SEPTEMBER 22-16, 03 Archives

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Might Bush's Blank Check for War Bounce If He Deceived Congress? September 22, 2003 by Thom Hartmann On Tuesday, September 16, 2003, George W. Bush said what virtually every other senior member of his administration had been going out of their way to refute. "We've had no evidence," he told CNN's John King, "that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September the eleventh. No." This came as a shock to the 70 percent of Americans who support the invasion and occupation of Iraq because they believed Saddam was a mastermind of 9/11 or that Iraqis were among the pilots who hijacked our planes. But the bigger shock may be to members of Congress, who, hearing that, may now conclude that Bush just admitted he had explicitly misled them. thepeoplesvoice.org

Cheney's Role In 911 Put On Center Stage By British MP September 22, 2003 By Mark Burdman Executive Intelligence Review. For the first time, a prominent British political figure has aired his suspicions, that the group around U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney may have intentionally caused, or allowed to happen, the mega-terrorism in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, to set into motion an era of neo-imperial wars. Labour Party Member of Parliament Michael Meacher wrote a major feature focussing on Cheney's Project for a New American Century grouping, in the London Guardian on Sept. 6. rense.com

Plan to cripple government on course September 22, 2003 By Dave Zweifel Those of you who are fretting over the state of our national budget -- trillions in projected debt and dozens of unmet domestic needs -- ought to read New York Times' columnist Paul Krugman's essay in last Sunday's Times' magazine. Krugman has long insisted that the demolition of the budget is all on purpose. And, says the Princeton economics professor, everything is going according to plan, spurred on by huge tax cuts on top of spiraling military costs. The bottom line is to make it impossible to afford social programs and eventually shrink government to a fraction of its current size. "The astonishing political success of the anti-tax crusade has, more or less deliberately, set the United States up for a fiscal crisis," he writes. "How we respond to that crisis will determine what kind of country we become." madison.com

RecommendedWho Was Albert Pike? September 22, 2003 By Arthur Cottrell Very few outsiders know about the intimate plans of the architects of the New World Order. One such architect was Albert Pike, who in the 19th Century, established a framework for bringing about the One World Order. Based on a vision revealed to him, Albert Pike wrote out a blueprint of events that would play themselves out in the 20th century, with even more of these events yet to come. It is this blueprint which we believe unseen leaders are following today to engineer the planned Third and Final World War. thetruthseeker.co.uk

Say Goodbye To Bar Codes And Hello To RFID Big Brother Technology Getting A Little Too Real September 22, 2003 By Jeremy Rogalski Right now Frito Lay is working on embedding an RF chip into the paint of a bag of chips with the metallic packing serving as a huge antenna. And that can store your personal information long after the bag is thrown away. With all the wizardry comes a warning. "The scary part of the use of that tag is it exists after we buy the product," says Adams. So the sweater you buy at the store to the shoes you walk out with to the car you drive away could all be traced specifically to you just with that tiny chip inside. "I think potentially," says Adams. "This could be a Big Brother problem." Orwellian concerns over privacy may no longer be just Hollywood hype. The future may soon be staring us in the face. rense.com

US approval for Bush falling September 22, 2003 Oliver Burkeman in Washington and Luke Harding in Berlin Monday For the first time since the war in Iraq began, less than half of Americans say they approve of the way President George Bush is handling the situation, according to a poll published today.The Newsweek poll, which also shows a 14-point fall in Mr Bush's overall approval ratings, comes at a critical point for the White House, as it girds for UN talks to win a new resolution followed, the president hopes, by offers of troops and money. guardian.co.uk

Venezuelan Military Intelligence says overwhelming evidence the CIA planned to bring down Chavez Frias' airplane en route to United Nations in New York September 22, 2003 Details behind the sudden decision to cancel President Hugo Chavez Frias' next-week trip to Washington D.C. and New York (to deliver a speech to the United Nations) are being revealed by security services who say they have "overwhelming evidence" of a CIA-backed plan to "bring down" the Chavez Frias' airplane during the scheduled flight to the United States from Caracas.  Sources in Venezuela's Military Intelligence Directorate (DIM) have told VHeadline.com that "presented with overwhelming evidence of Washington's planned attack on the Presidential flight, it was decided that the President's personal security was preeminent and that he should not go!" vheadline.com

Nine Israelis face deportation September 22, 2003 By JOHN STEINBACHS and ANDREW SEYMOUR Ottawa Sun Spy agency suspects they may be foreign agents. NINE Israeli nationals -- who[m] CSIS suspects are possible foreign agents -- were arrested by Immigration and Ottawa police tactical officers last Friday, blocks from Parliament Hill. An Ottawa police source said police were told members of the group were possible agents from Mossad, Israel's spy agency, but given no further information by CSIS. CSIS declined to comment yesterday. cryptome.org

Thermal activity in Yellowstone sparks increased monitoring September 22, 2003 WHT Norris Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park has long been recognized as the hottest and most changeable of Yellowstone's famous hydrothermal wonders. This summer, Norris lived up to its hot, unstable reputation as scientists and visitors alike have seen significant changes in many geysers and increased ground temperatures in the western part of the basin. Porkchop Geyser, which sprang to life from a small hot spring in 1971, erupted in July for the first time since 1989. westhawaiitoday.com

