Information Warfare

There's no better example of truth being the first casualty of war than the carnage in the middle east. I flip on the television occasionally now not to get"news", but to see the latest propaganda slant. On the net the discussion groups are chock full of shills spouting bullshit.

"Israel’s Government has thrown its weight behind efforts by supporters to counter what it believes to be negative bias and a tide of pro-Arab propaganda. The Foreign Ministry has ordered trainee diplomats to track websites and chatrooms so that networks of US and European groups with hundreds of thousands of Jewish activists can place supportive messages."

I've found these sites can give me a sense of reality. Most are filed while the missiles are falling and they have some electricity.

electronicintefada

electroniciraq

electroniclebanon

backtoiraq

another day in the empire

aliveinbaghdad

riverbend

roadstoiraq

"We keep being told that the conflict was started by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip when a total of three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped. Bullshit. What is happening is the latest outbreak of hostilities that began when the Rothschild dynasty targeted what was then Arab Palestine to be what it called a 'Homeland for the Jews'.

[...]

This is what people need urgently to realise. To challenge Israel is not to condemn Jewish people as a whole. It is to expose the fact that they are fodder in a game most do not begin to understand - a game controlled from the start by a leadership made up of terrorists. When we understand this, past and present events start to make far more sense."

source

The children went to sleep and Israel killed them.

AlHezbollAqueda

There's no such thing as underestimating the intelligence of americans. Sad to say, because I still live in this once proud country but the fact is that our betters in Washington treat our collective intellect with utter contempt, and rightly so. The majority of us seem to be barely awake, basically dead-from-the-neck-up with zero cognitive ability and the attention span of a gnat.

When our overlords wanted to invade and occupy Iraq they concentrated on tying together Saddam and 9/11 every chance they could. Two different issues, except as interconnecting acts in the stage play we're being treated to called The Road To Fascism. As far as I know, the Iraqis had nothing to do with flying remote controlled planes into skyscrapers or setting off the demolitions that brought them down. But so effective was the propaganda that to this day there's still a large percentage of the ignorati that believe Saddam's henchmen were responsible.

Now they're at it again, this time with the resistance group Hezbollah in Lebanon. As I mentioned in a previous post their demonization has switched into high gear. The latest efforts are to convince us that Hezbollah and Al Queda are joined at the hip. It's a given that a lot of dupes will nod off to Faux news with that connection being planted in their subconciousness, however one group is a potent, homegrown and now widely respected political and defensive organization while the other is a CIA front that basically doesn't exist.

You just gotta love it when the propagandists whip up the latest video and audio tapes to make sure our fear level is sufficiently high, and our hate is aimed in the right direction. The latest appearance by Cia asset Ayman al-Zawahiri reminds us that all swarthy arab types can be conveniently lumped together. This, apparently, is the same Zawahiri who fought for the CIA in the Balkans and was even given an opportunity to tour the US soliciting funds. The message was clear -that Hezbollah can strike without warning, just likeEmmanuel Goldstein Osama can right here in the US. It's a message that will be repeated endlessly until the rubes understand that Israel and the US can continue to murder in Lebanon, and beyond, with impunity.

Meanwhile, the Lebanon death toll could be twice the official figure.

Added - With situations changing on an hourly basis the crisis is looking much uglier. The bombardment of the UN observation post 3 days ago has prompted the UN to remove all their observers from the Israeli - Lebanon border, which may have been the Israeli agenda all along. If widespread slaughter occurs, will anybody be there to see and report it?

"Everyone remaining in southern Lebanon will be regarded as a terrorist,

Israel's justice minister said yesterday as the military prepared to employ

"huge firepower" from the air in its campaign to crush Hizbollah."

In other words, Israel is about to carpet bomb the crap out of Lebanon and kill anything that moves. This seems to be their answer to the effective Hezbollah resistance. Hundreds of thousands of people may now die because they've been rebranded as terrorists.

Wow.

Shades of "The Minority Report".

Pretend Diplomacy

Why is this woman smiling so much?





And it's not just sensible and rational people who believe Condoleezza Rice is fucking incompetent:

"Conservative national security allies of President Bush are in revolt against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying that she is incompetent and has reversed the administration’s national security and foreign policy agenda.
The conservatives, who include Newt Gingrich, Richard Perle and leading current and former members of the Pentagon and National Security Council, have urged the president to transfer Miss Rice out of the State Department and to an advisory role. They said Miss Rice, stemming from her lack of understanding of the Middle East, has misled the president on Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict."

Lebanon Invasion/Slaughter Is A JOINT US/Israeli Op

by Wayne Madsen

Our intelligence sources report that the Israeli Defense Force attack on Lebanon is being carried out as a joint Israeli-U.S. military operation. Moreover, there are joint Israeli and U.S. war rooms coordinating the U.S.-supported Israeli attacks on Lebanon. The ultimate aim of Washington and Jerusalem is not only to eliminate Hezbollah as a political force in Lebanon but also to remake Lebanon as an American and Israeli client state.

Israeli forces are pounding parts of Lebanon, especially in the north, where there are no Hezbollah units and primarily Christian populations. In addition, Israeli forces are being aided by the Bush administration with high-resolution overhead imagery from U.S. spy satellites and signals intelligence (SIGINT) intercepts from National Security Agency assets, including SIGINT satellites.

Bush administration assisting Israeli Defense Force attack on Lebanon with overhead imagery and signals intelligence intercepts.

The result of U.S. intelligence support for Israel is directly linked to the targeting of particular locations, including the Israeli launch of 24 high-explosive missiles on a block of ten buildings in south Beirut. The entire block was leveled in the attack. The deliberate Israeli attack on a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) outpost in southern Lebanon was the result of that post gaining information of Israeli atrocities committed against the civilian Lebanese population.

The Israeli attack, called deliberate by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, killed blue helmet peacekeepers from China, Finland, Canada, and Austria. Israeli continued to attack the UN post even as rescuers attempted to locate survivors in the rubble of the building. The deliberate 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, an NSA spy ship monitoring communications during the Arab-Israeli Six Day War, was the result of the Liberty intercepting Israeli communications on the massacre by Israeli forces of surrendering Egyptian prisoners of war in Sinai. Israeli planes continued to attack the ship, even after it raised a large American flag. U.S. Navy and NSA survivors in the water were also strafed by Israeli aircraft.

-------

See USSLiberty.org for more on that despicable day.

