Dems add long-sought hate crimes measure to Defense bill

Dandelion Salad

By Halimah Abdullah
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON

Just days after Arizona Sen. John McCain forged an unusual bipartisan alliance with the White House to cut $1.75 billion in increased spending for the F-22 jet fighter, congressional Democratic leaders on Wednesday added a hate-crimes measure to the must-pass bill.

The move, backed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sparked heated debate on the Senate floor as McCain unsuccessfully sought to remove the hate crimes amendment, known as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, from the broader defense spending measure on the grounds that the two matters are unrelated.

[…]

via Dems add long-sought hate crimes measure to Defense bill | McClatchy

from the archives:

The Hate Crimes Bill: How Not to Remember Matthew Shepard By Alexander Cockburn

As Goldman Sachs Posts Record Profits, Matt Taibbi Probes Role of Investment Giant

Dandelion Salad

Democracy Now!
July 15, 2009

As Goldman Sachs Posts Record Profits, Matt Taibbi Probes Role of Investment Giant in US Financial Meltdown

Goldman Sachs, the nation’s most powerful financial company, has reported the richest quarterly profit in its 140-year history: $3.44 billion between April and June. Goldman’s record profits come just one month after it repaid $10 billion of TARP money to the US Treasury, freeing itself from restrictions on year-end bonuses. We speak to Matt Taibbi, whose new Rolling Stone article argues that “Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression.” [includes rush transcript]

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Guest:

Matt Taibbi, Contributing editor for Rolling Stone Magazine. His latest article is The Great American Bubble Machine.

via As Goldman Sachs Posts Record Profits, Matt Taibbi Probes Role of Investment Giant in US Financial Meltdown

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American Economy: The Eye of the Storm by Josh Sidman

There is no economy left to recover By Paul Craig Roberts

Crystal Ball Gazing – The Future Is Deflation By Mike Whitney

The Economy Sucks and or Collapse 2

American Economy: The Eye of the Storm by Josh Sidman

by Josh Sidman
Dandelion Salad
Featured Writer
July 15, 2009

Mainstream media and government officials confidently tell us that the worst of the economic crisis is behind us. Undoubtedly, the current environment seems calmer than the free-fall that characterized the early part of this year. However, I would argue that, far from being finished with the crisis, the present situation is akin to the calm at the center of a storm. We have experienced the violence of the first wave of the tempest, but anyone who mistakes this temporary lull for an indication of smooth sailing will soon suffer a rude awakening.

Real estate is nowhere near a bottom, our nation’s largest banks are insolvent, gas prices are heading back up in a hurry, and two of the “Big Three” are in bankruptcy. Twelve percent of all mortgages (not just subprime) are either in foreclosure or behind on payments. Commercial real estate is just beginning to crumble. Forget about what the talking heads tell you, just look around. Does this look like the beginning of a recovery?

Palestinians ban Al-Jazeera over plot allegations

Dandelion Salad

washingtonpost.com
Reuters
Wednesday, July 15, 2009; 8:51
AMRAMALLAH, West Bank

The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday banned Al-Jazeera television from operating in its territory and threatened legal action over allegations it broadcast against President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Information Ministry said the Qatar-based Arabic news channel spread falsehoods and incited viewers against the authorities that run the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The ministry said allegations carried on Al-Jazeera on Tuesday and attributed to a senior figure in Abbas’ Fatah party, Farouq al-Qadoumi, were untrue.

[…]

via Palestinians ban Al-Jazeera over plot allegations – washingtonpost.com

There is no economy left to recover By Paul Craig Roberts

Dandelion Salad

By Paul Craig Roberts
July 15, 2009 “Information Clearing House”

Can The Economy Recover?

There is no economy left to recover. The US manufacturing economy was lost to offshoring and free trade ideology. It was replaced by a mythical “New Economy.”

The “New Economy” was based on services. Its artificial life was fed by the Federal Reserve’s artificially low interest rates, which produced a real estate bubble, and by “free market” financial deregulation, which unleashed financial gangsters to new heights of debt leverage and fraudulent financial products.

The real economy was traded away for a make-believe economy. When the make-believe economy collapsed, Americans’ wealth in their real estate, pensions, and savings collapsed dramatically while their jobs disappeared.

