ICH: "Enough Already"
emai...@cox.net
wonders of the Western world. No First World country has ever managed
to eliminate so entirely from its media all objectivity - much less
dissent.
"Of course, it is possible for any citizen with time to spare, and
a canny eye, to work out what is actually going on, but for the
many there is not time, and the network news is the only news even
though it may not be news at all but only a series of flashing
fictions..." : Gore Vidal
=
"Following the same course that virtually every other major industry
has in the last two decades, a relentless series of mergers and
corporate takeovers has consolidated control of the media into the
hands of a few corporate behemoths.
"The result has been that an increasingly authoritarian agenda has
been sold to the American people by a massive, multi-tentacled media
machine that has become, for all intents and purposes, a propaganda
organ of the state.": David McGowan
=
"Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon
the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those
conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and
refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and
by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for
the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque
self-deception." : Mark Twain. The Mysterious Stranger 1916.
=
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq "1,339,771"
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
=
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged)
In America's War On Iraq: 4,334 icasualties.org/oif/
Number Of International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In
Afghanistan :
1336 http://icasualties.org/oef/
=
Cost of War in Iraq $676,519,698,128
Cost of War in Afghanistan $225,153,024,155
The cost in your community
www.nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
=
"Enough Already"
By Cindy Sheehan
I am cutting my writing-staycation short to head to Marthabs Vineyard
because I think the new titular head of the empire needs to know
that his policies are devastating people as much as the same policies
did when Bush was president.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23353.htm
===
Weaponizing Psychology
Treating People Like Dogs
By Peter Chamberlin
The wise men sitting safely on the Potomac think that real bmenb
and real bpatriotsb can just get over the trauma that they have
witnessed or inflicted upon others, through a contrived simplistic
form of auto-hypnosis.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23355.htm
===
This Isnbt Reform, Itbs Robbery
By Chris Hedges
Between 40 and 62 percent of the American people, including 80
percent of registered Democrats, want universal, single-payer
not-for-profit health care for all Americans. The ability of the
corporations to discredit and silence voices that represent at least
half of the population is another sad testament to the power of our
corporate state.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23356.htm
===
My Country, Misery
By David Michael Green
The toxic combination of rampant American individualism, right-wing
successes in framing public attitudes in all the sickest and most
corrosive ways, a litany of false prophets preaching bogus religious
salvation through even more deceitful notions of political morality,
and the gravitational pull from the declining trajectory of an
empire that has most assuredly now passed its sell-by date b all
of this has conspired to produce a monstrous polity lurching about
the global landscape without a heart or a conscience, and eating
itself from within for the very same reasons.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23354.htm
===
Bus bombings kill 20 in Iraq:
At least 20 people have been killed and another 10 injured in two
minibus bombings south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
http://www.euronews.net/2009/08/24/bus-bombings-kill-2-in-iraq/
===
Iraqi Shias form new alliance:
A group of Shia Muslim parties in Iraq have formed a coalition ahead
of January's election, but Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, has
not joined the bloc.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/08/200982411513485220.html
===
Man who sold Iraq war now vetting embedded journos: report:
A public relations firm that organized the opposition to Saddam
Hussein during the 1990s and bcoercedb journalists during the run-up
to the Iraq war is now vetting at least some embedded journalists
in war zones to keep out those who have a history of writing negative
stories about the US military, a new report claims.
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/24/iraq-war-salesman-now-vetting-journos/
===
Three US occupation force soldiers killed in Afghanistan:
Three US soldiers were killed in attacks in southern Afghanistan,
the military said Thursday, with security forces on alert for Taliban
attacks during voting in presidential and provincial elections.
http://www.asiaplus.tj/en/news/53/56103.html
===
3 NATO occupation force troops killed in Afghanistan:
Three NATO troops b two from Estonia and one from the United States
b were killed in attacks in southern Afghanistan as fraud charges
continued to pour in Monday from last week's turbulent presidential
vote.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/08/24/afghanistan-nato.html
===
Mullen: Afghanistan Is Deteriorating:
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said Sunday
that the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated but the commanding
general on the ground has not yet asked for more troops.
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/warzone/2009/08/mullen-afghanistan-is-deteri
or.html
---
U.S. Military Says Its Force in Afghanistan Is Insufficient:
American military commanders with the NATO mission in Afghanistan
told President Obamabs chief envoy to the region this weekend that
they did not have enough troops to do their job, pushed past their
limit by Taliban rebels who operate across borders.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/world/asia/24military.html
===
Germany's Steinmeier Calls for Withdrawal Plan:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's challenger in the federal election,
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, says it's time to think
about a timeframe for withdrawing the country's troops from
Afghanistan, where the Bundeswehr has been deployed since 2002.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,644597,00.html#ref=rss
===
Karzai wins election: Afghan finance minister:
Afghanistan's finance minister claimed victory on Monday for President
Hamid Karzai in last week's presidential election but, with no
official figures released, the claim was rejected by his main rival's
campaign.
