Our Awful Situation

Archive for March, 2008

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The surge is (not) working

Posted by patriot on March 29th, 2008

Despite the insistence of the neocons - John McCain leading the war cry - that “the surge is working”, it’s clearly not:

The Iraqi military push into the southern city of Basra is not going as well as American officials had hoped, despite President Bush’s high praise for the operation, several U.S. officials said Friday.

A closely held U.S. military intelligence analysis of the fighting in Basra shows that Iraqi security forces control less than a quarter of the city, according to officials in both the United States and Iraq, and Basra’s police units are deeply infiltrated by members of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army.

“This is going to go on for a while,” one U.S. military official said.

Trigger-happy cop shoots two unarmed civilians

Posted by patriot on March 29th, 2008

The LA Times blog is reporting a story of an officer shooting a woman and her child, both unarmed:

The Oceanside Police Department on Thursday defended its investigation into an incident in which an off-duty San Diego police officer shot a woman and her 8-year-old son after a traffic altercation.

Oceanside Police Capt. Tom Aguigui said investigators are still trying to figure out what led Officer Frank White to fire five shots at Oceanside resident Rachel Silva’s car in a mall parking lot.

Lest you be concerned for the welfare of the officer, rest easy:

White has been put on paid administrative leave.

Oh, good. Way to discipline your trigger-happy personnel, Oceanside!

9/11 a gold mine for Larry Silverstein

Posted by patriot on March 29th, 2008

The NY Times reports on Larry’s latest salivating for insurance claims:

Larry A. Silverstein, who has won nearly $4.6 billion in insurance payments to cover his losses and help him rebuild at the World Trade Center site, is seeking $12.3 billion in damages from airlines and airport security companies for the 9/11 attack.Mr. Silverstein, the developer of ground zero, sought the damages, whose amount was not previously known, in a claim filed in 2004, that says the airlines and airport security companies failed to prevent terrorists from hijacking the planes used to destroy the buildings.

His case was consolidated last week with similar, earlier lawsuits brought by families of some victims of the attack and by other property owners. But in seeking $12.3 billion, he is by far the biggest claimant in the litigation.

Hat tip NWO Truth.

U.S. Cops clubbing Tibetans

Posted by patriot on March 29th, 2008

And you thought only communism boasted an abusive police force? Welcome to America, the land of the …? I don’t know any more.

Boohoo, says the Attorney General

Posted by patriot on March 29th, 2008

Michael Mukasey, Gonzo’s replacement, seems to be resorting to theatrics and sobfests to get his way:

Michael Mukasey has conclusively proven himself to be an exact replica of Alberto Gonazles — slavishly loyal to every presidential whim and unbound by even the most minimal constraints of truth while serving those whims. Speaking in San Fransisco this week, Mukasey demanded that the President be given new warrantless eavesdropping powers and that lawbreaking telecoms be granted amnesty. To make his case, Mukasey teared up while exploiting the 3,000 Americans who died on 9/11…

…

Michael Mukasey can cry all he wants about the 9/11 attacks. But neither he nor the rest of the Bush administration are the proprietors of those attacks. There were millions of New Yorkers in Manhattan on 9/11 other than Michael Mukasey, who lived and worked there for a long time. Neither Mike Mukasey nor his tearful pleas for unchecked government surveillance power and the erosion of the rule of law are representative of them.

Stats on the Iraq war

Posted by patriot on March 29th, 2008

Wired’s blog carries a story detailing some stats about the Iraq war, now that we’ve reached the 4,000 casualty mark:

On March 26, 2008 the United States military casualty count in Iraq hit 4,000. When I heard that I decided to research other numbers associated with the war.

Over the past five years, US taxpayers have spent $506 billion on the Iraq War- that is over $100 billion a year just for war related expenses (and enough to fund NASA for 30 years). According to www.nationalpriorities.org the cost of the war so far works out to $1,721 per person.
Of the 4,002 US military fatalities, over 100 were women, 145 resulted from self inflicted wounds, and not included in that figure are the journalists and the military forces from other countries.

The author relies on official data only, which means that there is no count of how many Iraqis have died.

Interesting quotes on freedom

Posted by Charlie Kilo on March 29th, 2008

“Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. It is a force, like fire; a dangerous servant and a terrible master.”

– George Washington

“…to disarm the people (is) the best and most effective way to enslave them…”

– George Mason

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”

– Thomas Paine

“Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest.”

– Mahatma Gandhi in “Gandhi, An Autobiography”

“The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure.”

– Albert Einstein

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

– Benjamin Franklin

“A free people ought…to be armed…”

– George Washington, 1790

“No greater immediate responsibility rests upon members of the (LDS) Church, than to protect the freedom vouchsafed by the Constitution of the United States.”

–LDS President David O. McKay

“The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.”

–George Washington

“Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense?”

– Patrick Henry

Bush proposes financial regulation overhaul

Posted by Charlie Kilo on March 29th, 2008

Plan would expand powers of Federal Reserve 

It looks like the Powers That Be are making a move on the entire U.S. banking system through the Federal Reserve. As Lenin himself once pointed out - all you have to do to control a population is to control the banks. From MSNBC:

The Bush administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of the way the U.S. financial industry is regulated.

In an effort to deal with the problems highlighted by the current severe credit crisis, the new plan would give major new powers to the Federal Reserve, according to a 22-page executive summary obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

The proposal would designate the Fed as the primary regulator of market stability, greatly expanding the central bank’s ability to examine not just commercial banks but all segments of the financial services industry.

Continue to story

Here’s more coverage of this story over at Cryptogon.

Following the Anthrax

Posted by patriot on March 28th, 2008

The Anthrax saga continues:

The FBI has narrowed its focus to “about four” suspects in the 6 1/2-year investigation of the deadly anthrax attacks of 2001, and at least three of those suspects are linked to the Army’s bioweapons research facility at Fort Detrick in Maryland, FOX News has learned.

Among the pool of suspects are three scientists — a former deputy commander, a leading anthrax scientist and a microbiologist — linked to the research facility, known as USAMRIID.

The FBI has collected writing samples from the three scientists in an effort to match them to the writer of anthrax-laced letters that were mailed to two U.S. senators and at least two news outlets in the fall of 2001, a law enforcement source confirmed.

Also of note:

China’s Factory Blues

Posted by Charlie Kilo on March 28th, 2008

The days of ultra-cheap labor and little regulation are gone. As manufacturers’ costs climb, export prices will follow

The U.S. housing market, which generated demand for everything from Chinese-made bedroom sets to bathroom fixtures, has plummeted. A new Chinese labor law that took effect on Jan. 1 has significantly raised costs in an already tight labor market. Soaring commodity and energy prices, as well as Beijing’s cancellation of preferential policies for exporters, have hammered manufacturers. The appreciation of the Chinese currency has shrunk already razor-thin margins, pushed thousands of manufacturers to the edge of bankruptcy, and threatened China’s role as the preeminent exporter of low-priced goods.

Continue reading…

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