Viva Palestina aid convoy enters Gaza + We are in Gaza (photos)

Dandelion Salad

PressTV
Viva Palestina aid convoy enters Gaza
Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:21:43 GMT

The Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy enters the Gaza Strip, breaking the deadly Israeli blockade imposed on 1.5 million Palestinians for a second time.

The American aid convoy carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of supplies for the people of Gaza crossed the Rafah border on Wednesday upon receiving permission from Cairo after a 10-day delay.

The 200 activists are allowed to stay in the coastal territory only for 24 hours, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Viva Palestina activists, all Americans, including Charles Barron, a New York City Councilman, say that they have been stranded on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing for about 10 days despite earlier arrangements.

The humanitarian aid convoy consisting of 50 vehicles is the second organized by British Member of Parliament and Press TV presenter George Galloway.

***

Photos: Viva Palestina US » WE ARE IN GAZA!!!!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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Press Advisory from Viva Palestina

Why Do So Many Americans Mistrust Their Governmernt? By Timothy V. Gatto

By Timothy V. Gatto
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
liberalpro.blogspot.com
July 15, 2009

This is another article about the H1N1 Swine Flu virus. It isn’t an article about who made it or whether or not the New World Order is trying to kill off 90% of the Earth’s human population by either the virus or the vaccination. There are countless articles about that on countless web pages in almost every nation on Earth. The best known is the information being put out by Alex Jones’s site “Infowars”. According to an article released by Xinhua News Agency and picked up by infowars, the headline reads All Britons to be vaccinated against A/H1N1 flu.

The first line in the story however reads “All Britons could be vaccinated against the A/H1N1 flu as the number of confirmed cases in Britain is moving closer toward 10,000, health authorities said Sunday”. That is quite a difference from the headline. Maybe it was a mistake or maybe it was an attempt to sensationalize the story in order to draw in more readers. It really didn’t matter anyway; the stories circulating around this particular virus are garnering a lot of attention.

One part of the story on the A/H1N1 flu is that it was manmade. I put “H1N1 virus manmade” into a search engine and came up with hundreds of hits about it. The first thing that comes to mind if you actually believe it is manmade, is why would anyone wish to make it? If you really think about it, there are many reasons, most of them not so good. One theory is that it was inadvertently made while researching the DNA in other viruses. Some theories claim that the people who really control this planet, the New World Order or a reasonable facsimile, actually made it to bring down the population of the planet to a level that could be sustainable. There are many projections that claim the population will be too high to sustain due to the Earth’s dwindling resources in just a few decades.

Passenger plane crashes in Iran, all aboard dead + ‘Horrible’ scene at Iran crash site

Dandelion Salad

RussiaToday
July 15, 2009

An Iranian Caspian Airlines passenger plane has crashed in northwest Iran, with all of the 168 people aboard, 153 passengers and 15 crew members, presumed dead, informs Iranian state television.

Crystal Ball Gazing – The Future Is Deflation By Mike Whitney

Dandelion Salad

By Mike Whitney
July 13, 2009 “Information Clearing House”

There should be a modest uptick in GDP in either in the 4th quarter 2009 or the 1st quarter 2010. This will mark the end of the current 20 month-long recession, but not the end of the crisis. The blip in growth doesn’t mean that the troubles are over or that the economy is on the way to recovery. It simply means that Obama’s $787 billion fiscal stimulus is beginning to kick in, giving a boost to consumer spending and generating short-term economic activity. Regrettably, when the stimulus runs out, the economy will slide back into negative territory. That’s because the US consumer has crossed an important threshold and no longer has the ability to drive the economy through debt-fueled consumption. The data indicates a critical change in consumer behavior which portends a shift away from the current model for economic growth. It’s a whole new ballgame.

From the mid-1980s to 2007, the ratio of debt-to-GDP rocketed from 165% to to over 350%; more than doubling in that same period. The build-up of personal debt follows the exact same trend-line as the aggregate profits of the financial sector; they’re opposite sides of the same coin. Financial institutions increase profitability by expanding credit and inflating asset bubbles, not by allocating capital to productive enterprises. Their business model is inherently flawed. Speculative bubblemaking is Wall Street’s method of shifting wealth from workers to the investor class. It never fails. It’s the reason why 42 states are now facing budget shortfalls, unemployment has risen to 9.5 percent, and $45 trillion has vanished from global equity markets. Financialization has created a global crisis, crushed consumer demand, increased systemic instability, and put the economy into a nosedive.