Bush steps up fight against European safety testing September 21, 2003 By Geoffrey Lean Environment Editor President George Bush is mounting an intensive campaign to force European countries to drop safety tests expected to save thousands of lives each year, internal US government documents seen by The Independent on Sunday reveal. Britain, which has been generally supportive, last week denounced the measures as "disastrously wrong". The documents - which include diplomatic cables signed by the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell - show that the Bush administration has threatened Europe with trade sanctions if it goes ahead with the tests, which are designed to protect workers and the public from highly toxic chemicals. independent.co.uk

Cheney's spin wearing thin Sept. 21, 2003 I saw Vice President Cheney on Meet the Press, and it seems he is trying to run a dead horse into the ground. The No. 1 problem with him is that he blames the deficit/poor economy on Sept. 11. Most Americans have worked harder than ever since 9/11 and only seen their tax dollars evaporate in the Iraq occupation and the search for weapons of mass destruction. Poor decisions by Bush/Cheney and Congress have created a deficit. Cheney insists that doubters are in error in the debate on our occupation of Iraq, while his former company is raking in billions from a no-bid contract let by the administration. azcentral.com

Dollar could plumb new lows, say traders September 21, 2003 By Jennifer Hughes The dollar could fall to fresh lows against the yen and weaken against other currencies, foreign exchange traders said on Sunday, after G7 countries called for more flexible exchange rates at the weekend. Japanese exporters would suffer from a stronger yen, which could choke off a nascent recovery in the economy. ft.com

Three U.S. Soldiers Dead in Iraq Attacks September 21, 2003 Iraq (AP) Three American soldiers died in a mortar attack and a roadside bombing west of the capital, and coalition authorities appealed to Iraqis on Sunday for information to help investigators track down those who tried to kill a prominent woman member of Iraq's Governing Council. customwire.ap.org

Bush Covers Up Climate Research White House Officials Play Down Its Own Scientists' Evidence Of Global Warming September 21, 2003 By Paul Harris White House officials have undermined their own government scientists' research into climate change to play down the impact of global warming, an investigation by The Observer can reveal. The disclosure will anger environment campaigners who claim that efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions are being sabotaged because of President George W. Bush's links to the oil industry. Emails and internal government documents obtained by The Observer show that officials have sought to edit or remove research warning that the problem is serious. rense.com

Jumpy U.S. soldiers fire on official, reporters September 21, 2003 Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq In the last six days, U.S. troops have shot at Iraqi police, journalists, a wedding party and a top Italian diplomat searching for looted antiquities. The Americans are under increasing pressure as the guerrilla resistance has stepped up its hit-and-run attacks and is bringing more firepower and sophistication to the fight. marinij.com

Bush keeps Area 51 under veil of secrecy September 21, 2003 Associated Press CARSON CITY, Nev. Invoking national security, President Bush has renewed an exemption allowing the Air Force to keep mum about top-secret operations at a southern Nevada base. Bush’s memorandum said it was of “paramount interest” to exempt the Groom Lake base about 90 miles north of Las Vegas from disclosing classified information. Also known as Area 51, the mysterious base sits on a dry lake bed and is heavily patrolled. The area is in a no-fly zone. The secrecy has fueled speculation about UFOs, aliens and other strange occurrences around Area 51. Residents of the nearby town of Rachel say the UFO talk began years ago when a Nevada Test Site worker claimed he saw alien ships there. montanaforum.com

Bolivia: the "Gringo" kills, the people resist September 21, 2003 translated by Zapata On Saturday, a combined operation by the bolivian military and police has led to the killing of at least 5 Aymaran peasants in Achacachi when the so-called "caravan of rescue", commanded by defense minister Calrlos Sanchez Berzaín, tried to run the blockades that were put up some days ago in the region of the plateau. All this took place in the context of a national uproar caused by the plans of president of Bolivia, the "gringo" Sanchez de Lozada, to hand out the gas to the transnational companies. argentina.indymedia.org

Moon lights up Arctic homes September 21, 2003 REUTERS OSLO: Homes on the Arctic tip of Norway started getting power from the moon on Saturday via a unique subsea power station driven by the rise and fall of the tide. A tidal current in a sea channel near the town of Hammerfest, caused by the gravitational tug of the moon on the earth, started turning the 10-m blades of a turbine bolted to the seabed to generate electricity for the local grid. The prototype looks like an underwater windmill and is expected to generate about 700,000 kilowatt hours of non- polluting energy a year, or enough to light and heat about 30 homes. indiatimes.com

KAMINSKI: ARREST THE PRESIDENT NOW! Enough 9/11 evidence exists to hang Bush, imprison thousands (Will the U.S.A. survive this crisis?) September 20, 2003 By John Kaminski skylax@comcast.net On September 11, 2001, the most infamous day in American history, the tallest buildings in New York were not knocked down by airplanes hijacked by Arabs — they were destroyed by demolition charges. This is no longer wild conspiracy theory — it is a series of provable facts, deftly presented on a website that every American should not only read but possibly memorize, so they can repeat it verbatim to every law enforcement officer in the country. The web site is located here. http://911research.wtc7.net/talks/towers/ Briefly synopsized, the site outlines a terrifying proposition: if the collapse of the Twin Towers were caused by demolition, the entire official story about that sad day collapses like the house of evil cards so many Americans and people around the world already suspect it is. The site, WTC7.net, backs up its conclusions with a devastating play-by-play of what actually happened on 9/11, and what could not possibly have happened according to universally accepted engineering principles.The official story collapses under scrutiny, the site insists. It lists five stunning assertions:
1. Fires have never destroyed steel buildings.
2. The collapses were not investigated.
3. The physical evidence was destroyed.
4. The official explanations are ludicrous.
5. The evidence indicates demolition.
6. Demolition is provable. rumormillnews.com

