from raw replay: WHIO TV reported “Dayton police said they went to an apartment building on Fernwood Avenue looking for a robbery suspect and ended up tazing the man’s mother who is legally blind... Police said 49-year-old Denise Harris refused to talk with them and became combative, striking out at an officer. According to officers, when they tried to arrest her, she resisted and they tased her... Neighors said the officers used unnecessary force on the blind woman, who is also suffering from diabetes and cancer... Sgt. Charles Anderson said Harris will be charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, but the incident is under investigation.” This video is from CNN.com, broadcast July 17, 2008.
Friday, July 18, 2008
crying girl runs away from bush at tee-ball game
from raw replay: MSNBC’s Hardball played video of a girl who cried during her opportunity to me President Bush during the White House tee-ball game... "She probably thought she was meeting Dick Cheney. There she is, going, going, gone. Man, Bush really hit that one out of the park. Proof he’s having a hard time getting anyone to stand with him this year." This video is from MSNBC’s Hardball, broadcast July 17, 2008.
media monarchy episode084
out of these troubled times episode084 of media monarchy can emerge with dollar doom, bank runs, bush bribes, pizza & beer, topoff5, saic, dhs, cnn, tsa, aclu watchlists, chicago, denver, nat'l guard, obama, manson & bohemian grove, music by jesus & mary chain and tons more...
download/digg/stream/subscribe
pra/revere/myspace/itunes/archive
media monarchy is originally broadcast on the portland radio authority every friday at 10am pacific/1pm eastern and can also be heard on the revere radio network every sunday at 4pm pacific/7pm eastern...plus, you can always get podcasts of previous episodes thanks to radio4all.net & archive.org
Thursday, July 17, 2008
police informants, infiltrators, protests & peace groups
police spied on activists in maryland
from washington post: Undercover Maryland State Police officers conducted surveillance on war protesters and death penalty opponents, including some in Takoma Park, for more than a year while Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. was governor, documents released yesterday show. Detailed intelligence reports logged by at least two agents in the police department's Homeland Security and Intelligence Division reveal close monitoring of the movements as the Iraq war and capital punishment were heatedly debated in 2005 and 2006. Organizational meetings, public forums, prison vigils, rallies outside the State House in Annapolis and e-mail group lists were infiltrated by police posing as peace activists and death penalty opponents, the records show. The surveillance continued even though the logs contained no reports of illegal activity and consistently indicated that the activists were not planning violent protests.
protesters & police educate & gear up for convention
from rocky mountain news: Dozens of protest groups are planning a full schedule of classes, concerts, marches and other actions during the Democratic National Convention, hoping to capture the world's attention and recruit new activists. They are both energized and organized, and most insist they are not looking for trouble. "We are completely peaceful," said Rob Weiland, a 37-year-old courier from Denver and member of the group We Are Change Colorado. "We follow the ideals of Ghandi." The organization will be videotaping other groups and police during the DNC, scheduled for Aug. 25 to 28.
fbi to descend on denver for dem event
from politics west: "Hundreds" of FBI agents will be in Denver during the Democratic National Convention, according to James Davis, the FBI special agent in charge of the Denver field division that oversees Colorado and Wyoming. The FBI is "responsible for gathering intelligence on, primarily terrorist activity, any possible terrorist activity with regard to the convention, and make sure we get that intelligence to our partner agencies so they can be prepared," according to a "Colorado Matters" interview that aired today on Colorado Public Radio. The audio is available here. (m3u)
from washington post: Undercover Maryland State Police officers conducted surveillance on war protesters and death penalty opponents, including some in Takoma Park, for more than a year while Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. was governor, documents released yesterday show. Detailed intelligence reports logged by at least two agents in the police department's Homeland Security and Intelligence Division reveal close monitoring of the movements as the Iraq war and capital punishment were heatedly debated in 2005 and 2006. Organizational meetings, public forums, prison vigils, rallies outside the State House in Annapolis and e-mail group lists were infiltrated by police posing as peace activists and death penalty opponents, the records show. The surveillance continued even though the logs contained no reports of illegal activity and consistently indicated that the activists were not planning violent protests.protesters & police educate & gear up for convention
from rocky mountain news: Dozens of protest groups are planning a full schedule of classes, concerts, marches and other actions during the Democratic National Convention, hoping to capture the world's attention and recruit new activists. They are both energized and organized, and most insist they are not looking for trouble. "We are completely peaceful," said Rob Weiland, a 37-year-old courier from Denver and member of the group We Are Change Colorado. "We follow the ideals of Ghandi." The organization will be videotaping other groups and police during the DNC, scheduled for Aug. 25 to 28.fbi to descend on denver for dem event
from politics west: "Hundreds" of FBI agents will be in Denver during the Democratic National Convention, according to James Davis, the FBI special agent in charge of the Denver field division that oversees Colorado and Wyoming. The FBI is "responsible for gathering intelligence on, primarily terrorist activity, any possible terrorist activity with regard to the convention, and make sure we get that intelligence to our partner agencies so they can be prepared," according to a "Colorado Matters" interview that aired today on Colorado Public Radio. The audio is available here. (m3u)
saic investigated for conflict of interest in topoff5
from ap: Federal officials are investigating whether millions of dollars are being steered improperly toward a government contractor to run the country's largest counterterrorism exercise. At issue is a written request for companies to compete for the TOPOFF 5 exercise contract and whether an employee of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) wrote parts of the proposal, according to officials familiar with the contract who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive procurement activity.It would be considered a conflict of interest if an SAIC employee both drafted the document and intends to compete for the contract, according to Melanie Sloan, director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The Federal Emergency Management Agency would not say how much the TOPOFF 5 contract is worth. The last exercise cost about $25 million. The contract for TOPOFF 5 has not been awarded.
