gravel: why hillary scares me

from huffington post: During one of the debates I mentioned that my fellow Democratic candidates scare me. Hillary's speech last week to the Take Back America conference gives me yet another reason to be afraid.

In an indignant voice she decried the Bush administration's "stunning record of secrecy and corruption, of cronyism run amok. . . It is everything our founders were afraid of, everything our Constitution was designed to prevent." Actually, our Constitution grants Congress the power to prevent these ills but Hillary and her colleagues weren't up to the task.

Our founders' legacy did not stop Hillary from voting for the Patriot Act and then supporting its renewal in 2006 despite revelations that the government was using it to infringe on the very liberties that our founders held sacred. Where was her commitment to our founders when she voted to gut our habeas corpus protections?

As for cronyism -- Hillary has repeatedly authorized billions that the Pentagon gave in no-bid contracts to Halliburton. Even though the Democrats have been in control of Congress for months, they still haven't summoned Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld and the other usual suspects to account for the missing millions in reconstruction funding.

ron paul on the rogers report

from blacklisted news/rogue government: Lee Rogers interviews Congressman and Presidential candidate Ron Paul about a myriad of issues in this interview. Lee discusses the following topics with Dr. Paul in this half hour interview. (from june 22, 2007)

here are the links for the rest of the interview:
part 2, part 3 & part 4

update1: ron paul praises convicted tax evaders
from wcax/ap: New Hampshire's convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown have gained a new supporter: presidential hopeful Ron Paul.

In an interview with RogueGovernment.com, the Texas congressman compares the Browns to Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Junior. He says the Browns are suffering like those leaders.

The Browns are holed up in their Plainfield (New Hampshire) home and have threatened violence against federal officials if marshals come to arrest them. They were convicted of an elaborate scheme to hide millions of dollars in income. Their protest has become a rallying cry for anti-tax activists and militia members.

update2: ron paul denies report he praised the browns

from boston globe: Texas Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul said he did not compare a New Hampshire couple who refuses to pay taxes with Gandhi.

On Fox News Channel today, Paul said he doesn't know much about the case of Ed and Elaine Brown on Plainfield, N.H. but that he, like Ghandi, doesn't believe in violence to protest wrongs and it has appeared that the Browns have chosen another path.

His comments on Fox News were consistent with what he said in an interview with the Globe during his first visit to New Hampshire in the winter.

The Browns are currently holed up in their residence surrounded by US Marshalls. They said they will either die or go free, but say they will not pay their taxes because they believe their are unconstitutional.

The Associated Press put up a report on from rougegovernment.com (ed: why, when it comes to bloggers, can't major news outlets check the source? if they even cite them at all, it's mangled or misspelled. it's ROGUE, not ROUGE!) that quoted Paul as saying the Browns were like Gandhi.

so, i went back and watched part1 of the rogers report interview... and i have to concede that ron paul seems to compare the browns to mlk & gandhi. we could argue about the semantics of it, but just watch the video and decide for yourself...

outside the box #107

here is the latest episode of "outside the box," hosted by alex ansary.
it was originally broadcast by portland community media on june 21, 2007.

from alex ansary: After three days at the lifesong wilderness school, I share some information that I learned. To learn more about this particular place and what you can learn, go to lifesong adventures

whitman: giuliani more image than safety

from wnbc: Former Secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency Christine Todd Whitman said Thursday that the Giuliani administration appeared to be more concerned with its image than the safety and speedy response of EPA employees in the wake of the 2001 anthrax scare.

Her comments came in an interview with WNBC.com's Brian Thompson at her Hunterdon County farm, where the former New Jersey governor also addressed criticism of the EPA's handling of health concerns at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Her criticism of the Giuliani administration centered on the EPA's inspection of 30 Rockefeller Center after a letter containing anthrax arrived at the NBC building nearly six years ago.

While Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and then-New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik were taking command of the scene, Whitman said the city would not allow the EPA inspectors to be seen entering 30 Rock in their hazmat suits. Instead, the city wanted a tent to be set up where they first could change into the gear hidden from public view.

watch the 10min interview here...

'sicko' leaves top democrats ill at ease

from la times: With the release of Michael Moore's "Sicko," a movie once again is adding sizzle to an issue that's a high priority for liberal politicians — this time comprehensive health insurance for all. But unlike Al Gore's film on global warming, which helped rally support on an equally controversial problem, "Sicko" is creating an awkward situation for the leading Democratic presidential candidates.

everyone we fight in iraq is now 'al-qaida'

(remember: 'al-qaida' literally means 'the database'. it was the name of the computer file of the mujahideen who were funded & trained by the cia to fight the russians. do you fucking get it, yet? even if all this terrorism bullshit is real, who do we have to blame?)

from salon: Josh Marshall publishes an e-mail from a reader who identifies what is one of the most astonishing instances of mindless, pro-government "reporting" yet:

It's a curious thing that, over the past 10 - 12 days, the news from Iraq refers to the combatants there as "al-Qaida" fighters. When did that happen?