Arrogance, or Something Darker? September 20, 2003 By John David Rose Carolina Morning News September 20, 2003 If you want to know why 9/11 was allowed to happen you may not have to look any further than the Oval Office. A little more than a month before the attack, in his Aug. 6 daily intelligence briefing, Bush was "told that morning of the al-Qaida terror network's interest in conducting a strike within the U.S., and that it might involve highjacked airplanes," reports the Wall Street Journal (7/24/03.) Why didn't he order airlines to be alerted, inform the Federal Aviation Administration of the threat, put the military air commands on a high level of readiness and tell the FBI, CIA and INS to be super vigilant? He brushed the warning aside. sumeria.net

September 11th And The Bush Administration September 20, 2003 Compelling Evidence for Complicity Walter E. Davis, PhD Clearly, one of the most critical questions of the twenty-first century concerns why the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were not prevented. As I outline below, there are numerous aspects regarding the official stories about September 11th which do not fit with known facts, which contradict each other, which defy common sense, and which indicate a pattern of misinformation and coverup. The reports coming out of Washington do very little to alleviate these concerns. informationclearinghouse.info

Big lie on Iraq comes full circle September 20, 2003 BY ANDREW GREELEY Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda chief (director of communications, in the current parlance), once said that if you are going to lie, you should tell a big lie. That may be good advice, but the question remains: What happens when people begin to doubt the big lie? Herr Goebbels never lived to find out. Some members of the Bush administration may be in the process of discovering that, given time, the big lie turns on itself. suntimes.com

10 US Soldiers Wounded, 1 US Soldier Killed Each Day in Bush's Iraq War September 20, 2003 Iraq Casualty Count, Summary: The count of US soldiers killed in Iraq nears 300 this week, with more than 1,500 confirmed wounded by the military, and 6,000 wounded reported by the Washington Post ...veteransforcommonsense.org

America's rich get richer thanks to tax-cutting Bush September 20, 2003 By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles America's richest people have seen a 10 per cent increase in their net worth over the past year, the latest list of individual fortunes in Forbes magazine reveals. The latest Forbes 400 list is further evidence that the affluent are thriving under President Bush even as unemployment continues to rise and the income of average workers remains stagnant. independent.co.uk

Congress Declares War Against Disabled Veterans September 20, 2003 WASHINGTON The House majority leadership has shown callous contempt for the sacrifices of America's defenders by attempting to impose overly restrictive conditions that would limit benefits for disabilities from military service, said the Disabled American Veterans. dav.org

US auto union sanctions mass layoffs and plant closings September 20, 2003 By Jerry Isaacs The deal concluded by the UAW is the largest concessions contract by the union since the severe recession of the 1980s and the near bankruptcy of Chrysler Corporation. Under the terms of the agreement, the Big Three will shut down or sell a dozen plants, employing more than 12,000 workers, and reduce increases in wages, health care benefits and pensions. Analysts say the latest pact is will cost the auto makers $12,000 less per worker than the last contract. wsws.org

RecommendedGlobal Eye -- Vanishing Act September 20, 2003 By Chris Floyd It's a shell game, with money, companies and corporate brands switching in a blur of buyouts and bogus fronts. It's a sinkhole, where mobbed-up operators, paid-off public servants, crazed Christian fascists, CIA shadow-jobbers, war-pimping arms dealers -- and presidential family members -- lie down together in the slime. It's a hacker's dream, with pork-funded, half-finished, secretly programmed computer systems installed without basic security standards by politically partisan private firms, and protected by law from public scrutiny. It's how the United States, the "world's greatest democracy," casts its votes. And it's why George W. Bush will almost certainly be the next president of the United States -- no matter what the people of the United States might want. themoscowtimes.com / informationclearinghouse.info

The Real Cost Of US Support For Israel - $3 Trillion September 20, 2003 By Christopher Bollyn While it is commonly reported that Israel officially receives some $3 billion every year in the form of economic aid from the U.S. government, this figure is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many billions of dollars more in hidden costs and economic losses lurking beneath the surface. A recently published economic analysis has concluded that U.S. support for the state of Israel has cost American taxpayers nearly $3 trillion ($3 million millions) in 2002 dollars. rense.com

Bush wants more anti-terror laws September 20, 2003 By HELEN THOMAS President Bush wants more police powers in the name of the war against terrorism but he's rubbing up against the Fourth Amendment that protects citizens from unreasonable search. This amendment was described by Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis as guaranteeing "the right to be left alone." seattlepi.nwsource.com

U.S. Troops Mistakenly Target Italy Envoy September 20, 2003 By ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press Writer ROME - A U.S. soldier in northern Iraq mistakenly fired on a car carrying an Italian diplomat heading up U.S. efforts to recover Iraq's looted antiquities, killing the man's Iraqi interpreter, apparently because the driver wasn't following orders fast enough, the diplomat said Friday. news.yahoo.com

