.S.-equipped and trained Georgian army, and tens of thousands fled into Russia. The hope is that the Russian population will be afraid to return or can be prevented from returning, thus removing the secessionist threat.
No doubt the Bush regime can con the insouciant American population, just as it did with Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, Iranian nukes and 9-11 itself, but the rest of the world is not buying it, least of all Moscow and the Asia Times, and not even America's bought-and-paid for European allies.
Writing in the Asia Times, Ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar, a former career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service, notes the disinformation that is being peddled by the Bush regime and the U.S. media and reports that "at the outbreak of violence, Russia had tried to have the United Nations Security Council issue a statement calling on Georgia and South Ossetia to immediately lay down weapons. However, Washington was uninterested."
Bhadrakumar notes that the American and Georgian resort to violence and propaganda has brought an end to the Russian government's belief that diplomacy and good will can bring about a settlement of the South Ossetia issue. If Russia wished, Russia could terminate Georgia's existence as a separate country at will, and there is nothing the United States could do about it.
It is certain that the Georgian invasion of South Ossetia was a Bush regime orchestrated event. The U.S. media and the neo-con think tanks were ready with their propaganda blitzes. Neo-cons had ready a Wall Street Journal editorial page article for Saakashvili that declares "the war in Georgia is a war for the West."
Faced with the collapse of his army when Russia sent in troops to protect South Ossetians from the Georgian troops, Saakashvili declared:
"This is not about Georgia anymore. It is about America, its values."
The neo-con Heritage Foundation in Washington quickly called a conference hosted by warmonger Ariel Cohen, "Urgent! Event: Russian-Georgian War: a Challenge for the U.S. and theWorld."
The Washington Post breathlessly promoted neo-con Robert Kagen's war drums, "Putin Makes His Move."
Only a fool like Kagen could think that if Putin intended to invade Georgia he would do so from Beijing, or that after sending the American-trained Georgian army in flight, he would not continue and conquer all of Georgia in order to put an end to American machinations on Russia's most sensitive border—machinations that are likely to eventually end in nuclear war.
That despicable rag, The New York Times, printed Billy Kristol's rant, "Will Russia Get Away With It?" Kristol thunders against "dictatorial and aggressive and fanatical regimes" that "seem happy to work together to weaken the influence of the United States and its democratic allies."
Kristol presents a new axis of evil—Russia, China, North Korea and Iran—and warns against "delay and irresolution" that "simply invite future threats and graver dangers."
In other words, "attack Russia now."
What must be the effect on U.S. Intelligence services and the U.S. military of Vice President Dick Cheney's propagandistic and irresponsible statement of U.S. support for Georgia's war crimes? Does anyone really believe that the CIA or any U.S. intelligence service told the vice president that Russia opened the conflict with an invasion? Russian troops arrived in South Ossetia after thousands of Ossetians had been killed by the Georgian attack and after tens of thousands of Ossetians had fled into Russia to escape the Georgian attack.
According to news reports, Russian forces have captured Americans who were with the Georgian troops directing their attack on civilians.
The U.S. military certainly has no resources for a war against Russia on top of lost wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a planned war with Iran.
With its Georgian venture, the Bush regime is guilty of a new round of war crimes. What will be the consequence? Many will reply that having got away with 9-11, Afghanistan and Iraq, and with its preparations for attacking Iran, the Bush regime will get away with its Georgian venture, as well.
Possibly, however, this time the Bush regime has overreached.
Certainly Russia now recognizes that the U.S. is determined to
exert hegemony over
Russia and is Russia's worst enemy. China realizes the U.S. threat
to its own energy supply and, thereby, economy. Even America's
European allies, chafing under their role of supplying troops
for America's empire, must now realize that being an American
ally is dangerous and has no benefits.
If Georgia becomes a NATO member and renews its attack on South Ossetia, it must drag Europe into a war with Russia, a main supplier of energy to Europe.
Moreover, if Russian troops are sent across European frontiers, there is nothing to stop them. What does America offer Europe, aside from the millions of dollars it pays to buy off Europe's political leaders to ensure that they betray their own peoples?
Nothing whatsoever. The only military threat that Europe faces comes from being dragged into America's wars for American hegemony.
The United States is financially bankrupt, with budget and trade deficits that exceed the combined deficits of the rest of the world together. The dollar has wilted. The American consumer market is dying from the offshoring of American jobs and, thereby, incomes, and from the wealth effect of the real estate and derivatives collapses. The United States has nothing to offer Europe. Indeed, American economic decline is killing European exports by driving up the value of the euro. America long ago lost the moral high ground.
Hypocrisy has become America's best known hallmark. Bush, the invader of Afghanistan and Iraq on the basis of lies and deception, thunders at Russia for coming to the defense of its peacekeepers and Russian citizens in South Ossetia. Bush, the vampire who ripped Kosovo out of Serbia's heart and handed it to the Albanians, has taken an adamant stand against other separatist movements, especially the South Ossetians who wish to be part of the Russian Federation.
The neo-conned Bush regime is furious that the Russian bear
was not intimidated by the United States supported aggression
of the American puppet state, Georgia. Instead of accepting the
act of American hegemony
that the neo-con script called for, Russia sent the Americanized
Georgian army fleeing in fear.
Moreover, do the morons who comprise the Bush regime really not understand that short of a surprise nuclear attack on Russia there is nothing whatsoever the United States can do to Moscow?
The Bush regime owns no Russian currency that it can dump. The Russians own U.S. dollars. The Bush regime owns no Russian bonds that it can dump. The Russians own U.S. bonds. The U.S. can cut Russia off from no energy supplies. Russia can cut America's European allies off from energy.
President Reagan negotiated the end of the Cold War with Soviet President Gorbachev. The neo-cons, whom Reagan fired and drove from his administration, were furious. The neo-conservatives had hoped to win the Cold War, thereby establishing American hegemony.
The Republican establishment re-established its hegemony under Bush the First that it had lost to Ronald Reagan. With this feat, intelligence was driven from the Republican Party.
The neo-cons engineered their comeback with the First Gulf War and their propaganda, pure lies, that Iraqi troops bayoneted Kuwait babies in hospitals.
The neo-cons made a further comeback with President Clinton, whom they convinced to bomb Serbia in order to permit separatist movements to become independent states dependent on America.
With Bush the Second, the neo-cons took over. Their agenda, American world hegemony, includes Israeli hegemony in the Middle East.
So far the schemes of these dangerous ideologues have come a cropper. Iraq, formerly in the hands of secular Sunnis who were a check on Iran, is, after the American invasion and occupation, in the hands of religious Shiites allied with Iran. In Afghanistan, the Taliban are resurgent, and a large NATO-U.S. army there is unable to control the situation.
Those Americans stupid enough to think that America's "super power" ensures its citizens from danger need to read the total contempt shown for President Bush in an editorial published in Russia's "state" newspaper, Pravda (see below).
Nationally syndicated columnist, Paul Craig Roberts, Ph.D., a former editor at The Wall Street Journal, is the author of several books. He has been associated with the Hoover Institution, and the Institute for Political Economy and from 1981 to 1982 served as assistant secretary of the treasury for economic policy.
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Although we are not likely to ever know whether accused anthrax terrorist Bruce Ivins really committed suicide, one particularly interesting aspect of the case has been buried by the mass media in America.
Although page after page of excruciatingly detailed information about Ivins' personal life and career appeared in the major newspapers, the "big secret" about Ivins has been blacked out: he was a virulent Muslim-bashing supporter of Israel, a Christian by faith who trumpeted the mantra that the Jews are "God's Chosen People."
The Jewish Telegraph Agency acknowledged candidly on August 4 that these facts about Ivins were, in its words, "significant" because the notes accompanying the anthrax sent to various locales were designed to appear as though they were written by "a radical Islamist," featuring such rhetoric as "Death to America, Death to Israel, Allah is Great."
The JTA article, which was published in Jewish community newspapers across America, revealed that the Frederick (Maryland) News Post had recently republished several letters that Ivins had written to that newspaper over the last several years, including one in which Ivins praised a rabbi for refusing to engage in dialogue with a Muslim cleric. Ivins wrote:
"By blood and faith, Jews are God's chosen, and have no need for ‘dialogue' with any gentile." (The term "gentile" is a term of derision often openly used by Jews to refer to non-Jews, essentially meaning that non-Jews are akin to insensate beasts.)
But no major media in America took note of these revelations regarding Ivins' ideology. And it has hardly even been noted on the Internet. A Google search of the Internet on August 17 of the terms "Ivins" and "God's chosen" indicated only 564 references. A similar search of Google's "news" section on the Internet indicated only four references to this story—and none of those references were in the pages of The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times or any other "mainstream" daily newspaper.
Clearly, the masters of the media determined that American newspaper readers had the right to know the most personal details of Ivins' life, but chose not to permit those readers to know of the pro-Israel ideological fervor that drove Ivins to mask his murderous attacks as the work of Muslim terrorists.
After all, this might cause Americans to raise questions as to whether other acts of terrorism—ascribed to "Muslim terrorists"—were really the work of Muslims at all, but instead "false flag" measures by Israel and its adherents to turn Americans against the Muslim world.
And if Ivins was involved in the mailing of anthrax-laden letters after 9-11, was he acting alone or at the behest of others?
Both Mark Glenn and Victor Thorn have written authoritative articles for AFP regarding the Ivins case. Among other things, they noted data suggesting Ivins was murdered and evidence pointing toward involvement in the anthrax affair by yet another pro-Israel scientist, Philip Zack. Zack is accused of trying to frame a Muslim colleague for the crime.
So the entirety of the scenario remains a mystery. What we do know is that the controlled media is not telling us everything we need to know.
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In early July, America's most senior military man flew to Tel Aviv to warn Israel not to try to pull another attack on an American ship similar to the USS Liberty incident in 1967. This was a deliberate attempt to sink the USS Liberty, blame it on Arabs and drag America into Israel's war against its Arab neighbors.
Now, a month later, a civilian-manned ship christened the SS Liberty is getting ready to sail from Crete to Gaza in order to break Israel's chokehold on the Palestinian people by bringing much-needed humanitarian supplies.
The endeavor, undertaken by the "Free Gaza" project headquartered in California, is manned by activists from 17 countries who range in their professions from doctors, engineers, business entrepreneurs and even a Roman Catholic nun. Another larger boat, called the SS Free Gaza, will be accompanying the SS Liberty. The Greek-flag bearing Liberty was scheduled to leave port in Cyprus the third week of August and sail 230 miles south to Gaza, considered to be the largest open-air prison in the world and home to over 1 million Palestinian Christians and Muslims who are not permitted to leave.
The ship, christened the SS Liberty in remembrance of the USS Liberty that was attacked by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967, was purchased by the Free Gaza movement with donations from members and supporters.
Persons who have endorsed the project include former President Jimmy Carter and Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Crew members include European parliamentarians and the sister-in-law of ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In Israel, discussion of the USS Liberty is something of a forbidden topic and what little discussion does take place is typified by the "tough luck, get over it" attitude.
Israel threatened to "use force" in preventing the crew of the SS Liberty from bringing medical supplies to needy Palestinian children.
Greta Berlin, one of several crew members recently interviewed on The Liberty Hour radio program (hosted by USS Liberty survivor Phil Tourney and this AFP reporter) said "We want to bring it to the world's attention that Gaza is virtually an outdoor concentration camp" and crew members "do not intend to turn around" if they are confronted by the Israeli navy.
Asked about Israel's assertion that the crew is "aiding and abetting terrorists," Berlin's response was that "The only people with guns and munitions and helicopters and strafing materials in that neighborhood are the Israelis, so it's rather obvious who is the bully of the Mediterranean," adding that "If they (navy personnel) board our boats then there's nothing we can do to stop them. We are non-violent human rights workers. We'll stand in line, link arms, and tell them they're not wanted."
Comments left on various blogs concerning the SS Liberty have delineated the absence of civility characterizing Israel and her supporters.
Terms such as "useful idiots," "socialists," "communists," "terrorists," "pirates," "criminals" and many others of similar vein have been hurled at the group of peaceful human rights activists intent on bringing medicine to Palestinian children. Many Zionists have left comments expressing hope that Israel will attack the vessel, kill all persons on board and sink it.
At the request of this AFP reporter Mark Glenn and USS Liberty survivor Phil Tourney, the crew of the SS Liberty (prior to leaving Cyprus) will cast 34 American long-stemmed roses into the sea while the names of the 34 men who were deliberately killed 41 years ago are read aloud. At the same time, off the coast of Gaza (where the USS Liberty was attacked) another remembrance ceremony will occur with 34 carnations being cast adrift.
Those interested in learning more, donate time or money to the cause can visit the website set up for the event at www.freegaza.org.
A former schoolteacher fluent in several languages, Mark Glenn is a prolific writer whose provocative essays have been published worldwide. He and his wife Vicki and their eight children maintain a ranch in northern Idaho.
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The well-known slogan "Don't Mess with Texas" has taken on a new meaning: A small Texas school district will let its teachers and staff bring their guns to school this fall with relatively few strings attached.
Why? To actually defend the students and employees in the event an armed intruder starts shooting. Imagine police arresting a wounded school intruder, or bagging a dead one, instead of once again cleaning up a carnage of dead and wounded students and staff.
This is apparently a first in the United States. The K-12 Harrold Independent School District has about 113 students. The elected board of this single-campus, rural school district "unanimously approved the plan and parents have not objected," Reuters news service reported.
According to the district superintendent, David Thweatt, traditional school lockdowns and cameras are far from foolproof, as AFP has confirmed at several Texas, Michigan and Indiana school campuses where certain entrances supposed to be locked, even during routine operations, often are unlocked. Even when locked, a trespasser could easily shoot his way in.
"We have a lock-down situation, we have cameras, but the question we had to answer is: what if somebody gets in? What are we going to do?" Thweatt said. "It's just common sense."
Harrold is an unincorporated community in eastern Wilbarger County that borders Oklahoma, about 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth. The district's campus is 500 feet from heavily trafficked U.S. 287, making it a tempting get away route.
As Thweatt told the local Star-Telegram: "When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that's when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can't defend themselves? It's like saying ‘sic 'em' to a dog."
Teachers and staffers who want to bring their guns to the Harrold campus as an added layer of protection—when police too often have proven themselves tardy and flatfooted in deadly school shootings, including those at Virginia Tech University and Columbine High School in Colorado—have to be certified by the state of Texas to carry a concealed handgun, and get crisis training and permission from school officials.