update: fema suspends topoff, saic drops out of competition
israeli police talk with michigan homeland security
from click on detroit: Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox hosted a conference Thursday that brought more than 200 law enforcement leaders together to meet with members of the Israeli National Police to discuss security issues. Homeland security issues regarding the Detroit-Windsor tunnel were expected to be discussed. The meeting was one in a series of exchanges between American and Israeli law security agencies. It is also the first one ever to be held in Michigan.
geopolitiks: dog meat, poison & weather wargames
china may modify weather for olympics
from xinhua: If bad weather threatens the August 8 opening of Beijing's Olympic Games, then meteorologists may change the weather, according to a Chinese meteorology official. Chen Zhenlin, a vice director with the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), made the statement Tuesday afternoon at a press conference held at the Beijing International Media Center.
dog meat taken off china menus for olympics
from kprc: Patrons at some restaurants in Beijing won't be able to order any canine cuisine during next month's Olympics. Dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.
iran discovers billion-barrel oil field
from afp: Iran says it has discovered a new oil field containing more than one billion barrels of crude. Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said the oil field held 1.1 billion barrels of sweet crude oil, of which 233 million coudl be recovered, the Shana news agency reported.
mediterranean union wants to rid m of wmd
from ap: The leaders of 43 nations from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa have launched a Union for the Mediterranean, a brainchild of French President Nicolas Sarkozy that aims to improve cooperation in the region with practical projects that parallel efforts toward Mideast peace.
'big brother' by-election plays out as david icke predicted
from infowars: David Davis wins by a mile and David Icke gets the very few votes he always said he would get in an election in which his focus was information nationally and internationally, not winning irrelevant votes within the small constituency area in which this election took place... While the corrupt system had its election and crowned its impostor ‘king’ in its attempt to hijack the Big Brother ‘debate’ in Britain, far more people are now aware of the real Big Brother – the one that David Davis and his sidekick from ‘Liberty’, Shami Chakrabarti, have no intention of talking about, let alone exposing. David Davis, an aloof and arrogant man it turned out, refused to debate the wider aspects of the Orwellian State with David Icke and even barred him from his public events. And this is the new standard-bearer for the opposition to ‘Big Brother’? It is all a scam.
many uk troops 'feel like quitting' says mod survey
from bbc: Almost half of UK military personnel are ready to leave the forces, a Ministry of Defence survey suggests. Some 47% of Army and Royal Navy respondents and 44% of those in the RAF said they regularly felt like quitting. Among the concerns raised by the 9,000 servicemen and women surveyed were the frequency of tours, levels of pay and the quality of equipment and housing. The Ministry of Defence said the survey revealed “areas of concern” but that conditions were being improved.
uk intel chief in coma after collapse
from guardian: The cabinet's most senior intelligence adviser was in a coma last night five days after being found unconscious at his London home, according to Whitehall officials. Alex Allan, described by his colleagues as an extremely fit man and keen on sports, was rushed to hospital on Monday after he was discovered unconscious at his home where he has lived alone since the death of his Australian wife last year. "He is seriously ill and undergoing tests to try and find out what is in his system," an official said yesterday. Officials dismissed as "nonsense" suggestions that he might have been poisoned.
russia starts large-scale naval exercise in the pacific
from ria novosti: Over 20 combat and auxiliary ships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet started on Tuesday a large-scale naval exercise in the Sea of Japan, which includes live firing drills, a fleet spokesman said... According to the exercise scenario, the Russian naval task force and shore-based naval aircraft are tasked with the search and destruction of an ‘aggressor force’ attempting to establish a beachhead on the Russian coast. The ships will conduct a series of live firing drills against ground, surface, and air targets.
situation in pakistan spinning out of control
from daily times: The use of suicide bombings has allowed religiously radical forces to reach beyond their NWFP strongholds and strike with impunity at the core of Pakistan, including urban centres, and as it is, things are spinning out of control, according to a commentary released on Monday by Stratfor.
nato & US forces suffer deadliest month in afghanistan
from afp: June was the deadliest month for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the 2001 fall of the Taliban and the second in a row in which casualties exceeded those in Iraq, official figures showed Tuesday... June accounted for more than 40 percent of the 122 deaths of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan during 2008, according to the independent website icasualties.org.
pentagon doubts israeli intel over iran's nuke program
from telegraph: American commanders worry that Israel will feel compelled to act within the next 12 months with no guarantee that they can do more than slow Iran's development of a weapon capable of destroying the Jewish state. Gaps in the intelligence on the precise location and vulnerabilities of Iran's facilities emerged during recent talks between Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the American Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Israeli generals, according to an official familiar with the discussions who has briefed Iran experts in Washington and London.
from xinhua: If bad weather threatens the August 8 opening of Beijing's Olympic Games, then meteorologists may change the weather, according to a Chinese meteorology official. Chen Zhenlin, a vice director with the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), made the statement Tuesday afternoon at a press conference held at the Beijing International Media Center.dog meat taken off china menus for olympics
from kprc: Patrons at some restaurants in Beijing won't be able to order any canine cuisine during next month's Olympics. Dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.
iran discovers billion-barrel oil field
from afp: Iran says it has discovered a new oil field containing more than one billion barrels of crude. Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said the oil field held 1.1 billion barrels of sweet crude oil, of which 233 million coudl be recovered, the Shana news agency reported.