Americans draw a veil of secrecy as casualties grow September 20, 2003 By Robert Fisk in Baghdad No comment from the authorities while more and more US servicemen and their families are demanding answers from George Bush. A culture of secrecy has descended upon the occupation authorities in Iraq. They will give no tally of the Iraqi civilian lives lost each day. They will not comment on the killing by an American soldier of one of their own Iraqi interpreters yesterday - he was shot dead in front of the Italian diplomat who was the official adviser to the new Iraqi Ministry of Culture - and they cannot explain how General Sultan Hashim Ahmed, the former Iraqi minister of defence and a potential war criminal, should now be described by one of the most senior US officers in Iraq as "a man of honour and integrity". libertyforum.org

Hands Off, China Tells G7 on Eve of Talks September 20, 2003 By Alan Wheatley, Asian Economics Correspondent DUBAI (Reuters) - China bluntly told the United States on Friday not to make it a scapegoat for its economic woes by pressing for a revaluation of the yuan at this weekend's meeting of the world's leading industrial powers. abcnews.go.com

IMF warns trade gap could bring down dollar September 20, 2003 Charlotte Denny and Larry Elliott The International Monetary Fund yesterday warned that the colossal United States trade deficit was a noose around the neck of the economy, emphasising that the once mighty dollar could collapse at any moment. guardian.co.uk

Germany, France vow to press ahead with EU military September 20, 2003 BERLIN (AFP) Germany and France pledged Thursday to push ahead with plans to develop an autonomous EU military capability, despite criticism that it would double up with NATO. spacewar.com

China, Russia Set Direction in Future Space Exploration Cooperation September 20, 2003 China and Russia has defined the direction in their future cooperation in space exploration and set down a new cooperation project in Beijing recently. The agreement was reached at the fourth meeting of the astronavigation sub-committee with the Joint Commission for the Regular Meetings of Heads of Government of China and Russia . china.org

Israel Brings ‘Catastrophe’ to Palestine: UN GENEVA September 20, 2003 A UN human rights expert is preparing to submit a report to the UN General Assembly that charges Israel of triggering a “humanitarian catastrophe” in the Palestinian territories, newspaper reports said yesterday. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, said in a draft report that the Israeli military is preventing Palestinians reaching food and water with restrictions on movement in the territories, according to Swiss newspaper Le Temps and news agency ATS. de.indymedia.org

What happened to President Bush? September 20, 2003 By Dale McFeatters George W. Bush came into the Oval Office an advocate of leaner, smaller government and then enlarged it by one humongous new Cabinet department. A foe of bureaucracy, he gave us the Transportation Security Administration. Federal bureaucrats now paw your person and your belongings. caller.com

Cheney's conflict with the truth September 20, 2003 By Derrick Z. Jackson ON "MEET THE PRESS" last Sunday, Vice President Dick Cheney said, "Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interests. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had now, for over three years." That is the latest White House lie. Within 48 hours, Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey pointed reporters toward Cheney's public financial disclosure sheets filed with the US Office of Government Ethics. The sheets show that in 2002, Cheney received $162,392 in deferred salary from Halliburton, the oil and military contracting company he ran before running for vice president. In 2001, Cheney received $205,298 in deferred salary from Halliburton. The 2001 salary was more than Cheney's vice presidential salary of $198,600. Cheney also is still holding 433,333 stock options. boston.com

Utter Lies First, Correct Later: Diplomacy, Neocon-Style September 20, 2003 Robert Scheer It’s hard to believe that it was just a slip of the tongue rather than a calculated lie when US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz sullied the memory of those who died on Sept. 11 by exploiting their deaths for propaganda purposes. The brainwashing of Americans, two-thirds of whom believe that Saddam Hussein was behind the attacks, is too effective a political ploy for the Bush regime to suddenly let the truth get in the way. arabnews.com

An Occupied Country September 20, 2003 By Howard Zinn It has become clear, very quickly, that Iraq is not a liberated country, but an occupied country. We became familiar with the term "occupied country" during World War II. We talked of German-occupied France, German-occupied Europe. And after the war we spoke of Soviet-occupied Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Eastern Europe. It was the Nazis, the Soviets, who occupied other countries. rense.com

Bush 9/11 Admission Gets Little Play Story Doesn't Make Many Front Pages September 20, 2003 By Seth Porges For months leading up this year's war on Iraq, the Bush administration implied that Saddam Hussein had a hand in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The argument was well-received by Americans, and might have been the single leading factor behind public support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. An oft-cited poll conducted by The Washington Post last month revealed that 69% of Americans continue to believe it likely that Hussein was personally involved in 9/11. mediainfo.com

The good news on the job front? Wal-Mart's hiring September 20, 2003 Bad news dominates job front Downsizings. Offshorings. Outsourcings. Insourcings. Plant closings. Maquiladora-ings. H1-B visa-ings. CEO nest featherings...Is anything happening that's good news for the American worker? Locally, the latest furor is that hundreds more Sprint jobs are being eliminated and some computer work is being sent to less costly contract workers overseas. kansascity.com

Clark Says He Would Have Voted for War September 20, 2003 By ADAM NAGOURNEY Gen. Wesley K. Clark said today that he would have supported the Congressional resolution that authorized the United States to invade Iraq, even as he presented himself as one of the sharpest critics of the war effort in the Democratic presidential race. nytimes.com

Growing World View US Govt Was Complicit In 911 September 19, 2003 Events marking the second anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks held in Berlin, Germany and Manhattan featuring former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, this writer, and more than a dozen experts highlighted an estimated fifty conferences, screenings and protests around the US and the world, revealing growing popular support for the position that the US government was complicit in those attacks. In a few short words I will try to describe some of the biggest recent developments in a climate that has changed dramatically since disclosure that the US and British governments falsified and misrepresented intelligence to justify a now-failing occupation of Iraq. rense.com