Ammunition that ricochets minimally may be required. Thweatt will not say how many of the 50 or so teachers and staff members will be armed this fall. He does not want students or potential attackers to know.
Congress once barred guns at schools nationwide, but the Supreme Court struck down the law, although state and local communities could adopt their own laws.
Texas bars guns at its schools unless the schools decide otherwise. In the Harrold School case, the federal government is refraining from abridging the intrinsic right to keep and bear arms, thereby allowing the states and localities to work matters out without interference, in the spirit of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.
Reach AFP Corresponding Editor Mark Anderson at truthhound2@yahoo.com.
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Vladimir Putin was the first Russian leader to recognize that his country's vast energy reserves could be used to restore its superpower status but his successor, Dimitry Medvedev, also wants to use thwm to deliver a powerful diplomatic punch.
When Putin stepped down as president to become prime minister, there were murmurs of glee in many Western capitals, especially in Washington, where it was felt he had been cynically exploiting the power of the Russian corporate gas giant, Gazprom, to divide Europe and the U.S. He had even negotiated the building of a pipeline from Libya to pump its gas and oil into Europe in order to make Europeans a bit mote dependent on Russia. The same gas would also be shipped to the U.S.
To Washington's astonishment, he personally oversaw the initial negotiation with Libya's massive liquefied gas and oil reserves, elimination competition from U.S. and European companies. He was also active in developing energy ties with Iran to ship its oil and gas to Europe and China.
His upstaging of the West in the energy stakes was an embarrassment for the U.S., France and Britain. They had established strong diplomatic ties with the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, choosing to overlook his past involvement with terrorism in the hop of getting access for western companies to his country's massive oil and gas reserves. Western leaders were therefore dumfounded when he handed Gazprom the contract. That confirmed a U.S. fear that Putin was determined to ensure Gazprom had a monopoly on gas supplies to European nations, thereby giving Russia a lot more political clout across the European continent.
The U.S. retaliated by shutting Russia out of energy deals in Iraq and as a result, a behind-the-scenes energy battle gained momentum. Putin was personally incensed by the U.S. move because he had allowed himself to be persuaded by George Bush to write off Iraq's billions of dollars of debt to Russia. Some observers reckon Putin did not write of the debt merely as a gesture to George Bush but also in the hope the Iraqi government would respond by giving Russia's LUKOIL access to Iraqi oil fields. It seemed Putin was oblivious to the fact that major decisions regarding energy contracts in Iraq were made only with Washington's approval.
Putin responded by cozying up to Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was only too happy to propose a deal whereby Russia and Iran would supply all of Europe and China's energy, beginning first with the construction of an oil-gas pipeline across the Mediterean.
Putin's successor, Dimitry Medvedev,
the quiet reserved lawyer, lost little time showing he had no
intention of plotting a different energy course than the one his
predecessor had formulated. In fact, it quickly became apparent
that Medvedev, in his role as head of Gazprom from 2000 to 2008,
had equipped himself with a hardheaded grasp of energy issues.
Contrary to a Western perception of him being a patsy for Putin,
he was a tough negotiator. His objective was to take Putin's energy
policy a stage further by developing energy as a diplomatic rather
than just an economic weapon, having in mind a global stage. One
of his first acts after his inauguration on May 7, 2008, was to
issue a directive that ESPO - Eastern Diberian Oil Pipeline -
had to be up and running by the end of 2009, thereby permitting
Russia to provide large supplies of oil to the Asia Pacific region.
He followed that up by making a gran tour of the "stans"
particularly oil and gas rich Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan,
with a fat check book in his hand. During diplomatic meetings
in Azerbaijan he said Russia was prepared through Gazprom and
LUKOIL to purchase the country's whole energy reserves.
He was demonstrating to the West, especially Washington, that he was no slouch when it came to doing business in the energy sector. He was particularly conscious that it had been Vice President Dick Cheney's strategy to wrap up deals with "stans" nations and pump oil and gas from the Caspian basin, bypassing Russia. Medvedev was making sure that would never happen. As far back as the early 1990s Cheney had advocated a policy to buy up as much of the Caspian reserves as possible, claiming it would end America's dependency on oil from the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia.
The new Russian president has cleverly exploited Washington's continued diplomatic battle with Iran. As a consequence, overtures from Moscow to Teheran have tilted the energy balance in the Middle East and bolstered Medvedev's strategy of placing Russia at the top of the global energy ladder. He has not only expanded Russian economic influence but has increased the power of its diplomatic punch from Europe to the Middle East and from Africa to Asia.
Gazprom, at his instigation, now has plans to exploit energy reserves in Africa, with a tentative agreement to construct a gas pipeline between Nigeria and Algeria. In an interview with Forbes, he predicted Gazprom would be a trillion dollar company within a decade. Already it is the world's largest energy conglomerate. His prediction about Gazprom is based on the fact that it is controlled from the Kremlin and is seen as an essential element in Russia's global economic and diplomatic outreach. As such, it is entitled to a monopoly of all gas contracts.
NATO nations have been made aware by Washington that Russia intends to use energy as a diplomatic weapon by becoming the main supplier of gas and oil to the continent, thereby controlling prices. In the event of a cold war between the U.S. and Russia it is not inconceivable that Russia will use energy to pressure Europeans to adopt an anti-American stance. Russia has already shown it is not averse to using gas and oil as a weapon by cutting off or threatening to cut off supplies in disputes with Baltic states. That could happen on a larger scale over missile deployment or NATO expansion.
Unfortunately, U.S. foreign policy under the Bush administration
has been too narrowly focused on Iraq. As a result, Russia has
exploited anti-Americanism in the Middle East and beyond. It has
also devoted a lot of its diplomatic and commercial efforts into
making new friends in the energy sector across the globe. The
next U.S. president is going to find that the Russian bear is
sitting on top of gas and oil networks that provide enough diplomatic
heat to worry the U.S. and its European allies.
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There's a growing national (actually international) broadcast network that features a wide-ranging array of talk show forums that aren't afraid to speak about controversial subjects.
The Republic Broadcasting Network (RBN) is based on the Internet at www.republicbroadcasting.org and also heard on satellite at Transponder Frequency 11836, Symbol rate 20770, @ 97 degrees west. RBN is also heard on a bourgeoning number of local radio stations across the country.
You can always listen live to RBN on the Internet - absolutely free, by the way, and you can listen to all of RBN's earlier broadcasts through its Internet archives (again, absolutely free) at any time, day or night, and where in the world, as long as you have Internet access.
RBN was founded by John Stadmiller, a freedom movement veteran with much broadcasting experience.
John's program, The National Intel Report, is heard on RBN daily, Monday through Friday, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. (All times are Central Time.)
RBN provides a much-needed alternative to the propaganda and packaged news of the big networks and is distinct from many so-called "alternative" broadcast outlets in that RBN's hosts are more receptive to wide-ranging discussion about "controversial" subjects that are ignored (even suppressed) by even some self-styled "independent" voices in the media. RBN also invites callers to phone in and make their voices heard.
Three of AFP's regular correspondents broadcast regularly over RBN: Mark Glenn, Mark Anderson and Michael Collins Piper.
Glenn co-hosts two Saturday programs on RBN. From 19 a.m. to noon, Mark joins Phil Tourney, survivor of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in 1967, in hosting The Liberty Hour, which is dedicated to the memory of the men of the Liberty but which reaches across the spectrum to address many topics.
Likewise with Current Issues, the second Saturday RBN broadcast, where Glenn joins host Hesham Tillawi for two hours of lively discussion from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Mark Anderson's program, When Worlds Collide can be heard on RBN on Tuesday mornings from 11 a.m. to 1p.m. He often features interesting guests, as do virtually all of RBN's hosts.
Michael Collins Piper's program - no-holds-barred and always "controversial"- is heard week nights, Monday through Friday, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. CST Mike calls himself the "Witchfinder General," and says his goal is to expose the real demons plaguing the planet.
You should also note Mark Dankof, who broadcasts every Sunday
morning on RBN from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and Rick Adams, host of Uncensored
Radio Free America, whose program is heard every weeknight
from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. AFP readers will also recognize the name
of another popular RBN radio voice, Jack McLamb, whose forum broadcast
on Saturdays from noon to 2p.m.
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An enthusiastic new subscriber to American Free Press, Mrs. Arden Druce of Arizona, has already submitted a letter for our letters page before her subscription has started.
It wasn't difficult to decide that her letter would find a suitable home in the "Ryan Report" So here it is:
"Did you know that there are five candidates running for president? [Actually there are more than five. See page 6. – Ed.
"The news blackout by the major media has led us to believe that there are two. What a lie! The power elites who control the major media like to own both horses in a two-horse race so that they will win no matter which of the two candidates is elected. They don't want us to know that they're rigging the election - that there are more than two choices.
"If the American people don't hear something on the radio, see it on television or read about it in newspapers or magazines, they aren't aware that it exists. Therefore, all the power elites have to do to control the people is to control the media. That's easy; they own the media.
"Many voters are distressed because they don't feel they can support Obama or McCain. If we peer behind the veil that the media has thrown over us, we learn that there aren't just two candidates to choose from. There are five. Besides Obama and McCain, there's Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party, Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party and Ralph Nader, who's running as a independent.
"Chuck Baldwin is probably the best choice of candidates Americans have had for 100 years. He sees the real issues. He knows that preserving America's sovereignty must be our number one priority. Without sovereignty, we have nothing. Here are some other issues he supports:
"Traditional marriage and family values; Second amendment rights; eliminating the federal income tax; opposing amnest for illegals under any guise; reducing immigration and stopping all government subsidies to illegals; immediate termination of international trade agreements such as NAFTA, WTO, CAFTA, and the proposed FTAA; the stopping of sending high paying American jobs to foreign countries; stopping the undeclared wars which are costing American lives and billions of tax dollars; disabling President bush's secret plan to give up our sovereignty and merge the U.S. with Mexico and Canada (the North American Union), unconstitutionally without the approval of the people and Congress.
"Chuck Baldwin is a radio talk show host, an accomplished author, a newspaper and Internet columnist and a minister. On the Internet you may contact Baldwin at www.chuckbaldwinlive.com .
"A third party win if people vote their conscience. In some states Chuck Baldwin's name will be on the ballot. In other states voters will have to write in his name.
"Sovereignty forever,
"Arden Druce (Mrs)"
This letter promoting the candidacy of Chuck Baldwin for president should in no wayy be considered an AFP endorsement of him. AFP is not endorsing any candidate for president. Of course, there are the so-called "front runners" as the establishment media with its contrived enthusiasm plays that tired old game of Democrats and Republicans.
The two establishment candidates continue to hem and haw - waffle - on the issues. One wonders how they will handle the issues should either of them make it to the White House.
People should not shy away from alternative parties. If they believe in a particular alternative candidate they should support him. They should pay no attention to the cry of "Don't waste your vote."
Why throw your vote away on a candidate who you know does not represent you or your country?
Many AFP readers can remember the days when Ross Perot, Ralph Nader, Howard Phillips, and Harry Browne and Pat Buchanan went to the people as new faces for the highest office in the land.
And who can forget the lackluster team of Bob Dole and Jack Kemp whose opponents were the other establishment team of bill Clinton and Al Gore? The deal was that either team was acceptable to the super-rich plutocrats who control our country.
Stay informed by reading AFP. With the facts as found in AFP you can convinve others and yourself what you should do come November 4.
Let us know your thoughts about supporting and voting for alternative
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A Pennsylvania attorney has filed suit to block a possible election of Barrack Hussein Obama to the office of president of the United States on the grounds that he is constitutionally ineligible.
The controversial Philip Berg, active in recent years as attorney for 9-11 truth activists, filed his suit in Philadelphia's Federal District Court seeking an injunction and court order enjoining the DNC from nominating Obama.
The suit was filed shortly before the opening of the Democratic Convention in Denver, but it was blacked out by the mainstream media.
Berg's suit claims that not only is Obama not a "natural born" American, he is not even a citizen of the U.S. Berg had been an outspoken supporter of Hillary Clinton throughout the campaign, sparking speculation of an ulterior motive. He says he filed the suit for the health of the Democratic Party, fearing the Republicans will raise the question after Sen. Obama's nomination.
The lawsuit challenges that Sen. Obama is not natural-born, as required by the Constitution. It suggests he was actually born in Kenya and that the so-called birth certificate made public is a forgery and lacks an ID number. He also claims that Obama is not a naturalized citizen either, and even if he ever was, he lost that citizenship when he was adopted by his Indonesian stepfather and his mother embraced the citizenship of that country. As a minor, Obama's status legally followed his mother's, Berg says.
Even if Obama can prove his U.S. citizenship, Berg stated, citing the senator's use of a birth certificate from the state of Hawaii seen as a forgery by three independent document forensic experts, the issue of "multi-citizenship with responsibilities owed to and allegiance to other countries" remains on the table.
"Voters donated money, goods and services to elect a nominee and were defrauded by Obama's lies and obfuscations," Berg stated. "If the DNC officers had performed one ounce of due diligence we would not find ourselves in this emergency predicament, one week away from making a person the nominee who has lost his citizenship [if he ever had it] as a child and failed to even perform the basic steps of regaining citizenship as prescribed by constitutional laws."
In the lawsuit, Berg states that Obama was born in Kenya, and not in Hawaii as the senator maintains. Before giving birth, according to the lawsuit, Obama's mother traveled to Kenya with his father but was prevented from flying back to Hawaii because of the late stage of her pregnancy, "apparently a normal restriction to avoid births during a flight."
As Obama's own paternal grandmother, half-brother and half-sister have also claimed, Berg maintains that Stanley Ann Dunham—Obama's mother—gave birth to little Barack in Kenya and subsequently flew to Hawaii to register the birth.
Berg cites inconsistent accounts of Obama's birth, including reports that he was born at two separate hospitals—Kapiolani Hospital and Queens Hospital—in Honolulu, as well a profound lack of birthing records for Stanley Ann Dunham, though simple "registry of birth" records for Barack Obama are available in a Hawaiian public records office.
If Obama was born in Kenya, Berg writes, the laws on the books at the time of his birth hold that U.S. citizenship may only pass to a child born overseas to a U.S. citizen parent and non-citizen parent if the former was at least 19 years of age.