Wesley Clark Told About Neocon Plans For Endless War in 2003

After the Bushistas launched their catastrophic invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, and while Clark was a candidate for president, he published a book called "Winning Modern Wars". In it:

"For example, he says he learned from military sources at the Pentagon in November 2001, just two months after the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, that serious planning for the war on Iraq had already begun and that, in addition to Iraq, the administration had drawn up a list of six other nations to be targeted over a period of five years.

Here’s what he writes on page 130:

"As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat.(Here's the kicker)Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan." Clark adds, "I left the Pentagon that afternoon deeply concerned."

source

I never trusted Clark. From Waco to the Balkan slaughter the guy seems to be a preening, self serving opportunist who showed no qualms about furthering the Brave New World agenda. It's curious why he stayed silent about this before the Iraq invasion.That being said, these comments that seem to be just casually tossed into his book speak volumes about what the criminal cabal had in store long before 9/11. People 42 and younger better be ready for the draft.

Next Steps Toward Wider Conflict

1. Demonize Hezbollah. (or Hezb'Allah)

This resistance group was organized after Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It's being given plenty of attention in the MSM as the ostensible target of Israel's latest invasion into that country. The phoney "cross border" incident where two IDF soldiers were supposedly captured is the official reason why Lebanon is being destroyed in front of our eyes.

Only Israel, Great Britain, Australia and the US label Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Aside from some damning resolutions passed by the EU, the rest of the world sees it as a legitimate resistance coalition. Along with it's armed and political factions it runs social services and charity groups. It assumed a large part in the reconstruction of Lebanon after it's civil war.

Because it's a Shia organization and gets support from Iran, it's the logical link for the zionists to exploit in their drive to turn the entire middle east into a killing zone. The bushistas have been busy making sure you know who to blame while exonerating Israel for their war crimes. Laughably, the fascists are going to whip up another Osama tape to implicate Hezbollah in their propaganda movie. Online hatemongers like Malkin crankup the booga booga fear machine. When our next synthetic terror event occurs, it's a tossup today as to which villain du jour it will be blamed on. My money is still on a false flag attack by the phoney al queda, but Hezbollah is coming on strong because Iran needs to be accused.

2. Complete the total destruction of Lebanon.

A resurgent and prosperous Lebanon was an anathema to the zionists. It was seen as a possible rival and the bad precedent of being a good example to other arab nations. After the zionist assasination of Rafik Hariri last year was pinned on Syria, it withdrew it's presense from Lebanon. Since the Lebanese government is weak and the only viable opposition to Israeli aggression was Hezbollah, the country was ripe for the plucking.

The zionist agenda is Greater Israel with any remaining arab states divided into squabbling factions presided over by compliant satraps. Lebanon will take 50 years or more to recover from being demolished. It's just a stepping stone in the agenda and the cold hearted smashing and slaughter will continue apace.

There's also reason to supect that Israel wants to steal fresh water sources. The zionists have always eyeballed the water rich Litani river region of southern Lebanon. The current ethnic cleansing going on there, and pushing a half million Lebanese northward could result in Israel taking control of the water. Population growth and drought caused water shortages in recent years.

3. Continue to morph Israel and the US into one entity.

US media continue to make the two countries appear indistinguishable. News reports will look at events as though seen from Israeli eyes. Government officials never vary from a lock stepped, self evident posture of interdependence. The bushistas are feverishly re-supplying the Israelis with munitions and increasingly the two militaries seem the same. Such fervent support is isolating the two countries from the rest of the world and the tension greatly increases the probability that violence, not negotiation, will escalate.


"There are no atheists in foxholes" isn't an argument against atheism, it's an argument against foxholes. ~James Morrow

I really wanted to climb Mt St. Helens.

20 years ago, all you had to do was to stop at the grocery store in Cougar, Washington and sign a book that was next to the entrance. I don't know what you have to do today but jotting down the date, amount of people and license plate number was all that you needed to do back then. It was september and perfect,cloudless weather and I wanted to get up there.

By late evening I got to the campground. I couldn't even see where the campsites were so I just rolled out my sleeping bag and slept next to my old car. Slept is a euphemism I guess, the stupid place was bustling and noisy and unfamiliar so if I slept 4 or 5 hours I was lucky. Still, I had made it up to The Mountain and that was all that needed to be done for the day.

At first light I had some tea and something to eat and checked out the campground. There were a lot of people, even a school bus. You could see The Mountain very clearly from the parking lot. There was still a little snow at the top, not much because you were looking up at the southern side and the summer sun had melted most of it. I stuck a gallon of water and some raisins in a day pack, grabbed my sunglasses and locked the car.

The first third of the hike was through the trees and relatively level as you got to the base. A pleasant walk in the park because the path was well trodden and clearly marked. When the volcano erupted the north flank of the mountain collapsed and the explosion blasted the countryside in that direction. You would hardly know that hundreds of square miles were burnt to a crisp on the other side, on the south slope it was still a lush forest.

It's about 5 miles and a 4500 foot climb to get to the top from the campground. About halfway the trees disappear and you have to hike around huge boulders. There's no trail at that point so you try to find your own way up the scree - two steps up only to slide one step back.

By now the sun was beating down, it was getting hot and my gallon of water was gone before I got to the top. It actually was anticlamactic being on the rim - the view up top was impressive of course, but when you're climbing you're constantly stopping to catch your breath and taking in the view. Some guy and I swapped pictures with each other's camera - my photo is lost somewhere deep in the bowels of my memorabelia. The trip down was much quicker and very, very dry. In all it took about 10 hours to go up and come down and I arrived back home with a sunburn and really wobbly legs.

I'm reminiscing about this because today is opening day of the season for climbing the volcano.

I'm also thinking about a good buddy that died the day Mt. St. Helens erupted. On May 17 that year, a guy named Bruce Faddis stopped by to ask me if I wanted to go up to Spirit Lake and do some fishing and check out the rumbling. My other friends and I declined because we were preparing for some other fishing trip. Bruce went up to Spirit Lake to camp and was there when the volcano erupted. There wasn't any trace found of him or his pickup. I like to think that he was out early that morning in his float tube on the lake, enjoying the sublime beauty of a gorgeous spring morning, maybe playing a good sized trout when the mountain blew. I'm sure he couldn't entertain many more thoughts than wonderment of the situation as the 300 mph, 600 degree lateral blast incinerated the lake. Happy Hour, you were a good dude.