Until a few days ago, the combatants in Iraq were "insurgents" or they were referred to as "Sunni" or "Shia'a" fighters in the Iraq Civil War. Suddenly, without evidence, without proof, without any semblance of fact, the US military command is referring to these combatants as "al-Qaida".

Welcome to the latest in Iraq propaganda.

cocaine & crack: the new epidemic

from schlessinger video: Cocaine is a highly addictive and widely abused stimulant. In 'Cocaine & Crack' (1991), students delve into the history of cocaine and examine this dangerous drug's impact on the individual and society as a whole.

With vivid animations and gritty interviews, students learn harsh facts about the effects of using both the powder and crystal form of cocaine.

This program explores the desperate cycle of tolerance, physical dependence and addiction that many abusers face and showcases the physical and psychological damage that occurs as cocaine changes the brain's chemistry.

media monarchy episode030

here is the latest podcast from media monarchy...
episode030 - june 22, 2007 download/stream/subscribe

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 monday at 4pm pacific/7pm eastern...

plus, you can always get podcasts of previous episodes thanks to radio4all.net

'bring our brothers home'

and now for something i never thought i'd write:
here's the new 'protest' song from mc hammer!

i have to put 'protest' in quotes because he says that he voted for bush, he believes the official 9/11 conspiracy theory & he loves the war on terror... but, at least, he says it's time bring the troops home from iraq.

well, it's a start!

cia to release details on decades of secrets

from reuters: The Central Intelligence Agency is declassifying hundreds of pages of documents on secret operations from over three decades ago, CIA Director Michael Hayden said.

The so-called "Family Jewels" document overseas assassination attempts, domestic spying, kidnapping and infiltration of leftist groups from the 1950s to the 1970s, according to a summary posted on the Web site of the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

The documents to be released next week also include accounts of break-ins and theft, surveillance of U.S. journalists, the agency's opening of private mail to and from China and the Soviet Union, and "behavior modification" experiments on "unwitting" U.S. civilians.

"Much of it has been in the press before, and most of it is unflattering, but it's the CIA's history," Hayden said in a speech on Thursday to the American Foreign Relations Conference.

"This is about telling the American people what we have done in their name," Hayden said.

The CIA chief said the documents provide a glimpse of "a very different time and a very difference agency."

Hayden said 147 documents, 11,000 pages of analysis done between 1953 and 1973, would be available on the CIA's Web site.

news on the march

pentagon funds gay bombs & armed sharks
from abc: Creating armor that renders a soldier invisible. Stimulating the brain to suppress sleep for days. Arming sharks with chemical implants and cameras to work as spies. This year the Pentagon will spend $78 billion - about half of all government research and development dollars - on a variety of projects, according to the American Association for the Advancement for Science.


special ops forces conducting activities on US soil
from blacklisted news/examiner: The U.S. military command in charge of protecting the homeland asked the Pentagon earlier this year for a contingent of special operations officers to help with domestic anti-terrorism missions. Military sources told The Examiner that U.S. Northern Command, established at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado in 2002, requested its own special operations command similar to ones assigned to overseas war-fighting commands, such as U.S. Central Command.


did bush's grandfather steal geronimo's skull?
from abc: It has all the ingredients for the ultimate conspiracy theory. Take President Bush and his father, throw in a legendary Apache chief, strange rituals performed in the dead of night in a building named the Tomb, grave robbing, and a secret society of elite students called Skull and Bones.
related: skeletons in the bush family cupboard


oregon to participate in dirty bomb response drill
from salem news: The Oregon Public Health Division will participate next week with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Idaho Bureau of Laboratories in a full-scale public health preparedness exercise to evaluate the region’s response should an actual terrorism event occur.
(ed: this 'article' is the verbatim press release from oregon public health division)


rudy's campaign chair busted for coke
from the stump: Meet Thomas Ravenel. He's South Carolina's Treasurer, a rising political star, the state chairman of Rudolf Giuliani's campaign for president (until yesterday), and friendly neighborhood coke distributor. We're not talking soda, either. What is it with Giuliani's friends? First Bernard Kerik, now Ravenel. The silver lining to all of this, however, is that we now have a brilliant new simile to add to the English vernacular: He's like a coke fiend in the treasurer's office!


judge orders fbi to turn over 1000s of patriot act abuse docs
from blacklisted news/wired: Just one day after a news that an internal audit found that FBI agents abused a Patriot Act power more than 1000 times, a federal judge ordered the agency Friday to begin turning over thousands of pages of documents related to the agency's use of a powerful, but extremely secretive investigative tool that can pry into telephone and internet records.

police seize huge cache of explosives

but say it's not enough "for a terrorist action"
from winter patriot: A Colorado man is free on $50,000 bond after a police search of his house discovered a cache of weapons, explosives and volatile chemicals.