CIA linked to Bhutto’s murder? + The U.S. Assassinates People All The Time!

Dandelion Salad

RussiaToday
July 14, 2009

Washington is caught up in a political scandal centering on former Vice President Dick Cheney. It follows a move by the new CIA director Leon Panetta to cancel a secret plan to find and kill Al-Qaeda leaders.

The Man Who Knew Cheney’s Secret by Benjamin Sarlin

Dandelion Salad

by Benjamin Sarlin
The Daily Beast
July 14, 2009

The New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh was mocked in March when he referred to Dick Cheney’s secret squad of CIA assassins. Now, he talks to The Daily Beast about the next shoe to drop.

Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh raised eyebrows back in March when he told an audience at the University of Minnesota that Dick Cheney ran a secret hit squad that he kept hidden from congressional oversight.”Congress has no oversight of it. It’s an executive assassination ring essentially, and it’s been going on and on and on,” Hersh said at the time. He added: “Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That’s been going on, in the name of all of us.”

[…]

via The Man Who Knew Cheney’s Secret – Page 1 – The Daily Beast

h/t: News From Underground

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

see

What Is It That We’re Missing In The ‘Cheney Ordered The CIA To Lie’ Story?

Cheney Ordered The CIA Not To Inform Congress On Secret Program + Congress Angry

Dick Cheney and Executive Assassination Ring

from the archives:

Seymour Hersh: Secret US Forces Carried Out Assassinations

Preparing the Battlefield by Seymour M. Hersh

Guantánamo And The Courts Part One: Exposing The Bush Administration’s Lies by Andy Worthington

by Andy Worthington
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.andyworthington.co.uk
15 July 2009

In recent months, those who have been studying Guantánamo closely have come to the disturbing conclusion that the biggest obstacle to President Obama’s pledge to close Guantánamo by January 2010 comes not from the fearmongering and opportunistic politicians who recently voted to prohibit the use of any funds to release or to transfer prisoners to the United States, and who also authorized legislation that “requires the President to report periodically to Congress on the status of Guantánamo Bay detainees and plans for their transfer,” but from the administration’s own Justice Department.

Echoing the position taken by the Bush administration, Eric Holder’s Justice Department is pursuing patently indefensible cases that should have been dropped before being presented to a judge, and is also engaged in what appears to be a systematic policy of delays when it comes to providing exculpatory material to the prisoners’ defense teams (in other words, material that tends to disprove the government’s case), or, in fact, any other material that is vital to mounting a proper defense. Moreover, when given the option to defend a judge’s right to order the release of prisoners against whom no case could be proved, the Justice Department sided with a notoriously pro-Bush judge in the Court of Appeals, who ruled that, although a District Court judge could demolish the government’s case against a Guantánamo prisoner, he or she was powerless to actually order the prisoner’s release.

Press Advisory from Viva Palestina

Dandelion Salad

July 14, 2009, 11 pm
Cairo

The Viva Palestina US caravan has received a permit to allow the group passage through the Rafah gate and into Gaza after spending 10 days in Cairo trying to overcome a series of bureaucratic delays.

The American convoy is mobilizing to carry busloads of supplies to the people of Gaza on Wednesday, July 15, and expects no further delays to their humanitarian mission because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already confirmed that all 200 delegates have satisfied all technical requirements required for travel.

Weeks ago, the Viva Palestina US convoy received assurances from Egyptian diplomats that they would expedite the delivery of a convoy of trucks, medical and relief supplies and American human rights volunteers into Gaza, but restrictions were then imposed on the initial Viva Palestina plan.

“We are now on our way to complete our humanitarian mission, more determined than ever and stronger in heart than when we entered Egypt,” says George Galloway, British Member of Parliament. “We now look forward to seeing in a matter of hours the faces of the besieged people of Gaza.”

This is a victory for the people of Gaza. We were determined not to be denied in bringing humanitarian aid to the children of Gaza. The silence of the world is deafening as the people of Gaza suffer, but the two hundred Americans and over one million dollars worth of aide that is going through confirms our commitment to a free Palestine. Long live the people of Palestine.

In Arabic:

[…]

via Viva Palestina US » Press Advisory from Viva Palestina

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Viva Palestina Updates 2 and 3