An Imperial Edict on the Late Disturbances in Phoenicia

By Chris Floyd

Citizens, Attend! A Communication from the Divine Emperor Georgius Secundus Guber, Conqueror of Babylon, Scourge of Bactria, Groper of Germania, Teat of Succor to the Wealthy and Defender of the Faith-Based:

We have in our imperial wisdom have decided that our most steadfast and faithful satrap, Ehud Agrippa, lord lieutenant of the province of Judea, shall be allowed to continue his destruction of the Arab rabble in Tyre, in Sidon, in Beirut – yea, in all of the Lebanon shall there be no place safe from his sword. We have fixed the remaining duration of this most highly approved and unrestrained slaughter of troublesome vermin for the term of not less than one week, after which time we will deign to send our most beloved and comely Companion of the Throne, Condioryza, to our Phoenician and Judean domains, there to establish once more our imperial Peace.

Until that time, we send this stern counsel to the recalcitrant tribes who trouble our repose: Thou beasts, thou blocks, thou low and bitter things, it is best for you now to commend your hearts to the gods – for your posteriors belong to Ehud.

Catastrophe On An Hourly Basis

"Most of the critical infrastructure of Lebanon has been reduced to smoldering ruins, as countless Lebanese are now living by generators and scavenging for food wherever possible. Bombings have included electrical stations, fuel storage depots, gas stations, hospitals, ambulance convoys, ports, factories, bridges and roads. As of this writing, the death toll in Lebanon is now over 350, all but 14 of which were civilians. There are over 1,000 wounded.

It's called collective punishment. It is a war crime. It is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions."

Dahr Jamail

An entire country is being utterly destroyed while the world sits by and watches.

Spinning The War

It's obvious now that Israel had a prior agenda and is carrying it out in Lebanon with cold precision. After laying out the bogus reasons for all this stupefying destruction, they don't even bother to reference the missing soldiers any more. Dutiful newsfakers will remind you that somewhere in the distant past there was a reason for these war crimes but Israel seems to be far beyond caring to make excuses for their actions.

Most of the dead are innocent civilians. The latest targets appear to be private enterprises in an effort to completely destroy an entire nation's economy:

"The production facilities of at least five companies in key industrial sectors - including the country's largest dairy farm, Liban Lait; a paper mill; a packaging firm and a pharmaceutical plant - have been disabled or completely destroyed. Industry insiders say the losses will cripple the economy for decades to come."

Such a ferocious blitzkrieg in the information age is going to have serious blowback when stories and images make their way out of the devastated areas. Some Lebanese and Palestinian blogs are doing a good job of letting the world know what's going on. Al Jazeera is staying on top of Gaza and Lebanon.

But then there are the Israel apologists. Since most right wing news outlets and talking heads are rabid endorsers of our march to authoritarianism, they will find any excuse and use any trick in the propaganda 101 playbook to exonerate and rationalize both Israel and our domestic fascists, who are basically tied at the hip. So what can they do to mitigate those scenes of human misery and destruction courtesy of zionist largesse? How can they counter the bad press? I took a look around.

The wingnuts are getting giddy over all this warfare and the possibility that it will spread. Limbaugh actually said the spreading devastation from the invasion is "a gift to the world". Audio-MP3

Fox news on AM stations at the top of the hour looks at it as if we're Israelis and that's all that matters. O'reilly pretends to be neutral, but can't.

The AP and Reuters report stories with their usual sly narrative and passive terminology. Thus Israelis capture and Hezbollah kidnap, Israelis "enter" Lebanon and "push" forward, like they're hiking in the woods.

Coulter - attack the democrats. Just keep smashing Lebanon - parts are still standing.

Then I found what seems to be the talking point du jour. Some days ago it was revealed that the state department's policy was that if an american wanted to be rescued from the war zone he or she had to pay for it. And that the US was slow to help it's citizens. There was understandable outraged backlash and now the government will get you out for free. Wingnuttery jumped all over this because they could defend Israeli actions and federal inaction at the same time. They must be a little sensitive after Katrina.

Limbaugh had Debbie Schlussel on his talk show to pull out of her ass the assumption that those americans trapped in Lebanon were automatically Hezbollah supporters, just like everybody else living there. Why, since they were there and so were Hezbollah, if the fighting rages around them they deserve their fate. Michelle Malkin waded in with her brand of racist hate to make sure you know they're all evil. Limbaugh went on to question why anybody would want to be there at all, as if the whole place was contaminated. Which is the point - lump them all together and taint them with a large brush. It makes it easier to reconcile what Israel is doing to them.

Messages To Lebanon

Israeli children urged to write messages on bombs.



Messages received by Lebanese children.

Going To War For Israel

Justin Raimondo's article at Antiwar.com examines how far down we prostrate ourselves to Israel:

"What Israel wants is what they have always wanted: to use American power, American tax dollars, and American lives to advance their own expansionist agenda. Twenty-five thousand Americans are in Lebanon at the present moment, all of them at risk from Israeli bombs – but that didn't factor into Tel Aviv's calculations, any more than Lebanese or Palestinian lives matter one whit to them. The Israelis put Israel first – and so does Washington. If all 25,000 American tourists and others have to perish in the flames of Israeli air strikes, then so be it. No sacrifice is too great – just as long as our Israel-centric foreign policy remains firmly in place."

It's just a matter of time before a regional war will commence. What we've seen of Israel's actions in the past several weeks shows clearly that what's happening in the middle east was planned for a long time. Military campaigns to annihilate an entire country's infrastructure isn't a knee jerk response to a couple of captured soldiers. And the massively complex operations underway take a long time to prepare. What we're seeing is policy unfolding.

Each bloody notch upward in violence originates from a dubious starting point. (Who actually has those soldiers? How could the arabs dig that tunnel?) That any rocket hit Haifa and killed Israelis is even open to question. If there are certain goals to be reached, then it's certain that things will happen to get there. Every step of the way is choreographed to be a logical progression, as long as helpful "events" take place with convenient timing.

Bushista non response to the evolving crisis is interesting. Aside from the usual blather about all sides showing restraint blah blah, the muted posture speaks volumes. It displays to the world where the US government stands as to Israeli war crimes. Sockpuppet and his criminal cabal aren't indifferent to what's happening and they're not immobilized by incompetence. They're waiting for their cue.

As the warfare heats up and expands it's never out of control. The driving force behind the violence is Israel and what we see is a staged and pre planned effort unfolding. A regional war to reshape the middle east is prearranged. At some point, probably not long in coming, there's going to be one of those "events" that will serve to galvanize support for Israel and have the US enter into military conflict. It has to be shocking and filthy with convenient clues littering the scene so the intended patsies will get the blame.

