Thursday, April 29, 2010

*Wall Street fat cats


Wall Street fat cat feasts on Americans in U.S. capital - (April 28, 2010)


Angry Americans take to the streets of Washington D.C. demanding arrests and reform of Wall Street bankers and banks. Theyre accusing banks of predatory practices and calling for action. This a day after U.S. lawmakers grill Goldman Sachs on Capitol Hill. 

*John Hagee


Television Pastor, political activist, and end-times evangelist Pastor John Hagee believes the recent eruption of the volcano in Iceland is a result  of England breaking God's covenant.
In a speech to 3,200  people  at the Lancaster County Convention Center last week  Pastor Hagee stated that on the day after Britain's Advertising Standards Authority said the Western Wall in Jerusalem could not be used in Israeli tourism ads in Britain because it is considered occupied territory, the volcano erupted, shutting down Britain's economy in one day.
"That's coincidence, like the flood was a coincidence. That's coincidence, like the Red Sea was coincidence. That's coincidence, like the earthquake and the Resurrection was coincidence," as part of John Hagee Ministries' Rally and Prophecy Seminar. This is according to Lancasteronline
Hagee also told the crowd Thursday night that the United States is also on its way to breaking a covenant with God.
"(President) Obama is beginning to treat Israel like the worst enemy," Hagee said, because Israel wants to continue building houses for Jews in Jerusalem."

Read the entire article at: 
My notes on Pastor John Hagee:
(1) Hagee left his first family years ago because he was having an affair with his current wife. 
(2) John Hagee has said that God approved of the Nazi Holocaust. Jews deserved it as divine punishment for the refusal to worship Jesus Christ. 
(3) He believes that gays deserved to be swept out to sea and drowned in coastal hurricanes He called Hurricane Katrina God's punishment against New Orleans for a planned gay pride parade. 
(4) John Hagee, along with other Christian Evangelical leaders created Christians United for Israel (CUFI).
(5) John Hagee is a Christian Zionist. He believes that that God's covenant with Israel continues. 
(7) Here is a video made March 2003, (before the war with Iraq started) video  of John Hagee proclaiming President Bush as the messiah… "I believe that God has raised George Bush up for this time in history to crush Saddam Hussein."  John Hagee thought the Iraq war was justified. As WE all know, warhaholic John Hagee was WRONG on Iraq.
(6) He justifies the bulldozing and building of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. 
(7) John Hagee uses the name of God to build mass fortunes and deceive millions.

*No excuses for ill-informed

"There's no such thing in American politics or the US media as balanced reporting and commentary. That's not necessarily bad. Media ownership in the hands of biased owners is bound to hire biased anchors.

The conservative extremism of Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity is enough to drive all but the bigoted Obama haters away from Rupert Murdoch's right wingnuts.

Then there are fans for the ultimate conservative lunatic, Rush Limbaugh, who spreads disinformation. FAIR, the organization that challenges media bias and censorship, has established that "...sloppiness, ignorance and/or fabrication is run of the mill in Limbaugh's commentary."

On the other side of the aisle, liberal commentators Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Rachael Maddow tend to go into attack mode against conservative members of Congress and the media.

The same is true of major Western newspapers like the 
New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. They have extremists who placate both conservatives and liberals."


"…...The ironic misfortune in all this is that we have the technology to be informed, but Americans remain a generally ignorant public."



Read the entire article at: 
Americans remaining ill-informed is inexcusable - by Paul J. Balles (April 30, 2010)

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

*Tea party bile

                         Political cartoon: BartCop

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

*Republicans block debate


Support the Fair Elections Now Act: fix Congress to restore trust in our democracy


"Most Americans - the bottom 95%, anyway - feel that Wall Street businesses which played a role in the economic crisis should not have been giving out any bonuses whatsoever for such epic failures. If the individuals running those businesses had any conscience at all, they would never have needed this fact to be explained to them via the media. It is unacceptable to reward such egregious behavior with bonuses that in many cases represent more money than many Americans earn in a year.