Obama's mother was only 18 at the time. Therefore, because U.S. citizenship could not legally be passed on to him, Obama could not be registered as a "natural born" citizen and would therefore be ineligible to seek the presidency pursuant to Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution.
Even if Obama could have somehow been deemed "natural born," that citizenship was lost in or around 1967 when he and his mother took up residency in Indonesia, where Stanley Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian citizen.
Berg also states that he possesses copies of Obama's registration in Fransiskus Assisi School in Jakarta, Indonesia which clearly show that he was registered under the name "Barry Soetoro" and his citizenship listed as Indonesian.
In the suit, the attorney states that the birth certificate on record is a forgery, has been identified as such by three independent document forensic experts, and actually belonged to Maya Kassandra Soetoro, Obama's half-sister.
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Sen. Joseph Biden (D–Del.), whom Barack Obama has chosen as his running mate, called Israel "the single greatest strength America has in the Middle East" in a 2007 interview and proclaimed that he is "a Zionist."
According to The Daily Israel Report, in an interview with Shalom TV, when Biden was still running for the presidential nomination, he said that since the 9-11 terror attacks, "Americans can taste what it must feel like for every Israeli mother and father when they send their kid out to school with their lunch to put them on a bus, on a bicycle or to walk; and they pray to God their cell phone doesn't ring."
Biden also boasted of Jewish family connection:
"My son married a young woman whose mother . . . is from a very prominent Jewish family in the state of Delaware, the Bergers," he said.
Biden said Jonathan Pollard, who is in a U.S. jail after being convicted of spying for Israel, deserves leniency. "There's a rationale, in my view, why Pollard should be given leniency," he said.
"When I was a young senator, I used to say, ‘If I were a Jew I'd be a Zionist.' But now I am a Zionist. You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist."
Biden called attempts to link the conflict over the land of Israel and the Iraq war "bizarre."
Many Jews think Biden is not "Zionist enough." For instance, Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Executive Director Matt Brooks cautioned against voting for the Obama and Biden ticket.
"With the selection of Sen. Joe Biden as Sen. Obama's vice president, the Democrats' ticket has now become an even greater gamble for the Jewish community," he said. "Throughout his career, Sen. Biden has consistently been wrong on Iran and his voting record on Israel has been inconsistent."
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In two wooden boats not much bigger than the one in which Jesus of Nazareth stood and calmed a storm on the Sea of Galilee with the word "peace," the volunteers of the Free Gaza movement crossed over 200 miles of choppy seas and broke the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
As reported earlier by AFP, the Free Gaza Movement (with individuals from 46 nations) purchased the two boats with money raised by private donations. One, the SS Free Gaza, accompanied the SS Liberty (named in memory of the USS Liberty deliberately attacked by Israel during the Six Day War).
They left Cyprus in late August. They carried humanitarian supplies toward Gaza where Israel has maintained a program of economic and material suffocation on the 1.4 million Palestinian Christians and Muslims living there. Israel, seemingly addicted to the same sort of sadism and bloodshed that characterized the Israelites' destruction of 31 Palestinian villages as recounted in the Old Testament—promised bloodletting.
In warnings from Israeli ministries and ministers, Israel threatened to "use force" to prevent the SS Liberty from bringing relief to the besieged non-combatants—women, children and elderly—of Gaza. The response on the part of the volunteers of the Free Gaza movement was "sink us then, we are going anyway."
Cypriot maritime authorities certified that the boats were not carrying contraband, so the ships set out after casting 34 long-stemmed roses into the sea in memory of the 34 American sailors killed by Israel in 1967.
They ran into rough seas and everybody aboard took turns throwing up over the side. Halfway through the journey, all their communication equipment failed to operate, including satellite hookups. Spokesperson Greta Berlin, speaking to American Free Press from Gaza City, said most believed Israel deliberately jammed their communications equipment.
Jamming communications was the first act in Israel's assault on the USS Liberty 41 years ago to prevent word of the attack from getting out. The Free Gaza movement utilized webcams to broadcast what was happening in real time around the world. Israel could not get away with sinking the ship, as there would be too many witnesses.
Greta Berlin described the scene as the ships approached besieged Gaza, with as many as 50 fishing boats sailing out to greet them, some people climbing on board and cheering. She estimated there were at least 50,000 people on the beach cheering. Other estimates range up to 200,000.
Ms. Berlin said the two ships and their crew are not out of dangerous waters yet because they plan to sail back to Cyprus with 10 Palestinian students who have been accepted to study abroad but who have been prevented from leaving Gaza. Will some "accident" befall the two ships on their way back to Cyprus, such as a "storm" or an "attack by pirates"?
A former schoolteacher fluent in several languages, Mark Glenn spoke at the AFP-TBR conference on the Middle East panel. He is a prolific writer whose provocative essays have been published worldwide. He and his wife Vicki and their eight children maintain a ranch in northern Idaho. His book, No Beauty in the Beast, can be ordered from TBR BOOK CLUB (1-877-773-9077) for $28 ppd.
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Chinese restaurants carry at least 20 different dog dishes,
with "fried long dog tails" being the latest craze among
upscale Beijing yuppies. The
market is so substantial that—similar to Burger King in America—there's
an outfit in China called Dog Meat King whose specialty is self-explanatory.
Researchers have published gruesome photographs of dead dogs being hung from hooks in meat lockers, while others showed butchers slitting dogs' throats to drain the blood. Usually, Chinese diners prefer to eat puppies between the ages of 6-12 months because they are most tender. Over 300,000 dogs are slaughtered nationwide, many of them processed into a garish type of stew.
Some restaurants submerge live dogs in boiling water and pull their skin from the carcass in one swift motion. Other chefs will gut a dog from throat to stomach; then hold the "prize" aloft by the tail in front of their clients before cooking it. Many of those slaughtered are actually family pets (with collars still intact) that are stolen by poachers and transported in trucks without food or water.
After being pulled from their cages, videotaped footage shows them being brutalized with knives and clubs, or having their heads smashed on the ground to stun them. Ted Kerasole of Salon magazine describes the helpless dogs being gutted, strung aloft by wires, then skinned alive—a torturous process that takes up to seven minutes.
In China, dog meat is considered a delicacy that purportedly increases one's sexual prowess and "warms their blood." Another two million dogs and cats are murdered each year to supplement the international fur trade. Yes, felines are also eaten in China, as well as monkey brains and bird eyes.
London's Daily Telegraph reported on the vile practice of fetal cannibalism—the eating of aborted children.
Hong Kong's weekly Next Magazine reports, "Infant corpses and fetuses have become the newest supplements for health and beauty in China. Not only is the placenta considered a beauty remedy, but also aborted fetuses are much sought after delicacies."
Other atrocities include women making soup out of placenta and sliced up male fetuses; doctors in a Shenzhen hospital eating aborted babies after performing the surgeries that killed them; and Chinese performance artist Zhu Yu, who devours aborted corpses live on stage. A female physician at the Lun Hu Clinic in Hubei relates her particular practices.
"I wash them with clear water until they look transparent white and then stew them. Making soup is best. Fetuses are very smelly and not everybody can take the smell. You can also make meat cakes by mixing fetuses with minced meat, but you have to add more ginger and chives to get rid of the smell."
Compulsory abortions are well documented (7,000 per year at one hospital in Shenzhen alone), as is the case of 25-year-old Wang Liping of Zhengzhou City. Unmarried and seven months pregnant, she was forcibly apprehended on the street; taken without consent to a "family planning office" where nurses and doctors tied her to a gurney. According to Feng Changle of the Epoch Times, while Liping pleaded to be released, the medical team "beat her, stripped off her pants, and injected a syringe of drugs into her abdominal area." After experiencing violent pain, she awoke to be told that her baby was dead.
A person rifling through the garbage on the outskirts of Jiuquan City in the Suzhou region found dismembered babies in a dumpster. There were two heads, two torsos, four arms, and six legs. These corpses were no more than a week old, and had been dismembered after cooking. A male fetus can sell for $300 on the streets.
Human rights organizations have long chronicled how prisoners in China immersed in pools of raw sewage, zapped with electric shock batons, burnt with cigarettes, beaten with sticks, and deprived of sleep.
When activist He Depu was charged with being pro-democracy authorities strapped him to a bed in an unheated solitary confinement cell for 85 days, which he described as akin to being "killed with a soft knife."
There are also mobile execution vans known as "death wagons" that, as reported by The Asia Times, are "officially sanctioned roaming death squads, which simply allow China to execute its prisoners quickly, easily and out of the public eye."
There is little supervision of prisoners once they've been executed in these mobile death wagons, so the organs are quickly extracted by medical personnel and shipped directly to hospitals. Amnesty International's statistics sum it up best.
"About 90 percent of transplanted kidneys come from these executed prisoners." If they want the liver, kidney, or heart, they'll shoot a prisoner in the head; if they seek his corneas, a bullet is aimed at the chest.
Parents have been notifying media outlets that their children are being kidnapped and placed in forced labor factories, oftentimes under extremely uncivilized conditions. As MSNBC reported, the youngsters "were forced to work long hours on poor food. Dogs were used to prevent them from escaping."
Other teenage slave laborers were starved, beaten, found with first-degree burns, or their skin was rubbed raw to the bone. MSNBC continued, "More than 20,000 police were deployed in Shanxi alone to raid suspected illegal workplaces."
Victor Thorn is a freelance journalist based in Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous books about the New World Order and 9-11. These books include: New World Order Exposed; New World Order Illusion; 9-11 Evil: The Israeli Connection to 9-11; 9-11 on Trial; 9-11 Exposed and AFP's Phantom Flight 93 and Other Astounding 9-11 Mysteries Explored. All are available from FIRST AMENDMENT BOOKS at 202-547-5585. Thorn was, along with Lisa Guliani, a founder of the WINGTV Network.
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‘Protect Act' hurts taxpayers, legal aliens; gives huge returns to illegals.
The "Social Security Protection Act" is misnamed legislation that does exactly the opposite of what its title implies. It would bankrupt the system for Americans who have paid into the program for a lifetime while giving huge returns to illegal aliens who would have contributed far less than they receive.
Of 39 immigration bills pending, five are called "Social Security Protection." Only one has gotten past the hearing stage. It would be funny if not so tragic.
For the first time, the Social security Administration has released hard data showing what a wild rip-off this amnesty legislation would be for legitimate taxpayers. According to the SSA, the typical low-skilled immigrant, legal or illegal, will have a devastating impact on Social Security.
Under the current system, illegal immigrants who provided employers with fraudulent documents contribute to Social Security but are not eligible for retirement benefits. But what happens under this particular version of amnesty? If the illegal alien is "legalized" under a "Social Security Protection Act, he qualifies for benefits based on work illegally performed while in this country illegally.
It's true that everybody who works at low-wage jobs for a lifetime enjoys benefits that far exceed their contributions. Generous-hearted Americans who pay more into the system than they will enjoy in benefits are not grousing about subsidizing poor Americans, although they do drain the (imaginary) Social Security Fund. But to subsidize "legalized immigrants who worked here illegally is irrational.
It is also unaffordable, the SSA reports. For example, a single male illegal alien aged 23 would receive (on average and at today's value) $46,426 in retirement benefits. What about a similar female illegal alien? According to the SSA, she will receive $52,253 in benefits. And a married illegal-immigrant couple where only one spouse works would receive $83,290. A married couple where both spouses work would cost taxpayers $101,184.
What if 5 million illegal immigrant couples with low earnings receive amnesty? The total negative impact on Social Security funding would exceed $500 billion, according to the SSA. The total contributions of a single, low-wage male will fall $15,596 short of the value of the Social Security retirement benefits he will eventually receive (on average and at today's value). A single female will receive $20,936 more in benefits than she generates in taxes. An immigrant couple a single wage-earner will eventually cost Social Security $52,460 more than he put into the system. If the immigrant is married to another low-wage worker, the net drain on Social Security will be $39,037.
Another part of pending amnesty bills calls for bringing in even more low-wage, low-skilled workers. This is pushed by large companies that want a source of cheap labor to depress wages and fatten their profits. This means Americans must work for slave wages to compete in the job market. Importing cheap labor, whether legal or illegal, is a drain on Social Security and drives up spending for welfare and other federal benefits. It is also a drain on states and localities, where the costs of education, fighting crime and welfare leap skyward.
It's time for taxpayers to remind congressmen that they represent
Americans, not Mexicans.
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By 2014, toxic light bulbs your only choice.
Beginning in 2012, you will have to use light bulbs that are dangerous and use to much electricity because dim bulbs in Congress said they are safer and save energy when mandating their use in December. A dim-watted president signed it into law.
The phase-out is to begin in 2012 with the 100-watt bulb and be completed in 2014 with the 40-watt.
You better buy a lifetime's supply of incandescent light bulbs before they become illegal under the congressional mandate. Instead of paying 20 cents for a standard bulb, you will be forced to buy compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) for $3 each or more. Unlike CFLs, standard bulbs can be stored forever.
David Deming, a geophysicist and associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, was shocked when he checked out the CFLs. He found that the "1,000-hour bulb" burned out in a week. His replacement lasted three months. CFLs must be burned continuously for long periods to "save" energy. If left on for only five-minute periods, CFLs burn out as fast as standard bulbs. They get dimmer as they age, so prepare to squint.
So, if you stick your head in the closet for five seconds, wait 15 minutes before turning out the light. Do everything in the bathroom at once - shower, shave, brush teeth ets, and use for at least 15 minutes. Outdoor motion detectors or lights on automatic garage doors? Keep plenty of $3 replacement CFLs on hand.
CFLs contain toxic mercury and cannot be thrown in the trash but must be recycled. If they burst, as often happens, you must cut out the part of the carpet where the shards fell and be careful to touch nothing.
And what were the dimwitted lawmakers telling each other when they passed this nonsense by overwhelming, veto-proof margins of 86 Senate and 314 House votes?
It will increase energy efficiency of "almost every significant product and tool and appliance that we use, from light bulbs to light trucks ," said Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It was a typical flight of oratory. They argued that most energy in the standard bulb goes into heat, not light. What's wrong with heating a home partly by light bulb in Winter months? For winter months, standard bulbs have 100 percent efficiency.
In an ideal world, where Congress would have respect for the
intelligence of their constituents, consumers would be allowed
to make rational choices about using lighting devices. There are
places, such as all night drug stores, where CFLs could be used.