When it happens be prepared to see a a resurgent Codpiece Commander, full of spit and vinegar and can do spirit. After all, righteous anger can seem so much more effective when it comes from apparent surprise, which is why Bush looks like he's napping. Stay tuned for the MSM to cheer him on, support the violence and of course to assail Israel's enemies our enemies.

The US Government is Charging US Citizens For Their Evacuation Out of Lebanon

Just when you thought the government that deigns to lord over us has gotten as despicable as it can possibly get, they sink to new lows of iniquity. This is from State Department's Beirut Embassy website:

"The Department of State reminds American citizens that the U.S. government does not provide no-cost transportation but does have the authority to provide repatriation loans to those in financial need. For the portion of your trip directly handled by the U.S. Government we will ask you to sign a promissory note and we will bill you at a later date. In a subsequent message, when we have specific details about the transporation arrangments, we will inform you about the costs you will incur."

I'm wondering if you have to pay to sign up for the information updates.

It Was Always Iran

With breathtaking hypocrisy the US voted in the security council yesterday in a unanimous decision to impose sanctions on North Korea for test firing missiles. This comes after thursday's veto of a resolution to condemn Israel for bombarding and occupying Gaza. The last time the US vetoed a resolution? In 2004 during the previous Israeli incursion into Gaza.

So a country launches some rockets that fall into the sea and is punished while another country commits massive war crimes and doesn't even get a slap on the wrist. With a wink and a nod our 51st state gets another pass. So then since their "kidnapped" (not captured) soldier ploy worked so well as an excuse to smash the Palestinians, they used it again to justify their bombardment and soon-to-be invasion of Lebanon. Since it's known that Israel planned the capture of the Palestinian government long before the alleged kidnapping, we should assume the crimes against Lebanon were planned long ago too. But why are they doing this now?

The zionists and fascists seem to be ready to get their war on with Iran. I previously mentioned that war with the Iranians was basically written in granite. The only thing for them to do was to lay out their propaganda groundwork and provide the spark to ignite the conflagration. We've been subjected to a massive disinformation campaign over the last few months to paint the Persians as a hostile and threatening menace. It's been ratcheted up a notch since Israel started smashing Lebanon. It's fallen on deaf ears abroad but domestic morons were always the target audience anyway. The fascists are one bloody synthetic "event" away from being hailed as War Heroes, just like their glory post 9/11 days. In my mind the only question is what sort of surprise event that will be.

Webster Tarpley has one disturbing scenario:
"CNN and MSNBC coverage this Saturday morning has been stressing the situation of the 25,000 Americans now stuck in Lebanon. These Americans are being invited to register with the US consulates for possible evacuation. The State Department and the US military have been remarkably slow to begin such an evacuation."
"...They are being hung out to dry, left as sitting ducks for whatever bloody false flag operation may be cooked up by the Israeli intelligence services."

Another way to get the war on would be to pull a black ops false flag catastrophe such as a phoney Iranian pre emptive strike on american forces. Whatever develops the fascists can totally rely on incessant cries of righteous outrage and calls for war from the despicable MSM. The dead-from-the-neck-up crowd will howl for revenge. Even using nuclear weapons will somehow get justified.

Much easier than that UN route they took to start the Iraq conquest, isn't it?

Can This Idiot be Any More of an Embarrassment?

Bush and German chancellor Merkel held a press conference a couple of days ago in Stralsund. While the middle east burns, Jon Stewart of TDS highlights what Sockpuppet considers his priorities.

Also, to the delight of everyone in attendence, Putin   puts the douchebag in his place at the G8 summit.

DOUCHEBAG: I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world, like Iraq, where there’s a free press and free religion. And I told him that a lot of people in our country would hope that Russia will do the same thing. I fully understand, however, that there will be a Russian-style democracy.

PUTIN: We certainly would not want to have same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, quite honestly.

.

US Intelligence Ties to Mumbai 7/11

By Larry Chin, Online Journal Associate Editor
Jul 13, 2006, 00:45

On July 11, eight bombs exploded aboard commuter trains in Mumbai, killing 190 people. No group has come forward claiming responsibility. But according to mainstream coverage, such as the yesterday's report in the San Francisco Chronicle by Anna Badkhen, the prime suspects are “militant Islamic groups with ties to Pakistan."

What the mainstream press fails to report is the direct connection between the terrorist groups they name, and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) -- a virtual branch of the American CIA. This in turn leads back to the same (alleged “al-Qaeda”) apparatus also responsible for the Bush administration’s 9/11 and other post-9/11 terror events.

source

Again and again in this information age the fascists are exposed for what they do well - blow things up and profit from the resulting chaos.

Happy Bastille Day

Bush Loses Core Supporters

Associated Press

WASHINGTON, July 13, 2006

President Bush appears to be losing support among a key group of voters who had hitherto stood firmly with the president even as his poll numbers among other groups fell dramatically.

A new Gallup poll shows that, for the first time, Bush's approval rating has fallen below 50% among total fucking morons, and now stands at 44%. This represents a dramatic drop compared to a poll taken just last December, when 62% of total fucking morons expressed support for the president and his policies.

The current poll, conducted by phone with 1,409 total fucking morons between May 4 and May 8, reveals that only 44% of those polled believe the president is doing a good job, while 27% believe he is doing a poor job and 29% don't understand the question.

The December poll, conducted by phone with 1,530 total fucking morons, showed 62% approved of the president, 7% disapproved and 31% didn't understand the question.

Faltering approval ratings for the president among a group once thought to be a reliable source of loyal support gives Republicans one more reason to be nervous about the upcoming mid-term elections. "If we can't depend on the support of total fucking morons," says Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), "then we've got a big problem. They're a key factor in our electoral strategy, and an important part of today's Republican coalition."

"We've taken the total fucking moron vote for granted," says Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), "and now we're paying for it. We've let the Democrats control the debate lately, and they've dragged discourse back into the realm of complex, nuanced issues. So your average total fucking moron turns on his TV and sees his Republican Congressman arguing about Constitutional law or the complexities of state formation in the Middle East, and he tunes out. He wants to hear comforting, pandering, flattering bromides and he doesn't wan to hear a logical argument more complex than what you'd find on a bumper sticker."