So, why do we give Congress similar treatment as those same Wall St. businesses? Congress has been doing a piss-poor job of working for the American middle class for how many decades now? While American middle class wages have been stagnant, Congress has consistently voted for its own pay raises, along with gov't benefits like taxpayer-funded healthcare, while running the country into the ground.

I say it's time to put an end to that entitlement completely: Gov't and Congress, like Wall St., should be rewarded according to how well the country is doing. Why should taxpayers continue to pay congressmen close to $200k (and rising) for such shoddy work? Maybe all political leaders in America should work on an incentive basis? I'd like to see an independent panel decide if Congress deserves any sort of pay raise, and a pay cut should always be on the table."



Read the entire article at: 
Wall Street, Congress rape Main Street America - (April 27, 2010)


Republicans voted against even debating a bill to hold the big Wall Street banks accountable. 
Robert Creamer: Republicans are so drunk on Wall Street money they're driving off a political cliff - (April 27, 2010)



Saturday, April 24, 2010

*US image overseas stays low


Iraq, Afghan wars drop bombs on US image abroad as Obama's fame fades


U.S. lawmakers are working on how to reverse the country's flagging image in Muslim nations. President Obama's election brought a welcome surge in U.S. popularity, but that reputation's on the slide as the unwelcome wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue.


My thoughts: President Obama started off with good intentions. Bush probably did too. But like all American Presidents, their power is actually limited. 


The majority of Americans have no idea what their government does in their name to cause others all over the world to hate them. The majority of Americans continue to think all their "problems" and all their "enemies" will be wiped out by military means, by dropping million dollar "smart" bombs. 


How many "terrorists" do you think you need to kill before you completely wipe out "terrorism"? Have a number of people in mind? Need to kill thousands more in hopes that a few "terrorists" will be among the "collateral damage" (innocents killed)? Shame on Americans who still think the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were/are justified. 


By the way.. how's the Trans Afghan Pipeline coming along?

Friday, April 23, 2010

*Tea party

                             Political cartoon at: BartCop

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

*Gun control


                           Photo credit: USA Today Poll page
Carrying loaded pistols and unloaded rifles, dozens of gun-rights activists got as close as they could Monday to the nation's capital while still bearing arms and delivered what they said was a simple message: Don't tread on me.
Hundreds of like-minded but unarmed counterparts carried out a separate rally in the nation's capital.
The gun-carrying protesters in Virginia rallied on national park land, which is legal thanks to a new law signed by President Barack Obama that allows guns in national parks. Organizers said it's the first armed rally in a national park since the law passed.
The District of Columbia's strict gun laws, however, generally make it illegal to carry a handgun, so rally participants there were unarmed.

Read the entire article at: Advocates carry handguns, rifles at VA rally - (April 19, 2010)
Read more at: Gun rights rallies - (April 19, 2010)
My notes: 
(1) The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution (adopted in 1791) is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects a right to keep and bear arms.
(2) Attorney General, Eric Holder, calls for gun ban calls for gun ban - (wanted to reinstitute ban on sale of assault weapons) - (Feb 2009)
(3) The debate between those who want more gun control and those who want no control will continue to wage on.

Monday, April 19, 2010

*Tea Party anger

                                                    Political cartoon: BartCop

Sunday, April 18, 2010

*US and Israel


America can exist just fine without Israel

Friday, April 16, 2010

*Biggest spenders

Tea Party members may find this difficult: The biggest Presidential spenders were Regan, Bush#1 and Bush #2.             
                           START GDP debt            END GDP debt         Increase Debt GDP
Nixon/Ford (R)               35.6%                  35.8%            +0.2%
Jimmy Carter (D)            35.8%                 32.5%             -3.3%
Ronald Reagan (R)        32.5%                  43.8%             +10.8%
Ronald Reagan (R)        43.8%                  53.1%              +9.3%
George H.W.Bush (R)    51.1%                 66.1%              +13.0%
Bill Clinton (D)               66.1%                  65.4%               -0.7%
Bill Clinton (D)               65.4%                  56.4%               -9.0%
G.W. Bush (R)                56.4%                  63.5%              +7.1%
G.W. Bush (R)                63.5%                  83.4%               +20.0%
Barak Obama (D)           83.4%

