Author: Jeff Fenske Page 600 of 614

Chuck Baldwin: Sarah Palin’s Answers—Very Troubling

On September 15, 2008

In Alaska, Bomb-Bomb-Bomb Iran, Chuck Baldwin, False Christians Trashing America, John McCain, Sarah Palin, War

From: News with Views

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin gave her first exclusive interview as John McCain’s Vice Presidential running mate to ABC’s Charles Gibson last week. Her answers were very troubling, especially to those of us who believe in constitutional government. On foreign policy, especially, Palin reveals herself to be just another neocon; one who would enthusiastically promote Bush’s preemptive war doctrine.

Speaking of the Bush doctrine, it was extremely enlightening that Sarah Palin demonstrated surprising ignorance as to what the Bush Doctrine is. Gibson asked: “Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?” Palin’s response: “In what respect, Charlie?” Continued questions revealed that Sarah Palin was totally ignorant of the Bush doctrine.

When Gibson properly defined the Bush doctrine as being the determination of President Bush to unilaterally, preemptively launch anticipatory military attacks and invasions against foreign countries (without a Declaration of War from Congress, I might add), Palin said the President “has the obligation, the duty” to launch such attacks. No wonder John McCain likes her so much.

Palin went on to make further statements that must have made John McCain proud. When asked if she would be willing to take America to war with Russia in order to defend Georgia, she responded by saying, “Perhaps so.”

Egad! Do John McCain and Sarah Palin envision–even desire–war with Russia? John McCain is already on record as supporting sending troops to Georgia; now Sarah Palin suggests that even war with Russia is a possibility. Over what? Has Russia deployed troops along our borders? Has Russia threatened to invade the United States? Are McCain and Palin truly willing to launch a war with a nation that has thousands of ICBMs in its nuclear arsenal, when our own security has not been threatened? And just how many other countries are McCain and Palin willing to defend with American toil and blood? All of Europe? …

Many people familiar with John McCain have tried to warn the American people about the warmongering, hot-tempered senator. To quote one of McCain’s fellow POWs, Phillip Butler (who was a POW for 8 years, 2 1/2 years longer than McCain), “I can verify that John [McCain] has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly, that is not the finger I want next to that red button.” …

Skousen: Ron Paul Condemns the Two Party System

On September 14, 2008

In Joel Skousen, Ron Paul

World Affairs Brief, September 12, 2008. Commentary and Insights on a Troubled World.

Copyright Joel Skousen. Partial quotations with attribution permitted. Cite source as Joel Skousen’s World Affairs Brief.

RON PAUL CONDEMNS THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM:

Ron Paul held his much anticipated news conference Wednesday at the National Press Club. He called the presidential elections a charade and said voters should reject the pressure to vote for the “lesser of two evils.” Realistically, however, it is the structure of our electoral system which requires a full majority in any primary or election that guarantees a two party system. Until that is changed (there are a variety of ways to do this, such as allowing minority of voters nationwide to pool their votes for an “at large” candidate for Congress) the system will always discriminate against third parties–unless dissatisfaction gets so strong that a third party can fully oust one of the majors.

Paul correctly says that 60 percent of Americans are unhappy with their choices in the race, and he urged listeners to vote for one of the third party candidates and vote against the “establishment candidates.” He appeared at his news conference with only three of the third-party candidates: independent Ralph Nader; former Georgia Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party candidate; and Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate. Incredibly and stupidly, Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate, decided to snub the event and hold his own press conference. I’ve never trusted Barr, being former CIA, and having been guilty of some major moral transgression.

While I applaud Ron for throwing his support behind the Third Party movement, I believe it would have been much more effective for him to endorse one Third Party candidates directly. Before Paul’s convention and statement supporting third parties, almost all Paul supporters would have split their votes mostly among the Libertarian and Constitution Party. Paul’s announcement failed to change any of that or give any one of the parties the attention getting boost necessary to grab the headlines.

The McCain campaign worries that Paul could have drawn votes away from him in November, but Paul’s chances of acting as a spoiler are now markedly diminished. It is telling that Ron Paul was pressured by former Senator Phil Gramm on behalf of the McCain campaign to endorse McCain. That takes real audacity given how the GOP treated Ron Paul delegates,. Paul correctly told Gramm he would never endorse John McCain, on principle. How rare it is to find a man of principle in politics like Ron Paul.

Goodbye-to-Our-Job? Party Photos

On September 14, 2008

In Personal, Photography

A co-worker and friend just posted four photos I took this summer during the “Goodbye to [our airline]” party, held at one of the Non-Revs, band members’ homes. One of these guys is actually my immediate boss.

There is a glimmer of hope that the ship that some of us have sailed on for decades won’t go down, but it doesn’t look good. Some are already bailing out.