mediterranean union wants to rid m of wmd
from ap: The leaders of 43 nations from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa have launched a Union for the Mediterranean, a brainchild of French President Nicolas Sarkozy that aims to improve cooperation in the region with practical projects that parallel efforts toward Mideast peace.'big brother' by-election plays out as david icke predicted
from infowars: David Davis wins by a mile and David Icke gets the very few votes he always said he would get in an election in which his focus was information nationally and internationally, not winning irrelevant votes within the small constituency area in which this election took place... While the corrupt system had its election and crowned its impostor ‘king’ in its attempt to hijack the Big Brother ‘debate’ in Britain, far more people are now aware of the real Big Brother – the one that David Davis and his sidekick from ‘Liberty’, Shami Chakrabarti, have no intention of talking about, let alone exposing. David Davis, an aloof and arrogant man it turned out, refused to debate the wider aspects of the Orwellian State with David Icke and even barred him from his public events. And this is the new standard-bearer for the opposition to ‘Big Brother’? It is all a scam.many uk troops 'feel like quitting' says mod survey
from bbc: Almost half of UK military personnel are ready to leave the forces, a Ministry of Defence survey suggests. Some 47% of Army and Royal Navy respondents and 44% of those in the RAF said they regularly felt like quitting. Among the concerns raised by the 9,000 servicemen and women surveyed were the frequency of tours, levels of pay and the quality of equipment and housing. The Ministry of Defence said the survey revealed “areas of concern” but that conditions were being improved.uk intel chief in coma after collapse
from guardian: The cabinet's most senior intelligence adviser was in a coma last night five days after being found unconscious at his London home, according to Whitehall officials. Alex Allan, described by his colleagues as an extremely fit man and keen on sports, was rushed to hospital on Monday after he was discovered unconscious at his home where he has lived alone since the death of his Australian wife last year. "He is seriously ill and undergoing tests to try and find out what is in his system," an official said yesterday. Officials dismissed as "nonsense" suggestions that he might have been poisoned.russia starts large-scale naval exercise in the pacific
from ria novosti: Over 20 combat and auxiliary ships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet started on Tuesday a large-scale naval exercise in the Sea of Japan, which includes live firing drills, a fleet spokesman said... According to the exercise scenario, the Russian naval task force and shore-based naval aircraft are tasked with the search and destruction of an ‘aggressor force’ attempting to establish a beachhead on the Russian coast. The ships will conduct a series of live firing drills against ground, surface, and air targets.
situation in pakistan spinning out of control
from daily times: The use of suicide bombings has allowed religiously radical forces to reach beyond their NWFP strongholds and strike with impunity at the core of Pakistan, including urban centres, and as it is, things are spinning out of control, according to a commentary released on Monday by Stratfor.
nato & US forces suffer deadliest month in afghanistan
from afp: June was the deadliest month for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the 2001 fall of the Taliban and the second in a row in which casualties exceeded those in Iraq, official figures showed Tuesday... June accounted for more than 40 percent of the 122 deaths of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan during 2008, according to the independent website icasualties.org.
pentagon doubts israeli intel over iran's nuke program
from telegraph: American commanders worry that Israel will feel compelled to act within the next 12 months with no guarantee that they can do more than slow Iran's development of a weapon capable of destroying the Jewish state. Gaps in the intelligence on the precise location and vulnerabilities of Iran's facilities emerged during recent talks between Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the American Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Israeli generals, according to an official familiar with the discussions who has briefed Iran experts in Washington and London.
238-180 vote in favor of impeachment hearings
from brad blog: There will be a hearing related to Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s Article of Impeachment against George Bush in the House Judiciary Committee. That was assured by a vote of 238 to 180 on Tuesday.
But, according to Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s “Countdown” last night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has mandated that questioning in the hearing be relegated to Bush’s abuses of power, not his criminal wrongdoing.
“There’s never been one [hearing] that accumulated all the things that constitute an imperial presidency,” said Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, according to CQ Politics. He indicated topics covered in the hearing would include the firing of U.S. attorneys for political reasons, the betrayal of CIA agent Valerie Plame and Bush’s alleged lying to Congress about the reasons for invading Iraq.
Kucinich’s single Article of Impeachment only deals with Bush’s lies to Congress.
There were no Democratic votes against holding the hearing. While 180 Republicans voted to follow their Dear Leader lock-step over the cliff, 10 Republicans abstained and nine Republican members of Congress voted with the Democrats:
Rep. Kevin Brady (Texas)
Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (Md.)
Rep. Walter B. Jones (N.C.)
Rep. Don Manzullo (Ill.)
Rep. Tim Murphy (Penn.)
Rep. Ron Paul (Texas)
Rep. Dave Reichert (Wash.)
Rep. Christopher Shays (Conn.)
Rep. Mike Turner (Ohio)
Kucinich promises a surprise witness against Bush. Also from CQ Politics: “An unidentified government official of a U.S. ally wants to participate if and when Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich makes his case to impeach President Bush before the House Judiciary Committee, according to the Ohio Democrat.”
kucinich impeachment battle no longer so quixotic
from huffington post: Rep. Dennis Kucinich continued his seemingly quixotic crusade to impeach President Bush last week. But with Speaker Pelosi suggesting the House Judiciary Committee may hear his argument, Kucinich might get his day very soon. The American News Project has a new video explaining Kucinich's ongoing fight:
But, according to Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s “Countdown” last night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has mandated that questioning in the hearing be relegated to Bush’s abuses of power, not his criminal wrongdoing.
“There’s never been one [hearing] that accumulated all the things that constitute an imperial presidency,” said Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, according to CQ Politics. He indicated topics covered in the hearing would include the firing of U.S. attorneys for political reasons, the betrayal of CIA agent Valerie Plame and Bush’s alleged lying to Congress about the reasons for invading Iraq.
Kucinich’s single Article of Impeachment only deals with Bush’s lies to Congress.
There were no Democratic votes against holding the hearing. While 180 Republicans voted to follow their Dear Leader lock-step over the cliff, 10 Republicans abstained and nine Republican members of Congress voted with the Democrats:
Rep. Kevin Brady (Texas)
Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (Md.)
Rep. Walter B. Jones (N.C.)
Rep. Don Manzullo (Ill.)
Rep. Tim Murphy (Penn.)
Rep. Ron Paul (Texas)
Rep. Dave Reichert (Wash.)
Rep. Christopher Shays (Conn.)