But to mandate them for your bedside lamp is absurd. Consumer
choice is known as free market economics. In the 20th century,
it became recognized as a superior system almost everywhere, even
in communist China.
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Concerned about the quality and safety of food? Terrorism may be the least of our worries. A recent report by a United Nations organization reveals that the overwhelming majority of farmers in developing countries around the world, some of whom export millions of pounds of food to the United States each year, use water contaminated with toxic sludge, heavy metals and even raw sewage to raise their goods.
Imported is on the rise in the nited States. In 2008, it is expected to reach 15 percent to 20 percent of the total we consume. Yet the Food and Drug Administration only inspects one percent of those imports - and then tests only half of that for pollutants.
In August, the UN-backed International Water Management Institute (IWMI) looked at farmers throughout Asia and other developing countries. It found that 80 percent of them were using untreated water, often polluted with toxic chemicals, heavy metals and raw sewage, to irrigate their crops and raise their livestock.
"It's a widespread phenomenon, occurring in 50 million acres across the developing world, especially in Asian countries like China, India and Vietnam, but also around nearly every city of sub-Saharan Africa and in many Latin American cities as well," said IWMI researcher Liqa Raschild in a press conference.
"It is not limited to the countries and cities with the lowest gross domestic product. It is prevalent in many mid-income countries as well," she added.
From shrimp raised in Vietnam to lettuce grown in Mexico, tens of millions of pounds of foreign foods that make it to U.S. shores could be affected. But don't expect a solution to come from Washington. Just this summer, it took months for federal officials to locate the source of produce tainted by salmonella bacteria that sickened nearly 2,000 people. At first regulators fingered tomatoes from Florida as the culprit. However, when hospitals still reported illnesses across the country, scientists reopened the investigation and look to peppers in Mexico as the likely source. Since that time, the government has initiated a recall, but there are reports that peppers are being sold in small stores that cater to immigrants. Will they wind up in restaurants?
For years multinational agribusinesses have been lobbying hard to kill measures that would mandate country-of-origin labeling. Companies like Tyson Foods and major grocery store chains have spent millions of dollars fighting these types of provisions, claiming they are unnecessary. Despite this Congress has taken some action. As of 2002, all imported fish must bear a label indicating its source, and after September 30, chicken, ground beef, pork and peanuts must also state from where they came. That still leaves fruit and vegetables, many of which come from countries like China.
Legislators have also appropriated more money to the FDA for inspecting imports. But to put it in perspective the Pentagon spends $72 billion on the war in Iraq every year, while the FDA budgets less than $500 million annually for food safety.
But there is an easier solution to the problem than throwing
more money at it. By buying foods ocally from small farms, consumers
can limit their exposure to the toxic side effects of factory
farming. To find a farm near you that wells locally grown vegetables,
chicken and other meats, contact Local Harvest, a nationwide network
of local farms and markets, at (831) 475-8150.
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President Bush will provoke a nuclear war with Russia unless he's reined in soon.
This news article is copyrighted and can not be posted, but
it can be read here:
http://www.vdare.com/roberts/080815_neocons.htm
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This is truly a "tale of two cities"—cities that are physically close together—and yet, for a time, were so far apart politically that it evaded comprehension. St. Paul during the Republic National Convention (RNC) in some glaring ways represented Orwell's chilling 1984, while the Ron Paul Rally for the Republic in Minneapolis represented the passionate spirit of 1776, as this AFP reporter and other observers confirmed while on assignment.
Although the Target Center in Minneapolis was filled Sept. 2 with more than 10,000 people who believe the Paul rally marked a crucial turning point for their embattled country, any impartial observer could plainly see that today's version of the Republican Party's Rockefeller wing at St. Paul's Xcel Center would hasten the country's seemingly unstoppable march toward a police state at home and imperialism abroad.
Indeed, the black-suited garrison surrounding the RNC could not conceal its thirst for head-busting with relentless arrests of protestors, even in their homes and hangouts as well as on the streets of St. Paul—before and during the Sept. 1-4 convention. At this writing, reliable numbers are hard to come by, but local and foreign press and various citizens said that numerous 25-member platoons of well-armed riot police unwaveringly stormed homes and various venues, handcuffed demonstrators face down for 45 minutes and confiscated computers and political literature, strongly suggesting the crackdown was political. Relatively few people were charged with a crime and arrested.
Inside the sterile RNC confab, those who uttered a peep of protest, especially during Sen. John McCain's speech, were whisked away. Some inside clutched signs that read "You Can't Win an Occupation" and "McCain Votes Against Vets" and managed to get on camera for an instant.
However, the Rally for the Republic across the river—an opening salvo to herald Dr. Ron Paul's long-term Campaign for Liberty—was incomparable in its atmosphere of respect for various viewpoints, a keen sense of what's ailing the republic and a grasp on how to cure it—all led by a man who, in his keynote address, said that he still sees himself as a country doctor who, once upon a time, decided to run for Congress.
Paul, who represents the 14th District of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives, explained that his move to drop out of the GOP presidential running, while not a universally popular decision, set the stage for this event. The aftermath could change the "body politic" for good by reorienting a determined and growing segment of the populace toward the truth about their nation and what to do about it.
Thanks to this rally, a sizable cross section of Americans, heavily populated by the younger set, will be even more inoculated against the relentless government-big media propaganda machine that keeps the masses jailed in a world of "two" parties actually operating as two wings of the same ruling class and dedicated to economic, cultural and political consolidation on a continental and global scale. By definition, that means merging America, Canada and Mexico into a North American Union, complete with the proposed NAFTA Superhighway that would tear apart homes, ranches, dreams and the economy at large; by definition, that also ultimately means the end of the United States itself as an independent nation.
The Rally's films, speakers and musical performers provided attendees with more than eight hours of information, inspiration and entertainment. Independent American media and some foreign press, including BBC and German press personnel, worked the event properly. But several low-key reporters, apparently from more mainstream media outlets, never left their laptops to listen to a single speech; they mechanically typed away in a backstage area, as if they already knew what to write.
But nothing will stop the independent and foreign press and the attendees from spreading the word, reflecting the insights of several speakers who declared that ideas cannot be stopped by anyone, including municipal goon squads awash in Department of Homeland Security dollars that transform responsible local police into corrupt franchises of the post-9-11 federal police system.
Among the more colorful speakers was former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, who AFP interviewed privately in addition to covering his floor speech.
"I am not a Democrat and I am not a Republican," Ventura said, hardly needing the microphone. "I think these two parties are destroying our country."
The applause that followed his words and those of others thundered; but unlike RNC-goers who like to do deep-knee bends, the Rally attendees did not ridiculously sit and stand every few seconds.
Ventura, who lightly hinted at a presidential bid in 2012, added that America has an official national debt of more than $9 trillion. He said that Democratic and Republican incumbents do not comment on it "because they're both equally responsible."
On the First Amendment he assailed those who misconstrue it. "Popular speech doesn't need to be protected; it's unpopular speech that needs to be protected."
As for the Second Amendment, he said it's Americans' guarantee that they can rise up against tyranny—not to be secure to go hunting. Those who wonder how Americans could possibly resist a federal onslaught, he said, need only look at Vietnam's rural land dwellers who resisted the American military. "We threw everything we had at them," he said.
Not shying away from 9-11, Ventura asked: "Why has the U.S. Department of Justice not charged Osama bin Laden for 9-11? Where is the grand jury, the evidence and indictment?" He noted that bin Laden is only charged with sundry items, including an embassy bombing in Africa. And, touching on an issue over which some Rally attendees will disagree, Ventura opined that the U.S. border fence project is a bad idea. Now a part-time resident in Mexico, Ventura said that some Hispanics entering America "came here to help their families just like we help ours."
The Rally, emceed by MSNBC Senior Campaign Correspondent Tucker Carlson, featured several other speakers, including: Conservative Caucus Chairman Howard Phillips, Barry Goldwater Jr. (who introduced Dr Paul for his keynote address), former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, local congressional candidate Barb Davis White, and, among others, author Bill Kauffman.
Kauffman, perhaps the most poetic of the speakers, called on Americans in coffee shops and at their kids' ballgames, in their homes and businesses and from every walk of life, to keep their hopes up and prevent what seems like an inevitable slide into tyranny. He also reflected that while Paul reads the Constitution, "John McCain reads an atlas, looking at which country to bomb next."
Ms. White did the invocation, noting: "Thank God ... as we watch babies live, freedom unfold—and Homeland Security die." Much applause followed. And while decrying the modern day socialism and fascism that America's ruling class imposes, she also thanked God for "Dr. Paul and his leadership."
Phillips—long an important leader of the U.S. Taxpayers Party that became known nationally as the Constitution Party and offered an alternative for those disillusioned by the present "two-party" system—reflected: "Ron Paul always got reelected because he always explained what he was doing," with some Conservative Caucus input.
Phillips lauded Paul for always reintroducing H.R. 1146 to get the U.S. out of the United Nations, and other efforts to: suspend the federal gas tax; oppose federal funds for the Trans Texas Corridor; assert that human life begins at conception; oppose mental health screening for schoolchildren; and, of course, end the Federal Reserve System.
"End the Fed! End the Fed! End the Fed!" was loudly chanted countless times by the audience throughout the program.
"For the first time since the 1920s, the IRS and the Fed have become real issues, thanks to Dr. Paul," Phillips said, adding that Paul's House Concurrent Resolution 40, which has at least 48 co-sponsors, calls on Congress to formally oppose the North American Union. Phillips suggested that audience members not only call their congressmen, but also call big-media news anchors and commentators and demand that they ask candidates about the NAU and make it a campaign issue. He said NAUwarroom.com is a good website for updates, adding that Americans can take heart that since the Irish avoided their nation's entry into the European Union by recently voting down the Lisbon Treaty "by a significant margin," then the NAU scheme can be beaten.
Another speaker with a knack for humor, professor Tom Woods, called the RNC "the ‘snorefest' down the street," where those with "deep thoughts" would never contemplate ending the Fed or other real issues.
"The Fed—the central bank—is the lifeblood of the empire," said Woods. "If you want to stop the war machine, you have to stop the money machine." He said Rep. Paul is the only one who has told Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that he is "stealing from the poor," while other Congress members slavishly "wave incense in his face" and pretend the Fed can do no wrong. Woods also could not resist adding that McCain and Obama will only compete to see who offers Americans the most painful top income tax rate.
"Oh, boy! We get to debate between 35% (McCain) and 39.5% (Obama)," Woods said.
Notably, at the RNC, McCain showed pictures of himself in Arizona with Barry Goldwater Sr., but the presence of the late Senator's son at Rep. Paul's event shows where the Goldwater family places its support.
Paul himself concluded the speaking portion of the event, noting that real freedom brings people from many walks of life and viewpoints together.
"I wanted to be president because of what I did not want to do," Paul said. "I don't want to run people's lives. I don't want to run the economy."
And when naysayers would tell him that this approach would make him a "weak president," he said: "Resisting power requires strength."
While noting that not a single cent of tax dollars was spent on his Rally, he said the RNC and DNC rallies each required more than $12 million in taxpayer funds.
Paul, who did not speak at length, said it's time to stop believing various falsehoods and rise up to become "universal champions of liberty." On the revolution that bears his name, he added: "It's growing and even if they tried, they can't stop us."
"Yeah!" the audience roared. Meanwhile, Tom Petty's song "Won't Back Down" thundered as thousands of people slowly began to file out and head back to the communities from whence they came, ready to truly change the nation while keeping in mind that Paul told them: "We have a sense of urgency here; we have to move rather quickly."
That means more and more inspired people will run for office themselves at all levels, and work harder to influence the system in countless ways, including challenging unfair ballot access laws, wresting control of televised debates from the big parties, media bias, and various other barriers erected by the ruling elite.
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Barack Obama wants voters to think he has denounced terrorist William Ayers, with a TV ad saying he was "11 years old" when the bombs were thrown. But his relationship with the America-hating communist remains cozy today.
Ayers was one of the most notorious domestic terrorists in this nation's history. His group—the Weather Underground—bombed New York City police headquarters in 1970, the Capitol building in 1971, and the Pentagon in 1972. On Sept. 11, 2001, while Americans watched in horror as our nation was attacked, William Ayers told The New York Times, "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough."
Obama announced his candidacy for the Illinois Senate in 1995, at Ayers' house.
This is the same Ayers who was involved in bombing courthouses, banks, police barracks, a National Guard outpost, and other government buildings. The Weathermen also blew up a statue (on two different occasions) in Chicago's Haymarket Square, broke LSD guru Timothy Leary out of prison, and set off a pipe bomb in San Francisco that killed one police officer and blinded another. They advocated attacks on innocent civilians, vandalism, and arson to get their message across. In all, the Weather Underground engaged in dozens of these attacks across the U.S. in the early 1970s.
His reign of terror ended when a bomb they were constructing in Greenwich Village exploded, killing three of his fellow Weathermen. The device, packed with boxes of carpenter nails to inflict maximum damage, was meant for a dance hall attended by soldiers and their dates at Fort Dix. As David Farber of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "It almost surely was intended to kill many people."
A recent ad campaign sponsored by the American Issues Project asks, why would Barack Obama "be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol and is proud of it?"
After Obama kicked off his senatorial bid at William Ayers' house, he also served with him for three years as a board member on the Woods Fund, a non-profit organization. Further, Obama also appeared with Ayers on two academic panels—the latest taking place in 2002. Both men are also linked to the University of Illinois in Chicago where Ayers teaches, and only live a few blocks from each other. Lastly, Ayers contributed $200 to Obama's state senatorial campaign in 2001.
As is customary, Obama downplays his relationship to Ayers, just as he did with the flamboyant preacher whose church he attended for 20 years—Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Oddly enough, the similarities between Ayers and the Marxist, black nationalist Wright are striking.
In 1995, Ayers stated, "Maybe I'm the last communist who is willing to admit it. The ethics of communism still appeal to me."
Similarly, the Weather Underground's mission statement reveals that they sought to create a "white fighting force to be allied with the black liberation movement." To augment their Marxist links, the Weathermen bombed the Pentagon in 1972 on Ho Chi Minh's birthday, using what they called "an American Red Army."
Ayers' extremism also extends to his wife, fellow Weather Underground member Bernadine Dohrn, who was once listed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List.
