2010/12/25

Bradley Manning Speaks About His Conditions

Bradley Manning, the 24-year-old Army private accused of leaking classified information to Wiki -leaks, has been held in the brig at Quantico Marine Corp Base for five months in inhumane conditions, with severe restrictions on his ability to exercise, communicate, or even sleep. Manning has NOT been convicted of any crime, nor is there a certain date for any court hearing. The conditions of Bradley Manning's confinement became a top issue in the press last week, as blog- gers traded blows with US officials over allegations that Manning endures inhumane treatment at the Quantico, VA detainment facility. In the midst of this rush by the "Defense Department" to contextualize Manning's confinement, David House traveled to see the man himself at the Marine Corps detainment facility in Quantico, VA. In his visit to see Bradley, it became clear that the Pentagon's public spin from last week sharply contradicts the reality of Bradley Manning's detainment. In his FIVE MONTHS of detention, it has become obvious that Manning's physical and mental well-being are deteriorating. His attorneys have already urged that it is necessary to have the "Prevention of Injury" order lifted, which severely restricts his ability to exercise, communicate, and sleep. Nevertheless, Manning has just been nominated as the most under-appreciated hero of 2010 by Johann Hari of the British Independent newspaper, and his deeds will one day be written in our world's history books!

2010/12/24

The United States of Fear, by Tom Engelhardt

The National Security State Cops a Feel: Taking Off the Gloves - and then everything else. Take a country in the grips of an expanding national security state and sooner or later your "safety" will mean your humiliation, your degradation, and by the way, it will mean the degradation of your country, too. Just ask Rolando Negrin, a Transportation Security Administration screener, who passed through one of those new "whole body image" scanners last May as part of his training for airport security. His co-workers claimed to have gotten a look at his "junk" and mocked him mercilessly, evidently repeatedly asking: "What size are you?" and referring to him as "little angry man." In the end, calling it "psychological torture," he insisted that he snapped, meant that he went after a co-worker, baton first, demanding an apology. This anecdote illustrates just how low this country has now sunk, how psychologically insecure we have become, while supposedly guarding ourselves against a global danger. We live, it seems, in a national security "homeland" of little angry bureaucrats who couldn't be happier to define what "safety" means for you and big, self-satisfied officials who can duck the application of those safety methods.

Thanks to Bush and Obama: We can look forward to the great depression of the XXI Century

Yes, sport fans, it's all true: Between "W" Bush and Obama, these two morons have completely succeeded in destroying our fragile economy! The stated priorities of the Obama economic package were health, education, renewable energy, investment in infrastructure and transportation. At first sight, the budget proposal had all the appearances of an expansionary program, a demand-oriented "Second New Deal" geared towards creating employment, rebuilding shattered social programs and reviving the "real" economy. Unfortunately, the realities are otherwise. Obama's "promise" is based on a mammoth austerity program. The entire fiscal structure is shattered and turned upside down. To reach his stated objectives, a significant hike in public spending on social programs, including health, education, housing, and social security would be required, as well as the implementation of a large-scale public investment program. Major shifts in the composition of public expenditure would be required, requiring a shift out of military-related spending in favor of civilian programs.
To read the rest of this story, please click on my heading, or visit
global research.ca

2010/12/23

Dan Rather Confesses: "Fear of Challenging the Administrations Lies is present in EVERY Newsroom!!

This fear to which Dan Rather refers, is certainly familiar to every honest reporter. According to John Pilger, the public does not deserve to see or hear the truth: According to Pilger, we journalists have to be brave enough to defy those who seek our collusion in selling the story. Facts don't matter any more. The Pentagon contracts with news organizations to keep any unwelcome facts away from the watchful eye of a nervous public. If you click on my headline, you will be able to see for yourself how rotten our government has already become. The journalist who were "imbedded" with our Armed Forces during our ruthless invasion of Iraq, were at the mercy of the local Army commander, and reported only disgusting pablum to their audience. Even if they had dared to tell the truth about our invasion, Army censors would have made certain that nothing which might be considered "offensive" to out politicians and their handlers, would get into our nation's airwaves. A long time ago, while I served as the Intelligence Operations Officer of our 4th US Armored Division in Goeppingen, we made fun of the censorship imposed by our Soviet Enemy. Now, we have actually BECOME that enemy.

2010/12/22

Webster G. Tarpley: Congress - Stop the Destruction of Social Security

American voters are shocked and outraged by Obama's latest betrayal of FDR's New Deal heritage. Most alarming in his dirty deal with the Republicans is the proposed sabotage of Social Security. We will work hard to defeat ANY politician of ANY party who loots or drains the Social Security trust fund, including Obama's diabolical trick of a payroll tax holiday: Tell Obama HANDS OFF OUR SOCIAL SECURITY! Any problems with Social Security can easily be solved by removing the cap on the FICA payroll tax, and making rich parasites and economic royalists pay their fair share - not by rewarding them with tax bonanzas. We demand that you use your position and influence actively, to beat back this sinister ploy by Obama. In the Senate, any senator who does not filibuster Obama's plan deserves to be "primaried" first, and then defeated at the polls. If this rotten sellout is not stopped, House members must dump Pelosi as minority leader, rather than become parties to such monstrous treachery!

Is Obama Qualified to be our President?