Rep. Mike Turner (Ohio)
Kucinich promises a surprise witness against Bush. Also from CQ Politics: “An unidentified government official of a U.S. ally wants to participate if and when Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich makes his case to impeach President Bush before the House Judiciary Committee, according to the Ohio Democrat.”
kucinich impeachment battle no longer so quixotic
from huffington post: Rep. Dennis Kucinich continued his seemingly quixotic crusade to impeach President Bush last week. But with Speaker Pelosi suggesting the House Judiciary Committee may hear his argument, Kucinich might get his day very soon. The American News Project has a new video explaining Kucinich's ongoing fight:
outside the box #161 (w/ william puckett)
here is the latest episode of "outside the box," hosted by alex ansary.
it was originally broadcast by portland community media on july 17, 2008.
from alex ansary: The latest edition of Outside the Box brought to you by Alex Ansary with his guest William Puckett of UFOs Northwest.
and here are the latest episodes of "outside the box"
on we the people radio network...
from july 23, 2008.stream: m3u & ram or download: hour1 & hour2
from july 19, 2008.
stream: m3u & ram or download: hour1 & hour2
from july 16, 2008.
stream: m3u & ram or download: hour1 & hour2
from july 12, 2008.
stream: m3u & ram or download: hour1 & hour2
there's still time to realize the fraud of obama
obama’s 'civilian national security force'
from kurt nimmo: It appears candidate Obama, if elected, fully intends to recruit young citizens into something he calls a “national security force,” apparently a large paramilitary group “just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the U.S. military. Obama made passing reference to this disturbing idea in a speech delivered in Chicago on July 2. As should be expected, the corporate media, with the exception on the Chicago Tribune, completely ignored the statement and its implications. It was picked up by the real media, that is to say the bloggers, and Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily. “If we’re going to create some kind of national police force as big, powerful and well-funded as our combined U.S. military forces, isn’t this rather a big deal?” asked Farah. “I thought Democrats generally believed the U.S. spent too much on the military. How is it possible their candidate is seeking to create some kind of massive but secret national police force that will be even bigger than the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force put together?”
update: obama to establish 'cyber security' initiative if elected & obama wages cyberwar
obama promises 10,000 more troops for afghanistan
from guardian: Barack Obama yesterday pledged to increase US troops in Afghanistan by a third if he becomes president, sending 10,000 more to reinforce the 33,000 already there. He was speaking after the US lost nine soldiers at the weekend in the deadliest attack on its forces in the country since 2005. Obama has promised, soon after becoming president in January, to begin scaling back the 156,000 US troops in Iraq and Kuwait, and to shift the focus to Afghanistan.
obama less transparent on finances than bush/cheney
from new york times: Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have long been among the most outspoken critics of the influence of money in politics. Yet records show that in their presidential campaigns, neither has lived up to their promises to fully disclose the identities of their top money-collectors who bundle millions of dollars in campaign contributions... The spotty disclosure records of Obama and McCain, despite repeated entreaties from watchdog groups, compare unfavorably with that of George W. Bush in his two runs for president. “Obama was saying he was the most transparent, but it wasn’t even on par with Bush and Cheney,” said Alexander Cohen, senior researcher at Public Citizen, a nonpartisan watchdog group that recently sent letters to Obama and McCain with seven other organizations calling for them to disclose more information about their donors.
obama's foreign policy advisers tell us all we need to know
from 9/11 blogger: Instead of media pundits blowing a bunch of hot air about Barack Obama's former pastor, there should be a real discussion and examination of who he has picked as his foreign policy advisors. These choices will have far more of an impact on our country than which church Obama attended or where he stands on the various partisan wedge issues. Among the 13 advisors selected, there are some alarming choices. Especially when you consider Obama's antiwar rhetoric on the stump. The first advisor I will mention is former Indiana Congressman and Democrat, Tim Roemer. He was a member of the 9/11 Commission, and a representative of the war-profiteering weapons makers Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which also happen to be the world's largest defense contractors... Also onboard is Washington insider and notorious cover-up artist Lee Hamilton. It's interesting to note that Hamilton, a Democrat, has been called upon several times to bail Republicans out of huge scandals...
obama claims he's visited 57 states
from obama gaffe: At a campaign event in Beaverton, OR, Obama claimed to have visited 57 U.S. states during the campaign.
worse than mccain
from mike whitney: Every four years, liberals and progressives are expected to set aside their beliefs and stand foursquare behind the Democratic Party candidate. This ritual is invariably performed in the name of party unity. It doesn't matter if the candidate is a smooth-talking politician who's willing to toss his Pastor of 20 years overboard for a few awkward comments, or whether he refuses to defend basic civil liberties like the 4th amendment's right to privacy. All that matters is that there's a big "D" following his name and that he shows he's willing to engage in some meaningless verbal jousting with his Republican opponent. For nearly a year now, the public has been treated to regular doses of Mr. Obama's grandiloquent oratory and his sweeping "Follow me to Shangri-la" promises. These flourishes are usually followed by "clarifications" on the central issues which identify Obama as a center-right conservative with no intention of disrupting the status quo. Political analyst Alexander Cockburn summed it up like this in a recent article on counterpunch:
from consortium news: In a major foreign policy speech in Washington, Senator Obama detailed his "five goals essential to making America safer" if he's elected President. Obama says he will end the war in Iraq, confront al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and rebuild US alliances around the world. Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar discusses how Obama's policies differ from Senator John McCain's, and points to what he thinks are Obama's hits and misses.
flashback: change? i can't f#@%ing believe it!
