Smoking Mirrors: How deep does the darkness run before the light appears?

If you have read here for any length of time then you know about http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/ …I am extremely grateful that I found this site. Rixon Stewart who operates it is one of my heroes; along with Michael Rivero at www.whatreallyhappened.com … I’ll have more to say about Michael some time in the following weeks.

Read full story

When you shoot the messenger

GAZA CITY, Jul 3 (IPS) - The assault of IPS Gaza correspondent Mohammed Omer has left Israeli security personnel with a lot of explaining to do. And they are not doing a very good job of it.

Omer was abused and assaulted by Israeli security personnel at the Allenby border crossing into Israel from Jordan as he tried to return to his home last week in the Gaza Strip.

Read full story

The Archdruid Report: Lessons from Amateur Radio

Of the many recent signals that peak oil has come of age as a social reality, the one I find most interesting is the efforts being made, on nearly all sides of the cultural spectrum, to find reasons not to talk about it. The ongoing superspike in the price of oil, for example, has been blamed on almost everything under the sun except the simple, easily verifiable fact that worldwide petroleum production has been stuck on a plateau since late in 2004, and shows no sign of going anywhere but down in the foreseeable future.

Read full story

A declaration of independence from the government of the USA

Through my signature below I hereby withdraw my consent to be ruled by the organization that has called itself the Government of the United States of America.

A government is empowered through the consent of the governed to serve a sacred purpose, namely, to create a bright and sustainable future for its people and a biodiverse garden of its region. This purpose is possible.

Read full story

"Virtual Iran War Resolution"

Today the Dow Jones Average was down 350-some points, gold was up $32, and oil was up another $5. There is a lot of chaos out there and everyone is worried about $4 gasoline. But I don't think there is a clear understanding [of] exactly why that has occurred.

Read full story

What the new NSA spying decision means for the immunity debate

As we reported yesterday, Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the Northern District of California has just issued a key ruling in Al Haramain v. Bush, one of the cases challenging the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program. Judge Walker is also overseeing the consolidated litigation against the telecoms. With the Senate poised to vote on the FISA Amendments Act and immunity this Tuesday, this decision is particularly timely, as it demolishes key arguments made by proponents of telecom immunity:

Read full story

The darkness of this house has got the best of us

I’m thinking old Mike Ahmadinejad may not be such a bad guy. I call him Mike (which he might not appreciate, either in its overfamiliarity or because his name is actually Mahmoud), because Mahmoud is hard for me to pronounce well, and because it seems reasonable to me that Michael just might be its English equivalent. And I wouldn’t mind if he were to call me some Iranian homophonic near-equivalent of my name, especially considering its obvious son-of-God derivation. I’d just hope it didn’t have any of those raspy, back-of-the-throat components they seem to like over there.

Read full story

Are those Israeli 'citizens' or plain terrorists and criminals?

Israeli settlers are not content that they are living on illegally occupied territory and in illegally-built settlements. They are not content that they are allowed to roam the streets of Israel armed to the teeth… killing, mutilating and torturing Palestinian citizens and children without accountability while the IDF, mainstream media and the ‘civilized’ world pretend not to notice.

Read full story

Why the Iraq War is Destroying the US Economy

The cost of Bush's war on Iraq war has surpassed one trillion dollars but there is no evidence of it benefiting the US economy. It is time to drive a stake through the heart of the malicious lie that wars are good for the economy. Only the Military/Industrial complex benefits from war and what is good for the MIC is NOT good for the country.

The MIC is a drag on the economy, an economic black hole into which is drained the economic and creative resources of the nation. War itself is a Faustian bargain. The hour of midnight is approaching.

Read full story

See no evil: US invaded Iraq to "secure Israel" and "everybody knows it"

Everybody except a couple hundred million Americans. - Ed.

Paul J. Balles argues that the US invaded and occupied Iraq at the behest of Israel lobbyists – the selfsame lobbyists who are now saying that the real threat all along had been Iran and that the US should attack Iran.

The pundits still don't see or don't want to see the truth about why the Bush administration attacked and invaded Iraq. The crucial factor in President Bush’s decision to attack Iraq was to help Israel. Based on prodding by zioncons Richerd Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, David Wurmser and Charles Krauthammer, Bush resolved to invade and subdue one of Israel’s chief regional enemies.