Evidence is mounting that Obama may NOT be as intelligent as his supporters and cheerleaders in the media constantly assure us. The reality is that Obama is mostly a creation of the liberal media. Indeed the more we dig into his past, the more we find very little substance, and discover how a network of liberal professors, law firms, and others gave him a "pass" on performance while he pursued his liberal agenda: "Sources" state that he attended an elite K-12 school in Hawaii called Punahou School, but the school claims that his records are "missing". He also "attended" the prestigious Occidental College in California, though he admitted in his book and elsewhere that he was engaged in heavy drug use while in high school. How he got in remains a mystery, and Obama's attorneys have blocked access to those records. Though he claimed to have finished his undergraduate years at Columbia college, but Obama won't release those records either. We do know, however, that he did NOT graduate with honors from Columbia. Being accepted by Harvard Law School without graduating with honors from Columbia suggests that Obama was admitted to Harvard based on race. Obama has also refused to release his Columbia thesis, which was about nuclear disarmament of the West.
Please read the rest of his sordid background by clicking http://www.westernjournalism.com/

2010/12/21

Aeschylus:525-456BC: In war, truth is the first Casualty

The heading of my article, as you can see, goes way, way back, in fact, all the way to a man, who lived between 525 and 456 BC (before Christ) for those of you who do not practice a religion. After nine years of war in Afghanistan, costing the American taxpayer $100 billion, and an enormous number of lives, Americans still don't know the full truth about this murky conflict, and all we get are lies and obfuscations from Washington (DC). A political whitewash issued by the Obama White House, claiming the "war was going well" was repeated by the pro-war New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other members of the tame US media. Meanwhile, the Red Cross issued a grim report, showing that Afghans were suffering widespread malnutrition and other serious health problems after nearly a decade of Western occupation. So much for US-led nation building. Then, there are the "leaks" about a new National Intelligence Estimate, the combined findings of all 16 US intelligence agencies. This document is explosive, and may never be fully revealed. The report asserts that $13 billion a month buys a stalemate, that Western occupation forces are now on the defensive, and their vulnerable supply lines continue to be threatened. The Taliban is expanding its control, particularly in northern Afghanistan.

German President Gerhard Schroeder Accuses George W of lying in his book!!!

In his book"Decision Points" former President George W. Bush has written that he told German President Gerhard Schroeder in an Oval Office meeting on 31 January 2002 that he was determined to make diplomacy work, but would invade Iraq if all else failed. Then, he claimed falsely "that Gerhard Schroeder had betrayed him, and it would be hard to have a constructive relationship again". Mr. Schroeder responded to Bush's claims by accusing him of "not telling the truth". Though Schroeder confirmed that he had told Bush that he would "stand reliably on the side of the US", the pledge was based on the false assumption that Iraq was sheltering those responsible for the September 11 "terrorist attacks". The reactions of former Schroeder aids were scathing: "We noticed that the intellectual reach of the president of the most important nation at the time was exceptionally low," said Uwe-Karsten Heye, Mr. Schroeder's spokesman told German news channel N24. "For this reason it was difficult to communicate with him. He had no idea what was happening in the world, though I think he knew every longhorn in Texas." Bottom line: Should you somehow feel the urge to read "W"s book, take it with a huge pile of manure on the side.

2010/12/19

Americans suffering, but our capitalists have record profits!

According to the Russian Pravda site, the perversity of American capitalism emerges in the statistics on earnings in the US. Capitalist corporations are doing well, despite the deep economic crisis in our country. Data published in November by our government indicates that the profits of large companies have reached record levels in the third quarter of this year, with a gain of more than 1.6 trillion dollars, almost dwarfing our GDP of 15 trillion dollars, the highest total since our government has been keeping records on corporate profits. Total corporate profits had grown 28% over the same period in 2009. The number of unemployed in our country now totals 15.1 million in November, according to government statistics. The difference between these profits and our employment figures may be an indication of the perverse, and sometimes vicious face of capitalism. Three years after the beginning of our recession, our crisis is no longer a problem for major capitalists, but our workers are severely depressed by their low wages, and the hopes which they had for the Obama administration!!

Mind Control in America ???

Steven Jacobson is a graduate of the Boston University School of Communications. He worked in the film industry for 13 years, produced sponsored films, was a production manager and editor for a New York City documentary film company, did contract work for a Washington, DC film institute and re-cut features for US theatrical distribution, TV syndication and cable: "Working as an editor, it was easy to see how simple it is to change the meaning of an event, or of what someone says through editing," says Jacobson. "But I did not really fully appreciate the extent to which we are all manipulated and controlled by mass media - and this includes even those who work in it - until I was given the results of private medical research investigating mental programming and de- programming. This led to his leaving the film business to research the mind control issue, and the use of hypnotic programming in the mass media, leading to the development of the "Mind Control in America" audio series. Steven's goal is to bring the use of mass hypnosis and manipulation to the attention of the general public. Mind control is the most important issue facing America. Please click on my headline to read the rest of this story!

"Our" Massacres of Civilians in Afghanistan!

The growing hostility of the Afghan people to OUR occupation of "their" country, found expression in a poll conducted earlier this month by the Washington Post, ABC News, the BBC- The British Broadcasting Corporation, and Germany's ARD television. The survey found that more than half of the Afghan population wants the US and other foreign forces to begin their withdrawal by mid- 2011, if not immediately. Three-quarters of those surveyed supported negotiations between the government and the Taliban. In other news, support for the Taliban in Kandahar province, the main focus of the ongoing US surge, has increased to the point that 45 percent are now saying that they see that movement favorably. We should consider that poll a pale indication of both the popular outrage over the US military offensive, and the level of support for the armed groups fighting against our occupation. The situation on the ground is much worse than a year ago, because the Taliban insurgency has made progress across the country. It is now VERY DIFFI- CULT to work outside the cities, let alone move around Afghanistan by road: The insurgents have built momentum, exploiting the shortcomings of the Afghan government , and the mistakes of the "coalition".
Please click on my headline to red the rest of this gruesome story!