Dohrn is so radical that she made the following comments after Charles Manson's "Helter Skelter" slayings.
"Dig it. First they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them. They even shoved a fork into the victim's stomach. Wild!"
Equally as disturbing and reminiscent of Reverend Wright's remark about the United Stares being the "U.S. KKK of A," Dohrn calls this country "AmeriKKKa."
Ayers' philosophy is no different. In the 1970s, he advised his followers, "Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home. Kill your parents. That's where it's really at."
Obama apologists will dismiss these sentiments as merely the follies of a misguided youth. But in his 2001 book, Fugitive Days, Ayers said of America, "What a country. It makes me want to puke."
Similarly, when asked if he'd ever again consider bombing targets in the U.S., he responded, "I can't imagine entirely dismissing the possibility."
Obviously, Ayers has no regrets about his terrorist past and, according to University of Chicago law professor Cass Sunstein, Ayers "refuses to disavow what he did."
Ayers boasted in his 2001 book, "Everything was absolutely ideal on the day I bombed the Pentagon. . . . There's something about a good bomb."
Of the 300 million people living in America, why would Obama announce his candidacy for the Illinois Senate in the home of William Ayers, and why would he continue his relationship with him into the future? That might be the biggest Obama bomb of all.
Victor Thorn is a freelance journalist based in Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous books about the New World Order and 9-11. These books include: New World Order Exposed; New World Order Illusion; 9-11 Evil: The Israeli Connection to 9-11; 9-11 on Trial; 9-11 Exposed and AFP's Phantom Flight 93 and Other Astounding 9-11 Mysteries Explored. All are available from FIRST AMENDMENT BOOKS at 202-547-5585.
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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin—John McCain's dynamic Republican vice presidential running mate—can be counted as a firm advocate for the interests of Israel. In fact, the Alaska governor is so energetically pro-Israel that she displays an Israeli flag in her office, a point that has received widespread attention in the Israeli press and which is now being discussed in pro-Israel journals and newspapers on American soil.
The staunchly pro-Israel "conservative daily," The Washington Times, unveiled Mrs. Palin's enthusiasm for Israel in an admiring article on September 4. Declaring that "Palin's evangelical faith drives pro-Israel view," the Times' religion writer, Ralph Z. Hallow, said she is a disciple of the theme that preservation of modern-day Israel is "a biblical imperative."
Hallow said Mrs. Palin's religious ideology "makes her a favorite with the staunchly pro-Israel neo-conservative elements in the Republican Party."
Tucker Eskew, a counselor to Mrs. Palin, affirmed in an interview with the Times that she "would describe herself as a strong supporter of Israel, with an understanding of Israel's fear of an Iran in possession of nuclear weapons."
Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, has trumpeted Mrs. Palin's display of the Israeli flag, noting that "it is very telling" and that it demonstrates that "she has Israel in her heart."
Mrs. Palin has said that America's war in Iraq—which was orchestrated by those neo-cons in axis with their allies in Israel—is "a task that is from God."
Critics say the war was, as former Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) candidly asserted, not God's will, but rather the Bush administration's "policy to secure Israel."
Mrs. Palin's own former pastor, Paul. E. Riley, has announced that shortly after taking office as governor, she consulted him and requested that he counsel her as to a "biblical example of people who were great leaders and what was the secret of their leadership."
Riley recommended that Mrs. Palin consult the Book of Esther which tells the tale of the young Jewish queen of Persia. Some see this as somewhat ominous, in as much as modern-day Iran—a target of Palin (and Israel's) ire—was ancient Persia. And, in the Book of Esther, one finds that Queen Esther*—Palin's role model—engaged in intrigues that resulted in the mass murder of 75,000 Persians who were considered a threat to the Jewish people, just as today's Iran is likewise perceived as Israel's greatest danger.
Critics say Mrs. Palin's hard-line religious enthusiasm for Israel could influence her decision-making, that she could be swayed by her religious beliefs rather than carefully considered national security concerns.
Although Democrats say Mrs. Palin is too inexperienced in foreign policy, she is being tutored on the issues by John McCain's close friend (and his reported first choice as his preferred vice presidential running mate), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). He is one of Israel's most outspoken American cheerleaders. He was hailed by The Washington Post on September 5 as one of the "experts" responsible for helping steer Mrs. Palin in the right direction on foreign policy. In fact, Lieberman is in charge of the McCain-Palin campaign's foreign policy. Another Jewish-American "expert" who is guiding her on foreign policy is Stephen E. Biegun.
So, in the estimation of Israel and its adherents, the "right" people are surrounding Mrs. Palin. Even before she addressed her fellow Republicans at the GOP convention, according to the Washington Post, "one of Palin's few meetings . . . with outside groups was with AIPAC," the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee. To meet with AIPAC, Mrs. Palin canceled a previously scheduled meeting with the Eagle Forum, the political action group run by Phyllis Schlafly.
Reckless Rites: Purim and the Legacy of Jewish Violence is available from TBR Club for $35 minus 10% for subscribers. #476. The Jewish author authoritatively discusses the true legacy of Queen Esther and Purim. Call 1-877-773-9077 toll free to charge a copy to Visa/MC.
A journalist specializing in media critique, Michael Collins Piper is the author of Final Judgment, the controversial "underground bestseller" documenting the collaboration of Israeli intelligence in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He is also the author of The High Priests of War, The New Jerusalem, Dirty Secrets, The Judas Goats: The Enemy Within and The Golem: Israel's Nuclear Hell Bomb. All are available from AFP: 202-547-5585. He has lectured on these topics in places as diverse as Malaysia, Japan, Iran, Canada, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
Subscribe to American Free Press. Online subscriptions: One year of weekly editions—$15 plus you get a BONUS ELECTRONIC BOOK - HIGH PRIESTS OF WAR - By Michael Piper.
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A few brave patriots in high places are fighting to avoid an invasion of Iran and destruction of the Constitution in the four months left of the reign of President Bush. They do so at great personal risk.
Congress, under both Republican and Democratic control, has given Bush the power to usurp the Constitution and remain in power after Jan. 20, 2009. There is fear in high places that the power-mad administration may do so.
Immediately after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Bush issued his "Declaration of Emergency by Reason of Certain Terrorist Attacks" under authority of the National Emergencies Act. This declaration, which could be rescinded by a joint resolution of Congress, has instead been extended and expanded.
In 2007, the declaration was strengthened with the issuance of the National Security Presidential Directive 5, which gave Bush the power to do whatever he decides is necessary in a "catastrophic emergency"—including canceling elections and suspending the Constitution. His constant threats to bomb Iran on behalf of Israel concern these patriots. Military chiefs who oppose attacking Iran are "retired."
Victims include Adm. William Fallon, commander of CENTCOM, and Vice Adm. John Stufflebeem, Sixth Fleet commander. In jeopardy is Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff who went to Tel Aviv to warn Israel against staging another attack on an American ship in an attempt to blame it on Arabs or Persians and draw the U.S. into a Mideast war (AFP Aug. 11, 2008).
He was referring to Israel's deliberate attack on the USS Liberty during the 1967 Six-Day War. It was an attempt to sink the ship and blame it on Arabs so America would enter the war on Israel's side. Thirty-four Americans were brutally murdered.
J. Scott Carpenter, former deputy secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, said Vice President Dick Cheney pressed hard for air strikes against Iranian Revolutionary Guard bases last summer. He was deterred by Pentagon officials.
There is a grim struggle within the government. On one side are the war-mongering neo-cons who egged the country into the war in Iraq and envision a "new American century."
They are opposed by the Republican Party Old Guard, led by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who replaced the despised Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld thought the invasion of Iraq would be a quick success with few troops and casualties by relying on new military toys. The war has dragged on for five years and the number of American combat deaths has reached 4,155 and counting.
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Ron Paul delegates at the Republican National Convention said their experience was unsettling. Oregon delegate Keith Kaiser saw that the very name "Ron Paul" was virtually banished from the RNC. "I expected all the votes to be counted," he said, but he found that even though McCain was assured more than 2,300 voted compared to 42 for Paul, RNC managers still went out of their way to squelch the efforts of Paul delegates. Even votes for Mitt Romney, long a non-candidate, were counted ahead of Paul's.
"Only Alaska had Ron Paul's votes counted, and there ere five," Kaiser said. From that point onward, either the microphone would be turned off only when delegation leaders from various states would announce votes for Paul - so those recording the results could not hear the announcements - or they were announced audibly but nor usually recorded.
"I expected a huge McCain win," said Kaiser, a longtime Republican whose faith has been shaken. "But they wanted Paul to have zero - to not even mention his name." Kaiser said he was one of 42 pledged Paul delegates from across the country. There also were undecided delegates who might have sided with Paul, had the climate not been so hostile.
Paul alternate delegates Keith Hansen and Corey Sax from Minneapolis-St. Paul said the RNC was a sheer weirdness, not just brazen unfairness. For example, Paul delegates were constantly monitored and scripts on all the seats told attendees what to (and when to say it) such as "USA! "USA!" Hansen and Sax made their way around the new complex as "Paul's ambassadors for liberty," finding openness from most foreign reporters but closed minds among most U.S. media mavens. They claimed they saw a CBS reporter get kicked out for shoeing interest in Paul's representatives. McCain "Red Hats" were among those policing the place, Hansen said.
Kaiser made it over to Paul's representatives. McCain "Red Hats" were among those policing the place, Hansen said.
Kaiser made it over to Paul's Rally on Sept. 2. "It was
very genuine; very real," he said. "The RNC was very
scripted."
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The first group Sarah Palin met with after joining John McCain's campaign was the American Israeli Public affairs Committee. As Michael Collins Piper noted in The New Jerusalem, AIPAC may be this nation's most influential lobby. To ensure that she properly bowed at their alter, Mrs. Palin was shepherded to this meeting by Sen. Joseph Lieberman - a Jewish Democrat turned independent whose neocon ties and warmonger aims have made him a strong McCain ally.
Following her 45-minute initiation in Minneapolis, AIPAC spokesman Joshua block commented, "Gov. Palin expressed her deep, personal and lifelong commitment to the safety and well-being of Israel." Larry Green field, director of the California Republican Jewish Coalition, concurred. "Gov. Palin has a close relationship with the Jewish community of Alaska, with Chabad ()Rabbi Greenberg), and with AIPAC. She is close to the Frozen Chosen."
Others in her home state are equally pleased. Terry Gorlick of the Alaskan Republican Jewish Coalition said, "Sarah's absolutely pro-Israel." Alaskan AIPAC Chairman David Gottstein is trying to arrange a trip to Israel for the governor. Once finalized, Mrs. Palin will no doubt be inundated with hard-line Israel-first rhetoric concerning Iran, Palestine, Hamas, and Russia.
However, not everyone is convinced she toes the Jewish party line. Of greatest concern is her anti-abortion stance and a belief in teaching creationism, and support of candidates such as Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan. Both have repeatedly criticized the Israeli lobby's influence in Washington.
Two events at Mrs. Palin's Wasilla Bible Church have caused alarm among Jewish loyalists. In August, 2008, visiting minister David Brickner - executive director of Jews for Jesus - told Mrs. Palin and others in her congregation that because Jews have rejected the Messiah and won't convert to Christianity, a harsh judgment is coming.
In June 2008, Pastor Larry Kroon struck a similar chord. "Jesus said, you're either with me or against me.... There is no room for neutrality.... You either receive His (God's) rule, or you reject His rule." Although Kroon took liberties in making Jesus sound like George W. Bush and his war on terror, Jews nonetheless are outraged whenever anyone broaches the subject of Jewish rejection of Christ.
In a year when every candidate seems more intent on becoming
president of Israel than president of the United States, will
Sarah Palin too fall into this trap? Hopefully she won't be compromised
like panderer extraordinaire Joseph Biden, who recently said,
"You don't have to be Jewish to be a Zionist, and I'm a Zionist."
but it appears she already is.
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You know you're paying more for everything from apples at the grocery store to gas to electricity. Inflation has to be through the roof, right? But then the government comes out with the latest statistics showing that inflation is only at 5.6 percent, well below those stagflation levels of 12 and 13 percent we had under President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s. Something can't be right here. Is the government playing games with key economic indicators? You can bet your inflation-adjusted dollar it is.
For nearly a decade, economist John Williams has been keeping track of government data on is Shadow Government Statistics web site at shadowstats.com. Williams began publishing his findings after his work as a consulting economist revealed that the government was fudging the reporting of key numbers like gross domestic product and unemployment. His clients were scratching their heads, wonder in why the economic models he created for them would not work. Eventually, he figured it ut, and when he factored in those economic manipulations, all was right again - that is, until the government rigged the game again.
The core of the issue involves some complicated number crunching. But in a nutshell government economists have been stressing inflation-adjusted dollars to hype growth. If inflation - and the corresponding consumer price index (CPI) - could be corrected to reflect the real state of the economy, then those indicators showing economic improvement would obviously change for the worse.
What is the difference between inflation and the CPI? You need the CPI in order to calculate inflation.
The CPI is a number that the government sets to define changes in prices. Government economists pick an arbitrary year and set that at 100 to be used for comparison. The so-called base year for CI calculation is currently set to 1984 (it used to be 1967), but it changes every few years so you don't notice there has been a 1,000 percent increase in prices. The change in CPI over the course of months and years is then used to calculate the rate of inflation.
And here's where the funny business comes in.
According to Williams, back in the 1990s, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was grumbling about how the CPI "overstates" inflation. Williams says that Greenspan was arguing, essentially, that if the price of something goes up, consumers will change their consumption patterns; i.e. if steak increases, they'll buy more ground beef, which is cheaper.
As a result, economists were called upon to create complex measures for sorting out the volatility incertain bothersome price increases in te food and energy markets. This formed the basis of what is known as "core inflation."
Williams' Shadow Government Statistics removed the Fed's manipulation
on price changes, revealing what most Americans already know -
that real price inflation is more like 13 percent today, rather
than the 5.6 percent hyped by Washington. The bottom line, says
Williams, is that "if a government economic measure does
not match common public experience, it has little use outside
of academia or the spin-doctor rooms of the Fed and Wall Street."
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The Big Media's propaganda mill is running at full speed. While there are countless examples of ink-stains posing as honest stories, two Los Angeles Times wire service pieces about crude oil and U.S. markets are disturbingly deceptive examples of non-truth.