*Marketing to distrust

                                    Enron logo at: PR Watch

Goldman Sachs, Halliburton, Monsanto, Blackwater, Bank of America, Citigroup, Cigna, Aetna, Enron, Arthur Andersen, Mercury Insurance, Philip Morris ...These are just a few corporate names that engender feelings of distrust, anger and betrayal. They represent scandals, greed, blatant disregard for public welfare, lavish spending of taxpayer money and other negatives, and serve as reminders about how corporate wrongdoing has brought shame on our country and harmed millions.

But as the public grows more distrustful of big corporations, corporations are fighting back by evolving more clever and sophisticated forms of public relations. Their goal? To manipulate public attitudes and assure that widespread negative feelings don't block their ability to do business. Increasingly, corporations are engaging in variations on the theme of "corporate social responsibility," to try and persuade us that they can be trusted again.

Read the entire article at: 
Marketing to distrust - (Aprl 14, 2010)

My note: These ad's purpose is to restore credibility to very dubiously corporations.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

* Contrast

                              Political cartoon: BartCop

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

*You scare me

A letter written by Mr Lou Pritchett, an American retired Procter and Gamble executive, is again making the rounds on the internet and e-mail. Mr Pritchett wrote his "you scare me" letter for President Obama and sent it to The New York Times.

To read the letter:
Open Letter to President Obama

My response: Mr Pritchett wrote this letter within a 4 month period after Obama was sworn in as President. Now THAT was fast! But good for Mr Pritchett! As Americans we should indeed feel comfortable about expressing our OPINIONS.

I'm not as well known as Mr Pritchett, but I've expressed my opinions many times too. I wrote many letters to the previous Administration.. not only to President Bush and Laura but also to Mr and Mrs Cheney, to Mr and Mrs Colin Powell, to Mr and Mrs Rumsfeld and to my Congress representative. I even wrote letters and sent them to the local newspapers. But unlike Mr Pritchett, all my letters were published and/or acknowledged. He supposily sent his letter to the NY Times and his feelings were hurt because they didn't acknowlege it? Isn't the reason obvious? Was Mr Pritchett too "scared" to send his letter to OTHER newspapers?

Mr Prichett would have had more success with the media publishing his OPINION letter to President Obama, if he had taken the time to check out the FACTS before sending his letter full of rants. Obviously he has not learned how to use the Internet to check out the issues. Too bad. Mr Pritchett, a "scared" old man, has now made a fool of himself. A person can be successful, well learned with a ton of higher level degrees, but if there isn't any common sense to go with all that learn'n, then all that book learn'n is a waste.

Mr Pritchett gave President Bush a pass on all his many mistakes because of what he did after 9/11. Attacking the wrong country for the obvious wrong reasons? Earth calling Mr Pritchett..Where were you doing the previous Administration? There goes any credibility now for scared out of his wits, poor little Mr Pritchett. My advice to Mr Pritchett is to go back to where he REALLY knew his stuff....selling soap and toothpaste.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

*NOW you get mad?

Seems many who call themselves "patriotic" Americans because they are NOW questioning THIS Adminstration, didn't seem to be too concerned in the years BEFORE Jan 2009. (Jan 2009 - when a black man became President.)

I recently saw the following posted on a political message board. It makes some good points. 

We had eight years of Bush and Cheney, NOW you get mad!?