Yikes! Ouch! If only we would have known sooner, etc….. We remember the pre, overreaction-to-9/11, good ole days for the airline business all too well. Once, in 1980, I was the only passenger on a flight.

At least most of us have learned to get along really well. It’s been a valuable experience, and many of us have been able to see much of the world.

May we always be friends no matter what happens.

Jeff Fenske : )

______________

Related: John Prine: Hello in There

Devvy Kidd: Palin is in full lock step with warmonger, McCain, cheering on the clever marketing slogan (“surge”). But in reality, Bush invaded a non-threatening country and destroyed it!

On September 13, 2008

In John McCain, Lying, Sarah Palin

From: News with Views

Palin’s oldest son is set to deploy to Iraq. As a mother, Mrs. Palin is very proud of her son. However, Palin is in full lock step with war monger, McCain, cheering on the clever marketing slogan (“surge”) when nothing could be further from the truth. American forces under Bush invaded a non-threatening country and destroyed it, killing tens of thousands of civilians and causing millions to be displaced from their homes and lives based on lies. These are facts that cannot be denied.

Sarah Palin’s support of our continuing occupation of Iraq in my book makes her completely unqualified for either VP or president. For her to support the continuation of our troops in either Afghanistan or Iraq clearly shows me she’s a player on the wrong side. I was appalled when I read “…said the war in Iraq was ‘a task from God.’

Read Entire Article

Sarah Palin Talks Lightly About Nuclear War

On September 13, 2008

In Sarah Palin, War

From: InfoWars

Sarah Palin is now officially the poster child for the insanity of the neocons. Interviewed by ABC News, the vice presidential candidate said war with Russia is a possibility. “We have to keep our eyes on Russia, under the leadership there,” she averred. “I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally. If another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help…. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller, democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable.”

Palin is wrong on all counts. First, Georgia is not a member of NATO and is not likely to become so, mostly because the Europeans are more sane than the American neocons, primarily because they live next door to Russia. Second, Russia did not invade Georgia, Russia defended South Ossetia from an attack launched by Georgia. In its defensive action, Russia took out Georgia’s military capacity and that necessitated going into Georgia proper. Third, Georgia is not a democracy as should be apparent when one looks at Saakashvili’s reaction to opposition protesters last year — he responded with tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, and a “state of emergency,” that is to say martial law. Of course, in Bushzarro world, a government installed by NED and Soros is considered a democracy — and black is white and up is down.

Cheney trekked to Ukraine last week to tell Yushchenko and his color revolution installed gang that the U.S. will support their effort to get into NATO, never mind this is unpopular in the country. “It is obvious that so far the majority of people in Ukraine is opposed to NATO membership and wants it to remain neutral,” reports Ilya Kramnik for RIA Novosti. …

As Paul Craig Roberts notes, the neocons are determined to have a war with Russia. “The Committee on the Present Danger regarded the neocons as crazy people who would get America into a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The neocons hated President Reagan, because he ended the cold war with diplomacy, when they desired a military victory over the Soviet Union,” writes Roberts.

The Republicans will get us into more wars. Indeed, they live for war. McCain is preaching war for 100 years. For these warmongers, it is like cheering for your home team. Win at all costs. They get a vicarious pleasure out of war [“This is Satanic” – editor]. If the US has to tell lies in order to attack countries, what’s wrong with that? “If we don’t kill them over there, they will kill us over here.”

Read Entire Article

Skousen: The Real Sarah Palin Emerges — A Bit Too Ambitious To Be Principled

On September 12, 2008

In Joel Skousen, Sarah Palin

World Affairs Brief, September 12, 2008. Commentary and Insights on a Troubled World.

Copyright Joel Skousen. Partial quotations with attribution permitted. Cite source as Joel Skousen’s World Affairs Brief.

THE REAL SARAH PALIN EMERGES: A BIT TOO AMBITIOUS TO BE PRINCIPLED

Last week I compared Sarah Palin to a sincere but naive Christian in a den of Lions. This week I’ve revised my assessment to a more negative and realistic stance: Palin has the same kind of raw ambition that plagues Mitt Romney–wanting to get elected and advance so badly that they are willing to compromise on a wide range of principles–including some honesty. According to the Anchorage Daily News some of the things McCain’s VP candidate told the GOP convention were not quite true:

On Alaska Oil Pipeline: “Palin implies that construction has begun on a major natural gas pipeline from the top of Alaska into Canada. That is not correct. In fact, no building has begun and actual construction is years away, if it ever happens. This summer the Alaska Legislature, at Palin’s request, passed a bill under which the state will issue a “license” to a Canadian energy company, TransCanada Corp., and pay it up to $500 million as an incentive to someday build this enormous project, which Alaska politicians have long sought with little success. The license is not a construction contract, and federal energy regulators have not yet approved the project. Palin also puts the price tag for the project at $40 billion, an exaggeration. This is roughly $10 billion more than most cost estimates industry players and consultants have made to date.”