Ronald Swerlein of Longmont, CO, attracted the attention of his neighbors by setting off explosions in his garage. Police had been seeking tips after several small homemade explosives were found in a local parking lot nearly three weeks ago.

A police search of the Swerlein home turned up hundreds of volatile chemicals and other weapons, as well as books about bomb-making and revenge.

Swerlein says he's been experimenting with various chemicals to use as rocket fuel.

According to reports from Colorado, police confiscated nitroglycerin, ammonium nitrate, PETN, thermite, and sodium azide, none of which are used as rocket fuels. They also discovered laboratory-grade glassware worth thousands of dollars.

Ammonium nitrate is the basic ingredient in so-called fertilizer bombs; PETN is an ingredient in plastic explosives; sodium azide produces a toxic gas when it comes into contact with metal; and nitroglycerin is a well-known (and extremely unstable) liquid explosive. Thermite, as most 9/11 researchers know, can be used to cut steel and may have been involved in the demolition of the three World Trade Center buildings which disintegrated on September 11, 2001.

Police detonated the nitroglycerin in Swerlein's driveway.

Longmont Police Sgt. Tim Lewis said the police had seized "cartloads of weapons ... more than I have ever seen in our armory."

Despite the size of the cache and the volatility of the chemicals involved, Sgt. Lewis told reporters that Swerlein had not created enough chemical explosives “for a terrorist action,” although he did have enough to damage his home and others in his neighborhood.

Sgt. Lewis also said, "This investigation is still in its infancy. We're still trying to determine what his intent was."

Considering that the perpetrators of the most extravagant terrorist attack ever committed on American soil were allegedly armed only with box-cutters, it is incomprehensible that a cache of weapons and explosives larger than the Longmont police have in their armory could be described as insufficient for a terrorist action.

How much nitroglycerin does one need to commit an act of terrorism? Or does that depend on one's religion or the color of one's skin?

And why has this case attracted so little national attention? Or does that depend on religion and skin color, too?

Flashback: Terror's Trivial When It's Not Muslims

bush pledges more free money to israel

from bring it on!: Israel currently receives $2.4 billion annually in military aid. This is in addition to the dozens of million dollar loans given to Israel of which most have been forgiven. Since 1973, Israel has cost the United States about $1.6 trillion. If divided by today’s population, that is more than $5,700 for every man, woman and child in Israel, yet Israel is listed as one of the top twenty wealthiest nations.

Sure would be nice if our own government could hand every man woman and child in the United States $5,700. Nope, instead we get some bullshit tax break from Bush amounting to a couple hundred bucks.

Someone please explain to me why Israel needs more U.S. foreign aid?

PS: U.S. law prohibits the President from providing military aid to any country that “engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights”. Under the 1967 US Arms Export Control Act, it is illegal to use U.S. weapons to carry out extra-judicial killings. This act stipulates that weapons be sold to “friendly countries solely for internal security and legitimate defense.” Since September 2000, the Israeli army has used U.S. made attack helicopters, tanks and F-16 missiles to target Palestinian civilians, homes, forces and buildings. These same weapons were used to invade Lebanon last summer.

obl may have arranged family's US exit: fbi docs

from global research: Osama bin Laden may have chartered a plane that carried his family members and Saudi nationals out of the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks, said FBI documents released Wednesday.

The papers, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, were made public by Judicial Watch, a Washington-based group that investigates government corruption.

One FBI document referred to a Ryan Air 727 airplane that departed Los Angeles International Airport on September 19, 2001, and was said to have carried Saudi nationals out of the United States.

"The plane was chartered either by the Saudi Arabian royal family or Osama bin Laden," according to the document, which was among 224 pages posted online.

ron paul: pro-war gop can't win

from raw story: On Tuesday, Ron Paul, a 10-term congressman from Texas and a Republican Presidential candidate, expressed serious doubts about the chances of a GOP victory in the 2008 Presidential race if the nominee is a 'pro-war' hawk.

"I don't see how any Republican candidate can possibly win next year as being proponents of war and with the intention of spreading war into Iran," he told MSNBC News. "And it looks like it's going to happen if we don't have a new foreign policy.