Read full story

CIA operative fired for refusing to falsify or suppress reports that Iran had suspended work on nuclear weapons

Excerpt:

In court documents and in statements by his attorney, the former officer contends that his 22-year CIA career collapsed after he questioned CIA doctrine about the nuclear programs of Iraq and Iran. As a native of the Middle East and a fluent speaker of both Farsi and Arabic, he had been assigned undercover work in the Persian Gulf region, where he successfully recruited an informant with access to sensitive information about Iran’s nuclear program, Krieger said.

Read full story

Hey Y'all Watch This!

When did you stop beating your wife? When will you prove yourself innocent? When will you stop lying? When will you produce the murder weapon? All of these statements presuppose guilt and had this prolonged campaign against Iran not mimicked the prolonged campaign against Iraq it would be easy enough excuse the surreal nature of it all. The Alice through the looking glass, world turned upside down flavor to it of the leader who hasn’t invaded anyone cast as the next Hitler by the nation occupying two foreign countries by force of arms.

Read full story

Keeping America Safe -- from the Constitution

Like countless resurrections of Freddy Krueger, it appears that John Poindexter's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program has found a new, more accommodating home for its "mission" of "keeping America safe"--from the Constitution--at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (IARPA).

Read full story

This is what a psychopath looks like

Neil Entwistle: Psychopath

You've probably heard the story, or at least one like it. Husband kills wife and child, seemingly without remorse, then attempts to pass it off as a murder/suicide. And, remarkably, people believe him. The latest such example is Neil Entwistle, a British computer programmer, who murdered his American wife and 9-month-old daughter in 2006. He was recently sentenced to life in prison.

Read full story

ACLU releases Navy files on civilian casualties in Iraq

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today released thousands of pages of documents related to Navy investigations of civilians killed by Coalition Forces in Iraq, including the cousin of the Iraqi ambassador to the United States. Released today in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the ACLU filed in June 2006, these records provide a vivid snapshot of the circumstances surrounding civilian deaths in Iraq.

Read full story

US admiral urges caution on Iran

America's top military officer has said opening up a new front in the Middle East through a strike on Iran would be "extremely stressful" for US forces.

Read full story

nobody: DIY subversion

See more great ideas.

Something big is going on

The following statement is written by Congressman Paul about the pending financial disaster. He will introduce this statement as a special order and insert it into the Congressional Record next week. Fortunately, we have the opportunity to debut it first on the Campaign for Liberty blog. It reads as follows:

Read full story

Israel reassures West: No attack on Iran in 2008

For what it's worth...bearing in mind that the Talmud says they can lie to the stupid goy as much as they want. - Ed.

TEL AVIV — Israel has signaled the U.S. and other allies that air operations to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities are not imminent.

Read full story

We, the salt of the earth, take precedence

Which country is the rogue nation? Iraq? Iran? Or the United States? Syndicated columnist Charley Reese asks this question in a recently published article.

Reese notes that it is the US that routinely commits “acts of aggression around the globe.” The US government has no qualms about dropping bombs on civilians whether they be in Serbia, the Middle East, or Africa. It is all in a good cause--our cause.

Read full story

Palestinian's Options: Death of the 2 state solution

By Hasan Afif El-Hasan

The failure to achieve a two-state solution is a forgone conclusion because Israel has been allowed to flout the international laws with impunity. The Palestinians missed the last opportunity to establish their state on the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza, which constitute only twenty-two percent of historical Palestine when the leaders of the PLO signed the 1993 Declaration of Principles (DOP) in Oslo.

Read full story

Full account of Muhammed Omer's hair-raising encounter with the Shin Beth

From his hospital bed at the European Hospital in Gaza and with barely audible voice, award-winning Palestinian journalist Muhammed Omer has given a full account of the hair-raising encounter he had last week with Shin Beth agents at the Allenby Bridge border-crossing between Jordan and the West Bank.

Read full story

Activists disrupt 'salute to Israel' parade

Great pictures. - Ed.

Today, a series of non-violent protest actions disrupted the 'Salute to Israel' parade. The parade celebrated 60 years since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Activists wished to remind the public that since its inception, Israel has been maintained through the constant oppression of the Palestinian people, in particular through ethnic cleansing.

Read full story

Hospital fails to help fallen patient

Watch video.

This is very sad. What a comment on our callous society. One guy is so lazy he repeatedly rolls his chair down a hall to peek around the corner to see whether the woman has magically been helped. But then when someone finally starts helping, the people who sat around suddenly stand up and start acting all concerned. Pathetic. - Ed.

"We're entering a two economy society. There is no force opposing financial polarity."