On wasteful legislative earmarks and her opposition to Sen. Steven’s Bridge to Nowhere: “As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation, although she has cut, by more than half, the amount the state sought from Washington this year. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to Gravina Island, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a ‘bridge to nowhere.'”

It has also been brought to my attention that Gov. Palin is part of a coalition of governors supporting Canamex, the NAFTA
superhighway for the North Coast. She also supported the REAL ID act for Alaska-a very serious mistake for state rights and citizen privacy.

Perhaps the most candid and balanced criticism of Sarah Palin came from Wasilla resident Anne Kilkenny, as published by the Online Journal. Here are some excerpts I found enlightening. They seem to paint a picture of a women that is pretty aggressive, who shifts positions for political advantage, and borders upon being a ruthless player who holds no loyalty to anyone who has helped her but may differ with her in even small ways. She does not seem to be highly principled except on a view high profile issues like abortion and gun rights. This helps explain why she, as an avowed Christian evangelical, would join a den of globalists like the McCain campaign.

“She is enormously popular; It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months. She is ‘pro-life.’ She recently gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

“She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym. She is savvy. She doesn’t take positions; she just ‘puts things out there’ and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit. Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents. During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.”

She is not a fiscal conservative. “Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a ‘fiscal conservative.’ During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefitted large corporate property owners way more than they benefitted residents. The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million.

[…]

Read the Entire Article Joel is Quoting

Palin: “This war against extreme Islamic terrorists is the RIGHT THING”

On September 12, 2008

From: ABC News

The following excerpts are from the ABC News exclusive interview with Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in Fairbanks, Alaska, conducted by “World News” anchor Charlie Gibson on September 11, 2008

[…]

Sarah Palin on God:

GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, “Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.” Are we fighting a holy war?

PALIN: You know, I don’t know if that was my exact quote.

GIBSON: Exact words.

PALIN: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln’s words when he said — first, he suggested never presume to know what God’s will is, and I would never presume to know God’s will or to speak God’s words.

But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that’s a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God’s side.

That’s what that comment was all about, Charlie. And I do believe, though, that this war against extreme Islamic terrorists is the right thing. It’s an unfortunate thing, because war is hell and I hate war, and, Charlie, today is the day that I send my first born, my son, my teenage son overseas with his Stryker brigade, 4,000 other wonderful American men and women, to fight for our country, for democracy, for our freedoms.

Charlie, those are freedoms that too many of us just take for granted. I hate war and I want to see war ended. We end war when we see victory, and we do see victory in sight in Iraq.

Read Entire Interview

Related:

Sarah Palin: U.S. Troops in Iraq Doing God’s Will — “A Task that is From God”

God is so totally not on our side Addresses Sarah’s Lincoln reference

Why 9/11? | Forgiveness is the Key to Repentance

Rockefeller Predicted “Event” To Trigger War Eleven Months Before 9/11

Palin: “In order to stop Islamic extremists…we must do whatever it takes and we must not blink”

On September 12, 2008

In Bomb-Bomb-Bomb Iran, Sarah Palin

From: ABC News

The following excerpts are from the ABC News exclusive interview with Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in Fairbanks, Alaska, conducted by “World News” anchor Charlie Gibson on September 11, 2008

[…]

Sarah Palin on ‘the Bush Doctrine’:

[…]

GIBSON: The Bush doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense, that we have the right to a preemptive strike against any other country that we think is going to attack us. Do you agree with that?

PALIN: I agree that a president’s job, when they swear in their oath to uphold our Constitution, their top priority is to defend the United States of America.

I know that John McCain will do that and I, as his vice president, families we are blessed with that vote of the American people and are elected to serve and are sworn in on January 20, that will be our top priority is to defend the American people.

GIBSON: Do we have a right to anticipatory self-defense? Do we have a right to make a preemptive strike again another country if we feel that country might strike us?

PALIN: Charlie, if there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people [which wasn’t true in Iraq; isn’t true of Iran; & the hijackers were mostly from Saudi Arabia, not Afghanistan – editor], we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend.

GIBSON: Do we have the right to be making cross-border attacks into Pakistan from Afghanistan, with or without the approval of the Pakistani government?

PALIN: Now, as for our right to invade, we’re going to work with these countries, building new relationships, working with existing allies, but forging new, also, in order to, Charlie, get to a point in this world where war is not going to be a first option. In fact, war has got to be, a military strike, a last option.

GIBSON: But, Governor, I’m asking you: We have the right, in your mind, to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government.