9/11 - ARE AMERICANS THE VICTIMS OF A HOAX? September 19, 2003 The time has come to stop using the flag as a blindfold, to stop waving our guns and our gods at each other, to take a close look at the facts which have emerged from the attacks on the World Trade Towers and to recognize the very real possibility, indeed probability, that We The People are the victims of a gigantic and deadly hoax. whatreallyhappened.com

The Big Lie September 19, 2003 "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it," said Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's minister of propaganda. To justify its invasion of Iraq, the administration tried hard to link Saddam Hussein to the terrorist group al-Qaida and the attacks of September 11. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who with his top security clearance is presumably among the best-informed Americans on this particular subject, said Tuesday he had no reason to believe Mr. Hussein had anything to do with the attacks. But the administration's propaganda campaign was so successful that a recent Washington Post poll showed 69 percent of Americans still believe Mr. Hussein probably had a hand in the hijackings. How can it be that the secretary of defense is in the minority of public opinion? berkshireeagle.com

Kennedy Says Case for Iraq War Was Fraud September 19, 2003 By STEVE LeBLANC The case for going to war against Iraq was a fraud ``made up in Texas'' to give Republicans a political boost, Sen. Edward Kennedy said Thursday. In an interview with The Associated Press, Kennedy also said the Bush administration has failed to account for nearly half of the $4 billion the war is costing each month. He said he believes much of the unaccounted-for money is being used to bribe foreign leaders to send in troops. guardian.co.uk

Gaffe Casts Doubts on Electronic Voting September 19, 2003 By RACHEL KONRAD The strange case of an election tally that appears to have popped up on the Internet hours before polls closed is casting new doubts about the trustworthiness of electronic voting machines. excite.com

Saudis consider nuclear bomb September 19, 2003 Ewen MacAskill and Ian Traynor Saudi Arabia, in response to the current upheaval in the Middle East, has embarked on a strategic review that includes acquiring nuclear weapons, the Guardian has learned. This new threat of proliferation in one of the most dangerous regions of the world comes on top of a crisis over Iran's alleged nuclear programme. guardian.co.uk

8 American soldiers killed in attack in Iraq September 19, 2003 Eight American soldiers were killed in a fierce attack Thursday on the road to Khaldiyah, 80 km west of Baghdad, Dubai-based Arabiya TV channel reported. The casualties were not immediately confirmed by the US militaryin Baghdad. Witnesses said several military vehicles were burned and the US soldiers returned fire in defense at the scene. Bombs and rocket-propelled grenades were used in the attack on the US convoy when it travelled from Fallujah to Ramadi, both restive towns where US troops were frequently targeted. The incident followed a series of attacks on US presence in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul which started Wednesday night. news.xinhuanet.com

The coming first world debt crisis September 19, 2003 Ann Pettifor The reckless financial policies of leading western powers in the last two decades make it likely that the next seismic debt crisis will be in America, not Argentina. It can be avoided, says Ann Pettifor of the Real World Economic Outlook, only by serious efforts to bring regulation and balance to the international economy. opendemocracy.net

The end of American economic supremacy? September 19, 2003 By Hussain Khan Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. It is beginning to appear that the events of September 11, 2001 have had such an impact that it could end American economic supremacy in the world. The peril to the US economy has been compounded by fiscal actions taken by the administration of President George W Bush. atimes.com

Layoffs crank up again, chip away at economic growth September 19, 2003 By Gary Strauss Rising corporate layoffs are beginning to undermine the nation's economic recovery, labor experts and economists say. Wednesday, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco announced it was slashing 2,600 jobs, or about 40% of the No. 2 cigarette marketer's workforce. The long-rumored purge is the latest in a string of post-Labor-Day layoff announcements at technology companies and manufacturers that will eliminate thousands of jobs. usatoday.com

Neocons and Dual Loyalist Jews in Washington, D.C. Now Hold... The Reins of Power in U.S.A. September 19, 2003 Texe Marrs President George W. Bush is merely the puppet and "go-for boy" of powerful, behind-the-scenes, Marxist, neo-con, dual loyalist Jews. That's the conclusion of people in the know in Washington, D.C. Bush's total cave-in to these alien, Jewish foreign policy thugs is also well-known in Europe and the Middle East, where top newspapers and magazines regularly talk about this and frequently name and unmask the very Jews who lurk behind the closed doors of the Bush White House. propagandamatrix.com

The courts, the California recall and the crisis of the US political system September 19, 2003 By Bill Vann The ruling by the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals postponing for five months the Oct. 7 recall election in California has touched off a political firestorm. The recall’s right-wing supporters charge that the three judges on the appellate panel—all appointed by Democratic administrations—acted out of political allegiance rather than to uphold the law. The civil rights groups that pushed for the postponement have insisted that their concern was that every vote, and particularly those in counties with large minority populations, is counted. wsws.org

WHY NO SANE PERSON SHOULD EVEN CONSIDER CLARK FOR PRES September 19, 2003 Below, you will see many different articles from many different people, convervative and liberal alike. They all think General Clark - Sir Wesley as he is known in England where the Queen made him a Knight -- should NEVER be trusted to be our President OR Vice President! rumormillnews.com