Interview with Michael Hudson

By Mike Whitney

30/06/08 "ICH" -- - "Our tax laws have shaped the marketplace to favor the debt-financed buying and selling of real estate, stocks and bonds rather than new direct investment. Advocates of this financialization of saving and investment depict it as a viable mode of wealth creation, but the effect is simply to de-industrialize the United States. And this is the tragedy of our economy today." Michael Hudson

Read full story

A Declaration of US Independence from Israel

A superb speech delivered at Princeton University by Chris Hedges, a former Middle East bureau chief of the New York Times.

Read full story

High gas prices hobble cities nationwide

DENVER -- Squeezed by soaring energy prices, governments around the nation are reacting just like consumers -- changing basic routines, and scrimping and saving in order to get by.

Read full story

The Toddler King's Insufferable Reign is Doomed

Both George Bush and Dick Cheney have emphatically proclaimed the American Way of Life as “non-negotiable.” As hard as it may be for the feeble-minded, deluded, conscienceless, or hopelessly addicted to grasp, Mother Nature and billions of human beings are going to force us to the bargaining table. We can kick, scream, stomp our feet, and hold our breath all we want, but our abhorrent mode of existence is going down.

Read full story

The End of the Anglo-American Empire

Much of the world’s history over the last century has been dominated by the United States . But by the turn of the millennium in 2000-2001, the “American Century” had begun to descend into a chamber of horrors.

The years since then have been marked by the huge financial bubbles engineered by the U.S. Federal Reserve System and the virus of predatory global capitalism. We have the looming worldwide economic crisis with rising bankruptcies, credit disruptions, and soaring fuel and food prices. Alongside has been the thinly-disguised but continuing attempt by the U.S. to conquer the Middle East by force of arms under the heading of the “War on Terror.”

Read full story

Defending the President as Tyrant

All over the world down through history, political leaders who have engaged in torture and other grotesque crimes of state have justified their actions as necessary to protect their governments or their people or themselves.

Read full story

I'm off to Iran before Israel bombs it

I love George Galloway. - Ed.

BY the time you read this, I will be in Iran. I've never been there before, never met an Iranian leader - I don't even like the present Iranian leadership - so remember all that, because it might become important.

I'm determined to do my bit for the anti-war effort. We need another war like Gordon Brown needs another by-election.

Read full story

Sy Hersch on Late Edition: Inside Iran June 29, 2008

Watch video.

Debate over: It's hyperinflation (and US economic collapse)

The economy and to a great extent the world today is run by would-be economic seers and prognosticators, probably more so than ever before in history. I say "would-be", however, because their track records are rather spotty. This contradiction should be no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to the plentiful (and well-deserved) criticism of the Fed's recent actions (and statements), but many have also noted that it seems the Fed and its economic peers and groupies never seem to "get it right". There is a structural problem here, I would say; I think it has something to do with the true objective of these people being political rather than predictive success.

Read full story

American Zionists Stirring Up a War with Iran

israel is mobilizing its supporters in america (and in europe) to push the bush administration into yet another proxy zionist war – this time against iran. In america, the political pressure for a war against iran is coming overwhelmingly from one sector of american society: the jewish sayanim network of mossad collaborators, the zionists in the jewish dominated american media, the israel lobby, the zionist-owned congress, and the ziocons who have infiltrated the bush administration.

Read full story

The moral depravity of the Iraq war

Watch this video. About seven or eight minutes in you can see bound detainees being forced off the top of a three story building. It appears that American soldiers are doing this, though you can't see them clearly from the video. People in military uniforms come and whisk away the detainees after they fall.

It would be nice to think that American soldiers are all wonderful, brave people who would never stoop to such depravity, but that is what we call a "fantasy." Given the many other sickening things that have broken through the media firewall (soldiers tossing puppies over cliffs, tormenting Iraqi children, testimonies of war crimes at Winter Soldier hearings, Haditha, drop weapons, etc.), it would be totally irresponsible and cowardly for any American to dismiss these actions as impossible. There it is on video. Somebody is doing it. Does that mean that everyone in the military is sick? Of course not. But the military, as an institution, has a civilian leadership; and those people are sick. The fish rots from the head.

Besides that, the fact remains that American soldiers are systematically trained to dehumanize 'the enemy' in order to be able to kill them. That is the purpose of having a military, after all. So let us not get all righteous and defensive when something like this comes out. It is time for Americans to get real and face the meat-grinding, dehumanizing machinery of the US military and see what it actually it does to people -- our people and other people.