PALIN: In order to stop Islamic extremists, those terrorists who would seek to destroy America and our allies, we must do whatever it takes and we must not blink, Charlie, in making those tough decisions of where we go and even who we target.

GIBSON: And let me finish with this. I got lost in a blizzard of words there. Is that a yes? That you think we have the right to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government, to go after terrorists who are in the Waziristan area?

PALIN: I believe that America has to exercise all options in order to stop the terrorists who are hell bent on destroying America and our allies. We have got to have all options out there on the table.

Read Entire Article

Related:

Ron Paul’s Christlike Attitude: Love, Peace & Hope – No *Initiation* of Aggression!

Ron Paul: Jesus is the Prince of PEACE, Not Preemptive War

Fenske on Chuck Norris’ “Would Jesus Support War?” – ‘A God of War’ & ‘*a* Prince of Peace’

Why 9/11? | Forgiveness is the Key to Repentance

Rockefeller Predicted “Event” To Trigger War Eleven Months Before 9/11

Ron Paul: “The Fooling of the People Still Goes On” | Predicted Fanny/Freddy Bailout 5 Years Ago (Glen Beck 9/10/08)

On September 11, 2008

In $Money$ ToBeFree, Ron Paul

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BLRK7BuntA]

Leno: Confetti at the RNC was really the torn up Constitution

On September 10, 2008

“Well, here’s a little known fact from the Republican convention. This is kind of interesting. You know the confetti they dropped at the end? That was made from the actual Constitution of the United States.”

– Jay Leno

Ron Paul 9-10-08 Press Conference

On September 10, 2008

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1LMoWqXrE4]

Is John McCain Just a Flat Out Liar? See for Yourself

On September 9, 2008

In John McCain, Lying

Just think, we could have had Ron Paul.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c]

“We either keep our word
or we don’t keep our word.
I intend to keep my word to the American people.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioy90nF2anI]

“I promise to tell the truth, always,
about my intentions and my beliefs.”

What is this ‘Iraq war’ charge on my bill?

On September 9, 2008

In John McCain, War

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh-T2iGkLJY]

Chuck Baldwin: America’s Greatest Threat

On September 9, 2008

In America's Getting Jacked!, China, Chuck Baldwin, George Bush Family, John McCain, War

From: News with Views

Every time violence erupts somewhere in the world, our national leaders and news media make it sound like that particular outbreak is America’s greatest threat. The conflict between Russia and Georgia is no exception. Almost as soon as news of the conflict broke, the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee, John McCain, was suggesting that the United States (or the United Nations) should send troops to the scene. I guess two wars are not enough for McCain; he now wants to start a third. (And with all his talk about bombing Iran, make that four.) And talk all over Washington, D.C., was mostly about what kind of military response the United States should take.

Have people lost their minds? Or do people really believe that the United States is the world’s–or should we say the United Nations’–policeman? Apparently, that is what our national leaders from both major parties believe.

Let’s face it: most of America’s foreign policy over the last several decades has been more about fulfilling the U.N.’s global desires than protecting the people and property of the United States. And, yes, that includes America’s invasion of Iraq.

Do readers not remember that soon after launching the invasion of Iraq, President Bush appeared before the United Nations and plainly told that sinister organization that the reason he had ordered the invasion of Iraq was to “defend . . . the credibility of the United Nations”? Frankly, I did not know the United Nations had any credibility worth defending. Nevertheless, G.W. Bush was willing to sacrifice over 4,000 American lives for the express purpose of defending the U.N.’s “credibility.” Now, John McCain appears willing to send troops to Georgia.

I will not use this column to analyze the specific events leading up to Russia’s attack against Georgia, except to say that one can count on the fact that there is much more to the story than what NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN are telling us.

In addition, one of the major fallacies being perpetrated by most in Washington, D.C., is the notion that America is somehow strengthened and protected by aggressive meddling in the affairs of foreign countries. Such a philosophy was considered anathema to America’s Founding Fathers. They rightly understood that such reasoning created more problems than it solved and that it made America more vulnerable, not more secure.

Regardless of what the underlying and overriding reasons for Russia’s attack might have been, I will say here and now that the Russian-Georgian conflict is not America’s greatest threat. I will also be so bold as to say that Iran or North Korea is not America’s greatest threat, either. In fact, I will categorically state that no foreign nation (although, of all foreign nations, Red China should undoubtedly be our biggest concern–and none of our national leaders seem the least bit concerned about it) is America’s greatest threat. America’s greatest threat comes from within. And I am not alone in that opinion.