The Future of America under the American-led Empire September 18, 2003 By Craig B Hulet A Realistic "Sense of it." Americans will see no benefits and neither share in its triumphs nor its vision, its wealth nor its prosperity. You will share, many of you worse than others, minorities, the poor, the weak, only in this regime’s cruelty and wrath. I was asked recently to make a short, or not so short, statement of what I thought realistically may come about over the next, say, five plus years here on my native soil, America. informationclearinghouse.info

Handing Out Hardship September 18, 2003 By E. J. Dionne Jr. Is this the Bush administration's idea of fiscal discipline? Let's get this straight: The administration wants $87 billion in new spending for Iraq, refuses to contemplate rolling back any of its tax cuts to pay for it -- and then proposes holding down new spending on child care for mothers trying to leave welfare. Oh, yes, and on Sunday, Vice President Cheney insisted that although he and President Bush have presided over a deficit that's reaching well beyond $500 billion this year, we shouldn't worry. washingtonpost.com

Bush Would Use Mini-nukes, Prof Warns September 18, 2003 by Dave Zweifel Is George Bush the most dangerous president in U.S. history? If you ask Professor John Swomley, he is. Swomley, who teaches Christian ethics at the St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, has authored an indictment of the Bush administration's foreign policy that includes actual plans to use nuclear bombs as pre-emptive weapons. It is essential, he says in a magazine article, for Americans to understand that the administration has directed the military to prepare plans to use nuclear weapons against at least seven countries - China, Russia, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Libya and Iraq. informationclearinghouse.info

Aid denied for ill nuclear workers September 18, 2003 By Peter Eisler Scores of private factories that helped make the nation's first atomic bombs stayed polluted for decades. And thousands of people who later worked in them were exposed to radiation and toxins without knowing it, federal records show. The government is refusing to compensate workers who say they have illnesses from the latent contamination. It says only those who had jobs while the weapons work was going on are eligible for money. story.news.yahoo.com

What Bush Learned From Enron September 18, 2003 By Daniel Gross How to hide an $87 billion debt by pretending it's off the books. I guess President Bush was paying attention during all those corporate scandals. After all, his latest budget strategy is pure Enron: If you leave $87 billion in spending out of the budget, the rest of your balance sheet will look a lot better—at least until the bill comes due. Investors learned this the hard way from Enron, which hid billions of dollars in liabilities on off-balance-sheet partnerships. msn.com

Either Cheney is a Complete Liar or is Too Stupid to be Vice-President September 18, 2003 BUZZFLASH Based on His September 14th "Meet the Press" Interview. How stupid does Cheney think we are? Apparently, pretty stupid. And maybe we are. Under any normal circumstances (not being ruled by a Republican one-party state), he should have been impeached -- and perhaps imprisoned -- a long time ago. buzzflash.com

Bush's IQ September 18, 2003 Frank Talamantes, Ph.D. In a report published Monday, the Lovenstein Institute of Scranton, Pennsylvania, detailed its findings of a four-month study of the intelligence quotient of President George W. Bush. Since 1973, the Lovenstein Institute has published its research to the educational community on each new president, which includes the famous "IQ" report among others. There have been twelve presidents over the past 60 years. thetruthseeker.co.uk

The Idiocy and Dishonesty of "Conservative" Talk Radio September 18, 2003 by Doug Basham Las Vegas Talk Radio In my never ending attempts to listen to both sides of every issue, I subjected myself to some "conservative" talk radio the other day. One of the callers mentioned a story they had seen on CNN concerning the low morale of our troops. The host immediately launched into this idiotic tirade, blaming the despicable, anti-American, liberal media who will do and say anything to undermine this president's war on terrorism, including searching high and low for disgruntled soldiers and all but bribing them to say so on camera. By so doing, the media is guilty of giving aid and comfort to the enemy and should therefore be charged with treason, strung up in the middle of the desert, and urinated on as frequently as possible before being gutted for the liberal traitors they are. opednews.com

Ashcroft bars the doors to democracy September 18, 2003 By Carol Rose A HISTORIC exercise in democracy took place last week when more than 1,200 people gathered outside Faneuil Hall to speak out in defense of the Bill of Rights while US Attorney General John Ashcroft delivered a closed-to-the-public speech to some 150 law enforcement officials who were locked inside the hall. While the meeting went on inside, people who were locked out chanted: "This is what democracy looks like." Those who gathered outside the hall were ordinary people from across Massachusetts: businesspeople, grandmothers, students, and elected officials. They came from Amnesty International, the Massachusetts Library Association, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Justice, Centro Presente, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, the ACLU, and a range of community groups. Speakers included a member of Congress (Representative Michael Capuano), city councilors, booksellers, advocates, and librarians. The common theme among the speakers was that the people of this country demand -- and deserve -- a government that is truthful, open, and respects basic liberties. boston.com

Remembering Sabra and Shatila September 18, 2003 By Amal Hamdan The piles of bloated corpses and the overwhelming stench of rotting flesh are still crystal clear memories in Mahir al-Srour al-Marei’s mind. It was 16 September 1982 in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, and the sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the densely packed, impoverished area. english.aljazeera.net