"Has production of oil peaked?" and "U.S. economic troubles may shake faith in free markets." Anyone with knowledge of the American scene, beyond the homogenized hooey in the conventional media, knows that there are enormous reserves of crude oil under U.S. soil that were located long ago but very little was ever extracted. Along the North Slope of Alaska, just beyond the Brooks Mountains, including at Gull Island off the coast of Prudhoe Bay, there is high-quality crude just waiting to burst out of the Earth, into our refineries and onward to our fuel tanks.
A Geological Survey scientist acknowledged the oil is there, where the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is but a small part. So did Lindsey Williams, who was a chaplain during construction of the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline and was given a first-hand look at the enormous oil fields. Williams recalled that just the Prudhoe bay site itself, one of the few areas from which oil is being extracted, was "predicted" in the 1970s to last only 20 years. But that small part of the North Slope is still producing nonstop oil. The other rich oil fields in this vast area, which are enormous, are left idle.
AFP has reported on the North Slope and on the Bakken Formation, a large shale-oil deposit under parts of North Dakota, montana and Canada. The extraction Know-how for shale oil has vastly improved. Slant drilling has come a long way and its environmental record is good.
But the nerds in the nation's newsrooms are the real scare mongers. The conventional media casts all but the most harmless issues as beyond anyone's control and comprehension. It is the "never-ending story" syndrome, where nearly all issues - especially "whodunits" regardingg JFK, RFK, 9-11, etc. - will never be probed to a level of understtanding that paves the way for answers and justice. Get the picture? The big issues - the economy, globalism, rubbed-out leaderss, the "oil crisis" and many others - are not puzzles to assemble, but puzzles pieces destined to remain scattered on the table with key pieces missing forever.
"We are talking about pain here that is unimaginable," trembled "oil expert" Robert L. Hirsch in the Times. "As much as you're uncomfortable with today's oil prices, these are going to be the good old days."
This piece darkly alleges that "the world has found all the easy-to-reach oil, and the daily supply of the essential black goo will fall further and further behind escalating global demand." It also takes note of "unrest in Nigeria and other oil-exporting countries" as one oft he "causes" of the problem. This article is merely unbridled speculation that does not connect any important dots - such as how alternatives like biodiesel might supplement the oil under large domestic fields that has been locked underground, and under water offshore, for decades, due in part to zealous environmental edicts.
The Times' oil article briefly acknowledged that some old oil fields, such as California's Kern River field, are still briskly producing oil (just filling its 2 billionth barrel) even though many people declared it dead several times. Still, the Times assures us that all oil supplies will "peak" and then sharply decline by no later than 2020. Throughout this "report," the unstated and foolish premise is the idea that oil is a "fossil fuel" formed in limited amounts by dead dinosaurs and ancient plant life. But the growing realization, unacknowledged by the Times and other establishment media, is that many formerly "dead" oil fields, not just Kern River, have replenished themselves not out of random luck - but because oil by its very nature is constantly regenerating itself inside the Earth and may not be the limited resource we have been told that it is. The big untold story is that oil is not fossil-based at all, but is constantly generated by different processes deep inside the Earth, which may not be as old as believed.
We may never run out of oil.
The other Times article says the badly slumping economy
is "shaking confidence in free markets." The article
just assumes the U.S. has a free market economy that Americans
are losing faith in, while opting for more government intervention.
That's the deceptive story line. The U.S. has not had a free market
economy since the Federal Reserve System and the income tax came
along in 1913. Ever since the domestic economy has been bound
by a huge domestic "tariff" in the form of the income
tax, and by the privately-owned and controlled Fed's issuance
of debt-based notes posing as money.
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It is becoming difficult if not impossible for Jews to become
Israeli citizens if their skin is dark. Israel is slamming the
door on Jews from Ethiopia.
The
situation is analogous to problems in the united States when Negroes
moved into white neighborhoods.
They come from the Gondar region of northern Ethiopia, where donkeys are used for transportation, there are no bathrooms and no formal education. They move into industrialized areas where they must learn Hebrew, master a cell phone and settle among immigrants from dozens of countries, including Argentina, Yemen, Australia and the United States.
When massive immigration began more than 30 years ago, these Ethiopians were recognized outright as Jews. Israel at first balked at accepting them, but relented when American Jews campaigned on behalf of the Falash Mura. Jews worldwide wanted to fill Israel's population on what had been Palestinian land for centuries. So 40,000 Ethiopian dark-skinned Jews moved into Israel, joining 80,000 already there. Israel had a total population of seven million.
Classic, lighter-skinned Jews reacted to the dark-skinned, illiterate, unskilled Jews settling among them the same as American whites reacted to Negroes settling into their neighborhoods after so called "open-housing legislation" passed more than three decades ago. Housing values dropped as crime gripped the neighborhoods. There was "white flight" to the more expensive suburbs less affordable to Megroes. When the nation's capital integrated its schools in 1945, "white flight" included almost the entire Congress. Only one senator, the late Henry Jackson of Washington, kept his kids in Washington's public schools, but that was in a rich section on Foxhall Road , which remained all-white for years.
But dark-skinned Jews are effectively banned from Israel now, the Associated Press reports. "The Israeli government has decided that the influx must stop," the Associated Press revealed. "They are poor plagued by crime, violence and substance abuse. Most go straight on welfare.
This is also similar to the border problems in the United States.
Immigrants from South America, legal and illegal, are a burden
on American taxpayers. The average immigrant family of four costs
taxpayers more than $4,000 a year in free medical care and welfare.
But, unlike the United States, Israel is protecting its borders,
including those established in the brutal, illegal occupation
of the Gaza strip, seized in the Six-Day War in 1967.
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The Life Extension Foundation of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida plans an early investigation of the effectiveness of weekly injections of Enfrel to quickly increase the mental capabilities of Alzheimers's disease (AD) patients. Assuming bureaucratic hurdles can be surmounted and approval of the study secured, the foundation plans to enroll patients in the Ft. Lauderdale area and provide the injections, which cost about $675 each free of charge.
Although side effects of this therapy remain to be discovered, the promising results recently achieved appear to warrant accelerated investigation and possibly early application. Initially studies sought to find improvement in mental capacity of patients after 30 days. However improvements were detected within minutes. One patient didn't know the state he was in or the year before the injection. Ten minutes after the injection he knew what year it was and that he was in California.
Enbrel (etanercept) was approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in 2998. For this purpose it is injected under the skin. In the body it functions by reducing the effect of a substance which promotes inflammation called tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-1). It bonds with TNF-a and prevents it from interacting with sites on the surface of cells and causing inflammation. Potential side effects in this application are serious, including congestive heart failure and death.
In the brain TNF-1 disrupts communication between neurons. It interferes with the action of neurotransmitters which carry information across the synapses between brain cells. It is believed that this "synaptic dysregulation: contributes to the cognitive and behavioral deficits of AD.
Chronic inflammation in the brain has been linked with the onset and progression of AD. TNF-a has been identified as a causative factor in the neuronal degeneration of this disease. It has been found that several nutrients, for example fish oil and cucumin, decrease TNF-a levels in the body and taking them appears to reduce the incidence of AD. (Incidence of AD is low in India where turmeric is much used in cooking. Cucumin is found in turmeric.) Reversing the disease is considerably more difficult than reducing the risk of getting it.
The current therapeutic use of Enbrel involves its injection into the back of the neck of the alzheimer's patient between the sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae followed by a lowering of the head for about five minutes to help the drug flow into the brain through the cerebrospinal blood supply.
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment test has been used to evaluate improvement in patient's mental ability. In one case, two hours after a single injection of Enbrel, a patient achieved a score of 15 out of 300 points compared with a previous score of 7. Subsequently relatives reported substantial improvements in mental ability of this patient.
One Alzheimer's disease authority has noted that the disease is associated with at least 12 malfunctioning enzymes. It involves loss of myelin, the insulation around nerve cells, deposits of plaque, tangles of abnormal proteins, the death of acetylcholine manufacturing neurons and inadequate utilization of glucose. He believes that it is impossible to correct all of these deficiencies by an injection of anything. It is reasonable to believe that he is right. However the facts clearly indicate that some of the deficiencies can be at least partially corrected, for some unknown length of time, with substantial potential benefits to victims, their families and care-giving institutions.
Additional information about this potential breakthrough in
the treatment of Alzheimers's disease can be obtained from the
Life Extension Foundation 1-866-517-4536.
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Possibly because there are thousands of law suits incident to autism following childhood vaccination, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is attempting to distract taxpayer attention from the fact that mercury is an extremely dangerous neurotoxin. An article by Alice Park in Time magazine of June 2008 states that in 2003 a 15-person committee empaneled by the CDC and the NIH analyzed available studies on the possible connection between autism and thimerosol (50 percent mercury_ in vaccines and concluded that there was no scientific evidence to support the link. This learned body suggested that studies should focus on less explored genetic or immunological explanations for the disease. Nevertheless a case was recently decided for the plaintiff. (A child's parents claimed their kid contracted autism asa result of vaccination with a vaccine containing mercury.) Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, says: "One case should not be considered admission that vaccines can cause autism."
It is important to distract taxpayers because, courtesy of the federal government, we taxpayers are obligated to foot the bill for damages. As a result of very expensive research, a case is being made that the victims of this horrible disease have defective mitochondria and this is the cause of their trouble. There is an element of truth in this conjecture because mercury, unlike many other toxic metals, burrows into cells. Lots of glutathione, which the body manufactures, is required to get it out. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) the substance that energizes our bodies, is produced by mitochondria and provides the energy required for production of glutathione.
However, the important fact is that mercury is probably the most neurotoxic substance there is - able to kill neurons in culture in nanomolar concentrations - millionths of a molecular weight per liter. Long before the mercury in thimerosol was injected into our children, according to Dr. Haley, chairman of the Department of Chemistry of the University of Kentucky, it was tested as a topical ointment for the treatment of umbilical cord infections. Infants who were unable to get rid of the mercury, possibly because their mitochondria didn't produce ATP fast enough, died. The infants who survived the test had lots of mercury in their hair and fingernails indicating that they were excreting it. Knowing this, who, in his right mind, would inject this substance into an infant knowing that it killed infants when applied as a topical ointment? And mercury not only kills, it causes damage as well. When I had chronic mercurial toxemia, it damaged the nerves cells controlling my heart and reduced my stamina and ability to swim long distances. It would be interesting to see if the FDA has any proof that thimerosol is safe and effective in this application. I do not believe that they do.
There is a very high probability that a whole generation of our children have been damaged by the federal government's vaccination program now enforced by law. Girls have some protection against the ravages of mercury via their hormones. But boys are not protected and the effects are appearing in universities. Some classes at Harvard have 65 percent girls. Points have to be added to test scores of young men to get them into Law and Medical Schools at the University of Kentucky. Vaccinations are not benign. They should not, in this reviewer's opinion, be required by law.
There are reports that, well hidden in its website, the CDC
has a document admitting that it lacks the scientific competence
to carry out its responsibilities. Dr. Haley reported at a meeting
of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness a few years ago, that he
attempted to bring facts about the dangers of injecting thimerosol
into children to the attention of the CDC for 18 years without
success. His experience may indicate that the personnel running
the CDC's vaccine program are not only incompetent, but dangerous
to our country as well.
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The childhood diseases, against which vaccinations are supposed to protect us, are not the frightening bugaboos that most of us have been led to believe. In fact, over 50 years ago a medical scientist, Frederick Klenner, M.S., M.D., demonstrated that it was easy to cure viral diseases like measles, mumps, chickenpox, herpes zoster, herpes simplex, influenza, atypical pneumonia and even poliomyelitis with vitamin C ("C") injections and infusions.
Dr. Klenner reported his quick cure of 60 polio patients at a 1948 American Medical association meeting and his comments were published in JAMA during the polio epidemic. His findings wee confirmed by several investigators, including one in Switzerland, and many physicians used his protocol to cure their polio patients. However, this benign therapy, which eliminated paralysis, was not generally adopted. Dr. Sabin, who developed a polio vaccine, reported that "C" was ineffective against polio in monkeys and this may have discouraged its use. Unfortunately sabin and others persisted in using less than therapeutic doses in their research. This prevented the achievement of positive results.
In the July 1949 Southern Medicine and Surgery, Dr. Klenner presented his results of studies on the antagonistic properties of ascorbic acid to the viruses causing measles, mumps, rubella and poliomyelitis as well as atypical pneumonia. This article is not abstracted in Medline, so most physicians never heard of this quick, easy and cheap was to cure viral diseases. I am told that Medline also doesn't abstract articles in The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and "doesn't intend to do so no matter how good they are." Does this indicate that the gatekeepers, who supposedly protect us from had science, are also preventing some good science - that they are prejudiced against - from being used for the treatment of disease?
Klenner notes that his observations of the action of ascorbic acid on virus diseases were made independently of previous studies except for Sabin's negative report on rhesus monkeys. He also states that "a review of the literature in preparation for this paper, however, presented an almost unbelievable record of such studies."
One of my medical friends reported, in a private communication, recent use of intravenous vitamin C to cure a case of shingles. Also mentioned was the fact that there was a risk of loss of license to practice medicine and possible jail time incident to the use of this benign therapy.
"C" is both antitoxic and antiviral. It is an important component of our immune systems. In high enough concentrations it has been known to kill even cancer cells. Our own bodies would manufacture it internally if our ancestors had not lost the capability millions of years ago. The vast majority of animals make it for their own protection and a goat is said to be able to produce 100 grams of it per day it is under stress.
From the time vitamin C was discovered by Szent Georgi our medical monopoly has downplayed its importance and discouraged its use. The National Institute of Sciences, to which Linus Pauling, Ph.D - twice a Nobel laureate - belonged, never gave any recognition to his work on this vitamin although they did recognize his other achievements. The National Institutes of Health delayed funding his research on vitamin C and cancer and then funded it inadequately.
Medical authorities continue to mislead the public about the
importance of this substance and discourage its use as a protection
against disease. Is it possible that we have a healthcare monopoly
that profits from sickness - a "sickness industry" -
that seeks to produce as many customers as possible to the detriment
of our national welfare?
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Ever since the publication of Bill Dufty's Sugar Blues back in 1975, the health conscious community has waged war against refined sugars in the diet while industry simultaneously howled about it and tried to ignore it.