Instead of divisiveness, Paul believes that the G.O.P must expand its reach. "The party has to be more open and invite others to come in. If they deal with their so-called 'base,' the base is shrinking."

Paul, a constitutional conservative who favors low taxes, small government and a non-interventionist foreign policy, trails Republican front runner Rudy Giuliani by 27 points in some polls. But he cautioned that the race is far from over. "Just think of how [Fred] Thompson coming into the race will change things in the Republican Party," he said. "There's further dilution of the pro-war vote."

The Congressman is hoping that his internet popularity could propel him into contention. And changes in the election format might not hurt either. "We're planning on having the election on the internet and then on C-SPAN," he joked. "And we're going to do quite well."

The following video is from MSNBC News, broadcast on June 19.

jersey girls demand release of cia 9/11 report

from raw story: A group composed of widows of 9/11 victims are demanding the release of a key CIA report.

"The report, prepared by the CIA's inspector general, is the only major 9/11 government review that has still not been made publicly available," Michael Isikoff reported in January. "When it was completed in August 2005, Newsweek and other publications reported that it contained sharp criticisms of former CIA director George Tenet and other top agency officials for failing to address the threat posed by Al Qaeda, as well as other mistakes that might have prevented the attacks."

In a statement obtained by Raw Story, September 11th Advocates Patty Casazza, Monica Gabrielle, Mindy Kleinberg, and Lorie Van Auken write:

"Almost six years have passed since the attacks of September 11, 2001, yet critical information continues to be withheld from the American public regarding the attacks.

In 2002, after reviewing the evidence produced by the Joint Inquiry of Congress into the 9/11 Attacks, both Republican and Democratic Congressmen agreed that a CIA Inspector General review into individual responsibility was necessary... Faced with the facts, these Congressmen understood that accountability in the Intelligence Community was crucial.

Their intent was that a final declassified CIA/IG report be released to the public and where deemed appropriate by the report, for personnel at all levels to be held accountable for any omission, commission, or failure to meet professional standards in regard to the events of September 11, 2001. To date, despite enormous efforts from the Senate Intelligence Committee, nothing has happened."

According to 9/11Truth.org, a petition entitled "The Public's Right to Know - Declassification and Release of Documents" garnered over 15,000 signatures and was "hand delivered...to lawmakers in Washington, DC."

ed & elaine brown's press conference

from blacklisted news/abc: Calling the federal agents surrounding his fortified compound "guns for hire," a New Hampshire man convicted of tax evasion vowed today that he and his wife would fight U.S. marshals to the death if they tried to capture them.

"Do not under any circumstances make any attempt on this land. We will not accept any tomfoolery by any criminal element, be it federal, state or local," said Ed Brown in a press conference from the stoop of his concrete-clad home in Plainfield, N.H. "We either walk out of here free or we die."

Brown and his wife, Elaine, were sentenced in absentia in April to serve 63 months in prison for failing to pay more than $1 million in income tax.

The couple, however, insists that there is no law that requires citizens to pay income tax.

"There is no law. We looked and looked," Brown told the press.

Brown and his supporters, including Randy Weaver, leader of the 1992 standoff with ATF agents at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, told the press that the government has unlawfully tricked people into believing they have to pay income tax, knowing full well that such a law would be unconstitutional.

"We will defend it to the death. This is 1776 all over again. You cannot tax someone's labor because that is slavery," Brown said.

Carrying a pistol in his waistband, Brown also insisted that he could not receive a fair trial in a federal court because "the court system falls under freemasonry."

"There [are] no longer any lawful courts. The Freemasons have taken over our nation. … [Freemasons want] to take over our nation and all nations on the planet," Brown said.

Weaver, whose son was killed by federal agents and who later received a $100,000 settlement from the government, said he was there to support the Browns.

"I'd rather die on my feet right here than die on my knees under this de facto government," he said. "Bring it on."

michael moore: 9/11 could be inside job

from jones report: Academy Award winner Michael Moore answered questions on 9/11 truth during a sneak peak of his new documentary, SiCKO, in New York . Our reporters were initially avoided by Moore, but he subsequently decided to approach We Are Change & Infowars reporters for a discussion.

Moore brought up his lingering questions on 9/11, which are a clear departure from the 'government negligence' picture he painted in his film Fahrenheit 9/11, released some three years ago.

Moore told reporters, "I've had a number of firefighters tell me over the years and since Fahrenheit 9/11 that they heard these explosions-- that they believe there's MUCH more to the story than we've been told. I don't think the official investigations have told us the complete truth-- they haven't even told us half the truth."