===
Afghan challenger says election "widely rigged": -
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's main challenger said on Sunday he
had evidence last week's election had been widely rigged by the
incumbent and that he had lodged more than 100 complaints.
http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINISL36667220090823
===
One in five Afghan ballots may be illegal, UN warns:
Officials in Afghanistan deny evidence of widespread fraud in
presidential poll amid fears vote-rigging could decide result
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/24/afghan-elections-fraud-karzai
===
Guantanamo detainee returns home:"
One of the youngest people to be held at the US military prison in
Guantanamo Bay has been released and taken back to his native
Afghanistan, his lawyer has said. Mohammed Jawad, 19, was released
from the jail in Cuba on Monday, seven years after he was arrested
by US forces in Afghanistan.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/08/20098241834677174.html
==
U.S. helicopters violate Pakistan's airspace: report:
United States gunship helicopters Monday violated the international
border and intruded into Pakistani territory, official sources said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/24/content_11937699.htm
===
Reporter killed in Khyber Pass :
Gunmen have shot dead an Afghan journalist known as an outspoken
critic of the Taliban as he travelled by bus through Pakistan's
Khyber Pass.
http://tvnz.co.nz/content/2941302
===
Obama approves interrogation unit:
Barack Obama, the US president, has approved the formation of a
White House-supervised unit that will interrogate terrorism suspects,
a senior aide has announced.
===
Medics: Israeli soldiers kill a Palestinian in N Gaza:
One Palestinian was killed and another wounded on Monday evening
by Israeli soldiers' gunfire in northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian
medics and witnesses said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/25/content_11938087.htm
===
Touring Israel with Mike Huckabee:
A first-person account of a US presidential candidate's trip to
Israel by a prominent Jewish-American activist reveals a calm man
with strong principles.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133058
===
Argentina calls for arrest of Iran minister over bombing:
Iran's newly nominated defense minister "should be arrested" for
his alleged role in a 1994 Buenos Aires bombing that killed 85
people, Argentina's top minister Anibal Fernandez said Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090824/wl_mideast_afp/argentinaattacksjewsirani
nterpol
===
Iran Protests Argentine Stance on Ahmadinejadbs Defense Nominee:
Iran summoned the top Argentine diplomat in Tehran to protest
Argentinabs allegation that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadbs nominee
for defense minister was involved in a 1994 terrorist attack in
Buenos Aires.
===
Somalia: Half the population in humanitarian crisis amid an escalating
civil war:
Results of a country-wide comprehensive inter-agency assessment,
led by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia
(FAO/FSNAU), confirm that the Humanitarian Crisis in Somalia is
widespread and severe, with half of the population or an estimated
3.76 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-7V8MKN?OpenDocument
===
Rendition of Terror Suspects Will Continue Under Obama:
The Obama administration will continue the Bush administrationbs
practice of sending terror suspects to third countries for detention
and interrogation, but will monitor their treatment to insure they
are not tortured, administration officials said on Monday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/us/politics/25rendition.html
===
CIA interrogator threatened to kill children: Report:
Another agent allegedly told a second suspect the man's mother would
be sexually assaulted in front of him. The agent has denied the
allegation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8219307.stm
===
CIA report: 'Inhumane' tactics used on detainees:
The documents released by the CIA's inspector general said interrogators
went too far b even beyond what was authorized under Justice
Department legal memos that have since been withdrawn and discredited.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090824/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_cia_interrogations
===
Holder to Appoint Prosecutor to Investigate CIA Terror Interrogations:
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has decided to appoint a
prosecutor to examine nearly a dozen cases in which CIA interrogators
and contractors may have violated anti-torture laws and other
statutes when they allegedly threatened terrorism suspects, according
to two sources familiar with the move.
===
Tensions Lead to CIA Director's "Screaming Match" at the White
House:
According to intelligence officials, Panetta erupted in a tirade
last month during a meeting with a senior White House staff member.
Panetta was reportedly upset over plans by Attorney General Eric
Holder to open a criminal investigation of allegations that CIA
officers broke the law in carrying out certain interrogation
techniques that President Obama has termed "torture."
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=8398902
===
CIA Outsourced for Killers:
Following reports the CIA hired private spies to be assassins,
former U.S.
intelligence officials are defending the use of contractors,
estimating one out of three intelligence workers is on contract.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/08/137_50593.html
===
In case youi missed it:
Was Lockerbie suspect working for US?:
Former Labour MP Tam Dalyell and Edinburgh law professor Robert
Black urged the Scottish and UK governments to answer reports there
is evidence Abu Nidal was a US agent.
http://news.scotsman.com/world/Was-Lockerbie-suspect-working-for.4631017.jp
===
Insurers admit 50,000 employees lobbying Congress to claim profits
fair:
A spokesman for Americabs Health Insurance Plans, the industrybs
trade group, admitted in an article published Monday that as many
as 50,000 industry employees are involved in an effort to fight
back against aggressive healthcare reform.
===
US May See 150-200 More Bank Failures: Bove:
A prominent banking analyst said Sunday that 150 to 200 more U.S.
banks will fail in the current banking crisis, and the industry's
payments to keep the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp afloat could
eat up 25 percent of pretax income in 2010.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/32532937
===
Double-dip recession likely: Roubini:
Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted
the financial crisis, said the chance of a double-dip recession is
increasing because of risks related to ending global monetary and
fiscal stimulus.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/International-Business/Double-dip-re
cession-likely-Roubini/articleshow/4930615.cms
===
Let Us Work Towards Peace And Joy
Tom Feeley