Now there is an update of the sugar wars on the scene, and improved biological techniques might finally verify that the wages of bad sugar is metabolic syndrome, otherwise known as type 2 diabetes.
The refined sugar in the line of fire is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), one of the most widely used sweeteners in modern society and a veritable commercial giant.
Health advocates have complained about the "unhealthy" sugar compound from the nation's massive corn crops since industry first decided it was the cheapest source of sweetener for satisfying the national sweet tooth. It could be said that HFCS signifies a huge share of the "junk" in the oxymoron junk food - an oxymoron because it can't be both food and junk.
Tired of taking so many shots from the health conscious folks, the Corn Refiners Association lobbyist fighting back with a massive ad campaign in an effort to sublimate any nutritional facts with slick propaganda targeted at the mothers of children who clamor for sugar snacks and drinks.
According to a story in the June 23 issue of The Wall Street Journal; "Even though some health researchers are now softening their criticism of HFCS, the marketing effort still faces enormous hurdles. Changing the behavior of legions of moms who are growing increasingly leery about processed snacks and ingredients won't be easy marketing, experts say." Nor should it be easy. Note that the HF in HFCS stands for "high fructose," and this highly refined sugar may be the key culprit according to dietary research, which, according to industry moguls, has not been convincing.
Ever since 2001, the research community began to suspect HFCS as a major contributor to the growing obesity and type 2 diabetes pandemic.
Apparently the Corn Refiners Association timed the announcement of their propaganda campaign with the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society the same week. The Endocrine meeting was the venue for a paper by Peter Havel of the University of California, which condemned the consumption of pure fructose based on a small study.
For weeks subjects were fed a diet in which 25 percent of their energy came from either glucose or fructose. Those who consumed fructose showed an increase in the amount of intra-abdominal fat, which wraps around internal organs, causes a pot belly and has been linked to increased risk of diabetes and heat disease.
This particular increase of bad body fat did not occur with those consuming glucose, even though both groups gained around three pounds in weight.
According to a report in New Scientist June 28, 2008: "Those who consumed fructose also had raised levels of fatty triglycerides, which get deposited as intra-abdominal fat and cholesterol. Their insulin sensitivity also fell by 20 percent. Glucose appeared to have no effect on these measures."
PepsiCo, the sponsors of the study, noted that the study was
"very interesting and important, but it does not reflect
the real world situation nor is it applicable to PepsiCo since
pure fructose is not an ingredient in any of its food or beverage
products."
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Just about everybody these days can be said to have type 2 diabetes as blood sugar games continue to make the medical profession richer and everyday people miserable. You can imagine the consternation out and about the hinterlands recently when headlines blurted out that taking drugs to lower blood sugar might do more harm than good.
If you missed it, studies showed that taking the monopoly's advice and the drugs they prescribed, including inulin, didn't cut the risk of heart attack but may have increased the risk. Another study found the monopoly treatment drugs did not increase the risk of heart attack, but the results were nil in lowering the risk, which was the point of the studies in the first place.
I have always suggested a more practical approach to high blood sugar problems. Let's put two and two together without a lot of double talk seeking to get some kind of funding grant for more research. Generally speaking, the statistics available suggest that a huge percentage of Americans do not have adequate magnesium intake from their diet.
In fact, a "meta-analysis" of studies analyzing the association between magnesium intake and incidence of type 2 diabetes found that the less magnesium taken in, the more type 2 diabetes showed up.
This Swedish study was no small thing. It involved more than 286,000 participants and more than 10,000 cases of diagnosed type 2 diabetes.
Of course the establishment types writing up the study had nothing to say about supplementing with good chelated magnesium, preferring in the report to urge consumption of magnesium rich foods such as whole grains, beans, nuts and green leafy vegetables.
This is all well and good, but people today don't eat that way and there is no guarantee that anything grown in modern soils will actually have robust amounts of magnesium in the plants. So taking a good chelated magnesium supplement is a great idea.
Speaking of type 2 diabetes and dietary supplements, there is a small but elegant study out of Canada, which showed that elderly subjects with blood sugar problems experience good things when given vitamin C supplements.
The study involved 36 elderly patients with type 2 diabetes, and administration of vitamin C was found to significantly increase cellular levels of reduced glutathione, vitamin C levels, and vitamin E content of LDL.
Wow, look at all the good things caused by taking a vitamin C supplement.
Be that as it may, patients were randomized into 3 groups: Group 1 received 500 mg daily vitamin C; Group 2 received a gram a day of vitamin C; and Group 3 received a placebo.
Compared to subjects in the placebo group, those in the half-gram and one-gram vitamin C groups experienced significant increases in cellular reduced glutathione levels. Glutathione is a very valuable compound for health.
Subjects in the gram vitamin C group also experienced significant increases in vitamin C and vitamin E content of LDL. No significant changes in lipid peroxidation markers or susceptibility of of LDL to peroxidation provoked by gamma-radiolysis were observed. You may note that the larger dose of vitamin C helped recycle vitamin E in the body.
The study authors said that "vitamin C has a dose-dependent effect on the cellular contents of antioxidants and on vitamin E content of LDl in elderly patients with type 2 DM."
Now, which was the better, more reasonable news - the stories
about the drug study failures, or the stories showing dietary
supplements can be a benefit to all those patients and potential
patients?
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Our 100-year-old medical monopoly is working hard to insure
future profits by inducing our lawmakers, in every state of the
union, to force the
vaccination of 11-
and 12-year-old little girls against a sexually transmitted disease.
This seemingly benevolent objective has a nasty downside. The
vaccine is only effective for about five years. It will require
repetition and it has some unfortunate side effects which have
resulted in thousands of adverse reaction reports.
At least 18 deaths have been discovered by Judicial Watch, which used the Freedom of Information Act to pry these gory details out of the FDA, the agency that is supposed to be enduring the safety and effectiveness of medications. In one case, after being vaccinated a 14-year-old girl took six steps, fainted and began to foam at the mouth. Another collapsed into a coma and emerged paralyzed. Still another girl died of a blood clot within three hours of her inoculation. An additional 140 serious adverse reactions were reported including 10 spontaneous abortions, six cases of Guillian-Barre Syndrome and 27 others considered life threatening.
Merck's Gardasil is touted as an anti-cervical cancer vaccine. Itis not! This vaccine is designed to temporarily protect women from a sexually transmitted disease called human papilloma virus (HPV) which can lead to cervical cancer. HPV itself is easily detected and treated during regular gynecological examinations, which most women schedule at least yearly.
Money has been said to be the root of all evil. It used liberally
by the pharmaceutical industry to induce our lawmakers to establish
and extend the franchises of the medical monopoly. Taxpayers generally
do not have the financial clout to influence lawmakers, but they
can vote. An election is occurring soon. Let your representatives
in Washington know what you think of this monopoly privilege and
mandatory medical procedure. Vote appropriately on Election Day.
Get recalcitrants out of office.
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The Defense Department plans to provide 1,000 bunker-busting bombs to Israel at a cost of $77 million according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Congress has 30 days to object or the sale goes through.
The smart bomb, the GBU-28, is a laser-guided weapon whose warhead can burrow through more than 20 feet of concrete and up to 100 feet of dirt, according to AFP.
If the sale goes through, Israel will get other weapons as well. A Pentagon news release states that "Israel has requested a possible sale of 1,000 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB1), 150 BRU-61/A SDB1 Mounting Carriages, 30 Guided Test Vehicles, two BRU-61/A SDB Instrumented Carriages, seven Jettison Test Vehicles, one Separation Test Vehicle, two Reliability and Assessment Vehicles, 12 Common Munitions BIT and Reprogramming Equipment with Test Equipment and Adapters, three SDB1 Weapons Simulators, and two Load Crew Trainers. Also includes containers, flight test integration, spare and repair parts, support equipment, personnel training and equipment, publications and technical data, U.S. government and contractor engineering and logistics personnel services, and other related elements of logistics support."
This is effectively a taxpayer gift to Israel. Debts for such sales are routinely "forgiven" each year, though this is ignored by the mainstream media. The $3.5 billion in outright aid is paid in a lump some up front, unlike other beneficiaries who receive quarterly installments.
Counting interest paid on money borrowed to give Israel, feeding its war machine costs Americans more than $10 billion a year.
Financing Israel's brutal and bloody wars of expansion and occupation accounts for so much hatred for this country, not only in the Mideast, but also in Europe.
The sale comes despite concerns that the U.S. had been reluctant to sell the advanced weaponry out of fears that Israel would attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Iran is locked in a confrontation with Israel over its nuclear program, which it claims is for civilian use only.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel would keep all options open regarding its stance toward Iran's nuclear capability.
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"Black Monday," Sept. 15, 2008, was one of the most dramatic days in Wall Street history. Suddenly, mighty Lehman Brothers was bankrupt and headed for liquidation.
The venerable firm was founded in 1850, and (obviously) survived the Great Depression. On top of that, another top securities firm, Merrill Lynch, agreed to sell itself to Bank of America for roughly $50 billion to avert a growing financial crisis. Stock indexes plummeted—the worst fall seen since 2001. Worse, it is unlikely that the "crash" is over on Wall Street. Some have even compared it to the onset of the Great Depression.
Indeed, the past six months or so have been rough on nearly
everyone. In March the government and the Fed amazed the world
by underwriting the takeover of Bear Stearns. And just a recently,
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needed a government bailout. But Uncle
Sam, apparently tapped out and bankrupt himself, refused to bail
out Lehman Brothers. Insurance giant
American International Group was bailed out on Tuesday. Mortgage
giant Washington Mutual is next on the hot seat.
At the heart of the current crisis are "derivatives" and denial. Derivatives are a complex phenomenon—financial instruments whose values change in response to changes in "underlying variables." Denial on the other hand is easy to understand. It is like the homeowners who bought their houses during the housing bubble and now find themselves stuck with residences that are worth far less than they were a year ago.
The homeowner has a hard time accepting this reality. Similarly, the honchos of Lehman Brothers such as Richard Fuld, chief executive of LB, were in denial about the relative worthlessness of the derivative securities their firm was holding.
Merrill Lynch's boss, John Thain, more realistic and less emotional, was able to face the fact that his company was only worth a fraction of what it "felt" like it should have been worth, hence he was able to find a buyer before it was too late.
Says Joe Nocera of The New York Times:
"Ever since the crisis took hold last summer, most of the big firms have been a day late and dollar short in admitting that their once triple-A rated mortgage-backed securities just weren't worth very much. And, one by one, it is killing them."
John Tiffany is the copy editor for American Free Press. He is also the assistant editor of THE BARNES REVIEW (TBR) historical magazine. For a sample copy of TBR (editor's choice) send $3 to TBR, P.O. Box 15877,Washington, D.C. 20003.
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ANDOVER, Mass.—Author Vincent Bugliosi made it clear at a special war crimes conference that President George W. Bush should—and can—be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Bugliosi, the well-known former Los Angeles district attorney who, some 38 years ago, put Charles Manson and his band of killers in prison for the Tate-LaBianca murders, made no overtures for trying the president in foreign tribunals. Rather, he said that Title 18 of the United States Code provides the essential legal framework for trying and convicting this president for what Bugliosi describes as nothing short of murder for pushing the nation into a war under false pretenses, thereby bringing about what he sees as the needless deaths of more than 4,000 soldiers killed in action and at least 100,000 innocent Iraqis who died "horrible, violent deaths," as his book notes.
Bugliosi was the keynote speaker at the Sept. 13-14 Robert Jackson Conference for the Prosecution of High Level American War Criminals, organized by Lawrence Velvel, dean of the Massachusetts School of Law.
Bugliosi's comments on the event's first day lent an air of clarity and gravity to a conference that brought together various activist groups, attorneys, scholars, journalists and others with divergent views that did not always harmonize. But when all was said and done, everyone understood one another fairly well. Velvel planned to boil down all the input to specific goals to pursue the objective that coincides with the title of Bugliosi's hard-hitting book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. Charges against Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice likely will be on the table. Other high administration officials may be included as well.
"I realize the title of my book is a little ambiguous," Bugliosi mused. "I've been chided by some people for not being more clear about my intentions. Credibility has always meant everything to me, therefore, my only mistress and my only master are facts and objectivity. If a Democratic president had done the same thing that I strongly believe George Bush has done, I would have pursued the same course."
He added: "This is not my war or your war, but George Bush's war," while noting that his fatality numbers are conservative. He acknowledged that Iraqi deaths could be as high as 1 million, and later in a video interview with AFP, he conceded that America's real war dead from all causes—mainly war-related illnesses and injuries—could be much higher in the current conflicts—perhaps 100,000 or more. But he wants to keep the matter relatively simple so that tangible charges which will hold up in court can be brought forth. This is why he leaves suicides out of the equation, since it could be argued that other factors beyond the war may contribute to soldiers' suicides.
"That would dilute the case," he told the audience.
Bugliosi said that he has established domestic jurisdiction to try Bush for the deaths of the soldiers, but has not been able, at least so far, to do so for the Iraqis' deaths.
When his overall quest began some years ago, he thought long and hard on the question of whether he could apply "conventional principles of criminal law" to a sitting president for taking the nation into a war under false pretenses.
"The resolution of this question initially seemed daunting to me," he said, but "in the criminal law . . . the answer to that question had to be in the affirmative."
He said that he eventually determined that Bush's actions "fell within the legal architecture" of criminal law. He made that determination by focusing on a primary reality: "No man is so high that he is above the law, and that includes the president of the United States" He continued: "Bush can find no comfort in federal or state law."
Bugliosi said that Bush should have been, or perhaps still should be, impeached. But impeachment and conviction would only remove Bush from office, allowing him to live out his retirement years without long-term punishment. Bugliosi is looking for justice beyond Bush's presidency; numerous impeachment backers in the audience agreed with him, but they still want impeachment to uncover facts, preserve the integrity of the presidency and send a warning to future presidents who would abuse their powers.
"No one has done anything at all to Bush—no impeachment . . . not even an investigation—nothing!" Bugliosi declared, stressing what he sees as the extreme severity of Bush's war-related crimes and the moral bankruptcy of a nation whose government will not enforce checks and balances and somehow probe or punish an imperial president who seems to answer to no one.
Bugliosi also said he has established that the White House ordered the CIA to falsify reports linking Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda (the terrorist network allegedly responsible for the 9-11 attacks that sparked early calls for "retaliatory" war), among other major revelations found in his book.