For Feeney, the poll is a dire warning that Republicans can ignore only at their peril. "This should send a signal that we have to regain control of the debate if we want the support of our key constituencies in the coming election and beyond. We need to bring public discourse back into the realm of stupidity and vacuity. We should be talking about homosexual illegal immigrants burning flags. We should be talking about the power of pride. We should be talking about freedom fries. These are the issues that resonate with total fucking morons."

But some total fucking morons say it's too late. Bill Snarpel of Enid, Oklahoma is a total fucking moron who voted for Bush in both 2000 and 2004. But he says he won't be voting for Bush in 2008. "I don't like it that he was going to sell our ports to the Arabs. If the Arabs own the ports then that means they'll let all the Arabs in and then we'll all be riding camels and wearing towels on our heads. I don't want my children singing the Star Spangled Banner in Muslim."

Total fucking moron Kurt Meyer of Turlock, California also says his once solid support for Bush has collapsed. "He invaded Iraq and all those soldiers died, and for what? We destroyed all their WMDs, but now their new president is making fun of us and saying he's going to build nuclear bombs and that we can't stop him. Well, nuclear bombs are even worse than WMDs, so what did we accomplish?"

Laura McDonald, a total fucking moron from Chandler, Arizona, says she is disappointed that the president hasn't been a more forceful advocate of Christian values. "This country was founded on Christian values," she says, "but you'd never know it looking around and seeing all the Mexicans running around. I thought Bush was going to bring Jesus back into the government. Instead, Christians are being persecuted worse than ever before in history, because all these Mexicans come here and tell Christians that we have to respect their religious beliefs. So now it's illegal for children to pray in school. Soon it will be illegal for them to speak English."

Not all total fucking morons have turned their backs on the president. Jeb Larkin of Topeka, Kansas says he still fully supports Bush. "He is doing a great job. He is a great president. He is a great decider. I have a puppy. His tail sticks straight up and you can see his butt hole."

And not all Republican lawmakers are concerned about the poll. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), for one, does not find it a cause for anxiety. While he agrees that his party should not take total fucking morons for granted, they "really don't have anywhere else to go. They're never going to be able to understand someone like Al Gore or John Kerry or anybody intelligent and articulate who wants to talk about substantive issues Just try having a conversation with one of them about global warming. They'll say, 'Oh, but Rush says volcanoes consume more ozone than humans do.' I mean, they're morons! Total fucking morons!"

"They've got nowhere else to go," Alexander reaffirms with a smile, and they always vote."

Is This The Middle East War Everyone Was Fearing?

Some Fox reporters were shot at during filming in the Gaza strip. Back in the studio the guy on the right clearly wasn't pleased.

Israel's attack on the Palestinians is the spark that could ignite a regional firestorm. When Israeli forces destroyed the power station in Gaza, that was the point of no return. Cutting off electricity in the middle of summer to one of the most densely populated regions of the world meant that there's only going to be escalations from now on.

The Gaza Palestinians relied on electricity for their water supply and sewage disposal. Since they have no water and electricity the hospitals there cannot function and their emergency supplies of generator fuel have surely run out.

Back prior to the first Gulf Slaughter in October, 1990 there was a hearing on capitol hill where a young girl tearfully testified that she saw Iraqi soldiers yank babies off of incubators they wanted to steal. The spectacle went a long way to convince peole to go to war with Iraq, it was also  utter bullshit. The young girl was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador and it was a public relations stunt.

I wonder how many helpless Palestinians, and not just babies, are suffering and dying in the hospitals there in Gaza. For real this time.

Meanwhile the Israelis seem to be pushing for WW3. The Lebanese people are next to die:

IDF aircraft bombards Beirut-Damascus highway   Don't attack Syria, Iran warns Israel    Israelis pile on the propaganda    Israel determined to drag Iran into it    Israel pounds Beirut's airport again

Who's Responsible For The Mumbai Bombings?

As of around midnite july 11 - 12 no one has come forward and claimed they did it. Some seperatist groups have vehemently denied being involved. Whenever an event like this takes place there's an immediate attempt to pin the blame on Muslims. As a matter of fact it's a knee jerk reaction by the MSM, and most people have been conditioned to expect that and to suspect the same thing themselves. But who's really behind these bloody acts of terror?

The first question I ask myself is qui bono - who benefits? Would the expected bad public relations or retaliation really be in the best interests of the purpoted terrorists? Would that terrorist act have such value that the inevitable fallout would be worth it? I don't think enough people ask this, and accept the cartoon explanations that we're handed - they're crazy/they just want to kill/they have no regard for human life. These most definately are political acts, only the official stories are flat out lies.

False flag operations are designed to make it look like someone else is responsible. Do someting, plant some evidence on someone else and then accuse him. It works great to ultimately get what you want and none of the blame. I think most, if not all of the ugly scenes from the past couple of decades have been false flags, but the most important ones have been just in the last 5 years. The fascists are busily creating a clash of civilizations.

Muslims have been the patsies since 9/11, the mother of all false flag operations. Moments after the first plane hit we were bombarded with the al queda and Osama message that hasn't let up since. They had to use that window of vulnerability to inject their fearful message and it was rammed home over and over. You could say that subsequent events could be called booster
shots of fear to allow the fascists to do things that in saner times they'd never get away with.

Here's some lowlights:

In order to maintain the fiction that there's this big, shadowy, evil menace out there, phoney "al queda groups" are formed. Usually just a bunch of agents and their dupes.

Action was needed to pave the way to invade Iraq. The Madrid bombings were an attempt to keep pro invasion Jose Aznar in power. The fascists didn't pull that one off too well and he was
booted out in favor of socialists.

Australia was the hold out of english speaking countries - the vast majority wanted no part in the coming Iraq war, so they needed a little prodding. Bali was the event to get them on board. Remember that Australians were targetted while americans, who were threatening an invasion
of a muslim country, were packed in a disco several doors down.

Russia wanted war with Chechnya and got it by murdering innocent Russians. The London bombings were a pretext for more privacy intrusions and an ID card. The list is extensive.

The gloves are off. Since 9/11 it's been pedal to the metal in trying to bring about their prison planet with these staged massacres. The message is fear and if we don't get it they'll be glad to repeat it for us. I don't know the reason for the gruesome slaughter in India, maybe it's to foment war between India and Pakistan, who knows at this point? What I do know is that you can expect the finger of blame to be pointed in the wrong direction and the official story to be a load of horseshit.

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Remember, when things get rough it's good to recall what Bert the Turtle says.