Read Entire Article

CIA Holocaust Claims 20 Million Victims

On September 9, 2008

In America's Getting Jacked!, CIA Drug Running/Assassinations, George Bush Family, Secret Societies, War

From: Conspiracy Planet

The world’s number one terrorist organization, the CIA has committed heinous acts of terrorism abroad, murdering critics of US foreign and domestic policies and has done it on behalf of an increasing tiny, privileged American elite. …

The official history of the CIA is dull reading. But one would not expect an official document of the US government to reveal the early connections between the CIA and Yale’s notorious Skull and Bones society [George Bush I & George Bush II are members – editor]; one would not expect the US government to reveal the nature of CIA backed coups in Chile to its role in the notorious Bay of Pigs debacle.

One would not expect an official document to detail the role played by the CIA in the Iran/Contra affair. One would not expect a sanitized government version of the CIA to reveal how the CIA creates and support death squads that have resulted in a holocaust not seen since the Third Reich.

The passage of the National Security Act in July 1947 legislated the changes in the Executive branch that had been under discussion since 1945.

The Act established an independent Air Force, provided for coordination by a committee of service chiefs, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and a Secretary of Defense, and created the National Security Council (NSC). The CIG became an independent department and was renamed the Central Intelligence Agency.

Under the Act, the CIA’s mission was only loosely defined, since efforts to thrash out the CIA’s duties in specific terms would have contributed to the tension surrounding the unification of the services. The four general tasks assigned to the Agency were to advise the NSC on matters related to national security; to make recommendations to the NSC regarding the coordination of intelligence activities of the Departments; to correlate and evaluate intelligence and provide for its appropriate dissemination and “to perform such other functions … as the NSC will from time to time direct….”

–CIA Organizational Development, [Adapted from: United States Senate Select Committee on Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, Foreign and Military Intelligence — Book I, 94th Congress, 2nd Session, 26 April 1976, pages 102-118.]

The numbers don’t lie! At the end of a detailed statistical study, the CIA will be found, like a spider in its web, at the bump on a bell curve, at the very nexus of murder, mayhem and heinous acts of terrorism that it has exported across the globe and behind the deaths of US citizens in America.

CIA atrocities may be categorized.

* Secret Wars
* Assassinations
* Subversions of targeted regimes
* Overt terrorism
* Support of other terrorist organizations
* Exploitation and/or creation of terrorist organizations like ‘al Qaeda’.
* Drug sales, primarily cocaine and its derivative –crack.
* Domestic Assassinations and acts of terrorism

Read Entire Article

CIA, Drugs and the US Economy

On September 9, 2008

In CIA Drug Running/Assassinations, George Bush Family, Secret Societies

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDyLbkhflqE]

Mexico drug plane used for CIA ‘rendition’ flights

On September 9, 2008

In CIA Drug Running/Assassinations

From: Yahoo News

MEXICO CITY (AFP) – A private jet that crash-landed almost one year ago in eastern Mexico carrying 3.3 tons of cocaine had previously been used for CIA “rendition” flights, a newspaper report said here Thursday, citing documents from the United States and the European Parliament.

The plane was carrying Colombian drugs for the fugitive leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, when it crash-landed in the Yucatan peninsula on September 24, El Universal reported.

The daily said it had obtained documents from the United States and the European Parliament which “show that that plane flew several times to Guantanamo, Cuba, presumably to transfer terrorism suspects.”

It said the European Parliament was investigating the private Grumman Gulfstream II, registered by the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, for suspected use in CIA “rendition” flights in which prisoners are covertly transferred to a third country or US-run detention centers.

Read Entire Article

Scott Ritter on Obama/McCain’s bomb-Iran rhetoric: “Don’t stand tall; stand safe”

On September 9, 2008

In Barack Obama, Bomb-Bomb-Bomb Iran, Israel, John McCain

From: Democracy Now!

AMY GOODMAN: President Bush praised Arizona Senator John McCain Tuesday for his commitment to the surge in Iraq and described him as a man who “would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war.”

In these last few months of the Bush administration, as we continue to discuss the war in Iraq and the possibility of an attack on Iran, we turn to a man who was a UN weapons inspector inside Iraq in the ’90s. I’m talking about Scott Ritter. He resigned as chief weapons inspector for the United Nations in 1998 and became an outspoken critic of sanctions in Iraq and US interference in weapons inspection programs.

Scott Ritter’s recent articles have focused on Iran. His latest piece on Iran, published earlier this summer on Truthdig.com, is called “Acts of War.” It begins with the lines: “The war between the United States and Iran is on. American taxpayer dollars are being used, with the permission of Congress, to fund activities that result in Iranians being killed and wounded, and Iranian property destroyed. This wanton violation of a nation’s sovereignty would not be tolerated if the tables were turned and Americans were being subjected to Iranian-funded covert actions that took the lives of Americans, on American soil, and destroyed American property and livelihood.”