* You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.
* You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.
* You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.
* You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.
* You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.
* You didn't get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and counting) on said illegal war.
* You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.
* You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.
* You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.
* You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.
* You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.
* You didn't get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans, drown.
* You didn't get mad when we gave a 900 billion tax break to the rich.
* You didn't get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.
* You finally got mad when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you, but helping other Americans...oh hell no!
* You didn't get mad when the president ignored the clear and timely warning that terrorists were going to hijack planes and fly them into the WTCs.
* You didn't get mad when the weapons inspectors, who said there were no WMDs, were ignored.
* You didn't get mad when hundreds of thousands of people died in Iraq.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

*Coal miners' slaughter

                                         BartCop

Recently more than two dozen miners were killed in a massive explosion at Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia. It's the worst mine disaster in a quarter of a century.
 "Upper Big Branch is owned by Massey Energy Company, which operates 47 mines in central Appalachia. According to the Los Angeles Times, it employs nearly 6,000 and in 2009 reported revenues of $2.3 billion, with a net income of $104.4 million. At the center of this week's catastrophe is Massey's president and CEO Don Blankenship.

This week's Upper Big Branch mine disaster is the latest in a string of environmental and safety-related calamities linked to Massey and Blankenship. In 2008, the company paid a $20 million fine to the Environmental Protection Agency, and that same year, a Massey subsidiary, the Aracoma Coal Company, pled guilty to safety violations and agreed to $4.2 million in civil penalties and criminal fines connected to the 2006 deaths of two miners in a fire.

According to The New York Times, "After the fire broke out, the two miners found themselves unable to escape, partly because the company had removed some ventilation controls inside the mine. The workers died of suffocation. Federal prosecutors at the time called it the largest such settlement in the history of the coal industry."

The Upper Big Branch mine has a long history of violations. Last month alone it was cited by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration for 53 safety violations, many of them for inadequate venting of dust and methane and improperly maintained escape passages."

Read the entire article at:
In West Virginia, coal miners' slaughter - (April 10, 2010)

*Tea Partys then and now

 Tea Partys THEN (50's)
                                      
Tea Partys NOW  

*Afghan Opium

Can Anyone Pacify the World's Number One Narco-State? The Opium Wars in Afghanistan
By: Alfred W. McCoy

"In ways that have escaped most observers, the Obama administration is now trapped in an endless cycle of drugs and death in Afghanistan from which there is neither an easy end nor an obvious exit."

"....., American commanders seemed strangely unaware that Marja might qualify as the world's heroin capital -- with hundreds of laboratories, reputedly hidden inside the area's mud-brick houses, regularly processing the local poppy crop into high-grade heroin. After all, the surrounding fields of Helmand Province produce a remarkable 40% of the world's illicit opium supply, and much of this harvest has been traded in Marja."

"......Opium is an illegal drug, but Afghanistan's poppy crop is still grounded in networks of social trust that tie people together at each step in the chain of production."

"....three Afghan wars in which Washington has been involved over the past 30 years -- the CIA covert warfare of the 1980s, the civil war of the 1990s (fueled at its start by $900 million in CIA funding), and since 2001, the U.S. invasion, occupation, and counterinsurgency campaigns. In each of these conflicts, Washington has tolerated drug trafficking by its Afghan allies as the price of military success -- a policy of benign neglect that has helped make Afghanistan today the world's number one narco-state."
".....Opium first emerged as a key force in Afghan politics during the CIA covert war against the Soviets,...."

Read the entire article at: 
In Asia Pacific Journal 

Friday, April 9, 2010

*Kyrgyzstan Revolution

                               Kyrgystan


Evidently, there has been a massive breakdown in US diplomacy in Central Asia. Things were going rather well lately until this setback. For the first time it seemed Washington had succeeded in the Great Game by getting a grip on the Kyrgyz regime, though the achievement involved a cold-blooded jettisoning of all norms of democracy, human rights and rule of law that the US commonly champions. By all accounts, Washington just bought up the Bakiyev family lock stock and barrel, overlooking its controversial record of misuse of office.

According to various estimates, the Bakiyev family became a huge beneficiary of contracts dished out by the Pentagon ostensibly for providing supplies to the US air base in Manas near the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.