Headlines

May, 2001 - TALIBAN'S BAN ON GROWING OPIUM POPPIES IS CALLED A SUCCESS
UNITED NATIONS, May 18 — The first American narcotics experts to go to Afghanistan under Taliban rule have concluded that the movement's ban on opium-poppy cultivation appears to have wiped out the world's largest crop in less than a year, officials said today.

(Can't have that, too much money to be made)

September, 2001 - TALIBAN TO LIFT BAN ON FARMERS GROWING OPIUM IF US ATTACKS
Edict Reverses Policy That Wiped Out Crop
In a dramatic and little-noticed reversal of policy, the Taliban have told farmers in Afghanistan that they are free to start planting poppy seeds again if the Americans decide to launch a military attack.

January, 2002 - DRUG CONTROL AGENCY IN KABUL IS EVICTED

Despite promises to crack down on the drugs trade, the new Afghan government has evicted the main drug control agency from its headquarters in Kabul and taken its vehicles

May, 2003 - BUSH"S OPIUM BOOM
Last year saw what is probably the single biggest one-year increase in opium production in world history. Since the Bush administration toppled the Taliban regime, opium production in Afghanistan has increased from 185 tons in 2001 to 3,700 tons in 2002 — an increase of twentyfold.

(That's more like it)

May, 2005 - KARZAI ACCUSED OF BEING SOFT ON THE OPIUM TRADE
Mr Karzai... strongly denied the allegations yesterday, claiming that it was America and Britain who were responsible for the failure of the programme.
He pointed out that in the areas where the plan had failed the US and Britain were in control.

(Get with the program, dude!)

July, 2006 - RICE VISITS AFGHANISTAN TO BOLSTER KARZAI
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised victory over a resurgent Taliban...

Who are trying to muscle in on the fascists' turf.

Martini Muslims

Seen at The Gaelic Starover



"...from the New York Daily News regarding alleged Holland Tunnel suicide plotter, Assem Hammoud:"

And if he worked hard, surely he'd earned the right to enjoy the fruits of his labor. His cousin saw thoroughly modern Hammoud as 'tall, handsome - the kind of guy you'd want to go out with. He liked to dance, to drink, to go out with young women.'

When American and Danish intelligence agents asked the Lebanese to arrest Hammoud, the Lebanese were doubtful.

'They said it can't be, he's too liberal. There was infighting over what to do,' terrorist expert and Beirut resident Fawaz Gerges told the Daily News. 'Hammoud was going to clubs every night, driving a sports car, living a decadent life,' Gerges said. 'He was told to deceive investigators by living a normal life.'"

The stage play continues to fall apart as these "terror plots" are exposed as convenient psy ops. It brings to mind the saga of Mohamed Atta, with his live in girlfriend, the boozing and the lap dances.

Kissinger Confessed Everyone Knew the Vietnam War Was Lost

After 57,000 dead american soldiers and hundreds of thousand scarred and wounded, the dirtbag admitted in private that hey, we didn't really mean it.
The war dragged on for three more years.
What secret deals are being made right now in Iraq and Afghanistan that we don't know about, while they're pretending otherwise?

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Meanwhile the Shrill Harpy is late calling into the Adam Carolla talk show and the host tells her to get lost and hangs up on her. Fun stuff - Audio

Mexico's Stolen Election

"There's something rotten in Mexico. And it smells like Florida."

So begins an interesting article by Greg Palast as he dissects the corrupted election in Mexico a week ago. His main contention is that PAN, the ruling party and it's candidate Calderón (with support from presidente Fox) stole the presidency by purging the voter registration lists, much like what happened in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. But it seems that the right wing machine used a variety of Rovian tactics to influence the outcome.

Leading up to last sunday, the center - left Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) was the front runner. Mexican law stipulates that all campaign activites cease three days before the election.

1. On wednesday before the election president Fox tried to force former Mexico City Finance Secretary Guillermo Ponce to testify that AMLO misused public money to further his campaign. Ponce, who's in prison on other stuff, refused and the frame up failed. Fox has a history of dirty tricks against his popular rival.

2. On thursday Obrador's web page was hacked and a message placed there, supposedly penned by AMLO himself, urging his party to take to the streets (and supposedly cause trouble) if the election results weren't favorable. Televisa and TV Azteca, the television heavies in Mexico, endlessly trumpeted this hoax, forcing Obrador to repudiate the message thereby negating any legitimate opposition once the election was stolen. A very Rovian dirty trick.

3. On friday Fox finally arrested former president Luis Echeverria, a reviled person down there, for the Tlatelolco massacre in 1968, when students were gunned down. Since Calderón had been trying to taint AMLO by comparing the two, this purely political act was a psy ops to influence the vote.

4. The day before the election two poll watcher's from Amlo's PRD party were shot and killed in Guerrero state. A clear signal of intimidation that recalled the hundreds who were gunned down during the 1988 election theft.

5. Through a variety of processes more than a million eligible voters who live in the US had their registrations invalidated and embassies and consulates refused to validate them outside Mexico.

6. It appears there won't be a recount and Obrador insists there were crimes committed in over a third of the country's 130,000 precincts. Calderón stole the election.

This is a momentous event for the New World Order types. As I mentioned previously a border free north american union is planned that will eventually be a western hemisphere union. The governments of Canada and the US had fallen to the traitorous sellouts and Mexico was next. There simply had to be a compliant government down there for this scheme to go forward.
By any means necessary.

update - His mission complete as propaganda tool for the fascists, Former Mexican President Luis Echeverria was"cleared of genocide charges on Saturday for his role in a 1968 massacre, in a serious blow to government efforts to prosecute former leaders for rights abuses."

"In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly."

How Much of a Threat is North Korea?

A favorite tactic of the NWO propagandists is to label leaders of targetted countries as unstable madmen. Consequently Saddam was vilified this way just like Ahmadinejad in Iran and Kim Il Sung are smeared now. It's a good trick to put a face on your enemy and then proceed to toss a cream pie into it.

(As a side note, how does a nation and it's people gain the distinction of joining the "rogue nation" club? Well here's a clue - Cuba, Lybia, North Korea, Iran and the Sudan are the 5 remaining countries that DON'T have a Rothschild controlled central bank.)

Just what makes Kim Il Sung such a loose cannon? It's well known that the guy acts like any other dictator. He likes fast cars and pretty women and deigns to feast on steak with fine wines while most Koreans are reduced to eating tree bark. He rules North Korea with an iron hand. The MSM likes to fixate on his cult of personality but these traits don't set him apart from any other tyrant. I think Kim is singled out to be painted as a loon because he's been a good strategist who's been playing the US like a cheap fiddle. And he makes a good boogeyman to scare us some more.