from kurt nimmo: It appears candidate Obama, if elected, fully intends to recruit young citizens into something he calls a “national security force,” apparently a large paramilitary group “just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the U.S. military. Obama made passing reference to this disturbing idea in a speech delivered in Chicago on July 2. As should be expected, the corporate media, with the exception on the Chicago Tribune, completely ignored the statement and its implications. It was picked up by the real media, that is to say the bloggers, and Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily. “If we’re going to create some kind of national police force as big, powerful and well-funded as our combined U.S. military forces, isn’t this rather a big deal?” asked Farah. “I thought Democrats generally believed the U.S. spent too much on the military. How is it possible their candidate is seeking to create some kind of massive but secret national police force that will be even bigger than the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force put together?”update: obama to establish 'cyber security' initiative if elected & obama wages cyberwar
obama promises 10,000 more troops for afghanistan
from guardian: Barack Obama yesterday pledged to increase US troops in Afghanistan by a third if he becomes president, sending 10,000 more to reinforce the 33,000 already there. He was speaking after the US lost nine soldiers at the weekend in the deadliest attack on its forces in the country since 2005. Obama has promised, soon after becoming president in January, to begin scaling back the 156,000 US troops in Iraq and Kuwait, and to shift the focus to Afghanistan.obama less transparent on finances than bush/cheney
from new york times: Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have long been among the most outspoken critics of the influence of money in politics. Yet records show that in their presidential campaigns, neither has lived up to their promises to fully disclose the identities of their top money-collectors who bundle millions of dollars in campaign contributions... The spotty disclosure records of Obama and McCain, despite repeated entreaties from watchdog groups, compare unfavorably with that of George W. Bush in his two runs for president. “Obama was saying he was the most transparent, but it wasn’t even on par with Bush and Cheney,” said Alexander Cohen, senior researcher at Public Citizen, a nonpartisan watchdog group that recently sent letters to Obama and McCain with seven other organizations calling for them to disclose more information about their donors.
obama's foreign policy advisers tell us all we need to know
from 9/11 blogger: Instead of media pundits blowing a bunch of hot air about Barack Obama's former pastor, there should be a real discussion and examination of who he has picked as his foreign policy advisors. These choices will have far more of an impact on our country than which church Obama attended or where he stands on the various partisan wedge issues. Among the 13 advisors selected, there are some alarming choices. Especially when you consider Obama's antiwar rhetoric on the stump. The first advisor I will mention is former Indiana Congressman and Democrat, Tim Roemer. He was a member of the 9/11 Commission, and a representative of the war-profiteering weapons makers Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which also happen to be the world's largest defense contractors... Also onboard is Washington insider and notorious cover-up artist Lee Hamilton. It's interesting to note that Hamilton, a Democrat, has been called upon several times to bail Republicans out of huge scandals...
obama claims he's visited 57 states
from obama gaffe: At a campaign event in Beaverton, OR, Obama claimed to have visited 57 U.S. states during the campaign.
worse than mccain
from mike whitney: Every four years, liberals and progressives are expected to set aside their beliefs and stand foursquare behind the Democratic Party candidate. This ritual is invariably performed in the name of party unity. It doesn't matter if the candidate is a smooth-talking politician who's willing to toss his Pastor of 20 years overboard for a few awkward comments, or whether he refuses to defend basic civil liberties like the 4th amendment's right to privacy. All that matters is that there's a big "D" following his name and that he shows he's willing to engage in some meaningless verbal jousting with his Republican opponent. For nearly a year now, the public has been treated to regular doses of Mr. Obama's grandiloquent oratory and his sweeping "Follow me to Shangri-la" promises. These flourishes are usually followed by "clarifications" on the central issues which identify Obama as a center-right conservative with no intention of disrupting the status quo. Political analyst Alexander Cockburn summed it up like this in a recent article on counterpunch:"There have plenty of articles recently with headlines such 'Obama’s Lunge to the Right'. I find these odd. Never for one moment has Obama ever struck me as someone anchored, or even loosely moored to the left, or even displaying the slightest appetite for radical notions, aside from a few taglines tossed from the campaign bus."obama's brave new world
from consortium news: In a major foreign policy speech in Washington, Senator Obama detailed his "five goals essential to making America safer" if he's elected President. Obama says he will end the war in Iraq, confront al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and rebuild US alliances around the world. Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar discusses how Obama's policies differ from Senator John McCain's, and points to what he thinks are Obama's hits and misses.
flashback: change? i can't f#@%ing believe it!
spain's supreme court acquits 4 over 3/11 bombings
from afp: Spain's supreme court Thursday overturned the convictions of four of 21 people condemned to prison over the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people in 2004. It also upheld a lower court's decision to acquit one of the alleged masterminds of the Al Qaeda-inspired attacks, Rabei Ousmane Sayed Ahmed, known as "Mohammed the Egyptian". The early morning bombings on four packed commuter trains on March 11, 2004 were the deadliest terror attacks in the West since the September 11, 2001 strikes against the US.more evidence madrid bombing was a false flag op
from kurt nimmo: Note: the attack is no longer considered the direct handiwork of al-Qaeda but is rather an “al-Qaeda inspired attack.” Back in March, 2004, the corporate media resoundingly declared al-Qaeda to be responsible...In other words, according to Spain’s Supreme Court, these people did not belong to a terrorist group, at least not an Islamic terrorist group. Apparently, there was not enough evidence to stay the conviction of “Mohammed the Egyptian,” said to be the ringleader, and his conviction was thrown out as well...
As it turns out, Trashorras and a compatriot, Antonio Toro, were government informants, a fact reported by the New York Times and the Times Online. Toro was recently handed a four-year prison for transporting explosives.
The History Commons on the Cooperative Research website notes the following:
It is revealed that the man accused of supplying the dynamite used in the March 2004 Madrid train bombings was an informant who had the private telephone number of the head of Spain’s Civil Guard bomb squad.In short, Trashorras and Toro are patsies and the evidence indicates the Spanish Civil Guard bomb squad was behind the bombing and a phantom “al-Qaeda inspired” terrorist group was simply a contrivance designed to feed public hysteria.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
american airlines testing anti-missile technology
from wbz-tv: You can almost touch the planes as they roar over Point Shirley in Winthrop on their way to Logan Airport. The passengers were checked for explosives before they got on, however, a growing concern is what could happen away from the airport: Terrorist firing a shoulder launched-missile just outside the airport's property. The light weight weapons are becoming and more available on the black market, as many as 150,000 are believed to be in circulation and can easily bring down a plane.
But now American Airlines is flying with new defensive technology on some of its New York to Los Angeles flights.
Developed in New Hampshire by defense contractor, BAE Systems, the cross country passenger jets are now equipped with a laser deterrent system mounted on the plane's belly. It can identify and misdirect an incoming missile. It's being tested for Homeland Security.