"These revelations do not mean anything at all unless we do something about them," he said, adding that his book "sets forth the case, the legal architecture and evidence of his guilt and the jurisdiction to prosecute him." As a "legal blueprint," the book could lead to the prosecution of Bush "in an American courtroom."
A particularly interesting twist is that the Manson case, Bugliosi believes, provides a guidepost, of sorts, for the Bush case—in that both involve a leader who brought about the conditions for murder, in Bugliosi's view. "I was able to convict Manson by the vicarious liability rule," he explained, saying that Manson's actions deliberately set in motion a chain of events that resulted in murders even though Manson did not personally kill anyone and was not even at the crime scene. Still, he got life in prison, due to this legal principle.
This vicarious liability rule, Bugliosi said, "provides that each member of a conspiracy is criminally responsible for all crimes committed by his co-conspirators." Even on a distant battlefield, the rule still applies. "If the conspirator(s) deliberately sets in motion a chain of events that he knows will cause a third party or an innocent agent to commit a criminal act, the conspirator is criminally responsible for that act . . . that's the law of the land." This even applies if "innocent unwitting agents of the conspirators further the objective of the conspiracy."
Therefore, "it does not have to be shown that the principal (Bush, for example) wanted the innocent agent (Iraqis shooting and killing U.S. soldiers) to commit the act, only that he Bush caused them to do so."
Bugliosi stressed that "caused" is the operative word, in that he believes that by sending troops into war on the basis of lies, such causation appears to have taken place, since doing so caused Iraqis to shoot U.S. troops in self-defense or to "repel an invader."
Bugliosi dismissed the mere suggestion that Bush could have sent soldiers into war thinking that no one would die among them.
The overall conference dealt with a host of matters to be covered in future AFP editions as organizers work out the details with which to proceed.
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Healthy heterosexuals nationwide are suing governments for infringing on their rights because of their moral objections to homosexuality:
* A Los Angeles police officer is suing the department, saying
it has denied him promotions and pay raises because of a sermon
he gave at a church that cited a biblical verse on homosexuality.
* A Georgia counselor has filed a federal suit against the Center
for disease Control and prevention, saying she was fired after
she found someone else to counsel a lesbian about her sexual relationship.
The Georgia case began a year ago when Marcia Walden, a licensed associate counselor, was asked by a CDC employee, identified in the lawsuit only as "Ms. Jane Doe," to provide counseling for the employee's same-sex relationship. At the time, Miss Walden was a counselor with Computer Science Corp. (CSC) - a private company that had been contracted to provide counseling services to the CDC.
According to Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense fund (ADF), Miss Walden concluded that her own religious beliefs that relationships between homosexuals is immoral precluded providing counseling to Ms. Doe. Therefore, she sent the CDC employee's case to a colleague who did not share her religious convictions.
"We're dealing with a situation where a woman, who is an African-American and a Christian, works with a private company that contracted with the federal government," said Lorence, whose group is representing Miss Walden "She didn't feel she could do a good job. So she referred [Ms. Doe] to a counselor down the hall who could see her immediately." Miss Walden had counseled homosexuals in the past, but not with regard to same-sex relationships, her complaint said.
But, according to the complaint, she was subsequently accused of homophobia and extensively questioned about her Christian faith by her supervisor. Within three days, Miss Walden was suspended without pay and fired outright three weeks later.
Her lawsuit, filed recently with the U.S. District court for the Northern District of Georgia, seeks both punitive and compensatory damages, accusing the CSC and CDC of violating her First Amendment rights, and says the CDC and CSC have both refused to comment. Lorence said his client's actions were "normal" by professional standards.
In the Los Angeles case, Sgt. Eric Holyfield, a 16-year veteran of the police department, is also pastor of the Gospel Word of life Apostolic Church. His suit says the department demoted him and refused him further promotion because of a September 2006 eulogy he gave at the Whittier, Calif. funeral of Officer Nathaniel Warthon, Jr., whose supervisor he had been.
The California Catholic Daily, reported that Sgt. Holyfield quoted a passage from Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians that says "the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God" before going on to list such unrighteous people: adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, drunkards and others. Sgt. Holyfield was off duty and in Clerical garb for the funeral, which was not police-sponsored, and was giving the sermon in a private chapel at the request of his colleague's family.
"We are looking at a case of anti-religious bigotry," said Jesse Romero, a retired 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department who is now a full-time lay Catholic evangelist. "The vast majority of police are Christian. Our professional obligations are consistent with Christian ethic."
* In another absurdity, a New Mexico photographer was ordered by the New Mexico Human Rights commission to pay Vanessa Willcock $6,600 for having declined to photograph Miss Willcock's same-sex commitment ceremony. That is under appeal.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post is celebrating public grain-washing that has resulted in 75 percent of Americans supporting homosexuals serving in the military. Only a small percentage of those surveyed have worn their country's uniform.
But a rational voice was raised during a hearing by the House Armed Services Committee when Elaine Donnnelly, founder of the Center for Military Readiness, took the Stand.
"We're talking about real consequences for real people, " She said, citing "inappropriate passive/aggressive actions common in the homosexual community ...forcible sodomy ... exotic forms of sexual expression" and the case of "a group of black lesbians who decided to gang-assault" a fellow soldier.
She warned that lesbians would take pictures of people in the
shower and of the spread of HIV. When called "bonkers"
and"dumb" by Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.), a champion of
political correctness, she retorted: "What would you say
to Cynthia Yost, the woman on a training exercise assaulted by
a group of lesbians?" The silence was deafening.
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Shortly before Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was scheduled
to speak before the UN general Assembly, Israel - using as its
mouthpiece Rafael Eitan - threatened
that Israel may "kidnap him" and bring him to trial
for "incitement to genocide" regarding some of his inflammatory
(but truthfull) statements he has made concerning the great experiment
in Jewish self-rule in the Middle East. The U.S. is holding up
Ahmadinejad's entry visa.
Rafael Eitan has been one of the "movers and shakers" in the Jewish state for decades. Former high-ranking Mossad chief now-turned minister for pensioner affairs, Eitan was personally responsible for kidnapping Adolf Eichmann from Argentina in 1960, eventually resulting in the former high-ranking Nazi official being tried convicted and executed for his activities during WWII. More recently, Eitan oversaw the handling of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, whose espionage on behalf of Israel resulted in 800,000 pages of classified material marked "SCT" (the highest classification being passed to Israel, who then passed it on to the Soviet Union.
As a result of Pollard's treason
and Israel's betrayal, 1,400 American intelligence assets/agents
working behind the Iron Curtain were either captured or killed.
Israel has neither returned any of the stolen document nor apologized,
but has repeatedly demanded that America's most dangerous spy
be released from prison.
Kidnapping is one of the "can't do withouts" in the business of organized crime, and Israel has become something of a headquarters to mob interests where drugs, illegal arms, forced prostitution, human trafficking, extortion and money laundering are as much a part of the daily grind as they were during the days of Al Capone's Chicago.
American Free Press has learned through contacts close to President Ahmadinejad that "something big" may be in the works and Israel is trying to scare him away from coming to the U.S.
The idea they conveyed was the possibility of the Iranian president bringing forth information on the floor of the UN so embarrassing to the U.S. and Israel that their plans for their long-desired war against Iran would be shelved indefinitely.
Needless to say, Israel (who desperately needs this war against Judea's ancient enemies in Persia to hold together what is an otherwise organically fractured society) is no doubt in panic mode. The longer this modern-day re-enactment of the slaughter of 75,000 innocent Persian citizens as recounted in the book of Esther is delayed, the less likely it is to take place, to say nothing of the diminishing chances of its overall success. As former Dimona nuclear technician-turned peace apostle Mordechai Vanunu told AFP recently, Israel must have war "every 10 years of so" for her survival. For the Jewish state, war is like a drug to any addict, and the longer she goes without her "fix" the more desperate and irrational she becomes. Considering what took place in August with Georgia's crushing defeat by Russia and the fact that more than likely Israel - up to her eyeballs in arming and training Georgia - planned on "tying Russia up" with a drawn-out military campaign that would prevent any interference with an attack on Iran, Israel is getting desperate, as this latest threat to kidnap the leader of a sovereign state indicates.
Spying is something intrinsically woven into the paranoid culture of the Jewish state that sees nothng but enemies everywhere. With a network of "sayanim" scattered throughout the world as described by ex-Mossad officer Victor Ostrovshy in his book By Way of Deception Israel has millions of eyes and ears, watching and listening to everything as it all pertains to the Jewish state.
In a personal interview with American Free Press a young man (U.S. citizen of Palestinian heritage) who went to Gaza to visit family recently found himself detained and interrogated for four hours by Israel's internal security service, Shin Bet. During this interrogation, the young man (whose name is withheld at his request), was grilled over phone calls he had made while in the U.S. Six years of his phone conversations had been recorded by Israeli intelligence, simply because of his Palestinian descent and despite the fact he was a medical school student and not involved in politics.
If Israel was willing to go to such lengths in keeping an eye
on the personal life of one harmless American citizen of Palestinian
descent, imagine the resources she is willing to expend on being
a fly on the wall in any room where Ahmadinejad's business is
being discussed.
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John McCain's global warmongering doesn't appeal to you? You don't believe that Barack Obama will really change anything in Washington? There is good news The number of independent and new party presidential candidates getting on ballots across the country is way up this year, and it is more than likely that there is a candidate out there who will pass your smell test.
Take Constitution
Party presidential candidate Pastor Chuck Baldwin. According to
Richard Winger's Ballot Access web site, located at ballot-access.org,
Baldwin will be on the ballot in 37 states this November. These
include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida,
Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska,
Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode
Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont,
Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
This is no small feat considering that the Democrats and the Republicans have worked tirelessly for years to stack the deck against any candidate who is not a member of those two parties. New parties must often collect thousands - and sometimes tens of thousands - of signatures to have their presidential candidate listed on ballots. In Minnesota, for example, a party must collect 110,150 signatures. In Washington, D.C., there is no established procedure, so it's up to the whim of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics as to whether a candidate will be listed on ballots in the nation's capital.
While Baldwin's ballot-access success has not resulted in millions of dollars in donations, it is certainly testament to the organizational capacity and tenacity of his campaign.
Since announcing his run for the White House on April 10, 2008, Baldwin has clearly articulated where he stands on the issues.
* Education - Baldwin says he would offer tax relief
for homeschoolers, as well as private and religious schools. He
said he would close the Department of Education as it is "unconstitutional."
* Energy - Baldwin advocates more domestic oil drilling
and increasing the umber of refineries and nuclear power plants.
Immigration - Baldwin says he would close the borders and would
fight any legislation that supports amnesty.
* Globalism - Baldwin is opposed to the concept of "free
trade" is it is implemented by Washington. He is against
the North American Union and the NAFTA Superhighway. He is against
merging the United States into the North American Union. He supports
a 10 percent tariff on all imports to even the playing field for
America.
* Taxes - Baldwin says he would abolish the income and
death taxes and would restore debt-free, interest free money.
* Foreign Policy - Baldwin says he will end U.S. participation
in the United Nations and the World Court. He would veto foreign
aid and stop global meddling and nation-building.
* Social Issues - Baldwin is opposed to abortion, supports
the Sanctity of Life Act, which defines a fetus as a person, and
would work to overturn Roe v. Wade.
In late August, Baldwin appeared on the popular talk show hosed by Lou Dobbs where he stated that, if elected, he would immediately free Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos.
Compean and Ramos are each serving 10-and11-year sentences
following a bizarre prosecution at the hands of West Texas U.S.
Attorney Johnny Sutton, who offered immunity to know Mexican drug
trafficker Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in return for his testimony.
Davila had been stopped on the U.S. border with Mexico while driving
a van containing nearly 800 pounds of marijuana. During a scuffle,
Davila was shot by Compean and Ramos. The drug runner had testified
in a U.s. court that the two Border Patrol agents had fired at
him for no apparent reason Compean and Ramos, however, said they
shot Davila because they believed he was aiming a gun at them.
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With all we hear about the "financial storm raging through the markets today," to quote a Wall Street expert as this issue goes to press, no one wants to mention a simple truth.
The truth is that the Federal Reserve System (FRS) is not federal, it is privately owned and controlled; it has no reserves except the paper it prints at will and the zeros it adds into its coffers via computers and the system was never meant to be permanent but it has always been a great scam.
The real purpose of the Fed is to transfer wealth, such as real property, factories and other assets into the hands of the Fed's owners with worthless printed paper.
It is the evil product of a conspiracy of bankers and tycoons who secretly met on Jekyl Island on Christmas Eve, 1913.
The Federal Reserve is another Rothschild bank, just as the so-called "Bank of England."
Can America survive in freedom "and strength when its money is under the control of conspiratorial international bankers?
How did this happen? How were the American people conned into relinquishing the sovereign right to issue their own money as provided in the Constitution?
And what will be the fate of a country that permits private
bankers to control its money?
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Former congressman Bob Barr is sabotaging the Libertarian Party that nominated him for president and leaving it in shambles. Today when the need for viable third party candidates is stronger than ever, Barr has under mined the Libertarian Party, rendering it almost completely ineffective. Supporters are switching alliances to other candidates, retracting their endorsements, or even trying to remove Barr's name from the ballot. Plus, as Christopher Petherick recently pointed out in AFP, Barr's previous personal fund-raising efforts were shady at best, and left plenty to be desired from a supposedly "reform-minded" candidate."
The latest outrage came on Sept. 10 when Barr snubbed Ron Paul by refusing to appear at his press conference at the National Press Club in support of third party candidates such as Cynthia McKenney, Chuck Baldwin and Ralph Nader. Although agreeing t the platform, Barr bailed at the last minute, stating, "It just isn't worth it. I'm not interested in third parties getting the most possible votes." Barr then had the audacity to ask Ron Paul to be his vice presidential nominee.
The backlash was immediate. Former Libertarian Party vice chairman Chuck Moulton said, "Bob Barr continues to find was to slap the Ron Paul movement in the face." Libertarian Party co-founder David Nolan said "Bob Barr's presidential campaign is effectively over."
At the "unity meeting" snubbed by Barr, Paul said
third-party candidates "represent the majority of the American
people," who view the two major parties as the lesser of
evils. All the candidates agreed with Paul that Americans should
vote for the candidate of their choice, whatever the party.
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