Michael Moore brought up the blackout of video at the site of the alleged Pentagon plane crash on his own, appearing quite willing to discuss subjects that so-called left gatekeepers have previously refused to raise questions about.

"I've filmed there before down at the Pentagon-- before 9/11-- there's got to be at least 100 cameras, ringing that building, in the trees, everywhere. They've got that plane coming in with 100 angles. How come with haven't seen the straight-- I'm not talking about stop-action photos, I'm talking about the video. I want to see the video; I want to see 100 videos that exist of this," Moore said.

He went on to imply the implausibility of a pilot executing the flight pattern of the flight that allegedly hit the Pentagon.

"Why don't they want us to see that plane coming into the building? Because, if you know anything about flying a plane, when you're going 500 miles per hour, if you're off by that much, you're in the river. So, they hit a building that's only 5 stories high...[unclear] that expertly. I believe that there will be answers in that video tape and we should demand that that tape is released."

Michael Moore was not vague or bashful in discussing 9/11 truth-- rather, he demanded a "new investigation before we get too far away from this-- to find out the whole truth."

"And I intend, in my own way, to find some answers," Moore added. "Thank you for doing whatever you're doing."

Amy Goodman, who was also at the premiere, cowered from a question that brought up the fact that she witnessed WTC Building 7 collapse-- she was seen on video during news coverage of the apparent demolition. She declined even a brief response, stating that an interview was about to begin.

Moore's most recent comments on 9/11 are a far cry from statements he made to Alex Jones during the 2004 RNC convention when he told Jones, tongue-in-cheek, that he didn't report on NORAD standing down because "it would be un-American."

This is a huge development in public figures going public with 9/11 questions-- particularly on the part of 'liberals' and others who identify with the 'left.' Despite overwhelming discontent with the Bush Administration, many such voices dismiss the importance of investigating 9/11 or simply decline to discuss any outstanding questions or relevant evidence. Noam Chomsky, for one, suggested that it "wouldn't matter" even if 9/11 had been hatched from a government plot.

Will the mainstream media continue to ignore the fact that the official story on 9/11 is all but dead as more and more figures are coming forth to demand the truth?

henry rollins 'tees off' on halliburton-style privatization

from raw story: Punk singer-songwriter Henry Rollins took on Iraq War profiteers on his Independent Film Channel show this Saturday.

"The invasion and occupation of Iraq and the resulting nightmare we are enduring are for some a depressing, ongoing catastrophe with no end in sight," he said.

"Yet for another group, it is the best thing that could ever happen. ... The corporations that provide services to the military are making more money in this time than ever before. Troop withdrawal is not in their interest."

"Why not bring that overpriced roadshow here to America and treat the citizens to a little of that privatized efficiency?" Rollins went on.

"I'm sure KBR knows what to do with my freedom a lot better than I do. Might as well privatize that, too. Keep it up, Cheney. All you're doing is emboldening me."

The following video is from IFC's Henry Rollins Show, broadcast on June 15.

press corps evacuated from white house building

from raw story: A building close to the White House was evacuated says a breaking news report at the Associated Press.

"The evacuated building was the White House conference center, which is around the corner," AP said of the facility cleared due to a 'bomb scare.' "The conference center temporarily houses the White House press corp during a renovation in the West wing."

The AP report noted that the visit to Washington of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resulted in stepped up security.

According to CNN, a dog in the K-9 units "smelled something suspicious" on an Israeli vehicle.

"There's no sign of any major problems," said a CNN correspondent reporting from on-the-scene, "just a sense of caution."

clintons sell their war, oil & pharma stocks for millions

from ap: Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton liquidated the contents of their blind trust upon learning it contained investments of $5 million to $25 million that could pose conflicts of interest or prove to be embarrassing to her presidential campaign.

The blind trust and a bank account valued in the same range place the Clinton's total wealth at between $10 million and $50 million.

The Clintons had to disclose the contents of the blind trust in April under instructions from the Office of Government Ethics and sold the assets in May, according to a disclosure form filed Friday. The Clintons have had a blind trust continuously since 1993 and had no control over its transactions.

Over time, the Clintons' blind trust grew significantly and included stock holdings in oil and drug companies, military contractors and Wal-Mart...

The blind trust held stock in pharmaceutical companies, including $250,000-$500,000 in Biogen Idec and Johnson & Johnson and $100,000- $250,000 in Amgen, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline. It also invested in General Electric and Raytheon, two leading defense contractors. The trust had a varied portfolio, with investments in numerous other companies, including Exxon Mobil, BP Amoco, Walt Disney and eBay.

tuning in ron paul

from pittsburgh tribune: In his column "Tolerable tax season could be fleeting", Jack Markowitz wrote, "Among the horde of Democrats and Republicans running for president, not a single one espouses what you'd think would be a terrific idea: killing the income tax."