Laurie Nuzzo is the Program manager for BAE Systems in Nashua New Hampshire where technology was developed. "Over several years we have been testing and validating the system. So now it is really great to see us now at this point on an in service passenger aircraft."
illinois gov may send natl guard into chicago to fight crime
from nbc5: As Governor Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday signed a new law that will put in place tougher penalties for selling guns to minors, he also announced he's got a new idea to help combat the violence that Chicago is experience: he's talking to the Illinois State Police and the National Guard to see if they could help.
"Violent crime in the city of Chicago is out of control," Blagojevich said at the bill signing ceremony. "I'm offering resources of the state to the city to work in a constructive way with Mayor Daley to do everything we can possibly do to help stop this violence," said the governor.
The summer of 2008 will be remembered as especially violent. Blagojevich said there's been a child shot nearly every day since June 26. Bringing in state troopers - even National Guard helicopters to high-crime areas - is still very much in the planning stages.
http://video.nbc5.com/player/?id=276548
"Violent crime in the city of Chicago is out of control," Blagojevich said at the bill signing ceremony. "I'm offering resources of the state to the city to work in a constructive way with Mayor Daley to do everything we can possibly do to help stop this violence," said the governor.
The summer of 2008 will be remembered as especially violent. Blagojevich said there's been a child shot nearly every day since June 26. Bringing in state troopers - even National Guard helicopters to high-crime areas - is still very much in the planning stages.
http://video.nbc5.com/player/?id=276548
US & china to hold disaster drills
from reuters: The United States hopes to conduct its first ever humanitarian disaster relief drills with the Chinese military in late 2009 or 2010, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command said on Wednesday.Admiral Timothy Keating said he and Lt. Gen. Zhang Qinsheng, a senior commander of the People's Liberation Army, had agreed to begin "active consideration the formulation of a plan that will lead to humanitarian assistance exercises relatively soon."
The U.S. military, which has long sought to engage China's fast-growing but secretive armed forces to avoid clashes in the Pacific, had held search and rescue and signaling drills with the Chinese, but never full disaster relief exercises, Keating told an audience at the Heritage Foundation.
'operation brimstone' flexes allied force training
from global security: More than 15,000 service members from four countries will participate in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) 08-4 "Operation Brimstone", July 21-31 in North Carolina and off the eastern U.S. coast from Virginia to Florida.JTFEX 08-4 serves as a ready-for-deployment certification event for the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TR CSG) and the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group (IWO ESG). The exercise will also serve as a Joint Task Force Capable Headquarters sustainment event. In addition, JTFEX 08-4 will offer preliminary accreditation for 2nd Fleet's Maritime Headquarters with Maritime Operations Center (MHQ with MOC)). MHQ with MOC is a new approach to command and control for fleet commanders.
"This exercise is a tremendous opportunity to train; not only as the Navy and Marine Corps team, but with our joint and coalition partners as well," said Commander, 2nd Fleet Vice Adm. Marty Chanik.
"JTFEX 08-4 will flex our warfighting capabilities from the operational level through expeditionary strike force and strike group operations with several of our coalition partners – France, Brazil and the United Kingdom."
on this day: jfk jr dies in plane crash
the 'accidental' version...
from finding dulcinea: At 9:30 pm, the Piper Saratoga floated through fog over the Atlantic Ocean, flying from New Jersey to Cape Cod. John F. Kennedy Jr. sat in the pilot’s seat beside his wife, Carolyn, and sister-in-law, Lauren. Kennedy, a new pilot, planned to drop Carolyn off in Martha’s Vineyard and then continue to Hyannis Port, where his cousin, Rory, was getting married. Suddenly, the plane fell off the radar, plummeting 14,000 feet in 14 seconds and crashing into the water just off Martha’s Vineyard. U.S. Coast Guard officials immediately began a rescue search, and in the days that followed, the air force, navy, and civilians scoured the waters in hopes of saving the trio.
The crash, which occurred just 17 months after Kennedy’s cousin, Michael, died in a skiing accident, was one in a series of tragedies that has shaken the Kennedys. A horrified nation watched as Kennedy’s father, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963, followed only five years later by the shooting of President Kennedy’s younger brother, Robert.
Luggage from the crash wreckage surfaced on July 17. As days passed, Americans began to lose hope that any passengers would be found alive. On July 21, divers recovered the three bodies eight miles offshore. Officials reported that the crash was the result of Kennedy’s inexperience as a pilot combined with low-visibility conditions on the night of July 16th. A memorial ceremony for the three was held on July 22, where their remains were scattered at sea from a navy destroyer, the USS Briscoe.
the 'conspiratorial' version...
from what really happened: As first reported by United Press International, John F. Kennedy Jr. on approach to Martha's Vineyard in 8 mile visibility, was in radio contact with the ground, calmly informing them of his intentions to drop off a passenger before proceeding to Hyannis airport. Then, according to ABC News, JFK Jr's plane went into a steep dive, and crashed.
However, even before the wreckage was found, the story being put out in the media began to change. Gone was the previously reported radio conversation a calm JFK Jr. had with ground personnel just before the plane fell out of the sky, replaced by a declaration from the NTSB that JFK Jr. had not used his radio at all as he approached Martha's Vineyard. Gone also was the originally reported 8 mile visibility while the media began to hammer home the claim that Martha's Vineyard had been totally blanketed with a haze so heavy that pilots in the air would have been blind.
No sooner were the various stories put out but they quickly fell apart.
related: local pilot writing book on jfk jr plane crash
from finding dulcinea: At 9:30 pm, the Piper Saratoga floated through fog over the Atlantic Ocean, flying from New Jersey to Cape Cod. John F. Kennedy Jr. sat in the pilot’s seat beside his wife, Carolyn, and sister-in-law, Lauren. Kennedy, a new pilot, planned to drop Carolyn off in Martha’s Vineyard and then continue to Hyannis Port, where his cousin, Rory, was getting married. Suddenly, the plane fell off the radar, plummeting 14,000 feet in 14 seconds and crashing into the water just off Martha’s Vineyard. U.S. Coast Guard officials immediately began a rescue search, and in the days that followed, the air force, navy, and civilians scoured the waters in hopes of saving the trio.The crash, which occurred just 17 months after Kennedy’s cousin, Michael, died in a skiing accident, was one in a series of tragedies that has shaken the Kennedys. A horrified nation watched as Kennedy’s father, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963, followed only five years later by the shooting of President Kennedy’s younger brother, Robert.