North Korea's nuke programs go back to the mid 60s. Since then they've out manoeuvered efforts to curb their intentions. Every step of the way they've used negotiations, non negotiations, threats and bluff to acqire nuclear weapons. They've been very successful in a long term strategy to get the world acclimatized to them being a nuclear power, starting with a claim that they had nukes in 2003 and continuing with these missile tests. No one knows how many bombs they have but 10 years ago they had enough plutonium for several.

The current push at the UN to penalize North Korea for launching missiles, led by world class dipshit John Bolton, is stupid and doomed to failure anyway. It's stupid because it's based on no real threat, it's just another load of fearmongering and an excuse to give more money to defense contractors. It's just grandstanding since Russia and China will veto.

Justin Raimondo thinks the War Party should back off, that NK just wants to be left alone. That makes sense, and it's also true that belligerence against Kim will strengthen his grip on power. The small, sad, reclusive country poses no real threat to us, especially if we withdrew the american forces stationed on the Korean peninsula. It will wither and fall apart soon enough. Think of it's missile salvo as a July 4th fireworks display.

Copy And Paste Coulter Cops Comical Conferment

Coulter wins Sitting Duck award; Last awarded to columnist who made up 43 people

"Conservative firebrand Ann Coulter was awarded the 'Sitting Duck Award' by the National Society of Newspaper columnists, who met in Boston this past weekend, Editor & Publicsher reports.
The award, typically doled out in an ironic fashion, came with a statement from the society that Coulter received the prize "for cheapening political discourse in America."
"We award the Lame Duck reluctantly, because we know Ms. Coulter is desperate for any kind of attention," the society added.

This of course comes hot on the heels of being busted for plagiarism. Here is just one story about that. If I were the copy editor there I would have retitled that article "Skeletal Scribe Submits Stolen Script, Stays Silent".

But after being sliced and diced for days, the hatefull harridan decided to respond to all the criticism, and Shakespearessister held her nose, went to the harpy's blog, and took a look at her non - apology.

Kenny Boy Gone

When the news reported that Ken Lay died today in Aspen I grew immediately suspicious. Of course the man just simply could have had coronary artery disease and keeled over. But something tells me he's probably out of the country somewhere and enjoying his stolen billions. A brief search of the coroner in Mesa county, Dr. Robert Kurtzman, doesn't show much except that he's a republican toady. Interesting but probably meaningless, a guy with the same name is active in Hollywood as a makeup and special effects artist...

But this isn't the first suspicious Enron death. Flashing back to April 2002, there was this:

(CBS) It may be the biggest outstanding mystery in the Enron story: the death of Cliff Baxter, a former top Enron executive. He'd just agreed to testify to Congress in the Enron case. A congressional source tells CBS news that Baxter wasn't a target in the probe, he was to provide evidence against others. But on the morning of January 25th he was found in his car - shot dead.



Lots of convenient deaths over the years. To avoid testifying, to avoid jail, with plenty of political assasinations tossed in the mix.
My favorite convenient death was that of William Casey, one of the slimiest spooks in history.



Reagan made him head of the CIA after he engineered the Iranian hostage crisis and stole the 1980 presidential election. All during the 80s he masterminded the most rotten crap imaginable around the globe and supposedly died from a brain tumor a mere two days before he was to give testimony for the Iran-Contra crimes.

Anyway, too bad that we didn't get to see Mr. Enron rot in prison.

Presidential Poop Scoop

Seen at the Wayne Madsen Report:

"July 4, 2006 -- Even Bush's crap is classified top secret. According to our Austrian sources, Austrian newspapers are currently abuzz with special security details of George W. Bush's recent trip to Vienna. Although the heavy-handed Gestapo-like security measures meted out to Viennese home owners, business proprietors, and pedestrians by US Secret Service agents and local police before and during Bush's visit received widespread Austrian media attention, it was White House "toilet security" ("TOILSEC"), which has Austrians talking the most. The White House flew in a special portable toilet to Vienna for Bush's personal use during his visit. The Bush White House is so concerned about Bush's security, the veil of secrecy extends over the president's bodily excretions. The special port-a-john captured Bush's feces and urine and flew the waste material back to the United States in the event some enterprising foreign intelligence agency conducted a sewage pipe operation designed to trap and examine Bush's waste material. One can only wonder why the White House is taking such extraordinary security measures for the presidential poop."

I wonder if they flew in a supply of this

July 4, 2006

Happy Throw Off The Tyrants And Start Over Day.

Popularity of Wingnut Sites in Bus Plunge

Alexa is a web engine that tracks online usage. Seems the current trend is a precipitous decline in hits for "right wing" and "conservative" sites while the traffic to progressive sites is generally up.

Limbaugh - down 20% over the last 3 months
Coulter - down 16%
O'Reilly - down 40%
Drudge - down 12%
TownHall - down 25%

People finally waking up to the manipulation?

CrooksandLiars - up 16%
ThinkProgress - up 34%
AmericanProgress - up11%
Alternet - up 6%
Opednews - up 19%

Here's the truth about the difference between progressive and wingnut sites. Progressives tend to think things through, look for the truth and question authority. Wingers respond to and promulgate things that appeal to the reptilian brain stem, like fear. Stimulus and response. Quick decisions without thinking. It could be that more and more people are waking up.

An Ongoing Atrocity

The destruction of the power station in the Gaza Strip was the tipping point. When the Israelis did that the bridge was crossed - either the Israelis would withdraw and massive amounts of aid were brought in immediately, or the Palestinians would begin to die.

"No lights, no refrigerators, no fans through the suffocating Gaza summer heat. No going outside for air, due to ongoing bombing and Israel's impending military assault. In the hot darkness, massive explosions shake the cities, close and far, while repeated sonic booms are doubtless wreaking the havoc they have wrought before: smashing windows, sending children screaming into the arms of terrified adults, old people collapsing with heart failure, pregnant women collapsing with spontaneous abortions. Mass terror, despair, desperate hoarding of food and water. And no radios, television, cell phones, or laptops (for the few who have them), and so no way to get news of how long this nightmare might go on.