Israel kills a 25-year-old Palestinian; uproots 2000 olive trees in occupied East Jerusalem September 18, 2003 Israeli occupation forces shot dead today a 25-year-old Palestinian citizen in the town of Dura, near the Hebron, the IPC reported. Israeli tanks have intensively opened fire at the civilians houses preventing any attempt of protest. "Earlier on Monday, Israeli bulldozers uprooted more than 2000 olive trees in the occupied East Jerusalem," Palestine News Agency (WAFA) reported. "sraeli bulldozers uprooted hundreds of fruitful olive trees and razed vast areas of arable land in the neighborhoods of Sawahra and Wadi Alnar, south of the holy Jerusalem city," eyewitness, Mohamed MashÕhor told WAFA. ÊIPC reported that "According to the Palestinian National Information Centre (PNIC), at least 53,656 houses were destroyed while 94,0313 trees were uprooted by Israeli occupation forces in the last 36 months." arabicnews.com

US actions in Iraq building a “well of hatred” September 18, 2003 By Barbara Slaughter Felicity Arbuthnot, a freelance journalist, has visited Iraq nearly 30 times since the first Gulf War in 1991 and visited the country again just prior to the recent war. Since the formal declaration of the end of the war she has been able to speak to some of her many contacts in Iraq. She recently spoke to Barbara Slaughter of the World Socialist Web Site. Arbuthnot explained how US troops are helping to stoke enormous resentment in the Iraqi people. wsws.org

Secret slaughter by night, lies and blind eyes by day September 18, 2003 Robert Fisk Sixteen demonstrators killed in Fallujah? Forget it. Twelve gunned down by the Americans in Mosul? Old news. Ten Iraqi policemen shot by US troops outside Fallujah? "No information," the occupation authorities told us last week. No information? The Jordanian embassy bombing? The bombing of the UN headquarters? Or Najaf with its 126 dead? Forget it. Things are improving in Iraq. thetruthseeker.co.uk

Blacks sue Waffle House, claiming bias September 18, 2003 By Doug Gross More than 50 black customers are  suing the Waffle House restaurant chain, claiming they were discriminated against because of their race, lawyers said Wednesday. The plaintiffs say they were denied service, forced to wait for long periods and subjected to racial slurs by Waffle House employees. "What happened to these 56 individuals ... was conduct that was blatant, that was arrogant and that was hostile," said attorney Henderson Hill, who is working on the cases with the nonprofit Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. salon.com

Pop star's relations with Bush turn sour September 18, 2003 By Rory Carroll Africa President's promise of $15bn for African Aids won new friends but now Bono complains events are moving too slowly U2's lead singer emerged disappointed from the Oval Office after confronting Mr Bush over a shortfall in promised funding to alleviate the HIV/Aids pandemic. Bono said Washington was moving too slowly after raising expectations of a mercy mission. His comments underlined growing unease among aid agencies that much of the $15bn (£9.3bn) pledged by Mr Bush over five years for vaccines and treatment would not materialise. guardian.co.uk

Iraqi Leader Says U.S. Troops Mistreat Civilians September 17, 2003 By Daniel Flynn A member of Iraq's Governing Council Monday accused U.S. troops of regularly mistreating Iraqi civilians so that the population had come to regard American forces as an army of occupation. "There is widespread discontent with the coalition forces, the majority of whom treat the Iraqi people with violence and contempt," Rajaa Habib Khuzai told a joint news conference with Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio. "The opinion of the Iraqi people about the coalition forces is that they are forces of occupation," said Khuzai the head of a maternity hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniya and one of 13 Shi'ite Muslims on the 25-member council. reuters.com

Commander: GIs in Iraq Face Revenge Raids September 17, 2003 By TAREK AL-ISSAWI Iraq The commander of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq said in an interview published Wednesday that U.S. forces, already under pressure from a guerrilla-style resistance, now face revenge attacks from ordinary Iraqis angered by the occupation. yahoo.com

N Carolina College Teacher Fired For Antiwar Remarks September 17, 2003 Carolina teacher Elizabeth Ito has appealed her firing from Forsyth Technical Community College, which came after she made remarks critical of the conduct of the war in Iraq. Her firing, which has been widely criticized by local anti-war activists and free speech advocates, is seen as part of a larger crack-down on dissent and academic freedom. "It is clear that Elizabeth didn't lose her job because she expressed a personal opinion in the classroom," said Liz Seymour, a member of the Ito Defense Coalition. "She lost her job because of the opinion she expressed." rense.com

Democrats Question Cheney's Halliburton Payments September 17, 2003 By Susan Cornwell Vice President Dick Cheney, a former CEO of Halliburton Co., has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company since taking office while asserting he has no financial interest in the company, Senate Democrats said on Tuesday. The Democrats demanded to know why Cheney claimed to have cut ties with the oil services company, involved in a large no-bid contract for oil reconstruction work in Iraq, when he was still receiving large deferred salary payments. reuters.com

US veto gives Israel ' licence to kill' September 17, 2003 (Aljazeera) There are fears Israel will see America's veto at the United Nations as a "licence to kill" in the Jewish state's bid to get rid of Yasir Arafat. A war of words erupted between UN members within hours of the resolution - demanding Israel neither harm nor deport Arafat - being tabled. The resolution fell after America voted against the motion, while Britain, Bulgaria and Germany abstained leaving the remaining 11 members voting for. It takes just one veto from a permanent member to kill off any motion. "It's a black day for the United Nations and for international law," said chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saib Uraikat on Tuesday. "I hope that Israel will not interpret the resolution as a licence to kill President Arafat." informationclearinghouse.info

