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2/25/2006

Lord of War :.

Good movie.



Same Sh*t, Different Day: Guns and Drugs... and the Bushes :.

You may (or may not) have noticed that I haven't covered the United Arab Emirates port thing yet. That's because I didn't 'get it.' I hadn't seen anything but nonsense written about it; nothing that seemed to go anywhere near as deep as this thing obviously goes.

But what is it all about!?

I read Rigorous Intuition tonight and I wish I could say that the answer came as a shock.

Nope. This isn't just a bunch of Arabs dabbling in containers full of iPods, shoes and rubber dog toys from China:
This is a dream setup for any arms or dope dealer, and that's exactly what the United Arab Emirates is all about. The ties between its top officials and royal family with the Taliban and Al Qaeda go back at least a decade.

The UAE is not only the center of financial dealings in the Persian Gulf, it is switching central for dope and arms dealing. The dope comes out of Afghanistan into the UAE where tax monies are collected and used to buy arms, which were sent back in for the Taliban. Some of this money is thought to have helped finance the 9-11 attacks. A money trail is set forth in the government's filings in the Moussaoui case.
Oh yeah, click through to read up on Russian arms dealer, Victor Bout. This guy is the new Barry Seal.



Iran: We'll Strike Dimona in Response to U.S. Attack :.

No more wamby pamby Apocalypse talk. Now we're getting down to brass tacks:

If the United States launches an attack on Iran, the Islamic republic will retaliate with a military strike on Israel's main nuclear facility.

Dr. Abasi, an advisor to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, said Tehran would respond to an American attack with strikes on the Dimona nuclear reactor and other strategic Israeli sites such as the port city of Haifa and the Zakhariya area.

Haifa is also home to a large concentration of chemical factories and oil refineries.


2/24/2006

Iraq: Daytime Curfews :.

Religious leaders summoned Iraq's Shiites and Sunnis to joint prayer services Friday amid an extraordinary daytime curfew aimed at halting a wave of sectarian violence that has killed nearly 130 people since the bombing of one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines.

Police and soldiers blocked major roads and surrounded Baghdad's two main Sunni mosques as streets throughout this city of nearly 7 million emptied of people and traffic. The nation stood on the brink of civil war and the American strategy in Iraq faced its gravest test since the 2003 invasion.

Residents in Samarra, where the shrine bombing took place Wednesday, were instructed over loudspeakers to stay indoors "until further notice."


2/23/2006

The Middle Ages Are Here Again :.

Torture is legal, science is heresy, magic is studied in secrecy, leaders rely on religious fanaticism, poverty sweeps the land as murderous despots hoard wealth behind walls, mysterious plagues terrify the people, inquisitors hunt dissidents, and crusades against Arabs are used to distract the masses from revolt.

That describes Europe's grim Middle Ages, but medieval scholar Eric Jager says it also describes the United States in 2006, in an era many Americans consider to be a glorious information age of technological wonders.



Exit to New Zealand: Final Countdown Underway

I sold my car today.

That was the last thing of any substantial value that I had to sell off. I started having some funny thoughts as I did it; as I handed over the keys and the bank draft was passed across the desk to me...

My time in this show is winding down fast.

I'm leaving the U.S. Probably for good.

It started to feel real.


2/22/2006

Iraq: Al Askariya Mosque Destroyed :.

For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Since both Shia and Sunni radicals are fighting the U.S. in Iraq, maybe the plan is to rile them up and get them to kill each other. Or, draw radicals out into the open, P2OG style, with an atrocity like this, and terminate them. Just some speculation.

Hopefully, Iran will stay out of this, or the whole damn shop could go up like a roman candle.

People in some of the dens I haunt are saying that the sh*t is really going to hit the fan now because of this.

I guess we will find out soon enough:

A bomb attack destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq's holiest Shia shrines today, sparking demonstrations and calls for revenge amongst the protestors.

There were no confirmed casualties in the explosion, which took place at 6.55am (0355 GMT) at the al-Askari shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Early reports had quoted police saying they feared people may have been be buried under the debris.

Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, said two armed men wearing special forces uniforms broke into the shrine, overcame the guards and set off explosives.


Remember: Two British SAS Soldiers Dressed as Arabs, Shoot at Iraqi Police


2/21/2006

Idleworm Added to Visit List :.

The volume of high quality material is impressive! Check it out.


2/20/2006

Bush: U.S. on Verge of Energy Breakthrough that Will "Startle" Americans :.

Cheney will emerge from a hovercraft, powered by something like this---something that They've had in an underground crypt for 30 years---and say, "Greetings, gentlemen."

That would startle people.

I wrote this back on 8/21/2005. I'm keeping it in mind as Bush starts to sound like Simmons, Ruppert, Heinberg, ________ <- fill in the Peaknic of your choice, etc.:
I don't know. I see things like the "sustainable" WalMart and the FedEx hub covered with solar panels and I have to wonder if this Peak Oil thing is actually going to be the kill shot that we think it's going to be. (Oh yeah, did you hear the one about the 500 megawatt solar power plant in California?) Maybe They have a much better grip on this thing than we know. Maybe They're ramping up alternatives at a pace that is congruent (or somewhat congruent) with the fall-off of conventional energy sources.

Those of us who despise the present global political and economic order look to Peak Oil with a sense of hope! Yes... Hope. Something tells me, however, we're not going to be that lucky.

Peak Oil probably won't take this thing down, simply because it seems so obvious that it will.

Peak Oil looks real to me and I've made life altering decisions based on my belief that the end of cheap hydrocarbon energy is going to collapse this system. All I'm saying is that if Peak Oil turns out to be a non event, I will not be surprised in the least.
And now for Bush making energy a public action item. HAHAH! Tell me another one:

Saying the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans, President Bush on Monday outlined his energy proposals to help wean the country off foreign oil.


2/19/2006

Rumsfeld News Network: All Propaganda, All the Time :.

Anyone who exposes the crimes of these monsters is the enemy:



Correspondents say that in recent months victory in the battle for public opinion has become a new front for the Bush administration.

In a speech to the Council of Foreign Relations, Mr Rumsfeld said some of the US' most critical battles were now in the "newsrooms".

"Our enemies have skilfully adapted to fighting wars in today's media age, but... our country has not," he said.

Mr Rumsfeld said al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremists were bombarding Muslims with negative images of the West, which had poisoned the public view of the US.

The US must fight back by operating a more effective, 24-hour propaganda machine, or risk a "dangerous deficiency," he said.

Government communications planning must be "a central component of every aspect of this struggle", he added.

"The longer it takes to put a strategic communications framework into place, the more we can be certain that the vacuum will be filled by the enemy."



New Hummers Come with $25,000 Tax Break :.

The show is beyond absurd at this point:

New federal tax rules effective last month allow $3,500 rebates for people who purchase hybrid cars.

But depending on which tax bracket you're in, you can take a $25,000 deduction if you purchase a Hummer or similarly monstrous vehicle.

The benefit is available to small business owners if they use the gas-guzzling behemoths exclusively for work.



Chavez Threatens to Cut Off Oil to U.S. :.

I hope Mr. Danger's handlers get it:

"You create your front Mr. Danger, we will create ours," Chavez said. "We are going to defeat the empire."




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