Read the entire article at: 
Asia Times Online: Central Asian news and current affairs, Russia, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan - (April 10, 2010)


My notes: 
(1) Russia supports the new "government." Russia promises more than two billion dollars in aid and loans.
(2) The US supported Bakiyev's government. The US had made a "deal" with Kurmanbek Bakiyev's government to pay more more "rent" for the American Manas military base located in Kyrgystan. 
(3) US troop flights at Kyrgyz base suspened - (April 9, 2010) Instead transport forces to and from Afghanistan will go through Kuwait.
(4) After parliamentary elections in 2005, President Askar Akayev and his government were overthrown. They had been accused of being corrupt. This revolution was called the Tulip Revolution. 


Kyrgzstan to shut key NATO base

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

*CNN vs Al Jazeera

Click to see larger image of the same day reporting of CNN vs Al Jazeera


"WikiLeaks" reports a leaked video exposing an US government of the cover-up of the killing of two Reuters cameramen in Iraq 2007. CNN ignored it that day and Al Jazeera and the rest of the world reports it.


My thoughts: With an easy access to the Internet and news from all over the world, there's no excuse for Americans to rely only on the US sanitized media.
Besides, with the recent leaked videos showing attacks on civilians in Baghdad, we should rely more and more on Independent reporters.


Leaked video shows civilian killings in Iraq, signifies growing power of independent Web journalism - (April 6, 2010)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

*Gaza dairy destroyed


'It was not a chemical plant, nor a nuclear facility, nor a manufacturer of weapons of mass destruction. But almost all the rubble of the entirely destroyed factory was covered in white, with white chunks everywhere. These were pieces of cheese, butter and yoghurt — some of the products made by the Dalloul dairy factory in southern Gaza City.
Israeli warplanes bombed the factory shortly after midnight last Thursday through Friday night, 1-2 April, leaving the building, all its equipment and the distribution van completely destroyed.'
Read the entire article at:  Israel destroys Gaza dairy for second time - (April 5, 2010)
My thoughts: This is similar to President Clinton blowing up an aspirin plant in Sudan in 1998 and calling it a weapons plant. 

Monday, April 5, 2010

*Collateral Murder



Photo from: WikLeaks.org "This image taken from the video released Monday shows men gathering on a Baghdad street on July 12, 2007, shortly before they were fired upon.



By Sophrosyne Radical:
WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad — including two Reuters news staff.
Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded. – (Collateral Murder)
"The US can’t afford to provide universal healthcare or pay teachers, but there’s plenty of money for this. Misanthropy and callousness on this scale didn’t arise by accident."
To read the entire article and see the video:  WikiLeaks Bombshell: Collateral Murder  - (Sophrosyne Radical) - (April 5, 2010)

*Karzai and the SCO

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai recently accused "foreigners" (UN and "westerners") of being behind the fraud in last year's elections. Now Karzai has threatened to quit the political process and join the Taliban. The American media is interpreting this as a man gone crazy, but in reality it could be a man attempting to cut his American, NATO puppet strings 
Read more at:
Afghan leader threatens to join Taliban - (April 5, 2010)


Marcel, one of my readers, pointed out a very interesting connection between Karzai and the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) 


"Karzai just changed sides and instead of NATO he is now working for SCO. Not a bad idea from his point of view. 
Karzai was just in China and found out, that SCO is winning the war against NATO in Afghanistan. Since the membership bids of Iran and Pakistan to SCO came out a couple of weeks ago, Afghanistan is completely encircled by the SCO. Because Afghanistan has no own access to sea, it's not possible in Afghanistan to make politics against all of it's neighbors." -- Marcel


                                    Countries - SCO
My notes: 
SCO (The Shanghai Cooperation Organization) 
Members: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Observers: India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan
Dialogue Partners: Sri Lanka, Belarus
Guest Attendances: Afghanistan, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), CIS(Commonwealth of Independent States)


Perhaps President Hamid Karzai feels a closer bond to the SCO? In 2006 Karzai said: "I do not think the SCO is anti-west as it is a regional organization. You have such organizations among the countries in the north and South America. In Europe you have the European Union and in Africa you have the African Union," Karzai told newsmen after returning home from China.