Luggage from the crash wreckage surfaced on July 17. As days passed, Americans began to lose hope that any passengers would be found alive. On July 21, divers recovered the three bodies eight miles offshore. Officials reported that the crash was the result of Kennedy’s inexperience as a pilot combined with low-visibility conditions on the night of July 16th. A memorial ceremony for the three was held on July 22, where their remains were scattered at sea from a navy destroyer, the USS Briscoe.
the 'conspiratorial' version...
from what really happened: As first reported by United Press International, John F. Kennedy Jr. on approach to Martha's Vineyard in 8 mile visibility, was in radio contact with the ground, calmly informing them of his intentions to drop off a passenger before proceeding to Hyannis airport. Then, according to ABC News, JFK Jr's plane went into a steep dive, and crashed.However, even before the wreckage was found, the story being put out in the media began to change. Gone was the previously reported radio conversation a calm JFK Jr. had with ground personnel just before the plane fell out of the sky, replaced by a declaration from the NTSB that JFK Jr. had not used his radio at all as he approached Martha's Vineyard. Gone also was the originally reported 8 mile visibility while the media began to hammer home the claim that Martha's Vineyard had been totally blanketed with a haze so heavy that pilots in the air would have been blind.
No sooner were the various stories put out but they quickly fell apart.
related: local pilot writing book on jfk jr plane crash
the manson family, martinsburg & susan atkins
manson documentary scene shot in wv town
from ap: A new documentary about Charles Manson may feature a scene shot in a section of Martinsburg that looks a lot like San Francisco. Pamela Haynes, director of the West Virginia Film Office, says producers provided reference photos of the Haight-Ashbury district, where Manson spent time in the 1960s.
She says it was the spitting image of North Queen Street, where a film crew worked Monday. Sirens Media is producing the film for MSNBC. Faith Gaskins, the re-creation producer, says other scenes have been shot in Jessup and Silver Spring, Md.
The untitled film is expected to air next year, the 40th anniversary of the murders of actress Sharon Tate and six other people by Manson followers. Manson is played by Charlie Davidson, an actor from Silver Spring.
release denied for dying charles manson follower
from ap: Nearly 40 years ago, Susan Atkins was a leading character in one of the most horrific chapters in California history. On Tuesday, the former follower of Charles Manson sought to end her story on her own terms: by being allowed to go home. The state parole board denied that request.
Atkins, convicted in the slayings of actress Sharon Tate and others in 1969, is dying of brain cancer and asked that she be granted compassionate release from prison. She wants to spend her final months surrounded by family and friends, not prison guards. "Susan has served a life sentence," Virginia Seals, Atkins' sister-in-law, said in arguing that the state's longest-serving female inmate be freed. "This is about her death."
In a unanimous decision, the California Board of Parole Hearings denied the request Tuesday. Her lawyer said he has filed a separate motion in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking his client's release, anyway.
from ap: A new documentary about Charles Manson may feature a scene shot in a section of Martinsburg that looks a lot like San Francisco. Pamela Haynes, director of the West Virginia Film Office, says producers provided reference photos of the Haight-Ashbury district, where Manson spent time in the 1960s.She says it was the spitting image of North Queen Street, where a film crew worked Monday. Sirens Media is producing the film for MSNBC. Faith Gaskins, the re-creation producer, says other scenes have been shot in Jessup and Silver Spring, Md.
The untitled film is expected to air next year, the 40th anniversary of the murders of actress Sharon Tate and six other people by Manson followers. Manson is played by Charlie Davidson, an actor from Silver Spring.
release denied for dying charles manson follower
from ap: Nearly 40 years ago, Susan Atkins was a leading character in one of the most horrific chapters in California history. On Tuesday, the former follower of Charles Manson sought to end her story on her own terms: by being allowed to go home. The state parole board denied that request.Atkins, convicted in the slayings of actress Sharon Tate and others in 1969, is dying of brain cancer and asked that she be granted compassionate release from prison. She wants to spend her final months surrounded by family and friends, not prison guards. "Susan has served a life sentence," Virginia Seals, Atkins' sister-in-law, said in arguing that the state's longest-serving female inmate be freed. "This is about her death."
In a unanimous decision, the California Board of Parole Hearings denied the request Tuesday. Her lawyer said he has filed a separate motion in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking his client's release, anyway.
time for some campaignin'
from raw replay: JibJab pokes fun at the presumptive nominees, surrogates and a few commentators in their new cartoon satirizing the 2008 election. The new cartoon is titled “Time for some campaignin’.” This video is from JibJab.com, broadcast July 16, 2008.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
oswald's wallet, frame 313 & the dictabelt
the tale of the two wallets
from george bailey: [A]fter Oswald is arrested at the movie theater he refused to identify himself. After searching him, his wallet is retrieved, containing an ID for Lee H. Oswald and a second ID for the Alek Hidell alias. Here comes the rub. Back at the Tippet murder scene the wallet is now in the hands of Dallas police captain W. R. Westbrook. FBI agent Robert M. Barrett appears and is asked by Westbrook if he knows whom Lee Oswald or Alek Hidell is. Apparently Capt. Westbrook examined the contents. Barrett says no. You would think this would be a damning piece of evidence to put Oswald away for the Tippet murder, but that is not the case. The wallet seems to fade in out of the story. Barrett does not report this incident in his official FBI report but does tell James Hosty when he is writing his book (Assignment: Oswald, 1966) about the details of his visit to the murder scene and being asked about Oswald/Hidell.