Palin’s Pastor Speaks About Israel

On September 9, 2008

From: realjewnews.com

TODAY I SPOKE WITH Sarah Palin’s pastor. His name is Reverend Larry Kroon & he is the Senior Pastor of Wasilla Bible Church in Wasilla Alaska where Sarah Palin resides. Pastor Larry Kroon confirmed that Sarah Palin was an “attendee” of Wasilla Bible Church.

I called Pastor Larry Kroon around 3 PM Mountain Time on today’s date, September 2 2008. I introduced myself to him as a “freelance reporter” for Jewish daily news. During our talk I told him that I was a former Jew and was now with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Pastor Larry Kroon described Wasilla Bible Church as “a Church that teaches that the Bible is the Word of God and calls upon its members to conduct their lives in accordance with it.” Pastor Kroon added that he was the pastor of a “non denominational” Church & that “between 800 to 1000 people attend Wasilla Bible Church on any given Sunday.

Here’s how our conversation went:

Read Entire Article

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: “We were the MOST BELOVED nation on the face of the earth | We are now…the MOST HATED nation & FEARED nation on earth”

On September 9, 2008

In Ethics, George Bush Family, Real History, The Soul of America, Torture

From: Democracy Now!

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: One of the most poignant memories I have of my father was a trip that we took to Europe when I was about thirteen years old, and we went to Czechoslovokia and Poland and Italy and Greece and France and Germany. And everywhere we went, we were met by vast crowds of people, hundreds of thousands of people, who came out because they wanted to be near an American politician. And it wasn’t just because my father’s brother had been martyred three years before. The same thing happened to Eisenhower when he went to Kabul and Tehran. A million Muslim people met him on the street waving tiny little American flags. And what I remember as a boy is these crowds of people that were just hungry for American leadership, and they—not bullying. They knew the difference. And they were starved for a moral authority. And they proudly named their streets after our presidents, Washington and Jefferson and Lincoln and Roosevelt and Kennedy.

And I remember the day after 9/11, when the headline on the biggest newspaper in France, Le Monde, was “We’re All Americans Now.” And for three weeks after 9/11, thousands of Muslim people came out spontaneously onto the streets of Tehran to make candlelight vigils to show their support, their solidarity, their love for the United States of America. We were the most beloved nation on the face of the earth and in the history of mankind.

And it took 230 years of disciplined visionary leadership by Republican and Democratic presidents to build up those vast reservoirs of public love for our country. And in seven short years, through monumental arrogance and incompetence, this White House has drained those reservoirs dry. We are now, according to virtually every poll, the most hated nation and feared nation on earth. And anybody who says that it’s good for our national security when European youth, as a recent poll showed, hold Osama bin Laden in the same regard as they hold President Bush, and anybody who believes it’s good for our national security when Hezbollah is as popular in the Mideast as America has their head in an oil well.

You know, Abraham Lincoln said America

Anchorage, Alaska’s ‘Summer’ of 2008 Record: Only 2 Days Above 69 Degrees

On September 9, 2008

In Alaska, Climate Change

From: Anchorage Daily News

Summer is officially over in Alaska, and if you got out in the sun to enjoy both days of it you were lucky.

Those were the two July days the temperature at the offices of the National Weather Service in Anchorage hit 70 degrees or better.

“Those temperatures occurred at the beginning of the month (of July) and were immediately followed by a long stretch of cool and wet weather.

“With only two days above 70 degrees this year, that sets a new record for the fewest days to reach 70,” the weather-watching agency reported Friday.

Add to the lack of heat and sunshine what the agency calls “an astonishing 77%” of days colder than normal, and you get the picture.

This summer was every bit as bad as you thought it was.

Gardens didn’t grow. Salmon returned late. Bees didn’t make honey. Swallows didn’t breed.

And the sunbathing, well, what sunbathing?

On average, Anchorage sees 16 days that hit 70 or better. …

Overall, the weather service ranks the summer of 2008 as having the third coolest average high temperatures since record keeping began. Only the summers of 1973 and 1971 were worse. In overall average daily temperatures, 2008 ranked 11th place.

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Related:

Global Cooling: Alaskan Glaciers Grow For First Time In 250 Years

Sun’s Power Hits New Low, May Endanger Earth?

Global Cooling Due to Decreased Sunspot Activity?

Anchorage, Alaska: Heating Costs Double in Just 5 Years!

On September 9, 2008

In Alaska, Energy, Inflation$$$$$$

From: Anchorage Daily News

Enstar Natural Gas Co. plans to raise its rates for heating homes by at least 22 percent starting in January to pay for soaring fuel costs, one of its largest one-time rate increases in a decade.

The company will file its new prices with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska for approval when its final numbers are in next month, said company spokesman Curtis Thayer.

Enstar, which serves about 128,000 homes and businesses statewide, including nearly all of Anchorage, will raise a typical resident’s bill from $125 to $153 a month on average.