But one candidate has proposed exactly that.

Ron Paul, the Republican congressman and presidential candidate (who grew up in Pittsburgh,) has introduced an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would repeal the 16th Amendment, which authorizes the income tax. Three years after passage of the amendment, the federal government would cease taxing personal incomes, estates and gifts.

Paul is the only candidate of either major party who really believes in the limited government intended by this country's Founders.

It's unfortunate that his views get so little publicity that even someone as knowledgeable as Mr. Markowitz is unaware of them.

ron paul on fox news (june 16, 2007)

lewis lapham of harper's magazine on 9/11

from 9/11 blogger: On Sunday June 3, Lewis Lapham was featured on a 3-hour program on C-SPAN's "In Depth" program. The program focused on Lapham's intellectual life and times, and took calls from the live C-SPAN viewership. During the course of taking calls, one caller asked about Lapham's views on 9/11 as being something other than the Official Conspiracy Theory. Here is what Lapham had to say:

"As to the question of what happened at 9/11, I am reading at the moment a book by a man named David Griffin, on the debunking of the 9/11 debunking, and he raises a number of sharp questions... which I think deserve further questioning and investigation, but I am not as yet prepared to think that the bringing down of the... trade towers was the work of the Bush administration."

Harper's magazine reflects the current political and social thinking of a segment of America's elite, namely, a segment that reads. It is also a magazine for the reading American public that consider themselves "progressives" generally. Harper's was one of the first publications to print a long critical essay about the 9/11 Commission's Final Report, that still resonates today; Whitewash as public service by Benjamin DeMott.

When a serious thinker, writer, and shaper of the American cultural soul is reading David Ray Griffin, I would have to say that progressives and Leftists who will have no truck with questions about 9/11 need to pause and reflect on this. Knee-jerk time is over. It's time to pick up Griffin's books and become familiar with them, and become familiar with the serious aspects of 9/11 skepticism. Lapham is reading Griffin. After Gore Vidal's endorsement of The New Pearl Harbor, an open-minded Liberal really has no excuse not to give 9/11 skeptics like Griffin a fair shake anymore. This means actually reading the books, not just snarking at them.

See the stream from the C-SPAN archive (approx. 53 minute mark)

Big tip of the hat to "alexjonesfan" who posted a condensed version of this news item at The Randi Rhodes Message Board. Take a minute to write to Harper's and ask Lapham to review Griffin's book: letters(at)harpers.org

also, here is a link to the pertinent audio from alexjonesfan.com

outside the box #106

here is the latest episode of "outside the box," hosted by alex ansary.
it was originally broadcast by portland community media on june 14, 2007.

from alex ansary: Tonight I spoke with a young local man whose documentary is kicking off shortly at the Hollywood Theater in NE Portland. His film, The Money Fix, aims to educate viewers not only about the problems created by central banks and the Federal Reserve, but to provide a different way of looking at money (which is energy)and some suggestions on how to relocalize it. Later I cover the recent news pertaining to the public admissions that our government is continuing to fund the 'enemies of our enemies' in Iraq and throughout the middle east.


here is a bonus video where Alex Ansary interviews some of the people manning the tables, show presenters and attendees at the Poison Planet Conference.

china: shocking child slavery situation

from cryptogon: Mostly shocking because this is where the U.S. is headed. This kind of thing, and much worse, is standard operating procedure in China.

The factory operators must have fallen behind in bribe payments to the local party bosses. Not to worry. The diabolical Chinese regime can be seen as rescuing the children from hell.

from telegraph: Up to a thousand children were sold into a brutal life of slave work in a labour “prison” in China, police have revealed as the shocking racket was exposed today.

The victims endured maiming and brutality in primitive brick kilns, Chinese media have reported amid an expanding scandal about official neglect.

The owners ran the prison-like kilns with fierce dogs and thugs who beat the children at will, state television said. One accidentally killed a child with a shovel and buried the body at night, it said.

An army of 35,000 police in central China had so far rescued 217 people, including 29 children, the official China Daily reported today.

But state television said many more may be trapped, making bricks for little or no pay in brutal conditions in Shanxi and Henan provinces.

As many as 120 suspects had been detained.

'corporations in the classroom'

from global tv/google video: Marketing to school age students is now a 2 billion dollar industry. The way corporate sponsors are stepping up to the plate, offering promotions, sponsorships and even free curriculum there is no stopping the flow of advertising in covert forms. Or is there?