"But this time, the situation is worse than that. As food in the refrigerators spoils, the only remaining food is grains. Most people cook with gas, but with the borders sealed, soon there will be no gas. When family-kitchen propane tanks run out, there will be no cooking. No cooked lentils or beans, no humus, no bread ­ the staples Palestinian foods, the only food for the poor. (And there is no firewood or coal in dry, overcrowded Gaza.)

"And yet, even all this misery is overshadowed by a grimmer fact: no water. Gaza's public water supply is pumped by electricity. The taps, too, are dry. No sewage system. And again, word is that the electricity is out for at least six months.

"The Gaza aquifer is already contaminated with sea water and sewage, due to over-pumping (partly by those now-abandoned Israeli settlements) and the grossly inadequate sewage system. To be drinkable, well water is purified through machinery run by electricity. Otherwise, the brackish water must at least be boiled before it can be consumed, but this requires electricity or gas. And people will soon have neither.

"Drinking unpurified water means sickness, even cholera. If cholera breaks out, it will spread like wildfire in a population so densely packed and lacking fuel or water for sanitation. And the hospitals and clinics aren't functioning, either, because there is no electricity.

"Finally, people can't leave. None of the neighboring countries have resources to absorb a million desperate and impoverished refugees: logistically and politically, the flood would entirely destabilize Egypt, for example. But Palestinians in Gaza can't seek sanctuary with their relatives in the West Bank, either, because they can't get out of Gaza to get there. They can't even go over the border into Egypt and around through Jordan, because Israel will no longer allow people with Gaza identification cards to enter the West Bank. In any case, a cordon of Palestinian police are blocking people from trying to scramble over the Egyptian border--and war refugees have tried, through a hole blown open by militants, clutching packages and children.

"In short, over a million civilians are now trapped, hunkered in their homes listening to Israeli shells, while facing the awful prospect, within days or weeks, of having to give toxic water to their children that may consign them to quick but agonizing deaths.

by Virginia Tilley at Counterpunch

Curses Be Upon You, McMedia!

Highway to Hell

Some items of interest have been floating around the net in recent days, probably connected and a good indication of where the fascists want to bring this nation. If their plans come to fruition we can kiss our freedom to travel as we know it adieu.

There are plans for a massive superhighway to be built along the I35 and I29 corriders in the US and it would link up with highways in Canada and Mexico.



From the Scotsman:

"A MASSIVE road four football fields wide and running from Mexico to Canada through the heartland of the United States is being proposed amid controversy over security and the damage to the environment.
The "nation's most modern roadway", proposed between Laredo in Texas and Duluth, Minnesota, along Interstate 35, would allow the US to bypass the west coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to import goods from China and the Far East into the heart of middle America via Mexico, saving both cost and time."

This gargantuan project would have an unbelievably negative impact on just about everything except large corporate profits. Thousands of square miles would be taken up and paved over including prime farm soil. Who knows how many people would be uprooted by eminent domain.
Running alonside this monstrosity would be railroad lines and oil pipelines. There wouldn't be any local access roads and the pollution would be staggering. A lot of work has already gone into this boondoggle and construction will actually start on the Texas end next year.

What I'm interested in is the intent behind this project. One thing that stands out is that this will be a privately run operation. Just one more aspect of the scumbags selling our nation piece by piece to the highest bidders. Do there have to be any more examples to convince people that this government couldn't give a shit about the public welfare? Of course these will be toll roads,
as Alex Jones puts it:

"Imagine for a moment what must have been going through the minds of the six-legged elites when they thought up this diabolical scheme. The question is “How do you destroy the national sovereignty of the United States, merge it with the rest of the western hemisphere, build the infrastructure system needed to link up the entire landmass, confiscate private property on a wholesale level, spy on everyone’s comings and goings, and trick American suckers into paying for their own demise all in one fell swoop ? The answer: TOLL EVERYTHING!"

Since the fascists never miss an opportunity to do things with overlapping purposes, this superhighway in the middle of the country's landmass would obviate the port cities on the coast. Most trade goods would be offloaded by cheap Mexican labor down south and trucked up to the Smart Port at Kansas City. A major benefit to the large corporations for sure as they deal the teamsters and longshoreman's unions a death blow. The economies of those coastal blue states who hold no love for the Bushistas will wither on the vine as the midsection of the country prospers.

This project is also a wet dream of the New World Order types as it will formally eliminate the borders that have been in essence ignored by corporations and the traitorous criminals in Washington. Living conditions will even out with american wages dropping to those of latin america. Long term plans call for this monster road to stretch all the way down through south america. Very conveniently stopping by Venezuela to suck up it's oil once the US decides to Iraqify that nation.

Now for a prediction on my part. Later today, July 2, there's going to be a general election in Mexico. The two major sides couldn't be farther apart along with observers saying the voting will be close. Former mayor of Mexico City Andrés Manuel López Obrador is a leftist along the lines of Chavez of Venezuela. Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa wants to continue a Fox - like course.

Obrador is slightly ahead in the polls but will lose this election. Why? All indications are that the voter rosters will be scrubbed of Obrador supporters, a la the Florida and Ohio debacles here in 2000 and 2004. A left leaning president of Mexico simply will not be allowed to happen by the fascists. As Greg Palast opines, "Wholesale theft is expected on Sunday in forms both subtle and brutal."

Gotta lay the groundwork for that highway

We're Paying For It

It's a lucrative racket, isn't it? The endless cycle of no - payback loans and grants and outright gifts to foreign interests, then no bid contracts to scum like Halliburton with astronomical cost overruns (think $1000 hammers) to build up the military, then use the bloated military to smash said foreign interests, then more no bid contracts to Halliburton to support the military and build those foreign interests again. Works like a charm. All with little or no oversight. So of course there's the small change that falls between the floorboards, like the $9,000,000,000 or thereabouts in Iraq.

Then there's Israel.
US handouts to that country since WW2 have very conservatively been put at $105 billion. (It's probably several times that figure.) In Occupied Palestine the Israeli military just flattened a power station in the Gaza strip. So you payed for that destruction. (Enron built the thing starting in 1999 so I imagine you somehow payed for it's construction too.)

What the heck, let's complete the cycle.
"United States officials said they expect that U.S. funds will be used to pay for the damages caused by an Israel Air Force strike Tuesday on a Palestinian power station in the Gaza Strip. The power station was insured by a U.S. government agency, according to The Boston Globe."

The 'US government agency" is OPIC, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which proudly states on it's website "All of OPIC’s guaranty and insurance obligations are backed by OPIC’s own substantial reserves and by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government."

Meaning your tax dollars yet one more time.