We have a military to kill people so we don't have to do it ourselves. We subcontract the dirty job to others so we don't have to carry the psychological burden. It's just like buying steak all shrink-wrapped -- we are preserved from the trauma of killing the cow and carving up its flesh. But somebody does those things, and it's the same with the military. They are not all over there building schools and hugging babies, you know. Well over a million people have been killed in Iraq. Who is responsible for that? Why, we are. Did our people kill every single one? No, but we started the war, so let's not get persnickety. The possibility of innocent people dying never did bother us that much.

What happens when you take the military and put it under a mentally deranged civilian leadership? You get utter moral depravity. Institutionalized psychopathy, with weapons. If you don't like this, then stop glorifying the military and war. But don't deny it. Don't deny that we are all responsible for tossing bound detainees off the tops of buildings, murdering for fun, destroying an entire country that had nothing to do with 9/11, causing the untold suffering of millions and millions of people and the gruesome destruction of our own fellow citizens. We own it all because we don't pay attention, and we are lazy, and we let ourselves be led around like a bunch of stupid idiots. We are so incredibly stupid that we are on the verge of letting this all happen again, to Iran.

I fear we are truly lost and the moral compass has been smashed. An attack on Iran would be as unjust if not more so than what we did to Iraq. It will cause unforgivable destruction, including our own this time. For certain, and here in the 'homeland.' It is all lies, just like the last time.

Do you have the nagging doubts? You must listen to them. That is what's left of your conscience. If you can see the faint thread of truth, you must follow it. Pick up the thread and follow it quickly, as quickly as you can until you find the whole thing. Go now. Go.

Is the final confrontation now imminent?

As the window of opportunity for an attack against Iran by the Israelis and the US steadily closes as the George W. Bush presidency comes to an end so the likelihood of such an attack looms ever larger.

Read full story

Top US commander briefed on IDF's four front strategy in potential Iran war

The visiting Chairman of the US Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, carried out a guided tour of Israel’s borders with Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip over the weekend. It was led by the IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and OCs Northern and Southern Commands, Maj. Gens. Eisenkott and Galant.

He was briefed on IDF tactics in a war on all these potential flashpoints in the context of a comprehensive conflict with Iran and then held long conversations with defense minister Ehud Barak and Ashkenazi.

Read full story

Isn't it time that you joined the Revolution?

We don’t have guns. We don’t have banks. We don’t have storm-troopers and we don’t have a powerful media.

What we have is our convictions, our courage and our potential.

Read full story

McClatchy blog: Inside Iraq

Paying visits to friends is not always a way to bring joy to the hearts. In fact, it may bring sadness especially in Iraq because of the bad news we hear. Today, I visited some friends in Karrada neighborhood in downtown Baghdad. Sabah; one of the group was out for shopping. He is one of the peopel that we always miss because he has a great ability to bring laughter and happiness to everyone. I had to wait for him.

Read full story

Stupid USA

The analysis below has been read by a former Colonel of a foreign air force, currently in charge of a major Middle Eastern air force, and declared an "excellent analysis".

It has also been read and approved by a researcher fully up to date on every single detail of Iranian defense ... military, training, weaponry, major armaments (missile and other systems), every detail not classified by the Iranian government. This is not fanciful imaginings - I have researched and followed this throughout the entire period of the Bush administration. I have, however, avoided "official" type language meant for impressing intellectuals and serve as self-glorification, for lack of better word.

Read full story

Understanding Reality from Deception in the War on Terror

The course that the Bush regime has decided upon in the American/Israeli Global War On Terrorism (GWOT) has set a new course for all mankind, for many years to come. Because it seems apparent that Bush intends to escalate his Israeli-centric military policies, which many of us consider to be failed policies, it is incumbent upon all moral individuals to consider what these policies are, where they came from, and where they are leading us all to.

Read full story

Key player in waterboarding policy (Addington) 'smug' under questioning

Top Cheney aide David Addington barely conceals his disdain for Democrats on a House subcommittee asking about his role in the use of controversial interrogation techniques.

Read full story

From Dictatorship to Democracy

Contents: FROM CHAPTER 1...

In recent years various dictatorships—of both internal and external origin—have collapsed or stumbled when confronted by defiant, mobilized people. Often seen as firmly entrenched and impregnable, some of these dictatorships proved unable to withstand the concerted political, economic, and social defiance of the people.

Read full story

Food for thought

Several weeks ago, I attended a remarkable presentation by Raj Patel author of Stuffed & Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. Part of what was astounding was the number people who arrived, cramming themselves into a small bookstore — literally from floor to ceiling, wall to wall — to hear Patel expound on the challenges threatening the world's food supply. The audience represented every age and ethnic group. And I am not sure any were ready to hear what Patel had to say.

Read full story