'frame 313: the jfk assassination theories'
from hartford courant: This documentary sets out five theories about who killed President Kennedy, including the Warren Commission conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. It doesn't promote a conspiracy-based alternative, though after hearing about evidence assembled by the 1977-79 congressional investigation, plus claims of CIA and/or Mafia involvement from various authorities, it's almost impossible to believe there wasn't more to it than Oswald. There are any number of people who claim knowledge of, or even involvement in, the plot. There's even a guy in prison who says he shot Kennedy from the grassy knoll. I was aware of the gist of these other theories (which all involve the CIA or Mafia or both) but not the details. This is an immensely interesting, informative, provocative movie.
5 things you didn't know: jfk assassination
from askmen.com: It’s not uncommon for death to be good business, but in the case of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, it has become an industry unto itself. And what’s easy to overlook as you click through the phenomenal amount of information concerning the event - such as the locales, films and nonsense conspiracy theories -- is that a man lost his life in a brutal manner. That said, and with the recent discovery of files related to the assassination by the Dallas County D.A.’s office, we felt it was time to uncover five things you didn’t know about the JFK assassination...
what if rfk had survived?
from arthur schlesinger jr: Yet his memory haunts us still - his memory and the sense that things might have been different had he lived. Five books about him have recently been or are soon to be published. His face on the television screen evokes poignant feelings of loss. Radicals remember him as the last hope of traditional politics; liberals mourn a lost leader; some conservatives now even claim him as one of their own.
remastermind: dictaphone pro helps refine jfk recording
from corvallis gazette times: It has been 45 years since Bill McWilliams first became immersed in the continuing investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. “I was right in the middle of it all,” he says. He still is, in his own way. From his home in North Albany, McWilliams works with engineers at the Lawrence Livermore National Loboratory in California, trying to determine the exact number of shots fired in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963.
author sees 'redemptive violence' at work in jfk's death
from abilene reporter news: Catholic peace activist Jim Douglass of Birmingham, Ala., believes in conspiracy theories, including the Big Daddy of them all -- the conspiracy to kill President John F. Kennedy. "There is no mystery as to how and why and by whom he was assassinated," Douglass said. And he's not referring to Lee Harvey Oswald, who he believes was framed as the assassin by the Central Intelligence Agency. Kennedy's enemies were covert operatives in his own government, Douglass alleges. "He was killed by a high-level national security state organized by the CIA," he said. "He was not carrying out what his national security state wanted."
from george bailey: [A]fter Oswald is arrested at the movie theater he refused to identify himself. After searching him, his wallet is retrieved, containing an ID for Lee H. Oswald and a second ID for the Alek Hidell alias. Here comes the rub. Back at the Tippet murder scene the wallet is now in the hands of Dallas police captain W. R. Westbrook. FBI agent Robert M. Barrett appears and is asked by Westbrook if he knows whom Lee Oswald or Alek Hidell is. Apparently Capt. Westbrook examined the contents. Barrett says no. You would think this would be a damning piece of evidence to put Oswald away for the Tippet murder, but that is not the case. The wallet seems to fade in out of the story. Barrett does not report this incident in his official FBI report but does tell James Hosty when he is writing his book (Assignment: Oswald, 1966) about the details of his visit to the murder scene and being asked about Oswald/Hidell.'frame 313: the jfk assassination theories'
from hartford courant: This documentary sets out five theories about who killed President Kennedy, including the Warren Commission conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. It doesn't promote a conspiracy-based alternative, though after hearing about evidence assembled by the 1977-79 congressional investigation, plus claims of CIA and/or Mafia involvement from various authorities, it's almost impossible to believe there wasn't more to it than Oswald. There are any number of people who claim knowledge of, or even involvement in, the plot. There's even a guy in prison who says he shot Kennedy from the grassy knoll. I was aware of the gist of these other theories (which all involve the CIA or Mafia or both) but not the details. This is an immensely interesting, informative, provocative movie.
5 things you didn't know: jfk assassination
from askmen.com: It’s not uncommon for death to be good business, but in the case of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, it has become an industry unto itself. And what’s easy to overlook as you click through the phenomenal amount of information concerning the event - such as the locales, films and nonsense conspiracy theories -- is that a man lost his life in a brutal manner. That said, and with the recent discovery of files related to the assassination by the Dallas County D.A.’s office, we felt it was time to uncover five things you didn’t know about the JFK assassination...1- Woody Harrelson’s father was an informal suspect
2- The public first saw the assassination footage 12 years after the shooting
3- 32 cameras were in Dealey Plaza
4- Before 9/11, it was the longest uninterrupted news event in TV history
5- At least one bystander was wounded
what if rfk had survived?
from arthur schlesinger jr: Yet his memory haunts us still - his memory and the sense that things might have been different had he lived. Five books about him have recently been or are soon to be published. His face on the television screen evokes poignant feelings of loss. Radicals remember him as the last hope of traditional politics; liberals mourn a lost leader; some conservatives now even claim him as one of their own.
remastermind: dictaphone pro helps refine jfk recording
from corvallis gazette times: It has been 45 years since Bill McWilliams first became immersed in the continuing investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. “I was right in the middle of it all,” he says. He still is, in his own way. From his home in North Albany, McWilliams works with engineers at the Lawrence Livermore National Loboratory in California, trying to determine the exact number of shots fired in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963.author sees 'redemptive violence' at work in jfk's death
from abilene reporter news: Catholic peace activist Jim Douglass of Birmingham, Ala., believes in conspiracy theories, including the Big Daddy of them all -- the conspiracy to kill President John F. Kennedy. "There is no mystery as to how and why and by whom he was assassinated," Douglass said. And he's not referring to Lee Harvey Oswald, who he believes was framed as the assassin by the Central Intelligence Agency. Kennedy's enemies were covert operatives in his own government, Douglass alleges. "He was killed by a high-level national security state organized by the CIA," he said. "He was not carrying out what his national security state wanted."
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