In June 2009 Karzai attended and spoke at the SCO summit in Russia. The issues discussed were on counterterrorism, drugs, economy and regional trade.


Presidents Mahmud Ahmadinejad, Emomali Rakhmon, Islam Karimov, and Hamid Karzai at SCO summit in Yekaterinburg on June 16, 2009


"The SCO has sought to promote itself as a "rising beast in the East" and an Asian counter to NATO.  One of the most contentious issues on the agenda -- and SCO agendas are typically dominated by Moscow and Beijing -- is the Manas Air Base on the territory of member Kyrgyzstan. 

U.S. forces have been using the base since late 2001 to support operations in nearby Afghanistan. But the United States has begun to wind down its operations there after being ordered by Bishkek to vacate the base.

Many see the Kyrgyz decision as the result of pressure from Moscow and possibly Beijing.

Both China and Russia backed a move by Uzbekistan four years ago to hasten the departure of U.S. forces based there for Afghan support operations.

Russia's pledge of more than $1 billion in aid to Kyrgyzstan earlier this year appeared to sway the country's president, Kurmanbek Bakiev, into ordering the Manas closure."

Sunday, April 4, 2010

*Pass the buck


The Afghan parliament's upper house has voiced support for President Hamid Karzai in limiting the role of foreigners in the five-seat election fraud watchdog. 

Karzai had issued a decree in February to reduce the number of foreigners in the watchdog body which includes three foreigners and two Afghans. The move led to a dispute with the White House over how to run a September parliamentary election. 



In a Thursday speech to Afghan election commission workers in Kabul, Hamid Karzai blamed foreign powers for the fraud that occurred during last years elections.

“There was fraud in presidential and provincial council elections -- no doubt that there was a very widespread fraud, very widespread,” he said referring to the August presidential election but added that “Afghans did not do this fraud. The foreigners did this fraud." 



Read the entire article at:  Afghan upper house backs Karzai anti-US decree - (April 4, 2010)


My thoughts: We had the "holy" Vatican saying that the "devil made me do it," and now we have the obviously corrupt American puppet Afghan President Hamid Karzai saying that the reason why HIS corrupt government is still in power is because SOMEONE else, "foreigners," kept HIM in POWER. Pass the buck…..Pass the buck…..

*Coca Cola in India

                                       Coca Cola in India by Latuff





Coca-Cola has located many of its bottling plants in drought-prone areas – areas that were already experiencing water shortages.
Coca-Cola’s bottling operations – which extract hundreds of millions of liters of water from the groundwater resource – have significantly worsened the water crisis as groundwater levels have dropped sharply since Coca-Cola started its operations.
The company has also indiscriminately dumped its toxic waste into the surrounding areas – polluting the water as well as the land.
The results have been drastic.  Tens of thousands of farmers around Coca-Cola’s plants have lost their livelihoods as the water has been depleted and the land and water poisoned.  Wells have run dry and women now have to walk miles further to access potable water for daily use.  Children are frequently taken out of schools to assist the family in accessing water for daily needs.
Read the entire article at:  Coke justice - The ISSUE - International Campaign to Hold Coca-Cola Accountable is a project of Global Resistance, "Building Global Links for Justice"


                                                    
India Resource Center  - (In depth information and recent press releases) 
Coca-Cola-Press Center - Company Statements - the Coca-Cola company addresses allegations made about our business  - (March 25, 2010) (Notice: This link is 'cached.' "The current page could have been changed." (In other words, the spin is still spinning)
My thoughts: Along with India, the Coca-Cola company have had many controversies in several other countries as well. Countries include: Colombia, China (2008 Olympics), Canada, Mexico and the US.
Read moreKiller Coke