“This is a concern,” said Ann Secrest, spokeswoman for AARP Alaska, which has more than 90,000 members. “You don’t want an older Alaskan to have to turn off their heat and possibly put themselves in harm’s way.” …

Two years ago, a similar spike in oil prices sent Enstar natural gas rates soaring to a 30 percent increase.

Even with the latest increase, though, Enstar customers will have one of the lowest prices of natural gas in the country, Thayer said.

Read Entire Article with Chart

The Cause of Bacteria in Lettuce and Spinach — Radiation Not the Answer

On September 9, 2008

From: Natural News

Many supermarkets and food stores stock packaged, trimmed or cut lettuce and spinach as well as other green leaves. It is these minimally processed types of lettuce and spinach that attract food-borne pathogens such as listeria monocytogenes and yersinia enterocolitica. Listeria is the cause of a range of illnesses from flu to the very dangerous meningitis, and Y. Enerocolitica leads to gastric conditions such as diarrhea.

The reason for the occurrence of the bacteria is that the bacteria have a supportive environment in which to develop. The moisture content, the possible temperature variation and the use of packaging contribute to the development and growth of the bacteria.

[…]

Authorities believe the solution lies in irradiating food as a step against bacterial infections. However concern about the value, logistics, consequent loss of quality, as well as the unknown impact of irradiated food on our health system are issues of concern. If the existence of the bacteria is due to unsanitary practices in growing, packing, shipping and storing then these must be addressed.

Some suspect that the nutritional value of the food would be impacted by the radiation which would lead to more nutritional deficiencies and hence disease for the general population, which would affect more than those that are prone to food-borne infections. Are we to be so managed we are given no choice? What level of control in a democratic country is appropriate over what is allowed to go into our bodies?

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Cops strip-search female ‘loitering’ pro-lifers

On September 9, 2008

From: WorldNetDaily

The allegations in the case sound like a Third World dictatorship: Police officers talk over before the arrests what charges they’ll use, there are no explanations when the arrests are made, the suspects are denied access to legal counsel while in custody, and cops subject suspects to semi-public strip-searches.

Only this was in Bel Air, Md., and the pro-life protesters subjected to the treatment now have brought a legal action against the officers and town for violating their Constitutional rights.

“The truth of the matter is that our clients were heckled, arrested, imprisoned, shackled, and strip-searched twice for exercising their First Amendment rights,” said attorney Daniel Cox, who is allied with the Alliance Defense Fund is serving as local counsel. “No excuse exists for how our young clients were treated.”

The lawsuit accuses Bel Air, seven police officials and Harford County of violating the rights of 18 pro-life advocates who were arrested when they held signs and shared their message along a public street. Those arrested included three young women who faced repeated strip-searches while being cited for loitering, disorderly conduct and failure to obey.

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’60 Minutes’ Cut Ahmadinejad’s Statement, ‘Solution Is Democracy’ in Israel/Palestine

On September 9, 2008

In Media Bias Exposed

From: Philip Weiss

The interview that Mike Wallace did of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 2 years ago was aired on C-Span recently, and a diligent blogger has reported on what “60 Minutes” cut out of the interview when it aired. When Wallace confronted Ahmadinejad with the “wipe Israel off the map” threats, Ahmadinejad said that “the solution is democracy” in Israel and Palestine, a suggestion that he favors a one-state solution. I agree with blogger Tom Murphy that “60”‘s edits misrepresent Ahmadinejad’s thrust, making him out to be far more confrontational than he is, especially after Wallace promised Ahmadinejad that he would listen to his complete answers to questions. And yes, that this amounts to “suppression of basic facts concerning Israel and the Palestinians.”

Here’s Murphy’s data:

The text in red was edited out of the 60 Minutes broadcast:

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Bob Chapman on Sarah Palin: “What We Find Really Interesting…”

On September 9, 2008

In John McCain, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin

From: The International Forecaster, 8/30/08

John McCain, Manchurian Candidate and Bush Clone, has picked a pro-life Christian for his vice presidential running mate. Sarah Palin, the current governor of Alaska, is a high-risk, high-reward choice, who will appeal to the Christian right but who is inexperienced like Obama. If you are going to have inexperience, however, we suppose it would be better when applied to a vice president, who does little more than collect dust in a back office in the White House [except for Dick Cheney, whom many think is more powerful than President Bush – editor], although certainly experience is not necessarily a good thing, because it implies entrenched greed and corruption in the Washington setting.

What we find really interesting is that due to McCain’s age and poor health, if elected, the neophyte governor from Alaska could end up being President Palin, a pro-life Christian. Now wouldn’t that make the Illuminati’s blood boil? Hey, we can dream, can’t we?