Two incomes, one bankruptcy Reexamining the agony of the middle class September 17, 2003 By Christopher Shea EVERYONE KNOWS that middle-class families are feeling the squeeze these days. But now a Harvard law professor and her business-consultant daughter have come up with a dramatically new way of framing the problem. You might think that two incomes add up to more than one, but two-earner families, they say, have fallen into their very own trap, and it's becoming harder and harder to pry the jaws loose. Elizabeth Warren, who teaches bankruptcy law at Harvard, and her daughter Amelia Warren Tyagi, a former consultant with McKinsey & Co., make their case in The Two Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke boston.com

US Senate won't block bush nuclear weapons plans September 17, 2003 The US Senate on Tuesday rejected an effort to block President George W Bush's plans to study new types of small nuclear weapons, which critics say may spur a new arms race and heighten the risk of nuclear war. A similar effort also failed in May, when the Senate voted to lift a decade-old prohibition on the study and development of so-called mini nukes -- though it did require Bush to get congressional approval before building any. http://www.nzherald.co.nz

A chilling message to Muslims September 17, 2003 THOMAS WALKOM When Sajidah Kutty called the Star on Friday, she seemed more bewildered than frightened. Her family, frantic to find out what had happened to her father Ahmad, had finally received a phone call from him at 4:30 that morning. I'm all right, he told them. The Americans were holding him and fellow Canadian citizen Abdool Hamid in a Fort Lauderdale jail. And no, he didn't know why. "You hear of this kind of thing happening to Muslims just because they are Muslims," Sajidah told me. "But you never really expect it to happen to you or your family." thestar.com

Christians Under Attack September 17, 2003 By Michael Collins Piper So-called "leaders" of the Christian evangelical movement have agreed to give up spreading the Gospel of Christ in the Holy Land in order to avoid being jailed under a proposed Israeli law aimed at stamping out Christian missionary work in Israel. Anti-Christian forces led by a wide-ranging group of high-ranking Israeli officials won a major victory on March 30. Representatives of 50 different international Christian evangelical groups entered into what was described as an "unprecedented" joint statement promising not to carry out Christian missionary work in Israel. whtt.org

Israeli Troops Shoot Schoolboy September 17, 2003 Al Jazeera Occupation soldiers have shot dead a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank. The boy was killed overnight on Sunday near the Qalandiya checkpoint south of Ram Allah, reported our correspondent. He was shot in the heart during a demonstration in support of Palestinian President Yasir Arafat, according to Palestinian medical sources. rense.com

US admits holding 10,000 Iraqi prisoners September 17, 2003 US officials have admitted they are holding 10,000 prisoners in Iraq, double the number previously reported, including six claiming to be Americans and two who say they are British. "They didn't fit into any category," said Brigadier General Janis Karpinski of the 3,800 extra people who have now been classified as "security detainees." "We got an order from the Secretary of Defence (Donald Rumsfeld) to categorise them" abc.net.au

CBS-Viacom merger redefines Jewish role in media September 17, 2003 J.J. GOLDBERG There was a telling moment, midway through last week's press conference announcing the CBS-Viacom megamerger, when one of the unmentionables of American entertainment peeked through the veils for an instant. It came when a reporter asked CBS president Mel Karmazin why he wanted this merger. His reply: "This is the deal I've wanted to make, I think, from the time I was bar-mitzvahed." jewishsf.com

US-led exercise a prelude to nuclear war, says N Korea September 17, 2003 The United States has said the exercises were not specifically aimed at North Korea but few doubt the target, with Washington and others accusing the isolated state of making clandestine shipments of drugs, counterfeit cash and missiles. "This is a wanton violation of the sovereignty of the DPRK and intolerable military provocations as it was a prelude to a nuclear war," KCNA said in its latest statement. jang.com

Titanics of US economy are sinking September 17, 2003 Pillars of the US economy that have been the symbol of America-s power for many years are currently collapsing like houses of cards. WorldCom, an American telecommunication company with assets of over $100 billion, officially announced its bankruptcy on Sunday. This is the largest bankruptcy in the history of the USA. The Titanics are going down, which, at the same time, results in the decline of the dollar and the hopes of investors for a revival of the US economy. english.pravda.ru

Monkeys Show Sense Of Fairness, Study Says September 17, 2003 by Sean Markey If you expect equal pay for equal work, you're not the only species to have a sense of fair play. Capuchins received a better reward (a grape, a more desirable food), for the same amount of work or, in some cases, for performing no work at all. Brosnan said the response to the unequal treatment was astonishing: Capuchins who witnessed unfair treatment often refused to conduct future exchanges with human researchers, would not eat the cucumbers they received for their labors, and in some cases, hurled food rewards at human researchers. Those actions were significant. They confirmed that not only did capuchins expect fair treatment, but that the human desire for equity has an evolutionary basis. nationalgeographic.com

DEPARTMENT OF PEACE August 16, 2003 by Dan Dvorak This piece started out WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION but it ended quite differently. Our first vacation in many years ended with the last few days in Washington DC , as tourists and with the help of a family friend and her husband, a Navy Captain. Both of them high level Pentagon or something, the only thing that was closed to any discussion what so ever was about their work or position in politics. We walked 25 miles in the few days were there and the kids got to see a lot of things, but only a fraction in reality. We saw the Lincoln Memorial with his words etched in stone, a reminder of what a good president was capable of, then the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. The greatness of these men so evident in contrast with what now occupies the Whitehouse. thepeoplesvoice.org

 

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