The problem is there are few or no regulations in place to protect our children from corporate marketing campaigns that look just like classroom lessons. And schools need playgrounds and gym equipment that taxes do not seem to pay for any longer.

Enter new corporate champions. First come sponsorships, then come naming rights and next come learning materials in the classrooms! Watch as donations become classroom resources and product placement opportunities. The good news is some school districts are fighting back and succeeding in keeping the classrooms a safe haven from the marketing hype.

media monarchy episode029

here is the latest podcast from media monarchy...
episode029 - june 15, 2007 download/stream/subscribe

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 monday at 4pm pacific/7pm eastern...

plus, you can always get podcasts of previous episodes thanks to radio4all.net

banksters plan to build tower at ground zero

from new york times: JPMorgan Chase announced today that it has struck a deal to build a skyscraper near ground zero and move its investment banking headquarters from Midtown.

The company will pay $290 million to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for development rights to the site and will get a 92-year lease starting in July, 2008. The company will also pay a nearby Greek Orthodox church $10 million for additional development rights.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, in making the announcement today, said the company’s “commitment to locate its investment banking headquarters at the World Trade Center represents another step forward in revitalizing ground zero and ensuring that New York remains the financial capital of the world.”

The bank’ $2 billion, 42-story, 1.3 million-square-foot tower is set to rise at the corner of Greenwich and Cedar Streets, the site of the soon-to-be demolished former Deutsche Bank building. The building will include six trading floors totaling 360,000 square feet.

Chase plans to move thousands of executives from its Midtown offices at 277 Park Avenue to Lower Manhattan, in what is widely regarded as a lift for the downtown district. It will keep its world headquarters at 270 Park Avenue.

Citing the company’s 200-year-old roots in lower Manhattan, James Dimon, Chase’s chairman said, “We’re going back home; we feel good about it.”

fbi terror watch list 'out of control'

from abc: A terrorist watch list compiled by the FBI has apparently swelled to include more than half a million names.

Privacy and civil liberties advocates say the list is growing uncontrollably, threatening its usefulness in the war on terror. The bureau says the number of names on its terrorist watch list is classified.

A portion of the FBI's unclassified 2008 budget request posted to the Department of Justice Web site, however, refers to "the entire watch list of 509,000 names," which is utilized by its Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force.

A spokesman for the interagency National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), which maintains the government's list of all suspected terrorists with links to international organizations, said they had 465,000 names covering 350,000 individuals. Many names are different versions of the same identity -- "Usama bin Laden" and "Osama bin Laden" for the al Qaeda chief, for example.

In addition to the NCTC list, the FBI keeps a list of U.S. persons who are believed to be domestic terrorists -- abortion clinic bombers, for example, or firebombing environmental extremists, who have no known tie to an international terrorist group.

Combined, the NCTC and FBI compendia comprise the watch list used by federal security screening personnel on the lookout for terrorists.

While the NCTC has made no secret of its terrorist tally, the FBI has consistently declined to tell the public how many names are on its list. Because the number is classified, an FBI spokesman told the Blotter on ABCNews.com, he was unable to comment for this story.

"It grows seemingly without control or limitation," said ACLU senior legislative counsel Tim Sparapani of the terrorism watch list. Sparapani called the 509,000 figure "stunning."

"If we have 509,000 names on that list, the watch list is virtually useless," he told ABC News. "You'll be capturing innocent individuals with no connection to crime or terror."

U.S. lawmakers and their spouses have been detained because their names were on the watch list. Reporters who have reviewed versions of the list found it included the names of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, at the time he was alive but in custody in Iraq; imprisoned al Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaoui; and 14 of the 19 Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers, all of whom perished in the attacks.

"There's a reason the FBI has a '10 Most Wanted' list, right? We need to focus the government's efforts on the greatest threats. When the watch list grows to this level, it's useless as an anti-terror tool," Sparapani said.

ron paul on the colbert report

here is another great interview with ron paul on the colbert report from june 13, 2007.

from raw story: Paul explained that he is against wars because they only increase government power and he is against every form of big government. As Colbert read out a list, Paul raised his hand higher and higher to agree he would abolish the Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Energy, the IRS, FEMA, the UN, NATO, the Interstate Commerce Commission, NAFTA, the WTO -- and even UNICEF, though not so much, "It wouldn't be one of my targets," he said.

At The Largest Minority, Manila Ryce blogs, "Stephen gave Republican candidate Ron Paul credit where credit is due, pointing out the similarities libertarians have with liberals, in opposing the war and The Patriot Act."