Ron Paul is a better choice, however. With him you get both honesty and several decades of experience, plus he is also a pro-life Christian, making him the obvious choice for anyone claiming to be a Christian, or for anyone who wants honest, informed, government conducted in accordance with the US Constitution which the current Administration has unceremoniously disdained and destroyed after taking an oath to uphold it.

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Operation Sentinel: The High-Tech Police State Takes Shape

On September 9, 2008

In Science & Tech

From: Dissident Voice

Operation Sentinel, a new program unveiled by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), would encircle Manhattan with thousands of surveillance cameras that photograph every car or truck entering and exiting the city across its network of bridges and tunnels.

Information captured by this intrusive project would be stored in a huge database for an undisclosed period of time. Additionally, a network of sensors installed at toll plazas would allegedly be able to capable detect radiological materials that could be used in potential terror plots, the New York Times reports.

However, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) has denounced the proposal as “an attack on New Yorkers’ right to privacy.” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman lambasted this outrageous proposal saying,

“The NYPD’s latest plan to track and monitor the movements of millions of law-abiding people is an assault on this country’s historical respect for the right to privacy and the freedom to be left alone. That this is happening without public debate, and that elected officials have had no opportunity to study this program is even more alarming.” (”NYCLU: NYPD Plan to Track Millions of Law-Abiding People is an Assault on Privacy Rights,” New York Civil Liberties Union, August 12, 2008)

Last month, I reported on a high-tech surveillance system under development by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) called “Combat Zones That See” (CTS).

The 2003 program was predicated on the notion that once thousands of digital CCTV networks were installed across occupied or “homeland” cities, CTS would provide occupying troops–or police–with “motion-pattern analysis across whole city scales.” Based on complex algorithms linked to the numeric recognition of license plate numbers and scanned-in human profiles, CTS would furnish troops–or cops–real-time, “situational awareness” of the “battlespace.”

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The Wife John McCain CALLOUSLY Left Behind

On September 8, 2008

From: Mail Online

While Obama will surely press his credentials as the embodiment of the American dream – a handsome, charismatic young black man who was raised on food stamps by a single mother and who represents his country’s future – McCain will present himself as a selfless, principled war hero whose campaign represents not so much a battle for the presidency of the United States, but a crusade to rescue the nation’s tarnished reputation.

McCain likes to illustrate his moral fibre by referring to his five years as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam. And to demonstrate his commitment to family values, the 71-year-old former US Navy pilot pays warm tribute to his beautiful blonde wife, Cindy, with whom he has four children.

But there is another Mrs McCain who casts a ghostly shadow over the Senator’s presidential campaign. She is seldom seen and rarely written about, despite being mother to McCain’s three eldest children.

And yet, had events turned out differently, it would be she, rather than Cindy, who would be vying to be First Lady. She is McCain’s first wife, Carol, who was a famous beauty and a successful swimwear model when they married in 1965.

She was the woman McCain dreamed of during his long incarceration and torture in Vietnam’s infamous ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prison and the woman who faithfully stayed at home looking after the children and waiting anxiously for news.

But when McCain returned to America in 1973 to a fanfare of publicity and a handshake from Richard Nixon, he discovered his wife had been disfigured in a terrible car crash three years earlier.

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Satire: You Might Be a Neocon …

On September 8, 2008

[UFO Warning — (momentary, partially) Unclad Female Object]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZECeOoi2Zw]

“If you think ‘shut up’ [O’Reilly] is a reasonable response in a debate….”

“If you believe that Michael Savage represents a voice of reason….”

“If you think we made mistakes in the war on Iraq,
but we’ll get it right the second time [Iran]….”

“If you believe in the sanctity of this life
and this life,
but don’t mind putting these two in harms way….”

“If you believe that FOX News is fair and balanced….”

“If you believe we have the right to police the world
because God loves us more….”

“If you don’t like paying taxes,
so you decide to put your spending on your children’s tax….”

“If you believe that the terrorists hate us because we’re free,
and so the best way to fight them is to give up some of our freedom….”

Transcribed by Jeff Fenske from the above video from this wise poet.

Ron Paul | Michael Franti Freedom Videos!

On September 8, 2008

In Michael Franti, Music Videos, Ron Paul, War

Very touching oldies but goodies that I just now discovered and will never grow old.

Freedom!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clhO-qPTZ1g]Ron Paul Speaks for Me
Music: Michael Franti & Spearhead, “I Know I’m Not Alone”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbV_K-augxs]Ron Paul Shares My Values
Music: Michael Franti & Spearhead, “It’s Never Too Late”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1brJ8tuN8w]The rEVOLution Has Begun
Music: Michael Franti & Spearhead, “Yell Fire!”

“We should be a role model for the world,
not its policemen.”

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