"And though Colbert was respectful, he did not let Paul get away as easily as fellow liberals Stewart and Maher have," Ryce continues. "Instead, he pointed out the differences between Paul’s far-right ideology and that held by the left. Stephen’s audience obviously wanted to cheer for Paul, but seemed thoroughly confused after they realized that the enemy of your enemy isn’t always your friend."

'good copy bad copy'

from rosforth: Good Copy Bad Copy is a terrific new documentary about copyright and culture, directed by Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen, and Henrik Moltke. It features interviews with Danger Mouse, Girl Talk, Siva Vaidhyanathan, Lawrence Lessig, and many others with various perspectives on copyright.

telecommunication breakdown

riaa uses local cops in oregon raid
from slashdot: Fake cops employed by the RIAA started acting like real police officers quite a while ago — one of the earliest examples unfolded in Los Angeles in 2004. From a distance, the bust, 'looked like classic LAPD, DEA or FBI work, right down to the black "raid" vests the unit members wore,' said the LA Weekly. That their yellow stenciled lettering read 'RIAA' instead of something from an official law-enforcement agency, 'was lost on 55-year-old parking-lot attendant Ceasar Borrayo.' But it's also SOP for the RIAA to wield genuine officers paid for entirely from citizen taxes as copyright cops. Police were used in an RIAA-inspired raid at two flea markets in Beaverton, Oregon. 'Sgt. Paul Wandell, Beaverton police spokesman, said officers seized more than 50,000 items worth about $758,000,' says The Oregonian. But this is merely the tiny tip of an iceberg of absolutely staggering dimensions, an example of the extent coming in a GrayZone report slugged RIAA Anti-Piracy Seizure Information.

at&t teams up with the riaa & mpaa to fight piracy
from zero paid: It seems AT&T Inc is joining forces with the MPAA and RIAA to keep pirated content off its internet network, making it the first ISP to do so, and perhaps heralding a new age where providers begin to police the content shared on their networks.

Many ISPs have been the frequent subject of criticism for not doing more to crack down on customers who download and shared pirated content illegally. They have, in the past, required court orders to single out customers whose IP addresses have been under scrutiny by the MPAA or the RIAA, never being proactive in this pursuit over fears of angering customers who could easily switch carriers.

For the first time an ISP seems to not care, actually joining forces with the MPAA and the RIAA "...to develop anti-piracy technology that would target the most frequent offenders, said James W. Cicconi, an AT&T senior vice president."

The obvious reason would seem to be that it's attempting to free up bandwidth resources, as P2P and file-sharing programs make up something like 2/3 of network traffic on average but, it seems that the real reason is to actually help defend its fledgling new cable TV service.

It recently launched a new cable TV service called U-verse in a handful of cities and neighborhoods across the country, and apparently has come to the realization that it too is now a content provider and so must take a stand against customers who would try to get content for free using its internet network.

'uncivil liberties'

from mercer films: The thriller Uncivil Liberties follows a homeland security agent who begins to question how effective her role in the war on terror has been. Her story contrasts with a group of terrorists who are planning to assassinate her, but are themselves having qualms about their mission.

china threatens war escalation over bush handshake

from paul joseph watson: In an astounding development that has completely failed to register any attention amongst mainstream U.S. media, China promised to escalate preparations for war in advance of a potential conflict, after President Bush shook hands with a Taiwanese government official yesterday.

Bush shook hands and met with Taiwan's representative to the United States, Joseph Wu, on Tuesday, during a commemoration for victims of Communism in Washington DC.

In a headline story that aired at 10pm Shanghai time Wednesday night on the Hong Kong based PHTV news channel, Chinese government leaders threatened to plan new war games and heighten military readiness in anticipation of any attempt by the U.S. to defend Taiwan should a Chinese invasion occur, or simply if Taiwan declares its independence.

army admits dumping chemical weapons at sea

from deep sea news: It is no secret that the U.S. military has used the ocean as trashcan for munitions in the past. Peter discussed at the Old DSN how federal lawmakers were pressing the US Army to reveal everything it knows about a massive international program to dump chemical weapons off homeland and foreign shores. "The Army now admits that it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste - either tossed overboard or packed into the holds of scuttled vessels."

Brian pointed me to the Daily Press's in depth coverage of this whole issue. Registration is free and only takes a minute or two and is extremely worthwhile. Included at the site are maps of disposal sites (downloadable as pdfs), stories, descriptions of items dumped including nerve and musturd gas, and rather depressing pictures some are below the fold (all from Daily Press).

Hundreds of dolphins washed ashore in Virginia and New Jersey shorelines in 1987 with burns similar to mustard gas exposure. One marine-mammal specialist suspects Army-dumped chemical weapons killed them.